SERVICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AUQAF IN THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIZATIONAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE: A RESEARCH REVIEW

Abstract

The Department of Auqaf and Religious Affairs, Punjab, stands as one of Pakistan’s most pivotal state institutions entrusted with the preservation and promotion of Islamic civilizational and cultural heritage. Established in 1960 under the Waqf Properties Ordinance 1959, and subsequently restructured in 1994 and 2002, the Department has evolved into a multidimensional entity managing over 537 mosques, 400 Sufi shrines, 75 madaris, and several research and educational institutions including the Ulema Academy, Markaz Maarif-e-Auliya, and the Punjab Quran Board. This study undertakes a comprehensive post-doctoral level analysis of the Department’s institutional mechanisms, policy frameworks, and operational interventions aimed at safeguarding tangible and intangible Islamic heritage across Punjab — a region historically central to Indo-Muslim civilization. The research highlights the Department’s custodianship of sacred relics (tibrakat-e-muqaddasa), its role in regulating Quranic publications, standardizing curricula across sectarian lines through the Mutahidda Ulema Board, and fostering inter-sectarian harmony via the Ittehad Bain al-Muslimin Committee. Furthermore, the paper examines the Department’s academic contributions through journals like “Maarif-e-Auliya” — recognized by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission — and its organization of national and international conferences on Sufism and Sirah. The study also evaluates challenges including administrative fragmentation, resource constraints, politicization of religious spaces, and balancing preservation with modernization. Employing qualitative and archival methodologies, this research positions the Department not merely as a bureaucratic entity but as a cultural steward actively shaping the contours of Islamic identity, spiritual continuity, and civilizational memory in contemporary Pakistan. Ultimately, the paper argues that the Department of Auqaf Punjab serves as a unique model of state-led cultural preservation in the Muslim world — one that integrates theological authenticity, historical consciousness, and socio-political pragmatism to sustain Islamic heritage against the tides of globalization, sectarianism, and cultural erosion.