Brain for Future: Paying it forward with waqf for education

During her final year at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), accounting student Halimaton Mohamad had only one thing in her mind: to complete her academic paper on waqf, the Islamic approach to endowment. She was keen on unearthing the meaning behind the idea, and devising practical applications based on the concept. It was a subject close to her heart not only because it’s within her field of study, but also because she herself has benefitted from the system.

Growing up within modest upbringing in Gemencheh, Negeri Sembilan, life was never smooth-sailing for 30-year-old Halimaton. The third daughter of four siblings comes from a family who was within the low income bracket, but never sees it as a limitation for her to progress. Thanks to endowments, she was able to pursue her studies at Maahad Ahmadi, Negeri Sembilan and later on, IIUM. The experience left a lasting impact on her, and she was adamant on paying it forward.

An extended research

In 2012, Halimaton completed her studies at IIUM. While the academic paper she was working on met all the requirements to graduate, she was nowhere near satisfied with stopping there. Upon graduation, she began working as a financial analyst and not having the opportunity to concentrate on waqf as a career, Halimaton proceeded to form an independent group comprised of passionate individuals to pursue the research on the side.

Halimaton reached out and returned to her alma mater and met Amin Idris and Salwani Muhamad who were undergraduates in Economics and Business Administration respectively. At work, she met Azreen Hasnudin who has legal background and shares the same passion. Collectively, the team seemed to have all it takes to push their case ahead. Drive and motivation, however, can only take you so far. Several hurdles got in the way, and the research project had to be shelved… which gave birth to another project: Brain for Future (BFF).

Modelled after the endowment system at Oxford and Al-Azhar Universities, BFF began in 2015 as a 1-year financial assistance programme for university students in need, in the form of monthly allowance. Funding is sought from corporate and individual benefactors, and students are identified through collaborations with public universities. Beginning from living allowance support, BFF grew to also cover tuition fees. In its first year, seven students were selected to be a part of the programme with their academic results closely monitored to ensure and measure effectiveness.

The initiative also began around the time where reports of students suffering from extreme financial challenges rocked the nation. It was a situation that Halimaton herself observed when she was a student.

“I had a friend who ate the same meal every day: noodles in salt water,” she said.

“It was a condition that I could not see continuing, and I knew I had to do something about,” she added.

Expanding the network

The first year of BFF provided the team with encouraging results, both in terms of funding and academic performance. Over RM 27,000 were successfully collected for 37 students of all races and religions -- a commendable achievement for a pilot programme. In 2016, over 400 applications were received with 60 students admitted into the programme. There was, however, the small issue of money.

“The number of applications ballooned in the second year, and it was indeed overwhelming. Not to mention that by the time the application window closed, we have to yet to collect a single cent!” said Halimaton. 

Through intense outreach and determination, BFF managed to serve the selected students and proceeded to their third year. Their network of volunteers concurrently grew with social influencer Syed Azmi chipping in to lend his expertise and experience. In 2017, the programme progressed into a more matured and selective initiative which focused its selection into third and final year students only, with 65% of them showing improvements in CGPA.

While their network and reach grew, the BFF team shrank from a maximum of nine, to its current size of four. 

“Work and life commitments came calling, and there is little that you can do about it,” said Amin, BFF Team Coordinator who is now serving in the public sector.

“As we are all doing this on a part-time basis, not to mention our family, work and study commitments, there is a balancing act that needs to take place. But the passion keeps on fuelling us,” added the Kuala Lipis native.

Moving forward

When asked about her aspirations for BFF, Halimaton mentioned Big Society Capital, a UK non-profit that aims to “improve the lives of people by connecting social investment to charities and social enterprises”. The ambition signals her desire in scaling up BFF into a nationwide initiative. They are heading in the right direction. From their initial focus on higher learning institutions in the Klang Valley only, BFF have now expanded their wings to serve universities in the East Coast as well.

BFF are currently exploring opportunities to expand their scope to also include mentoring and career advisory, through the matching of experience professionals with aspiring graduates. On the collaboration front, BFF are talking to major entities from the private and public sectors to initiate potential partnerships in strengthening their foundation and network as a non-profit. Together with the drive and energy that they project, collaborating with the private and public sectors has the potential for something powerful and sustainable.

Looks like Halimaton’s research on waqf hasn’t entirely gone to the shelves after all.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/brainforfuture/