Sustainable Development, Regional Planning, and Information Management as an Evolving Theme in Waqf Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study assesses the bibliometric analysis of sustainable waqf development that highlights new topics and provides insightful commentary for the waqf’s strategic growth and ongoing research. This work uses bibliometric analysis to count the number of studies that have been carried out in this domain and determine whether they have advanced knowledge on sustainable waqf development. The study specifically highlights the depth to which academics have investigated these relationships and maps to arrive at a conceptual framework of the area being studied. Bibliometric analysis within 30 years of a publication generally arises in three main areas, namely waqf fundamentals, analysis of cash waqf, as well as studies on the numerous waqf uses in Islamic social finance. Whereas analysis within 107 years shows publications concerning waqf increased after the year 2010, from 2017 onwards, despite the rising number of total publications, total citations decreased. Thus, this study focuses on the current ten years from 2011–2020 and dissects 281 papers to study the dynamic topic for current mass research. Three main areas are highlighted in the early study, namely, sustainable development, regional planning, and information management. At the end of the study, the findings show the state of development and the top trends in influence, as well as the major journals, articles, subjects, authors, and countries. Both scholars and practitioners can benefit from the analysis and graphical presentations since they will be able to better grasp the state of the art of waqf in the experiential and current digital eras.

1. Introduction

The waqf symbol in history and Islamic civilisation began with the sacred building of Kaabah in Makkah (Surah Al-Imran: 96); ‘the first House (of worship) appointed for men was Makkah: full of blessing and guidance for mankind’. Following that, blessed with the revolutionary waqf idea, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) instructed someone to acquire the well of Bayruha’ and designate it as a free public utility for drinking water. Furthermore, the Prophet encouraged Umar to maintain and provide his land as a waqf for the poor and needy. The third innovation was the addition of the family waqf by the companions during Umar’s reign [1]. Making a waqf is unquestionably one of Islam’s noble actions, and it has been practised from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Historically, waqf institutions have already been institutionalised in many Muslims countries for the mobilisation of substantial amounts of financial resources by a globally credible Islamic financial institution. The majority opinion of Islamic clerics and Islamic economists globally is that waqf funds enhance social justice, equity, and income redistribution between the haves and the have-nots. This will also lead to enhanced access to finance for the disadvantaged members of Muslim communities [2].

The tenth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims to minimise inequality within and between countries, is an example of how sustainable development through the waqf research domain might be achieved. Achieving sustainable development objectives depends on reducing inequality and making sure nobody is left behind [3]. As a result, to achieve the SDGs, waqf is crucial in addressing a variety of socioeconomic requirements. This is supported by the valuation of waqf assets globally, which is expected to range between RM418 billion and RM4.18 trillion [4]. In fact, a survey of the available literature on waqf reveals that long before the inception of the MDGs/SDGs framework, waqf has already had a history of targeting these very social goals in Muslim societies, though in an unorganised way [5]. Thus, waqf was used in Islamic social finance to explore the possibilities for resource mobilisation at the national and international levels to benefit socially marginalised people in different nations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [6].

Throughout the years, some Islamic countries have demonstrated the effective management of waqf, so the amount of waqf has grown over time. For example, agricultural waqf land accounts for one-third of the total agricultural land in Turkey. The amount of waqf was also recorded as the wealth of Muslims in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia [7], Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia [8]. It demonstrates how beneficial these waqf assets are for the advancement of Muslim communities [9].

Waqf funds have made major contributions to dealing with the current global financial crisis, dwindling government resources, high demand for health care and rising costs, education, and community development [10]. The recent global COVID-19 crisis has affected global trade and economic growth, with severe implications for government revenues and their ability to offer more funding to support the growth of certain social sector components, including health, education, and the community.

Because of Islamic customs and civilization, waqf research has experienced continuous expansion and diversification in recent years and has the potential to become one of the world’s economic sectors with greater importance and further growth. Given the abundance of literature on the subject under consideration, a bibliographical evaluation based on empirical bibliometric data is required. It is also important to clarify the present path and identify the main research pioneers who are interested in researching the issue, waqf, and the dynamic keywords. These findings will assist in discovering research gaps, improving the present body of knowledge, and expanding the boundaries of novel notions.

This research sought to close a gap in the available bibliometric studies on waqf published to date. Hence, the concept of waqf was extensively explored based on the previous literature while focusing on articles published within the last 10 years (2010–2020). Most studies approached the issue using a general approach. Nonetheless, scientific publication on the subject has increased in recent decades. The collection of bibliographic databases has resulted in the use of bibliometric analysis as an important tool for evaluating scientific work that is based on a statistical study of quantitative data offered in the literature. Notably, there is already a sizable bibliometric production on the subject of waqf, such as the article by [11] published in the Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research. The research analysed the articles retrieved from the Scopus database and published in the last 30 years. After 30 years of publication, waqf research may be divided into three categories: waqf fundamentals, cash waqf analysis, and waqf applications in Islamic social finance research. Likewise, [12] conducted a bibliometric analysis using the same database engine for 529 articles on waqf published between 1914 and 2021. The researchers concluded that there has been a yearly increase in the literature concerning waqf, particularly after 2010. Malaysia and Indonesia are the two countries with the highest number of research publications on waqf, which comprised social sciences, arts and humanities, economics, econometrics, and finance fields. Thus, findings emphasise the potential directions for future research and facilitate the establishment of collaboration strategies between authors and institutions. The study investigates the articles published within the last 10 years (2011–2020) and dissects 281 papers to evaluate the dynamic topic for current mass research.

The study’s goals were to pinpoint areas of research need in the body of the existing waqf literature and to suggest prospective directions for further investigation. Upon displaying an analytic map of the publications within the indicated timeframe, the bibliometric analysis of the 10 years produced intriguing ideas for further research. The first aspect of this study is an outline of the methodology, followed by the intellectual and conceptual framework, main findings, conclusions, and recommendations for further research. To date, the number of articles included in this study represents the greatest number of waqf publications across all journals and other bibliometric analyses.

