The

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

title ''nāẓir'' (ناظر, tr, nazır) refers to an overseer in a general sense. In

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, it is the normal term for the administrator of a ''

waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...

'' (charitable endowment). The office or territory of a ''nāẓir'' is a nazirate. According to al-Qābisī, writing in the tenth century, the pagan ruler of Tadmakka appointed a superintendent, which al-Qābisī calls a ''nāẓir'', from among the Muslims living in his land to oversee them. This was probably a common arrangement in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

and

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cl ...

regions. The title was used in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

for the heads of government departments and agencies before it adopted a modern cabinet system. It was synonymous with inspector, supervisor or controller. In Egypt it may also be used for the directors or managers of commercial enterprises.Richard Hill, ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Sudan'' (Frank Cass, 1967), p. xiii. In the

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

, the title ''nāẓir al-khuṭṭ'' was used for the official in charge of a subdivision of a district. Usually he was a tribal head. ''Nāẓir ʿumūm'' was a traditional and usually hereditary Sudanese title for the head of a tribal confederation. It was only infrequently recognised by the Anglo-Egyptian government, but it was used for lower-level salaried officials in the Jazīra. As a traditional Sudanese title, ''nāẓir'' may be an Arabic rendering of the originally

Funj The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern ...

titles ''mānjil'' and ''manfona''. One of the ''nāẓir'''s duties was to administer uncultivated land (''qifār'') within the tribal homeland (''dār'').Jay Spaulding (1979), "Farmers, Herdsmen and the State in Rainland Sinnār", ''The Journal of African History'', 20 (3), 329–47 . The language of these Funj titles is unknown.

References

{{reflist Arabic words and phrases Political titles