Author(s): Muhammad Nasri Md. Hussain, Nurul Azma Abu Bakar, Azizi Abu Bakar
Waqf plays an important role in Muslim society. In Malaysia, waqf is placed under the jurisdiction of the state governments, which resulted in 14 sole trustees with different performance. Several studies propose external restructuring to improve waqf institution’s performance, but most of the SIRCs still maintained the traditional structure. Our study attempts to examine the challenges and constraints faced by the SIRCs to implement external restructuring. In depth interviews were conducted involving 11 informants from seven waqf institutions. The findings indicate two (2) major challenges faced by the SIRCs if they want to proceed with the external restructuring, which are cost constraint and other stakeholder’s constraint. Cost constraint consists of payroll, operational and development cost. Payroll cost will be huge as the new subsidiary will hire new team that only focus on managing waqf. Operational cost is the common cost to run the organization such as administration and overhead while development cost refers to the cost related to managing, maintaining, expanding and sustaining waqf property. Stakeholders’ constraint refers to the approval on restructuring plan. External restructuring does not offer the solution over night. SIRC need to carefully plan their strategy, especially on financial before they can see the result.