2. Literature Review

The term “waqf” is derived from the verb “wa-qa-fa”, and it can have a variety of connotations depending on the context. Literally, waqf means to stop, forbid or prevent, and holding or detention [13,14,15,16]. It refers to preventing any acts of transacting (tasar-ruf) [16]. Things that are intact and still provide money or benefits are referred to as “waqf”. If the item is used for philanthropic purposes, the owner waives his ownership rights. Waqf, according to the Shari’ah, is the keeping of one’s property for the benefit of others. Additionally, by referring to Muslim jurists such as Ibn Qudamah, Ibn al-Humam, Ibn Abidin, and al-Bujayrimi, Mahmood [17] the meaning of waqf in Islamic terminology is interpreted as; “a dedication of property either in expressed terms or by implication, for any charitable or religious object, or to secure any benefit to human beings”. Thus, to fulfil the true meaning of waqf in Islam, a waqf property must be in good condition, permanent, and intended to bring about social welfare for others in order to become closer to Allah. Waqf represents an important aspect of the masterpiece of Islamic civilisation, and the research area is increasing rapidly both in breadth and depth.

This study focuses on and discusses the wide and deep areas of waqf by highlighting three main areas: sustainable development, regional planning, and information management. These terms were the top three most recurring keywords found in the early search of the Scopus database. Waqf was the most frequently used keyword, whereas the above-mentioned three keywords indicate the inter-connection of waqf with sustainable development, regional planning, and information management. These terms explain the fundamental concepts of the research findings.

2.1. Sustainable Development

Waqf has sustainable characteristics, such as permanence, irrevocability, and perpetuity, that differentiate the concept from other types of donations. Waqf is open to everyone and enables every member of society, regardless of demographic variations, to enjoy or satisfy their socioeconomic requirements in any way, shape, or size, at the most affordable price [18]. It is a wealth transfer from an individual to society in which money is distributed back to society in the form of services and goods to combat income inequality and poverty. While there is just one wealth transfer, there are ongoing revenue transfers as long as the waqf asset is in existence [19] in order to ensure long-term funding and sustainability [20].

In the previous ten years, sustainable development in waqf has been widely discussed and investigated in the literature. The author of [21] outlines how sustainability under waqf mandates the integration of Maqasid waqf. Maqāṣid Shariah or Shariah Objectives are the principles and objectives of Shari’ah to benefit humans or human interest addressed by the Lawgiver. Waqf has several objectives, including religious, social, well-being, and scientific. Researchers have integrated the objectives of waqf into three main principles, each containing one or more components. For instance, the ‘Ubudiyah principle may include altruism in its subclasses, whereas the khilāfah principle may include development, as well as the highest and best utility sub-principles. Karāmah, or human dignity, may include financial sustainability, Islāmic solidarity or takāful, and economic justice. The provision for the poor and needy depends on the submission to the ‘Ubudiyyah (act of submission to Allah) and the khilāfah principle on the donor’s part. For example, the Zakat obligation is one of the religious obligations that specifically mentions the beneficiary is to be the poor and needy.

Nevertheless, regarding the needy in general, social security (takāful ijtima’i) should be facilitated by the waqf system. In the waqf system, this integration exists within the ecosystem of the relationship between Khilāfah, ‘Ubudiyah, and Ta’mir. Khalifah (borne by oneself in the spirit of altruism and on the other hand a specific leader of the nation selected by the public) is the enforcement of the divine law, whereas ‘Ubudiyah is the general population, being succeeded by generation after generation, praying to Allāh day and night, and Ta’mir (the waqf administrator) are those developing the waqf land. Therefore, the ecosystem keeps the earth developed and productive. This idea may then support the full concept of sustainability under awqāf mandates.

The current work shares the idea of sustainable development of waqf consistent with the Maqasid al-Shariah [5], and focused on providing a framework for the maqasid-oriented and waqf-based development plan, followed by presenting some insightful suggestions on how the global awqaf may lead Islamic charities’ endeavours to realise the maqasid-oriented SDGs among the Muslim majority countries. As posited by [5], every conceptual framework for a developmental plan should necessarily include ways to prioritise achieving human well-being. Thus, all development objectives, programmes, and plans are based on the idea of human well-being. Additionally, the waqf institution may serve as a middleman in achieving shared goals for the SDGs and the Maqasid al-shariah. Global waqf plays a huge role in accomplishing the SDGs, especially in nations with a majority of Muslims.

Some studies focused on the evolvement of sustainable development within the country’s framework of the waqf law. For example [22], stated that the construction of a commercial structure on waqf land and the development of waqf asset management in Indonesia could be undertaken based on Indonesian waqf law. The study looked at the practice of using waqf property for commercial building development under Indonesian land law, although the implementation needs a more thorough legal assessment. As a result, the waqf legislation has broadened the use of waqf land for the development of commercial structures that serve the needs of worship and advance general wealth. In order to learn from Singapore and Malaysia, where waqf properties were used for business through a profit-sharing arrangement or partnership, the report suggests looking at their experiences. Whether the funds for building come from banks or from group funding via waqf money, the Nazir is essential in handling them in these cases.

For future sustainable financing [23], two key components of waqf are explored: property and management characteristics. The researchers’ main idea was to utilise the stock of a waqf-based Islamic microfinance model to enhance the sustainable development of social welfare economics. Waqf management governance was also suggested to regulate the funding source for Islamic microfinance firms (MFIs). To maintain sustainability, good corporate governance is essential. Waqf-based Islamic MFIs should offer low-cost finance to underprivileged businesses, as cash waqf donors are not motivated by financial gain. Only the proceeds from waqf property should be utilised for microfinance funding to ensure the permanence of the waqf [23]. As a result, Islamic microfinance based on cash waqf will let small business owners access low-cost credit without requiring collateral, and the public may donate any amount they can to cash waqf at the same time.

2.2. Waqf Regional Planning

Despite a few bibliometric studies on sustainable waqf being available in the literature, the focus and the uniqueness of this study lie in the specific subject of sustainable waqf and regional waqf planning. In [24], the potential to strengthen the nation’s Muslim economy by harnessing the growing trend in waqf real estate development was investigated. The market’s soaring housing prices and the means by which low- and middle-income groups would be able to afford safe, pleasant, and secure homes were the researchers’ driving forces in conducting the study. The study recognised the benefit of residing in a safe and secure home, while also looking for ways to increase the value brought to waqf real estate developments.

