Awqaf Authority
Synonyms: General Authority for Awqaf، GAA، Saudi Awqaf Authority، Endowments Authority
Last updated: 2026-09-25
Short Definition
The General Authority for Awqaf (GAA) is a Saudi public authority with independent legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy, established by a law issued by Royal Decree No. (M/11) dated 26/2/1437H to regulate, protect and develop endowments (waqfs) in line with their founders' conditions.
Overview
Legal Basis
General Authority for Awqaf Law issued by Royal Decree No. (M/11) dated 26/2/1437H and Council of Ministers Resolution No. (73) dated 25/2/1437H: Article 2 establishes the Authority's status and autonomy; Article 4 gives it supervision over all public, private and joint waqfs; Article 5 sets its functions, including registering all waqfs after documentation, acting as nazir where no other nazir is named and supervising nazirs; and Article 19 allows it a share not exceeding 10% of the net annual income of waqfs for which it is nazir. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs keeps administrative oversight of the activity of endowed mosques whose founders appointed nazirs.
Practical Example
Twenty years ago a man endowed three villas in Jeddah for 'charitable works' without naming a nazir, and after his death his relatives disagreed over how to run them. One of them approached the General Authority for Awqaf, which found that the waqf was registered with it and had no nazir, so the Authority took over as nazir: it inventoried the properties, leased them under documented contracts and achieved net annual income of SAR 400,000. It deducted the share set by its board within the statutory ceiling (at most 10%, i.e. no more than SAR 40,000) and spent the rest on charitable purposes under the founder's condition. In another waqf of the same family that had a named nazir, the Authority's role was limited to reviewing the annual accounting report and giving advice, without interfering in the nazir's decisions.
Common Mistakes
- ✗Thinking the Authority deals only with public waqfs, when its supervision also covers family and joint waqfs.
- ✗Assuming the Authority interferes in every nazir's decisions, whereas for waqfs with their own nazir its role is supervisory without taking over the trusteeship.
- ✗Failing to register the waqf with the Authority after documentation, losing the benefits of exemptions and proof before government bodies.
- ✗Raising donations to create a public or joint waqf without obtaining the Authority's required approval.
- ✗Not preparing annual accounting reports for the waqf, although the Authority's review of them is central to its oversight and protects the nazir too.
International Differences
Models of waqf administration differ by country. In many Muslim countries a ministry of awqaf manages and acts as trustee directly, as in Egypt where the Ministry of Awqaf and the Egyptian Awqaf Authority run charitable waqfs. The UAE has awqaf bodies at both federal and emirate level. In Turkey, the General Directorate of Foundations manages historic waqfs and supervises modern foundations. The Saudi model is distinctive in separating supervisory oversight of all waqfs from direct trusteeship, which the Authority takes on only when no nazir has been named, while treating the founder's conditions as the governing rule.
