Waqf Amendment Act, 2025: Reform, Resistance, And The Future Of Waqf Governance In India
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 17
- 1 min read
Mohd Shaan, B.A.LL.B., Batch: (2021-2026), Fairfield Institute of Management & Technology, Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi
ABSTRACT
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 also known as UMEED (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) Act introduces significant changes in the governance and administration of Waqf properties in India. The primary goal of the Act is to ensure transparency, efficiency, and dispute resolution. The Act ensures the inclusion of non-Muslim members in both the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards. It authorizes Survey Commissioner for the surveys in place of District collector and removes the concept of “Waqf by User”, which ensures that only officially registered properties can be treated as Waqf. Furthermore, it allows government-owned lands which previously declared as Waqf to be restored or reclaimed and provides the provision to challenge the decisions of the Waqf Tribunals in High courts. While the government is exhibiting these amendments as a tool for modernization and accountability. But on the other side it triggers legal and political controversies because of religious autonomy, potential dispossession, and erosion of Muslim community rights.