While [24] focused on leveraging housing prices through regional waqf planning, [25] proposed introducing Shari’ah-based governance for waqf institutions with the expectation that such system will restructure the management of waqf assets to comply with associated Shari’ah requirements, thereby fostering accountability and transparency in practices and disclosures. Islamic financial firms’ compliance with the Shari’ah governance structure is under constant scrutiny. Additionally, it guarantees that waqf makes a considerable contribution to raising Muslims’ standard of living and the nation’s economy.

According to [26], waqf is a philanthropic or religious act of kindness that is gathered from wealthy and well-off community members for distribution to the needy, the destitute, and other recipients in accordance with specifically defined criteria in the Qur’an. Consequently, in their research on the effectiveness of waqf and those in charge of gathering, maintaining, and dispersing waqf in Malaysia, the researchers offered a conceptual model [26]. The study also identified the right techniques for assessing waqf institutions’ effectiveness.

Given the need to ensure the efficient management of waqf institutions, [27] aimed to develop a ubiquitous positioning system for modern mobile waqf management systems. The system entailed a spatial cell-based concept for identifying the nearest waqf property and associated attributes, such as cadastral and land office information. In [28], the author attempted to elucidate the historical connection between waqf and architecture to determine how waqf actively contributes to the realisation of different architectural ideas and the preservation of the architectural design of waqf buildings, resulting in a suitable urban environment. In the sphere of architecture, the role of waqf has been revitalised by restoring its contribution to several sectors of life and generating suggestions to preserve monuments by activating waqf on public buildings.

2.3. Information Management

The online waqf administration management system is critical for facilitating waqf representation and control by the nadzir. As a result of this strategy, people are more likely to have faith in the nadzir’s honesty and reputation. Waqf’s inclination to make larger monetary contributions rises with increased confidence in cash waqf. In the earliest times, waqf was executed using immovable property such as agricultural land and wells. In the current era, assets represent properties such as cash and shares [29].

Information needs to be shared and integrated into the various layers of government agencies and among government institutions with different purposes. In [30] it was reported that information sharing is the fundamental objective of the information system and has long been considered a vital approach in improving organisational efficiency and performance. It encompasses information exchange within and across department agencies or providing access to information. Thus, their study was conducted by exploring information sharing among Malaysian states’ agencies in delivering e-government services to customers. Specifically, the study aimed to address the practices and stages of information sharing among state agencies in delivering e-government services. The researchers focused on the information sharing practices between the waqf department in one state agency and other state agencies.

3. Materials and Methods

The methodology applied in this study was designed to identify the relevant articles. The systematic literature review started by defining the primary objective and scope of the review. After framing the objectives, a combination of keywords was established to formulate the search code. The search code streamlined the process of identifying articles to be included in the analysis. Given the importance of stating the search engine or source of the identified articles, only relevant and reliable sources were employed for the literature search. Overall, the online database used for the search process was Scopus [31]. The initial search resulted in a large pool of articles, followed by screening of the search results. The screening was performed to remove articles that were irrelevant to the current study and to arrive at the final list of articles. These identified articles acted as the foundation for the structure of the study.

An asterisk denotes that the word encompasses all variations of the term. Based on the study objectives, it was presumed that the following keywords, or their different forms, would appear in the title: waqf/wakaf/waqaf/awqaf. Furthermore, the search code was established as follows: (TITLE (“waqf” OR “wakaf” OR “waqaf” OR “awqaf”)). The comprehensive search was performed in the online databases Scopus. The search was confined to the literature published and extracted on 23 April 2021, and the search in Scopus resulted in 281 articles after several extensive screenings. First, the search focused on the title of the article and the time frame of 10 years (2011 to 2020), and the articles were limited to journal articles written in the English language, excluding Arabic, Turkish, French, and Italian. All types of journal articles, conferences, proceedings, books, book series, and editorials were included in this review. Thus, a total of 281 articles were retrieved from the Scopus database and the potential studies were downloaded in Bibtex format with ‘bib’ as an extension for subsequent bibliometric analysis and synthesis. While bibliometric analyses can refer to other databases such as the Web of Science (WOS Core Collection) database [32], this study uses the Scopus database because the majority of social sciences publish papers in this database.

The analysis was performed using a bibliometric R-Tool [33,34]. The R-Tool is a recent R-package that facilitates complete bibliometric analysis by employing specific tools for both bibliometric and scientometric quantitative research. In this regard, R is one of the most powerful and flexible statistical software environments, providing an open-source route to participation. In [35], R is described as an integrated suite of software applications for data manipulation, calculation, and graphical display. In addition, R can be integrated with other relevant software packages in specific cases of bibliometric analysis. The steps involved data collection, followed by a descriptive and bibliometric analysis by levels. Additionally, the VOSviewer software tool was used to build and visualise the networks of documents, sources, authors, organisations, and nations. The networks can be built using various methods but VOSviewer was used in this study to visualize the co-occurrence of all keywords and cluster density.

4. Results

This section is divided into subheadings. It gives a succinct and accurate summary of the experimental findings, their interpretation, and the inferred experimental conclusions.

4.1. Descriptive and Trend Analysis

The collection of the chosen articles’ general information was gathered from the bibliometric tool from between 2011 and 2020 (Refer to

Table 1. Main information regarding selected articles.

Description	Result
Main Information About Data
Timespan	2011:2020
Sources (Journals, Books, etc.)	124
Documents	281
Average years since publication	4.2
Average citations per document	2.544
Average citations per year per doc	0.4077
References	10,782
Document Types
Article	207
Book chapter	15
Conference paper	26
Editorial	1
Review	32
Document Contents
Keywords plus (ID)	206
Author’s keywords (DE)	692
Authors
Authors	589
Author appearances	748
Authors of single-authored documents	80
Authors of multi-authored documents	509
Authors Collaboration
Single-authored documents	89
Documents per author	0.477
Authors per document	2.1
Co-authors per documents	2.66
Collaboration index	2.65

).

Of all the articles included in this review, the content consists of keywords (n = 206), authors’ keywords (n = 692), gathering authors (n = 692), authors’ appearances (n = 748), single-authored documents (n = 80,509), multi-authored documents (n = 509), and several data on author collaboration. Thus, the following discussion explores the annual publication trends over 10 years.

