On 18/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 18/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 18/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 02/01/2011.
PART IV
FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
57.
—(1) A fund to be known as the General Endowment Fund is hereby established.
(2) Except as otherwise provided under the provisions of this Act, the Fund shall consist of all money and property, movable or immovable, which by the Muslim law or under the provisions of this Act or rules made under subsection (6) accrues or is contributed by any person to the Fund.
(3) All money and property in the Fund shall be vested in the Majlis which shall administer all such money and property in accordance with the rules made under this Act.
(4) Any investments of assets and funds vested in the Majlis may be sold, realised and disposed of.
(5) The Majlis may invest any money in the Fund in accordance with the standard investment power of statutory bodies as defined in section 33A of the Interpretation Act (Cap. 1).
[45/2004]
(6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Majlis, with the approval of the Minister, may make rules for the collection, administration and distribution of all property of the Fund.
58.
—(1) Where, after 1st July 1968, any Muslim person dies in such circumstances that, under the provisions of the Muslim law, his property would vest in, or become payable to, the Baitulmal, the property of that person, in pursuance of such provisions, shall vest in and become payable to the Majlis and form part of the Fund.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any written law or in any instrument or declaration creating, governing or affecting the same, the Majlis shall administer all wakaf, whether wakaf ‘am or wakaf khas, all nazar am, and all trusts of every description creating any charitable trust for the support and promotion of the Muslim religion or for the benefit of Muslims in accordance with the Muslim law to the extent of any property affected thereby and situate in Singapore.
(3) Section 23 of the Civil Law Act (Cap. 43) shall not apply to Muslims who die intestate.
(4) The trustees of the wakaf or nazar am appointed under the instrument creating, governing or affecting the same shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, manage the wakaf or nazar am but the Majlis shall have power to appoint mutawallis, and for such purpose to remove any existing trustees, where it appears to the Majlis that —
(a)
any wakaf or nazar am has been mismanaged;
(b)
there are no trustees appointed to the management of the wakaf or nazar am; or
(c)
it would be otherwise to the advantage of the wakaf or nazar am to appoint a mutawalli.
(5) The Majlis may at any time remove any mutawalli appointed by it and appoint another in his place.
59. All property subject to section 58 shall if situate in Singapore vest in the Majlis, without any conveyance, assignment or transfer whatever, for the purpose of the Baitulmal, wakaf or nazar am affecting the same.
60.
—(1) Whether or not made by way of will or death-bed gift, no wakaf or nazar made after 1st July 1968 and involving more than one-third of the property of the person making the same shall be valid in respect of the excess beyond such one-third.
(2) Every wakaf khas or nazar made after 1st July 1968 shall be null and void unless —
(a)
the President shall have expressly sanctioned and validated or ratified the same in writing in accordance with the Muslim law; or
(b)
it was made during a serious illness from which the maker subsequently died and was made in writing by an instrument executed by him and witnessed by 2 adult Muslims one of whom shall be a Kadi or Naib Kadi.
(3) If no Kadi or Naib Kadi is available as described in subsection (2)(b), any other adult Muslim who would not have been entitled to any beneficial interests in the maker’s estate had the maker died intestate shall be a competent witness.
(4) This section shall not operate to render valid any will, death-bed gift, wakaf or nazar which is invalid under the provisions of the Muslim law or of any written law.
61.
—(1) The income of a wakaf or nazar shall be applied in accordance with the lawful provisions set out in the instrument or declaration creating, governing or affecting the wakaf or nazar.
(2) Where there is no specific provision in such instrument or declaration for the expenditure of the wakaf or nazar, the income shall be paid to and form part of the Fund.
62.
—(1) Subject to this section, the property and assets affected by any lawful wakaf or nazar am shall not form part of the Fund, but shall be applied in pursuance of such wakaf or nazar am and held as segregated funds.
(2) If from lapse of time or change of circumstances it is no longer possible beneficially to carry out the exact provisions of any wakaf or nazar am, the Majlis shall prepare a scheme for the application of the property and assets affected thereby in a manner as closely as may be analogous to that required by the terms of such wakaf or nazar am and shall apply the same accordingly.
