Integrating Productive Waqf and Business Incubators
A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Thailand
Keywords:
productive waqf, business incubator, Islamic entrepreneurship, Islamic boarding schoolsAbstract
Productive waqf has turned into a very effective and strategic method to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development. However, there is still a lack of integration of productive waqf with business incubators in Islamic boarding schools, which has limited their development potential. This research project is aimed at creating a productive waqf-business incubator integrated model through the use of a comparative case study of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia and Thailand. To obtain data, a qualitative method was adopted, and it involved carrying out in-depth interviews, observation of participants, focus group discussions, and content analysis of documents together with waqf nazirs, school leaders, student entrepreneurs, Islamic finance experts, and policy-makers. The results showed that both countries consider a productive waqf to be an effective tool for entrepreneurship; they just have a different way of governing structures, institutional support, entrepreneurial culture, and partnership with Islamic financial institutions. Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia seem to carry out a more effective business incubation program with better governance, whereas the benefits from greater community involvement, however, are not supported by the regulation to its fullest extent. Based on these results, the paper presents a combined picture, called “five pillars”, with waqf governance, entrepreneurial education, business incubation, Islamic financial support, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. The integrated model is intended to enhance an Islamic entrepreneurial ecosystem through increasing the entrepreneurial capacity, supporting the development of entrepreneurs, and making the socioeconomic impact of productive waqfs greater.
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