4.2. Annual Publication Trends

During the first year period (2011), the total number of articles on waqf was eight. Most of the studies focused on accounting and the accountability of waqf institutions in Indonesia [36], Malaysia [37], and the Ottoman Empire [38]. Other researchers, [28,39], emphasised architecture and impact structure. Other articles discussed different areas, such as property, authority, and personal law [40], the waqf concept in Islamic insurance [41], and Ottoman waqf administration continuities and discontinuities.

Topics on sustainable waqf published in the second year (2012) included sustainable architectural conservation according to Islamic waqf traditions [42], and architectural structure and reconstruction [43]. Some research also highlighted the management and administration of waqf [42,44,45], as well as modes of financing and the use of waqf shares to finance old waqf properties, [46,47], and a crucial discussion on the Waqf Act and classical law [48,49]. Other articles discussed the history of waqf rules, and the reduction of the qur’anic text [50,51].

In 2013, a total of eleven articles on waqf were found, with four discussing authority, power, and fatwa on waqf [52], registration and tax relief [53], and the evolution and history of waqf regulatory frameworks. Another five articles discussed cash waqf, waqf banks, waqf for microfinance, and the venture philanthropy waqf model [54,55,56,57]. The remaining two articles focused mainly on istibdal [58] and waqf accounting [59].

Research on waqf started to increase in 2014 and the Scopus database found 17 articles published in that year. The area of Islamic social finance was the most popular discussion topic in the years since 2014. In this area, waqf serves the role of a social finance instrument in socio-economic development through waqf shares [60], cash Waqf, Waqf share, and Waqf for the relief of higher education loans [61,62,63], the application of build, operate, transfer (BOT) in financing waqf land [64], investment [65], an integrated waqf-based Islamic microfinance model [66], waqf land and investment [67], rated waqf-based microfinance [66], human and economic development through waqf shares (corporate waqf) [68], banking models of corporate waqf in the gift economy, and waqf in the Islamic world [69]. Other areas discussed include history, waqf structure, fatwa, politics, and administration. Two articles were written about history [70,71] and waqf structure [72,73] mentioned a crucial part: Waqf is also described as God’s land, blurring the national and sacred in waqf territory. Thereafter, the research extended to behavioural research on the determinants of individual Muslim behaviour in accomplishing Zakah, Infaq, Shadaqah, and waqf [70]. Interestingly, the utilisation of online fatwas, and contemporary discourse by Muslim scholars from a historical perspective, began in 2014 [74]. One paper reported on an empirical investigation into the determinants of online waqf acceptance [75].

Various areas in waqf research appeared in 2015. For instance, four articles mentioned waqf financing by discussing the financing of universities through waqf [17], and a conceptual model for inter-state corporate waqf financing for higher learning [76]. In the same year, [77] highlighted the integration of the waqf-Islamic microfinance model for poverty reduction in Bangladesh. The authors of [78] also explored the contemporary issues of the corporate share waqf model in Malaysia concerning the Waqaf An-Nur Corporation Berhad. The authors of [79] mentioned the Shariah-compliance of financial reporting practices, whereas [80] focused on accountability through accounting and reporting lenses, and lessons learned from an awqaf institution in a Southeast Asian country. A historical perspective was taken into account in three articles, where [81] investigated the historical role of Islamic waqf in poverty reduction in Muslim society.

In [82], the author investigated sustainable waqf institutions, such as the waqf of the Muslim Tatars, in historical retrospect. Similarly, [83] studied the religious endowments of Seyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi, the waqf institution and the survival of elite Ottoman households. Three papers focused on waqf land development by looking into the integrated framework for the development of waqf land in Pulau Pinang, compulsory acquisition of waqf land by the state authorities, compensation versus substitution [84], and the potential of waqf in activating idle agricultural land [85]. In the field of geoscience, a specific structure of waqf was mentioned in two papers [86,87].

Waqf management is another crucial aspect that has been widely discussed in the literature. Two articles focused on developing a model for Mosque tourism certification in waqf management [88,89], focusing on issues and solutions in the administration and management of waqf land in Malaysia. Zamindars, inheritance and law, and the spread of waqf in the United Provinces at the turn of the 20th century were discussed in the study by [90]. Another aspect raised regarding information management was the integration of multi-sensors for modern mobile waqf management [27], while sustainable development issues of waqf in the context of the establishment of Muslim institutions in the post-Soviet era were discussed in [91].

The year 2016 was unique as several articles on waqf were published in Scopus. Figure 1 shows the increasing number of published articles on waqf, however, the number of citations was declining. Descriptively, the publications discuss various areas and raise the topic of progress on new and diverse aspects. The most popular contribution in 2016 focused on cash waqf [92,93,94,95,96,97], followed by two articles on waqf property [98,99], while three articles emphasised waqf development [100,101], REIT [102], and investment [103]. Two articles, [104,105], contributed to the area of law and legislation. The year 2016 revealed an increasing trend in the publication and widespread coverage of the topics. For example, Shariah-compliant concept as an approach and best practice at Waqf hotel [106,107]; transformation Waqf implementation [108], human resource, Islamic Quality management [107], History [109], and waqf entrepreneurs [110].

Figure 1 shows the rising trend in waqf publications which continued until 2017, with 48 published articles and a rising number of citations. The most popular contributions were about cash waqf [1,111,112,113,114,115,116], followed by five articles on waqf in education [108,117,118,119]. While three papers were written on accountability practices and reporting, another four papers focused on waqf for poverty alleviation [20,120]. Other papers addressed enhancing sustainable development, regional social responsibility and regional planning [121,122], and development finance [123].

Additional contributions were made in multiple areas, such as the fundamentals and history of waqf [124,125,126,127], waqf land and properties [98,128,129], and exploratory studies on new waqf models [130]. Some micro-finance models were explored as a contribution to waqf sustainability in [131,132], while sustainable strategies [47,133,134,135,136,137,138] and the information-sharing model of state agencies in the waqf system [30] were also discussed.