(3) The Majlis may, with the approval in writing of the Minister, direct that the property and assets mentioned in subsection (2) shall be added to and form part of the Fund.
(4) If the terms of any wakaf or nazar am are such that no method of application of the property and assets affected thereby is specified, or it is uncertain in what manner the same should be applied, the Majlis may direct that the property and assets shall be added to and form part of the Fund.
(5) All instruments creating, evidencing or affecting any wakaf or nazar am, together with any documents of title or other securities relating thereto, shall be held and retained by the Majlis.
63.
—(1) Where any question arises as to the validity of a Muslim charitable trust or as to the meaning or effect of any instrument or declaration creating or affecting any Muslim charitable trust, such question shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Muslim law.
(2) If in the opinion of the Majlis the meaning or effect of any instrument or declaration creating or affecting any wakaf or nazar is obscure or uncertain, the Majlis may refer the same to the court for construction of the instrument or declaration, and shall act in accordance with the construction so given by the court.
(3) The court in construing the instrument or declaration shall do so in accordance with the provisions of the Muslim law and shall be at liberty to accept as proof of the Muslim law any definite statement on the Muslim law made in any of the books referred to in section 114.
64.
—(1) Every wakaf, whether created before or after 1st July 1968, shall be registered at the office of the Majlis.
[20/99]
(2) Application for registration shall be made by the mutawalli of the wakaf.
[20/99]
(3) An application for registration shall be made in such form and manner as the Majlis may require and shall contain the following particulars:
(a)
a description of the wakaf properties sufficient for the identification of the properties;
(b)
the gross annual income from the wakaf properties;
(c)
the amount of rates and taxes annually payable in respect of the wakaf properties;
(d)
an estimate of the expenses annually incurred in the realisation to the income of the wakaf properties;
(e)
the amount set apart under the wakaf for —
(i)
the salary of the mutawalli and allowances to the individuals;
(ii)
purely religious purposes;
(iii)
charitable purposes; and
(iv)
pious and any other purposes; and
(f)
any other particulars required by the Majlis.
[20/99]
(4) Every application shall be accompanied by a copy of the wakaf deed, or if no such deed has been executed or a copy thereof cannot be obtained, shall contain full particulars, as far as they are known to the applicant, of the origin, nature and objects of the wakaf.
[20/99]
(5) The Majlis may require the applicant to supply any further particulars or information that the Majlis may consider necessary.
[20/99]
(6) On receipt of an application for registration, the Majlis may, before the registration of the wakaf, make such inquiries as it thinks fit in respect of the genuineness and validity of the application and correctness of any particulars in the application.
[20/99]
(7) When an application is made by any person other than the person managing the wakaf property, the Majlis shall, before registering the wakaf, give notice of the application to the person managing the wakaf property and shall hear him if he desires to be heard.
[20/99]
(8) In the case of wakafs created before 1st August 1999, every application for registration shall be made within 6 months from that date; and in the case of wakafs created after that date, within 6 months from the date of the creation of the wakaf.
[20/99]
(9) The Majlis shall maintain a register of wakafs in such manner as the Majlis may think fit, including in electronic form in a computer, in which shall be entered such particulars as the Majlis may from time to time determine.
[20/99]
(10) The Majlis may itself cause a wakaf to be registered or may at any time amend the register of wakafs.
[20/99]
(11) Any mutawalli of a wakaf who fails to —
(a)
apply for the registration of the wakaf;
(b)
furnish statements of particulars as required under this section;
(c)
supply information or particulars as required by the Majlis;
(d)
allow inspection of wakaf properties, accounts, records or deeds and documents relating to the wakaf;
(e)
deliver possession of any wakaf property, if ordered by the Majlis;
(f)
carry out the directions of the Majlis; or
(g)
do any other act which he is lawfully required to do by or under this section,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
[20/99]
(12) The Majlis may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules to provide —
(a)
for the preparation of annual statements of accounts, reports and returns by the mutawallis of wakafs and for their submission to the Majlis;
(b)
for the payment of fees for the inspection of, and extraction from, the register of wakafs; and
(c)
generally for giving full effect to or for carrying out the purposes of this section.
[20/99]
65.
