Al-Budair inaugurates the introductory meeting on the Sharia guide for developmental housing associations

His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Engineer Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Budair, today launched the introductory meeting on the Sharia guide for developmental housing associations in cooperation with the Ma’wa Association for Social Services, which aims to contribute to preparing a reference for the jurisprudential rulings related to developmental housing associations and to raise the level of Sharia awareness among donors and founders in the developmental housing sector, in the presence of His Excellency the Advisor at the Royal Court and member of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Professor Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Mutlaq, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ma’wa Association for Social Services, Ayed bin Farhan Al-Qahtani.

The Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing expressed his delight at this meeting, noting that developmental housing is one of the programs that enjoys the attention and keenness of the wise leadership - may God support them - for its role in raising ownership rates to 70% in accordance with the objectives of the housing program - one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030 - and its contribution to achieving family stability and improving the quality of life for the most needy families in society.

Al-Budair pointed out that developmental housing aims to meet the needs of eligible families for suitable housing and to benefit from it, in partnership and integration with the non-profit sector, represented by civil institutions and associations, due to their pivotal and important roles, which are represented by their proximity to the most needy families and their knowledge of the details of each family’s needs individually, as well as the presence of associations and their wide spread in all cities and governorates of the Kingdom.

His Excellency noted the blessed efforts made by the Ma’wa Association for Social Services, given its distinguished experience in the developmental housing sector, as it issued the Sharia guide for developmental housing associations, which contains a number of Sharia issues and insights related to the financial and legal transactions needed by those working in this sector. This guide has also been approved by a number of specialists from among the scholars of high rank and virtue who are interested in the jurisprudence of financial transactions and the work of the non-profit sector.

He added: “The Ministry, for its part, seeks to stimulate the non-profit sector by supporting the establishment of specialized housing associations and providing them with support and empowerment, as well as implementing programs to boost the capabilities of existing associations in accordance with governed procedures and methods and working institutionally to increase the number of specialized associations and activate their role in society more, and expand their developmental fields to contribute to achieving sustainable development and an effective social impact with tangible results.

For his part, the official spokesperson for the “Ma’wa” Association for Social Services, Youssef Al-Fardous, confirmed that the association sought to provide a social contribution in implementing many developmental housing projects after preparing studies that help direct its programs to the most needy segments of society, in areas where the public benefit is maximized, in fulfillment of what was stated in the Saudi Vision 2030, which indicated the need to raise the percentage of the contribution of the non-profit sector in various fields, including the field of housing, stressing that the guide received an in-depth review by a number of people with scientific, technical, engineering, financial and charitable specializations related to developmental housing.

The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing for the Third Sector and Community Participation, Ahmed Al-Qaraawi, the Executive Director of the Ma’wa Association, Engineer Mohammed Al-Samman, the Head of the Scientific Team, Professor Dr. Abdullah Al-Omrani, and Dr. Khaled Al-Sayari, representing Al-Sayari Law Firm and Legal Consultations, in addition to the participation of a representative of Qim Law Firm and a representative of Sumou Al-Mujtama’a Company.