The year 2018 depicted an increasing trend in waqf research. A total of 66 articles were published in the Scopus database. Overall, 26 articles were retrieved in the sustainable research area, 4 in information management, 2 in regional planning and 31 articles in other areas of waqf. Nevertheless, the most impactful publications recorded in 2018 were 13 articles published in Intellectual Discourse, which revealed the growing interest in waqf research among researchers globally. Conclusively, the literature trends indicated extensive production in recent years. An in-depth and focused area was found with the themes of sustainability, regional planning, and information management within the realm of the waqf research in the last decade.

Figure 1 shows the downward trend for both total articles and total citations. The number of published articles in 2019 was 39 compared to 66 in the previous year. The main contribution was on sustainable development with a total of 33 articles, 2 on regional planning, 1 on information management, and 3 on other areas of waqf. Likewise, the publication trend shows a similar pattern of a declining number of total articles and citations for the year 2020, with sustainable development contributing the most (13 articles) followed by others (8 articles), information management (4 articles), and regional planning (1 article).

4.3. Most Productive Authors

Table 2. Number of publications produced by the authors.

Authors	Articles	Articles Fractionalised
Mohammed, M. O.	7	2.5
Salameh, E.	6	1.33
Hamid, N.A.	4	2.75
Haneef, M.A.	4	0.82
Ihsan, H.	4	1.42
Johari, F.	4	1.5
Khoury, H.	4	1.33
Mahamood, S.M.	4	3
Mohd Thas Thaker, M.A.B.	4	0.53
Sabri, H.	4	1.03
Saiti, B.	4	1.67
Yaacob, H.	4	0.92
Ab Rahman, A.	3	2.03
Abdullah, M.	3	1.58
Ali, S.N.M.	3	1
Allah Pitchay, A.	3	1.95
Amuda, Y.J.	3	1.42
Hanif, N.R.	3	0.83
Hasan, R.	3	1.08
Mohammad, M.T.S.H.	3	1.42

shows the top 20 authors with the highest number of publications, amounting to a total of 77 articles. Mohammed, M.O. topped the list with seven articles, followed by Salameh, E. (six articles), Hamid, N.A., Haneef, M.A., and Ihsan, H. (four articles). Information from Table 2 might be relevant to active researchers to have some idea on the prominent authors that they could possibly collaborate with in the future.

4.4. Most Cited Papers

A citation is a formal reference made to any sources in which the information is used. The number of citations is the total frequency in which a document has been referenced in subsequent publications. It is expected that a higher number of citations depicts a publication that has gained interest among other scholars. There are also early metrics that can be used to measure the impact and performance of the publications.

Citation per year (CY) was used to measure recent publications compared to those that were probably visible for several years and received a high number of citations. Some publications probably performed well in terms of the total number of citations they received, but some were probably excellent in terms of the number of citations they received per year.

Table 3. List of most cited papers.

Author	Year	Title of the Paper	TC	C/Y	NTC
Mohsin, M.I.A.	2013	Financing through cash-waqf: a revitalisation to finance different needs.	37	4.1111	4.7882
Yayla, H.E.	2011	Operating regimes of the government: Accounting and accountability changes in the Sultan Süleyman Waqf of the Ottoman Empire (The 1826 Experience).	32	2.9091	2.1157
Nahar, H.S.	2011	Accountability in the sacred context: The case of management, accounting and reporting of a Malaysian cash awqaf institution.	26	2.3636	1.7190
Ihsan, H.	2011	Waqf accounting and management in Indonesian waqf institutions: the cases of two waqf foundations	21	1.9091	1.3884
Amin, H.	2014	Determinants of online waqf acceptance: An empirical investigation.	19	2.3750	3.8916
Haneef, M.A.	2015	Integration of waqf-Islamic microfinance model for poverty reduction.	18	2.5714	3.8571
Schmieder, M.	2011	Shock-metamorphic microfeatures in chert from the Jebel Waqf as Suwwan impact structure, Jordan.	17	1.5455	1.1240
Beverley, E.L.	2011	Property, authority and personal law: Waqf in colonial South Asia.	16	1.4545	1.0579
Allah Pitchay, A.	2015	Factors influencing the behavioural intentions of Muslim employees to contribute to cash-waqf through salary deductions.	14	2.0000	3.0000
Rizal, H.	2017	Perceived Ihsan, Islamic egalitarianism and Islamic religiosity towards charitable giving of cash waqf.	13	2.6000	6.8571
Kuran, T.	2016	Legal roots of authoritarian rule in the Middle East: Civic legacies of the Islamic Waqf.	13	2.1667	6.9815
Suhaimi, F.M.	2014	The role of share waqf in the socio-economic development of the Muslim community: The Malaysian experience.	13	1.6250	2.6627
Masruki, R.	2013	The development of waqf accounting in enhancing accountability.	13	1.4444	1.6824
Chowdhury, M.S.R.	2012	Problems of WAQF administration and proposals for improvement: A study in Malaysia.	13	1.3000	3.2500
Mahamood, S.M.	2015	Financing universities through Waqf, pious endowment: is it possible?	12	1.7143	2.5714
Abbasi, M.Z.	2012	The classical Islamic law of Waqf: A concise introduction	12	1.2000	3.0000
Azmi, A.C.	2015	The Sharia-compliance of financial reporting practices: a case study on Waqf.	10	1.4286	2.1429
Heinrichs, T.	2014	The Waqf as Suwwan crater, Eastern Desert of Jordan: aspects of the deep structure of an oblique impact from reflection seismic and gravity data.	10	1.2500	2.0482
Thaker, M.A.B. M.T.	2018	Modelling crowd funders behavioural intention to adopt the crowdfunding-waqf model (C.W.M.) in Malaysia: The theory of the technology acceptance model.	9	2.2500	7.1566
Abdullah, M.	2018	Waqf, sustainable development goals (SDGs) and maqasid al-shariah.	9	2.2500	7.1566

shows the list of the most cited papers. The most cited article is by Magda Ismail Abdel Mohsin with 37 total citations, 4.11 citations per year, and 4.7882 total citations in 2013, published in the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management under Emerald Insight. The article was a continuation of the author’s earlier work, concentrating mostly on the numerous goods and services offered by various cash waqf systems in Muslim and Muslim-majority countries, which enable these populations to meet their own needs without relying on the government. The study emphasised key results on the potential of cash waqf in funding not just religious areas but also many products and services required globally, including education, health, social care, and commercial activities, as well as job openings for the majority of people.

