Hassan Al -Sitry
The Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Al -Muslim referred to the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee the proposal with a desire to establish the Supreme Endowment Council.
This proposal aims to establish the Supreme Council of Endowments as a supreme supervisory body concerned with managing and organizing endowment affairs in Bahrain, in order to achieve the following goals and considerations: unifying endowment policies and raising operational efficiency through setting unified policies organizing the Endowment Administration in an integrated manner, which reduces administrative complications and bureaucratic procedures that lead to delaying the implementation of endowment projects and increasing their cost, while respecting differences Jurisprudence, between Islamic schools of thought, also aims to reduce operational costs by overseeing departments and unifying procedures, which contributes to reducing unnecessary expenses and increasing the efficiency of endowment spending.
The proposal aims to enhance governance and transparency in the Endowment Administration, ensure its use efficiently to serve the community, separate the endowments from the sectarian names and adopt a unified approach that reflects the national identity of Bahrain similar to the designations adopted in the Family Law, Sharia courts, the Zakat Fund, the advancement of the level of services provided to mosques and endowment facilities in terms of maintenance and management, effective investment of resources, And achieving administrative integration between the various endowments and enhancing coordination between them, achieving the highest levels of transparency and oversight in the Endowment Administration, enhancing the financial sustainability of endowments through investing in modern and effective ways, ensuring better services for mosques and endowment facilities in terms of maintenance and management, and enhancing the Bahraini national identity through the accreditation of a unified name that reflects the unity of Bahraini society/ endowment investment to achieve the highest return that benefits the society.
The explanatory note of the proposal stated that the endowment system was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1927, during the reign of the late Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, and since then, the endowments have played a prominent role in supporting mosques, financing charitable projects, and organizing endowment affairs to serve Bahraini society. With the passage of 100 years since the establishment of this system, it became necessary to develop the administrative structure of endowments and enhance its efficiency in proportion to the requirements of the times.
The proposal included that the organizational structure of the Supreme Council of Endowments be as follows: Chairman of the Supreme Council of Endowments, Secretary -General of the Supreme Council of Endowments, and to be responsible for planning and general supervision of the work of the Council, and the Sunni Endowments Administration, and it is responsible for the Sunni Endowments Administration in accordance with the legal and administrative controls, and the Jaafari Endowments Administration, and it is responsible for the Jaafari Endowments Department within a unified organizational framework, and the administration of affairs Legal and regulatory, and it is responsible for legal supervision and ensuring compliance with regulations and legislation, and the management and endowment services, and is concerned with the maintenance of mosques and endowment buildings efficiently.
The applicants indicated the deputies, Muhammad Al -Balushi, Khaled Bouak, Hisham Al -Awadi, Jalal Kazem and Hassan Ibrahim, that the establishment of the Supreme Endowment Council represents a strategic step towards strengthening the role of endowments in the service of Bahraini society, achieving administrative integration, and ensuring transparency and financial sustainability to be a qualitative addition that reflects the aspirations of Bahraini society.
