Waqf
وقفAn Islamic charitable endowment, in which an asset is held permanently for a stated purpose. Much of the land near the two mosques is waqf and cannot be sold, which is why some towers there offer a right of use for a term instead of ownership. Transfers to the state or to a waqf are zero-rated for the non-Saudi fee.
Also called endowment · Updated 6 July 2026
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Where you meet it
- What Clock Tower buyers gotFreehold or usufruct in Makkah and Madinah
- The non-Saudi ownership feeWhat it costs to buy in Makkah and Madinah
Related words
- Usufruct
- A right to use a property for a fixed term (to live in it, let it or sell the right on) while the title stays with its owner.
- RETT exemption
- Transactions the RETT Law leaves out of the tax, such as certain transfers between close relatives, to a waqf, or as part of an inheritance.
Sources
National Law Review — implementing regulations · 6 Jul 2026
Zero-rated cases for the non-Saudi fee include estate division, court orders, donations to the state or waqf, resale to the original owner within 180 days, co-owner partition, and developer unit sales within the licence period plus one year.General Authority for Awqaf — King Abdulaziz Endowment
The Abraj Al Bait complex stands on land King Fahd endowed as the King Abdulaziz Endowment for the Two Holy Mosques, developed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with a use term of 35 Hijri years.
Where each fact above comes from, with the source’s own date where it gives one.