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A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or '' mortmain'' property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under
Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. A charitable trust may hold the donated assets. The person making such dedication is known as a ('donor') who uses a ''mutawalli'' ('trustee') to manage the property in exchange for a share of the revenues it generates. A waqf allows the state to provide social services in accordance with Islamic law while contributing to the preservation of cultural and historical sites. Although the system depended on several
hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
s and presented elements similar to practices from pre-Islamic cultures, it seems that the specific full-fledged Islamic legal form of endowment called dates from the 9th century CE (see below).


Terminology

In Sunni jurisprudence, , also spelled (; plural , ; ) is synonymous with (, also called or and commonly rendered in French). ''Habs'' and similar terms are used mainly by
Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...
jurists. In Twelver Shiism, is a particular type of , in which the founder reserves the right to dispose of the property. The person making the grant is called (or ) while the endowed assets are called (or ). In older English-language law-related works in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, the word used for was ''vakouf''; the word, also present in such French works, was used during the time of the Ottoman Empire, and is from the Turkish .


Definition

The term literally means 'confinement and prohibition', or causing a thing to stop or stand still. According to Islamic law, once an asset has been donated as ''waqf'' it cannot be sold, transferred or given as a gift. Once a ''waqif'' has verbally or in writing declared a ''waqf'' property, it is legally conceived as the property of Allah and must be used to "fulfill public or family needs" as a charitable social service. A ''waqf'' property can fall into one of two categories: movable or immovable. A 'movable' asset includes money or shares which are used to finance educational, religious or cultural institutions such as ''madrasahs'' (Islamic schools) or ''mosques''. The ''madrasahs'' and ''mosques'' themselves are an example of an 'immovable' asset which refers to land or structures open for public use. An important function of the latter is also to provide shelter and community spaces to the poor, also known as the ''mawquf 'alayh'' (beneficiaries). Bahaeddin Yediyıldız defines as a system comprising three elements: , , and . , the plural form of , means 'goodnesses' and refers to the motivational factor behind the organization; refers to corpus and literally means 'real estates,' implying revenue-generating sources such as markets (, , , etc.), land, and baths; and , in its narrow sense, is the institution(s) providing services as committed in the deed, such as , public kitchens (), , mosques, libraries, etc. Generally, the must fulfill three primary constraints: # The one endowing the , and its subsequent maintainers, should sequester the principal and allocate the proceeds to charity. # The endowment should legally be removed from commodification, such that it is no longer on the market. # Its sole purpose must be charitable, and the beneficiary group must be named.


Origin in Islamic texts

Although there is no direct Quranic injunction regarding , it can be inferred from Surah Al-i'-Imran (3:92): "You will never achieve righteousness until you donate some of what you cherish. And whatever you give is certainly well known to Allah." Their formal conception in Islamic society has been derived from a number of
hadiths Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
. It is said that during the time of Muhammad, after the
Hijrah The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the e ...
, the first was composed of a grove of 600 date palms. The proceeds of this were meant to feed Medina's poor.Khan, 2020, "Reviving the Waqf Tradition: Moral Imagination and the Structural Causes of Poverty"

In one tradition, it is said that: "Ibn Umar reported, Umar, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab got land in
Khaybar KhaybarOther Arabic transliteration, standardized Arabic transliterations: / . Anglicized pronunciation: , . (, ) is an oasis in Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province, Saudi Arabia, situated some north of the city of Medina. Prior to ...
, so he came to
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
and asked him to advise him about it. Muhammad said, 'If you like, make the property inalienable and give the profit from it to charity.' It goes on to say that Umar gave it away as alms, that the land itself would not be sold, inherited, or donated. He gave it away for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
, the travelers, and the guests. It will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of its yield in an appropriate manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it." In another hadith, Muhammad said, "When a man dies, only three deeds will survive him: continuing alms, profitable knowledge, and a child praying for him."


Life cycle


Founding

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
places several legal conditions on the process of establishing a .


