New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind President Syed Sadatullah Husaini issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s interim order on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, saying the order has exposed major constitutional flaws in the Act and curbed some of the government’s most arbitrary provisions. The community appreciates the interim protections granted, particularly against executive interference in Waqf properties and the suspension of impractical conditions such as the five-year Islam requirement. At the same time, key concerns remain unaddressed, especially the abolition of Waqf by user. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind expressed confidence that these issues will be corrected in the final judgment and reaffirmed its resolve to continue the legal and democratic struggle until full justice is secured.
Mr. Husaini said: “The Court has struck down the sweeping powers earlier vested in Collectors and Designated Officers to unilaterally treat Waqf properties as government land even before judicial determination. This confirms our stand that the Act attempted to give the executive powers which belong to the judiciary, violating the basic constitutional principle of separation of powers. The Court’s order is a clear rebuke to this attempt at undue interference in Waqf management and a validation of the community’s concerns.”
On the clause that required a person to prove five years of Islamic practice before being allowed to create a Waqf, the JIH President stated: “The stay of this provision again upholds our position. We had consistently argued that it was discriminatory, arbitrary and impractical. The Court’s intervention demonstrates that such unconstitutional clauses cannot withstand judicial scrutiny. We now expect that the final order will strike it down completely.”
On the issue of ongoing disputes, Mr. Husaini said: “The Court has restrained the authorities from altering revenue records or derecognising Waqf properties during the pendency of disputes. This prevents arbitrary dispossession and protects the constitutional right of minorities to manage their endowments until a competent court or Tribunal gives a final verdict. This again validates our position that the government was seeking to bypass due process.”
However, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind noted that several serious issues remain to be addressed in the final hearing. Mr. Husaini remarked: “The provision abolishing Waqf by user continues to endanger thousands of historic mosques, graveyards and Eidgahs which were established and maintained for centuries without formal deeds. We have always maintained that this principle is essential in a country like India, where countless religious institutions of all communities exist without documentation. We hope that the Court will uphold this in the final order.”
He also pointed to the impracticality of the short deadline for registration of all Waqfs under the new Act: “Such a requirement is unrealistic in a vast country like India where many institutions are old, rural, and undocumented. To impose an unworkable time-bound registration will only open the door for harassment and large-scale exclusion of genuine Waqfs. This concern must be remedied in the final judgment.”
On the Court’s interim restriction of non-Muslim membership in Waqf institutions, Mr. Husaini said: “Ensuring Muslim majority in Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council is important, but the very logic behind non-Muslim membership is flawed. The claim that administrative efficiency or state oversight cannot be ensured by Muslim members themselves is unjustified and discriminatory. To impose non-Muslim members in a religious endowment body implies mistrust of the community and is a form of intrusion. Such measures are not applied to the institutions of other religious communities, and therefore this provision remains unacceptable.”
The statement concluded by reiterating that this is only an interim order and the legal battle is far from over. “The order proves that the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, suffers from serious constitutional flaws. Some of them have already been exposed by this judgment, and others will, we believe, be addressed in the final hearing. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, together with other organisations, will continue its legal and democratic struggle until this unconstitutional law is fully overturned. We once again urge the government to immediately withdraw the Act in light of constitutional principles and community concerns.”