Another frequently cited article is that of Hilmi Erdogan Yayla, entitled “Operating regimes of the government: Accounting and accountability changes in the Sultan Süleyman Waqf of the Ottoman Empire (The 1826 Experience)”, published in the Journal of Accounting History under Sage Journals. The article has a total of 2.90 citations per year, and 2.11 total citations. Specifically, by analysing the accounting and accountability developments in the Sultan Süleyman Waqf of the Ottoman Empire, the research examined the link between accounting changes and “governmentality” practices. By investigating a non-western oriented environment, the article’s findings contribute to the Foucauldian view of the purpose and role of accounting.

Occupying the third spot is the article written by Hairul Suhaimi Nahar and Hisham Yaacob entitled “Accountability in the sacred context: The case of management, accounting and reporting of a Malaysian cash awqaf institution” with 37 total citations, 2.36 citations per year, and 1.71 total citations. The article was published in the Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research under Emerald Insight. The researchers performed a preliminary empirical investigation concerning the accounting, reporting, and accountability practices of a Malaysian cash awqaf (Islamic endowment) management institution over six years (2000 to 2005). Overall, the results showed that the investigated awqaf entity’s management, accounting, and reporting processes appeared to be where accountability originates. However, sizable modifications are still required to ensure that accountability can be continually improved and sustained. Thus, the three most cited papers were from credentialed publications, and the discussion touched on the fundamental issues and crucial points to be noted by researchers.

4.5. Most Productive Countries

In evaluating the performance of the contributing publications by country from 2011 to 2020, the metrics revealed a total number of 457 contributing authors. As for the five most productive countries, Malaysia topped the list with 286 contributing authors, followed by Indonesia (64), the UK, and USA (11), and Germany (10), as shown in

Table 4. Publications by country.

Region	Frequency
Malaysia	286
Indonesia	64
U.K.	11
U.S.A.	11
Germany	10
Japan	9
Jordan	9
Turkey	9
Saudi Arabia	6
Bangladesh	5
Canada	5
Nigeria	5
Pakistan	5
Qatar	5
Australia	3
Egypt	3
Israel	3
Oman	3
Singapore	3
Czech Republic	2
TOTAL:	457

. Some publications were written by more than one author, thus accounting for the difference between total publications (281 publications examined) and contributing publications by country.

4.6. Most Productive Affiliations

Table 5. Most productive affiliations.

Affiliations	Articles
International Islamic University Malaysia	65
Universiti Teknologi MARA	26
University of Malaya	21
University Kebangsaan Malaysia	17
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia	14
Universiti Sains Malaysia	13
Universitas Indonesia	6
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia	6
University of Jordan	6
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin	5
Universiti Malaysia Sabah	4
Universiti Utara Malaysia	4
University of Ryukyus	4
University of Toronto	4
Hamad bin Khalifa University	3
International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance	3
Markfield Institute of Higher Education	3

shows the metrics for author affiliations and publications from 2011 to 2020. Of the 281 total publications, the five most productive affiliations were International Islamic University Malaysia which topped the list with 65 publications, followed by Universiti Teknologi MARA (26), UM (21), UKM (17), and USIM (14).

4.7. Most Frequent Journals

The top five journals have published 59 articles, representing 41% of the whole collection.

Table 6. Most frequent journals.

Sources	Rank	Articles
Intellectual Discourse, IIUM	Q3	17
Journal of King Abdul Aziz University Islamic Economics	Q3	12
Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, Emerald, UK	Q2	11
ISRA. International Journal of Islamic Finance, Emerald, UK	Q3	10
International Journal of Innovation Creativity and Change, Primrose, UK	Q2	9
Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, UPM	Q3	9
Advanced Science Letters, USA	Q3	7
Global Journal al-Thaqafah, USAS	Q3	7
Humanomics, Emerald, UK	(None)	7
Islamic Law and Society, Brill, Netherlands	Q3	7
Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, IBTRA.	Q4	7
Al-Shajarah, IIUM	Q2	6
International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Emerald, UK	Q3	6
Jurnal Pengurusan, UKM	Q3	6
Muslim World, Wiley-Blackwell, USA	Q3	5
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, UK	(None)	4
Islamic Quarterly, UK	Q3	4
Islamic Wealth Management: Theory and Practice (Book)	(None)	4
Acta Orientalia, Hungary	Q2	3
Arab Law Quarterly, Netherlands	Q3	3

presents a list of multi-sources of the journals and none was specific to waqf itself. All the journals are included in the Journal Citation Report© (JCR) and Scimago. Each journal has a high H-index rating (Hirsch index for the area under study). The H-index is calculated by ranking publications by the number of citations received in descending order and listing them to determine the point at which the order number matches the number of citations received.

The highest number of published articles was from the journal, Intellectual Discourse, published by the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), ranked in the third quarter (Q3) of the Scopus index with an impact factor of 0.22. According to the general description of this publication, “Intellectual Discourse is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, flagship journal of the International Islamic University Malaysia. It was first published in 1993 and is devoted to the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world in its entirety. Historical, geographical, political, economic, educational, psychological, sociological, legal, literary, religious, philosophical, international relations, environmental, and developmental themes receive special consideration. The scope and coverage of the journal are global. Additionally, the journal intends to be a forum for scholarly dialogue and communication on issues related to Islam and the Muslim world” (https://journals.iium.edu.my, accessed on 19 September 2022). Intellectual Discourse published the most articles in 2018 given that the journal had a special issue in volume 26, (waqf) (https://www.scimagojr.com, accessed on 19 September 2022) which consisted of 12 articles. The 12 articles were presented at an International Conference on “History and Governance of Awqāf in South and Southeast Asia: Colonial Interventions and the Modern State” held at the International Islāmic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, in 2018.

This study found that all top-five journals did not specialise in waqf but had mentioned it in their inclusivity and publication scope. The second-top journal was the Journal of King Abdul Aziz University Islamic Economics, with 12 articles in the waqf area. Moreover, research in the waqf area is one of the aims of the journal as mentioned in their publication scope, “to encourage empirical research on Islamic finance, takaful, zakah, awqaf, and other Islamic institutions including case studies from Muslim economies” (https://www.scimagojr.com, accessed on 19 September 2022). The journal was also ranked in the Q3 Scopus database with an impact score of 0.22.

The Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research (JIABR) occupied the third spot in the number of published articles. The journal is published by Emerald in the U.K. and ranked in the second quarter (Q2), with an impact score of 1.69 as reported by resurchify.com, accessed on 19 September 2022 “which was computed in 2021 as per its definition. Thus, the impact factor of the Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research increased by 0.2, with an approximate percentage change of 13.42% compared to the preceding year 2019, showing a rising trend. The impact score (IS), also denoted as Journal impact score (JIS), of an academic journal measures the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal and it is based on Scopus data” (https://www.resurchify.com/impact/details/21100448564, accessed on 19 September 2022). JIABR had mentioned and welcomed any article in “Islamic philanthropy, Waqf, microfinancing and zakat” in the 13th list in its aim and scope.

Overall, the bibliometric analysis revealed that the most-cited journals publishing articles in waqf research, as shown in Table 6, were mostly sector-based, specific journals, representing the knowledge base of the Islamic area.

4.8. Most Frequent Keywords

Most articles in waqf research use waqf as the keyword. The keyword helps researchers to ease the searching process and find the intended papers.

Table 7. Most frequent keywords.

Keywords	Frequent
Waqf	120
Cash waqf	31
Malaysia	19
Islamic finance	13
Accountability	10
Development	10
Endowment	14
Zakat	8
Awqaf	7
Charity	6
Financing	6
Waqf land	6
Management	5
Waqf management	5
Accounting	4
Crowdfunding	4
Education	4
Governance	4
Islamic philanthropy	4

depicts the frequent keywords used in the last 10 years of publication. The most frequently recurring words were waqf (120), cash waqf (31), Malaysia (19), Islamic finance (13), accountability (10), development (10), and integration with other social finance instruments, such as endowment (14) and Islamic social finance, specifically in Zakat (8). Other keywords were awqaf as the plural of waqf (7), charity (6), financing (6), and waqf land (6). The other frequent keywords were in the area of management (5), waqf management as a specific area (5), accounting (4), and crowdfunding (4) as a new source of public funds. Education, governance, and Islamic philanthropy were also documented four times each. The interesting aspect of this visualisation of keywords is not the name of their topics of interest but several occurring keywords crossing over into the scientific field.

4.9. Word Growth

Table 8. Highlights according to frequent words.

Year	Waqf	Cash Waqf	Malaysia	Islamic Finance	Accountability	Development	Endowment	Zakat	Awqaf	Charity
2011	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
2012	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2013	6	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2014	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2015	8	3	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0
2016	13	4	4	4	1	0	1	0	0	1
2017	28	5	2	3	3	2	1	2	1	2
2018	26	8	4	1	2	4	1	1	2	2
2019	16	4	3	2	0	0	1	4	0	1
2020	12	1	2	2	0	3	3	1	1	0
Total	120	31	19	13	10	10	8	8	7	6

shows the highlights according to the most frequent words. For example, in 2011, the most frequent word was accountability while waqf was the highest in 2012 and the following years up until 2020. These findings revealed that keywords relating to waqf were accepted in the Scopus database and widely accepted by most authors.

4.10. Most Recurring Words

As shown in

Table 9. Most recurring words.

Keywords	Occurrences
Sustainable development	7
Regional planning	6
Information management	5
Economics	4
Innovation	4
Islamism	4
Malaysia	4
Waqf	4
Content analysis	3
Jordan	3
Societies and institutions	3
Stakeholder	3
Architecture	2
Crater	2
Cultural influence	2
Economic and social effects	2
Finance	2
Impact structure	2
Management systems	2

, some of the most frequently recurring words were sustainable development (7), regional planning (6), and information management (5), while economics, innovation, Islamism, Malaysia, and waqf occurrences were recorded four times each. Content analysis, Jordan, societies and institutions, and stakeholders occurred three times each. The remaining recurring words included architecture, crater, cultural influence, economics and social effects, finance, impact structure, and management system.

4.11. Overlay Visualisation of the Co-Occurrence of All Keywords

An overlay visualisation of the co-occurrence of keywords from all waqf research was analysed using all keywords with a minimum of two keyword occurrences. The result is shown in Figure 2. The overlay visualisation explores changes over time, differences in research strength with the spatiotemporal distribution according to topic and themes in the fields of study. The expected outcome is obtained if an identical research endeavour is started every ten years or more. In other words, this mapping and visualisation method might serve as a comparable basis for further research.

Figure 2 shows several themes in yellow that were prominent after 2020, located at the edge of the right side of the visualisation. Islamic social finance and waqf management are on the lower edge, whereas endowment and Malaysia appear at the top edge of the figure. These three edges with the five themes show the dynamic co-occurrence of keywords across time.

The overlay visualisation of the co-occurrence of keywords was then analysed by including the co-occurrence for all author keywords. This time around, a full count was performed with a minimum occurrence of two for each keyword. This test focused on the divergence of the new topics and the result confirmed a similar answer compared with the previous method. Therefore, the co-occurrence of the five author keywords is significantly relevant to future endeavours in waqf research. It is deemed a confirmed and comparable foundation for future studies.

4.12. Item Density Visualisation of Author Keywords

Figure 3 shows the item density where the visualisation of the author keywords can be seen. The waqf keyword is considered the central focus of the visualisation, showing the highest density, followed by other keywords, such as development, endowment, Malaysia, Islamic finance, waqf institutions, accountability, Islam, awqaf, Islamic economics, Islamic social finance, and waqf management.

4.13. Cluster Density Visualisation of the Co-Occurrence of Author Keywords

Figure 4 shows four cluster density visualisations of the co-occurrence of author keywords, where the bright areas represent the hot spots of the topics. The first cluster contains the keywords waqf and development (green), the second cluster, endowment and Malaysia (yellow), and the third cluster, Islamic economics, Islamic social finance, and waqf management (blue). The fourth cluster contains the keywords Islamic finance, waqf institutions, accountability, Islam, and awqaf (red).