Founder

A is a contract; therefore, the founder (called or in Arabic) must be capable of entering into a contract. For this, the founder must: * be an
adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...
* be sound of mind * be capable of handling financial affairs * not be under interdiction for bankruptcy Although is an Islamic institution, being a Muslim is not required to establish a , and may establish a . Finally, if a person is fatally ill, the is subject to the same restrictions as a will in Islam.


Characteristics of a waqf

* The waqf must be established by someone who is legally capable of disposing of their property, which means they must be an adult of sound mind and a responsible person. It cannot be done by a minor, an insane person, or someone lacking legal capacity. * The person establishing the waqf (the waqif) must designate a specific beneficiary or recipient for the waqf, such as a mosque, a specific individual, or an institution. It cannot be left in his or her discretion. * The waqf should not be subject to any conditions, hanging or temporary clauses, or be contingent on certain events, like the option to revoke it. * The waqif (the one establishing the waqf) should not include any conditions that are contrary to the essential conditions, like a condition that allows them to sell or gift the endowed property whenever they wish, or a condition that grants them personal choice or discretion over it. * The waqf should be of a virtuous and moral nature, reflecting what is ethical and righteous, and it should not support or be associated with corrupt or unethical activities. It should be established with the intention of promoting goodness and benefiting society. * The property being endowed in the waqf should either be owned by the waqif (the person establishing the waqf) or acquired with the waqif's own funds. It should not involve borrowed money or property that the waqif does not own outright.


Waqfiyya (endowment document)

Each waqf is supposed to be recorded in an endowment deed, called a waqfiyya. Waqfiyyas follow "Islamic legal and fiscal-geographical conventions." They include the names of the property, the endowed fraction (in 24–qarats), and additional descriptions, most often delimitation of their boundary.


Women's contribution to the system

Some of the founders of Ottoman were women, with their establishments having a crucial impact on their communities' economic life. Out of 30,000 certificates documented by the GDPFA ( General Directorate of Pious Foundation in Ankara), over 2,300 of them were registered to institutions that belonged to women. Of the 491 public fountains in Istanbul that were constructed during the Ottoman period and survived until the 1930s, nearly 30% of them were registered under that belonged to women.


Property

The property (called or ) used to found a must be objects of a valid contract. The objects should not themselves be
haram ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...
(e.g.
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
or
pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...
). These objects should not already be in the public domain: public property cannot be used to establish a waqf. The founder cannot also have pledged the property previously to someone else. These conditions are generally true for contracts in Islam. The property dedicated to is generally immovable, such as an estate. All movable goods can also form , according to most Islamic jurists. The Hanafis, however, also allow most movable goods to be dedicated to a with some restrictions. Some jurists have argued that even gold and silver (or other currency) can be designated as . Documents listing endowments (waqfiyyas) often include the name of the endower, the listed property or fiscal unit, the endowed fraction (in 24- qarats), and a description of its boundary. The boundary descriptions start in Islamic direction of prayer and go
counterclockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions or senses of rotation. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands relative to the observer: from the top to the right, then down and then to ...
by listing different
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
elements. Endowment deeds most often include the conditions of the endowment and its administration.


Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the can be individuals and public utilities. The founder can specify which persons are eligible for benefits (such as the founder's family, the entire community, only the poor, travelers). Public utilities such as mosques, schools, bridges, graveyards, and drinking fountains can be the beneficiaries of a . Modern legislation divides the into "charitable causes," where the beneficiaries are the public or the poor, and "family" , where the founder designates their relatives as beneficiaries. There can also be multiple beneficiaries. For example, the founder may stipulate that half the proceeds go to their family, while the other half goes to the poor. Valid beneficiaries must satisfy the following conditions: * They must be identifiable. At least some of the beneficiaries must also exist at the time of the founding of the . The Mālikīs, however, hold that a may exist for some time without beneficiaries, and the proceeds accumulated are given to beneficiaries once they come into existence. An example of a non-existent beneficiary is an unborn child. * The beneficiaries must not be at war with the Muslims. Scholars stress that non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic state () can definitely be beneficiaries. * The beneficiaries may not use the for a purpose in contradiction of Islamic principles. There is dispute over whether the founder themselves can reserve exclusive rights to use . Most scholars agree that once the is founded, it cannot be taken back. The Ḥanafīs hold that the list of beneficiaries includes a perpetual element; the must specify its beneficiaries in case.Waḳf, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''


Declaration of founding

The declaration of founding is usually a written document, accompanied by a verbal declaration, though neither are required by most scholars. Whatever the declaration, most scholars (those of the Hanafi, Shafi'i, some of the
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
and the Imami Shi'a schools) hold that it is not binding and irrevocable until actually delivered to the beneficiaries or put to their use. Once in their use, however, the becomes an institution in its own right.