—(1) The Majlis shall prepare and submit to the Minister not later than 31st October in each year estimates of all income and expenditure of the Majlis, including therein estimates of all property receivable and disposable in kind, in respect of the ensuing year.
[14/90; 20/99]
(2) The Minister may approve such estimates or may direct that they be amended.
(3) Upon such approval or amendment the estimates shall be published in the Gazette.
(4) The Majlis may at any time submit to the Minister supplementary estimates of expenditure in respect of the current year, or, at any time prior to 31st March in any year, in respect of the preceding year, and such estimates may be approved or amended, and shall be published in like manner as the annual estimates.
[14/90; 20/99]
6(5) No money shall be expended, or property disposed of in kind, except in accordance with such estimates and upon a voucher signed by the President, the Vice-President or by any member of the Majlis nominated by the President.
[14/90]
6 This subsection will be amended as set out in section 9 of the Administration of Muslim Law (Amendment) Act 2005 (Act 35 of 2005) when that section is brought into operation.
66. All costs, charges and expenses of administering the property and assets vested in the Majlis, including the cost of maintenance and repair of any immovable property, shall be paid out of the property and assets of the Fund.
67. The Majlis shall appoint bankers to be approved by the Minister and may operate such account or accounts as may seem proper.
[20/99]
68.
—(1) The Majlis shall have power to collect zakat and fitrah payable in Singapore in accordance with the Muslim law.
(2) The power under subsection (1) shall not be exercised by the Majlis until a resolution to that effect has been passed by the Majlis and approved by the President of Singapore.
(3) On the publication in the Gazette of the resolution referred to in subsection (2) and subject to the provisions of the Muslim law, it shall be obligatory on all Muslims in Singapore to pay zakat and fitrah in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any zakat or fitrah collected shall be disposed of by the Majlis in accordance with the Muslim law.
69.
—(1) The Majlis, with the approval of the Minister, may make rules for and regulate all matters in connection with the collection, administration and distribution of zakat and fitrah.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Majlis may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules —
(a)
to prescribe from time to time the amount of zakat and fitrah to be paid by all Muslims in Singapore;
(b)
to provide for the method by which zakat and fitrah shall be collected;
(c)
for the appointment of agents and officers for the collection of zakat and fitrah; and
(d)
to provide penalties for the collection or payment of zakat and fitrah by or to unauthorised persons.
70.
—(1) Any person may make objection to the Majlis against any demand for payment by him of zakat and fitrah.
(2) The Majlis shall consider such objection and may order that such person shall pay the amount of zakat and fitrah demanded from him, or such lesser amount as to the Majlis shall seem proper or may order that such person shall not be liable in any one or more years to pay zakat and fitrah or either.
71.
—(1) The Majlis may collect, or may grant licences to any person or body of persons, authorising him or them to collect moneys or other contributions for any charitable purpose for the support and promotion of the Muslim religion or for the benefit of Muslims in accordance with the Muslim law, and may by any such licence impose such terms as it may think fit.
(2) It shall be deemed to be a term of every such licence that the grantee thereof and every other person authorised thereby to collect moneys or other contributions shall —
(a)
issue in respect of every sum so collected a serially numbered receipt in the prescribed form;
(b)
keep true and full accounts of all sums so collected and of the disposal thereof with all proper vouchers;
(c)
produce on demand the counterfoils of such receipts and all such accounts and vouchers for inspection and audit by the Majlis; and
(d)
apply and dispose of all sums so collected in accordance with the terms of such licence or, if no method of disposal thereof be thereby expressly authorised, pay and account for the same to the Majlis.
(3) Moneys collected in pursuance of this section may be applied for a specific purpose if the Majlis shall so direct, but shall, in default of any such direction, be added to and form part of the Fund.
(4) No person shall make or take part in any collection of money for any purpose mentioned in this section except with the express authority of the Majlis or by virtue and in pursuance of a licence granted under subsection (1).
72. The financial provisions set out in the First Schedule shall apply to the Majlis.
[14/90]
73. The financial provisions set out in the Second Schedule shall apply to all mosques and all properties, investments and assets vested in the Majlis subject to any trust, wakaf or nazar which do not form part of the Fund.
[20/99]