Social Capital, Accountability, and Rural Waqf Governance: A Proposed Model for Sustainable Community-Based Waqf Management

Abstract

Existing studies on waqf governance have largely emphasized professionalization, formal accountability, and institutional strengthening, while giving limited attention to how governance is practiced in rural settings where social relationships remain central. This study examines how waqf governance operates in rural communities through socially embedded mechanisms of trust, social capital, and community participation. Using an interpretive qualitative case study in Woka Jaya Village, East Halmahera, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. The findings reveal that rural waqf governance is sustained through social capital manifested in trust, religious leadership, mutual cooperation (ta'awun), deliberation, and community-based supervision. These mechanisms enable local assets, including waqf land, coconut plantation yields, and voluntary labor, to be transformed into sustainable religious and social benefits while maintaining downward accountability through direct communication and public deliberation. However, dependence on personal relationships and practices creates challenges related to documentation, leadership succession, and institutional continuity. Based on these findings, this study proposes an Integrated Social Capital-Based Rural Waqf Governance Model consisting of six interconnected dimensions: spiritual values, social capital, nazhir legitimacy, local asset transformation, downward accountability, and institutional reinforcement. The study emphasizes that sustainable rural waqf governance requires the integration of community-based social mechanisms with modern governance practices, including asset legalization, financial reporting, nazhir professionalization, and gradual adoption of digital accounting systems.