Administration

Usually, a has a range of beneficiaries. Thus, the founder makes arrangements beforehand by appointing an administrator (called or or ) and lays down the rules for appointing successive administrators. The founder may choose to administer the during their lifetime. In some cases, however, the number of beneficiaries is quite limited. Thus, there is no need for an administrator, and the beneficiaries themselves can take care of the . The administrator, like other persons of responsibility under Islamic law, must have the capacity to act and contract. In addition, trustworthiness and administrative skills are required. Some scholars require that the administrator of this Islamic religious institution be a Muslim, though the
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
s drop this requirement.


Extinction

A is intended to be perpetual and last forever. Nevertheless, Islamic law envisages conditions under which the may be terminated: * If the goods of the are destroyed or damaged. Scholars interpret this as the case where goods are no longer used in the manner intended by the founder. The remains of the goods are to revert to the founder or their heirs. Other scholars, however, hold that all possibilities must be examined to see if the goods of the can be used at all, exhausting all methods of exploitation before termination. Thus, land, according to such jurists, can never become extinguished. * A can be declared null and void by the , or religious judge, if its formation includes committing acts otherwise illegal in Islam, or it does not satisfy the conditions of validity, or if it is against the notion of philanthropy. Since is an Islamic institution, it becomes void if the founder converts to another religion. * According to the Mālikī school of thought, the termination of the may be specified in its founding declaration. As the would expire whenever its termination conditions are fulfilled (e.g., the last beneficiary). The property then reverts to the founder or to their heirs.


History and location

The practices attributed to Muhammad have promoted the institution of from the earliest part of Islamic history. The two oldest known (deed) documents are from the 9th century, while a third one dates from the early 10th century, all three within the Abbasid Period. The oldest dated goes back to 876 CE and concerns a multi-volume edition of the Qur'an currently held by the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. A possibly older is a papyrus held by the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
Museum in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, with no written date but considered to be from the mid-9th century. The next oldest document is a marble tablet whose inscription bears the Islamic date equivalent to 913 CE and states the status of an inn, but is in itself not the original deed; it is held at the Eretz Israel Museum in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. According to Marom,
The latter stages of the Mamluk period witnessed the encumberment of considerable properties as religious endowments .. Waqfization aimed ..to control sources of revenue in a time of property confiscation and socio- economic upheavals and political insecurities. According to
Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
, only an owner (mallāk) can dedicate properties as waqf, therefore necessitating the production, confirmation and dissemination of official legal deeds which document the process .. Because of the permanence fendowments under shari‘ah law, the Ottoman judiciary collected, copied and abridged many of these endowments, whose original deeds are otherwise lost.
By the early 1800s, more than half of all arable land in the Ottoman Empire was classified as a waqf. This figure included 75 percent of arable land in present-day Turkey, one-fifth in Egypt, one-seventh in Iran, one-half in Algeria, one-third in Tunisia, and one-third in Greece.


Saudi Arabia

The total number of registered endowments in Saudi Arabia is 33,229.


Jerusalem

In the 16th century, the
Haseki Sultan Complex The Haseki Sultan Complex (also Hürrem Sultan Complex) () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque complex in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first royal project designed by the chief imperial architect Mimar Sinan. History ...
charitable complex was founded by the wife of Suleyman the Magnificent and serviced 26 villages; the institution also included shops, a bazaar, two soap plants, 11 flour mills and two bathhouses located in
Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. For several centuries, the income generated by these businesses contributed in the maintenance of a mosque, a soup kitchen, and two traveler and pilgrim inns.