5. Discussion and Findings

The following discussion and findings of the study were derived from an analysis of 281 Scopus-indexed publications published between 2010 and 2020. The publication of waqf-related papers exhibits a similar pattern over the past several years, with regional planning and sustainable development providing the highest trend. This is in line with other works that have claimed there has been much discussion on sustainable development in waqf [19,20,21].

This study discovered that Mohammed, M.O., followed by Salameh, E., Hamid, N.A., Haneef, M.A., and Ihsan, H. are among the active researchers that other researchers could possibly collaborate with in the future. In addition to that, the most cited papers (i) were from credentialed publications, and (ii) included discussions that touched on the fundamental issues and crucial points to be noted by researchers. Thus for researchers to be cited, they should take note of these two points to be addressed in future waqf research as shown by [36,138].

According to this study, Malaysia (62.5%) and Indonesia (14%), are the two leading nations for waqf publications, followed by the remaining eighteen countries with publication rates of (2.4%) and lower. In the domain of Islamic social finance, specifically with regard to waqf, Malaysia and Indonesia might be viewed as leaders. While USIM, another Islamic university, came in at number five in the waqf publishing rankings, IIUM, a university with a strong Islamic concentration, came out on top (which is reasonable given that IIUM is an Islamic-focused university). UiTM, UM, and UKM were the other public universities in the top ten since their study into waqf demonstrates a strong interest on their part.

This research discovered that articles in waqf research were mostly in sector-based, specific journals representing the Islamic knowledge base. Thus, it can be seen that the waqf articles were published in general-themed journal such as Intellectual Discourse (Malaysia), JKAUISE, JIABR, ISRA, and others, and not specific waqf journals. Therefore, a specific journal on waqf needs to be established in the future.

The top keywords used were waqf (120), followed by cash waqf (11), awqaf (7), waqf land (6) and waqf management (5). The terms waqf and awqaf are similar, being the singular and plural forms of the word, respectively. In terms of word growth, researchers are encouraged to use the word waqf, as it can be seen in Table 8 that the word waqf has been consistently used in publications from 2011 until 2020.

Most of waqf articles published are associated with sustainable development, regional planning and information development. Therefore, it can be seen that these are the emerging themes that can be expanded upon in the study of waqf. This finding is consistent with the previous research of [4,6]. In addition, future studies are advised to publish in those four clusters in order to be seen, based on the four clusters in the cluster density visualisation. Waqf and development are located in the cluster with the highest density.

This study only explored the annual Scopus publication trends in the past ten years. Therefore, the literature productions or findings may vary if applied to other databases. There are other databases that can be referred to such as the Web of Science database, which has been used by [32]. For future reference, this study found that waqf development, Islamic social finance, waqf management, and Islamic economics were among the research areas that are rapidly gaining extensive interest among researchers. It is also suggested for future research to include the mapping of articles’ co-citations, mapping of journal co-citations, mapping of institutions’ co-citations, mapping of countries’ co-authorships, and mapping of countries’ bibliographic coupling in the data analysis.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations

This study employed bibliometric analysis to investigate waqf research and verified the contributions of various studies to the evolution of waqf. Chronologically, the study elucidated the past literature and research history and concluded that the use of waqf land for the development of commercial buildings promotes common prosperity and is consistent with the concept of mutual assistance to promote sustainable development. Furthermore, waqf properties were used for commercial purposes through a partnership or profit-sharing scheme. There is a fundamental role in managing the funding of construction, whether from banks or collective funding through waqf money. Therefore, prior research examined the connection between waqf and architecture to show how waqf actively contributes to realising different architectural ideas and safeguarding the architectural heritage of waqf buildings, resulting in a suitable urban environment for regional planning. Consequently, it is highly recommended that research in the area of waqf is actively conducted, which may assist nations to achieve their SDGs, such as poverty eradication. Waqf is crucial in addressing a variety of socioeconomic requirements [3].

Waqf’s function has been revitalised in the realm of architecture by resurrecting it in numerous facets of life and offering methods to preserve monuments by activating waqf on public structures. The role of waqf in public buildings should not be limited to architectural revival. There is a need to share information and integrate waqf in the different layers of government agencies and government institutions with diverse purposes. This approach relates to the need for a co-creation concept (centralised information and a digital platform), leading to sharing, using, and donating more concepts and applications. Information sharing is the fundamental objective of the information system and has long been considered a vital approach for increasing waqf organisational efficiency and performance. It entails information sharing within and across departmental agencies or allowing information access. It is necessary to focus on the information sharing practices and stages between the waqf department in one state agency with other state agencies to ensure efficient delivery of e-government services. It is therefore concluded that waqf information management is an area that very much needs to be researched, and this is therefore in line with other works that have claimed there has been much discussion on sustainable development in waqf [19,20,21].

In terms of literature production, the interesting fact that emerged from the trend analysis in this study is that the number of total citations was relatively high compared to the total publications from 2011 to 2015. However, from 2017 onwards, despite the rising number of total publications, the number of total citations declined. Thus, the authors’ keywords were diverse and unconnected to the previous trend in research. This study suggests that the authors refocus their research area to align with the suggested research themes that emerged from the present analysis, namely waqf development, Islamic social finance, waqf management and Islamic economics. One of the contributing reasons was that most impactful publications were published in Intellectual Discourse from 2018 onwards, indicating the increasing interest in waqf research among researchers globally. Concurrently, a deeper, focused area was discovered in the themes of sustainability, regional planning and information management within the waqf research in the last decade.

Malaysia topped the list of the most productive countries, followed by Indonesia, in several publications in waqf research areas, with IIUM as the most productive affiliations in the past 10 years in Intellectual Discourse. The Intellectual Discourse journal, IIUM, was the most frequent, and is presently ranked in the third quarter (Q3). As for the most productive authors, Mohammed, M.O. topped the list, followed by Salameh, E., Hamid Na, Haneef Ma, and Ihsan, H. These findings will assist active researchers to develop ideas on the prominent authors that they could possibly collaborate with in the future. In terms of keywords, most articles in waqf research use waqf as the keyword. It shows the general acceptance of waqf as a keyword among most authors and in the Scopus database. While waqf was the most used keyword, sustainable development, regional planning, and information management were among the most recurring words in the past 10 years.