Egypt

The earliest pious foundations in Egypt were charitable gifts, and not in the form of a . The first mosque built by ' Amr ibn al-'As is an example of this: the land was donated by Qaysaba bin Kulthum, and the mosque's expenses were then paid by the . The earliest known , founded by financial official Abū Bakr Muḥammad bin Ali al-Madhara'i in 919 (during the Abbasid period), is a pond called Birkat Ḥabash together with its surrounding orchards, whose revenue was to be used to operate a hydraulic complex and feed the poor.


India

Early references to in India can be found in the 14th-century work by Aynul Mulk ibn Mahru. According to the book, Muhammad of Ghor dedicated two villages in favor of a
congregational mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''Friday prayer, jumu'ah' ...
in
Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...
, and, handed its administration to the
Shaykh al-Islām Shaykh al-Islām (; ; , ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; , Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; , ) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclope ...
(highest ecclesiastical officer of the Empire). In the coming years, several more were created, as the
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.
flourished. As per the Wakf Act 1954 (later Wakf Act 1995) enacted by the government of India, are categorized as (a) by user such as graveyards, (Sarai) and ''Chowltries'' etc., (b) under (Service Inam) such as '' Khazi'' service, ''Nirkhi'' service, ''Pesh Imam'' service and '' Khateeb'' service etc., and (c) ''Wakf Alal-aulad'' is dedicated by the Donor (''Wakif'') for the benefit of their kith and kin and for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. After the enactment Wakf Act 1954, the Union government directed to all the states governments to implement the Act for administering the wakf institutions like mosques,
dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...
s, hussainiyas, graveyards, , , anjumans, and various religious and charitable institutions. A statutory body under Government of India, which also oversees State Wakf Boards. In turn the State Wakf Boards work towards management, regulation and protect the Wakf properties by constituting District Wakf Committees,
Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...
Wakf Committees and Committees for the individual Wakf Institutions. In 2006, the
Sachar Committee The Sachar Committee was a seven-member high-level committee established in March 2005 by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The committee was headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, e ...
reported there were about 500,000 registered ''waqf'' properties with land in India, and Rs. 60 billion book value.Wakf
Central Wakf Council, India website.
In 2025, ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' estimated that India has about 872,000 ''waqf'' properties, more than any other country. Within India, only the military and railways control more land.


Zanzibar

While it is difficult to pinpoint the historical origins of ''waqf'' in East Africa, the practice began to formalize in the 17th Century after the Sultan of Oman, Sayyid Saïd, had cemented his control over Zanzibar and the East African coastline. Until this point, archeological evidence has unearthed several old mosques along the Swahili Coast which are believed to be informal ''waqf'' dating as far back as the 8th Century. The formalization of ''waqf'' can be traced back to 1820 when Sultan Said moved the Omani Sultanate to Stone Town, Zanzibar. This marked a shift from ''waqf'' as an Islamic scriptural imperative to a local and centralized institutional practice legitimated by the royal family. From this point onward, the urban development of the port city of the East African archipelago was shaped by ''waqf'' practices. As such, the majority of greater Stone Town became ''waqf'' property made available for free habitation or cemeteries by noblemen, approximately 6.4% of which was public housing for the poor. It is important to note that economic changes in Zanzibar shaped ''waqf'' practices overtime. Under Omani rule slavery and the cash crop industry was booming, specifically because of the exportation of spices, which strengthened the elite class of the Omani aristocracy. In the context of growing inequality, the nobility used ''waqf'' to provide public housing to slaves and peasants as well mosques, madrasahs and land for free habitation and cultivation. For instance, all 66 mosques in Stone Town were waqf privately financed and owned by noble waqif as a display of social status and duty to their neighborhood. Under this system, the architectural configuration of Stone Town was entirely managed by the Sultanate and its network of nobility. This effectively allowed elites to practice ''
zakat Zakat (or Zakāh زكاة) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat is the Arabic word for "Giving to Charity" or "Giving to the Needy". Zakat is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam a relig ...
'' through ''waqf'' while doubling as a means to secure control over the local population. The East African archipelago underwent an economic recession from 1860 to 1880 that threatened the private property of the elite class. In a time when landowners were forced to sell or mortgage their properties to foreign investors, ''waqf'' became a means to legally safeguard properties under conditions of debt. In donating assets to the public, the aristocracy managed to preserve their wealth while providing land, financial support and community spaces such as mosques to the general public. When Zanzibar became a British protectorate in 1890, almost half the island was ''waqf'' property. In order to establish control, the British realised that they would either have to privatise ''waqf'' or gain administrative control over them. A series of decrees were subsequently issues to incorporate all ''waqf'' properties into the colonial bureaucracy. The Waqf Property Decree which formed the Waqf Commission in 1905 was composed of a majority of British officials and a minority of Islamic authorities to represent the Sultanate who maintained a degree of influence over the island. This shift marked the further formalization of ''waqf'' into the state apparatus, a move which allowed the English to directly control the preservation and maintenance of publicly used assets as well as the surplus revenues generated from them. It was also part of what Ali Mazrui calls the 'dis-Islamization' and 'de-Arabization' of Swahili culture by British colonialism, a strategy used to rid the territory of Omani influence. While Mazrui speaks of this in the context of the Swahili language, it can also be seen by the way in which the British deviated from the Islamic values underpinning ''waqf'' practices. What was initially intended as a charitable practice that would provide social services was replaced by a focus on profit over public welfare. This ruptured the social and political relations that were formed between the upper and lower classes during Omani rule as the underlying values used to manage waqf were lost in translation. The Zanzibari Revolution which followed a year after independence in 1963 installed a new government under the helm of the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). An important part of the revolution was the prosecution of the Zanzibari elite of Arabic descent. This left a significant portion of land, much of which was ''waqf'', to be nationalised by the newly independent state as part of their socialist development programme. The revolution highlights a crucial turn point in ''waqf'' institutions in Zanzibar, namely the 'public' ownership of these assets that disposed of the need for a ''waqif''. In this way, ''waqf'' was further cemented as a political institution regulated by a centralized state while being managed by ''mutawallis''. It allowed the poorest inhabitants of Stone Town to reside in ''waqf'' buildings that were previously reserved for the relatives of ''waqif'' families. While this may appear to be an act of good fortune, the nationalisation of all ''waqf'' assets led to the loss and destruction of many properties because of a lack of funding because the state did not have the means to preserve ''waqf'' as effectively as it were under the private control of ''waqif'' nobility. According to Bowen, when practicing Islam, Muslims "engage in a dialogue between potentially conflicting cultural orders: the universalistic imperatives of Islam (as locally understood) and the values embedded in a particular society". While Bowen analyzes how Islamic rituals are practiced in context, this logic can arguably be applied to how the history of waqf in Zanzibar is shaped by "local cultural concerns and to universalistic scriptural imperatives". In fact, this conflict is evident in the way in which ''waqf'' has historically served a dual purpose in Zanzibar; to satisfy the inalienable Islamic law of ''waqf'' as a source of charity and thereby public welfare while doubling as a tool of domination used by the ruling class to maintain the dependence of the lower classes. While the former was somewhat preserved as a scripture-based normative foundation of ''waqf'' institutions, the nature and dynamics of the latter was contingent on the nature and dynamics of regime changes in Zanzibar. Under Omani rule, ''waqf'' was practiced by the aristocratic class as an outward demonstration of Islamic piety while simultaneously serving as a means to control slaves and the local population through social housing, educational facilities and religious institutions like mosques. When an economic recession threatened the position of the elite, noblemen used ''waqf'' to maintain ownership of their properties to avoid selling or mortgaging their land thereby altering the economic function of the practice. After the British gained control of Zanzibar and further formalized ''waqf'' as a political institution, it was used to culturally subvert the local population and gradually rid it off its Arabic origins. This persisted after independence when the newly independent state sought to further eliminate Arabic influence by nationalizing all waqf properties as a means to gain control of private property.


Other

The ''waqf'' institutions were not popular in all parts of the Muslim world. In West Africa, very few examples of the institution can be found, and were usually limited to the area around
Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...
and
Djenné Djenné (; also known as Djénné, Jenné, and Jenne) is a Songhai people, Songhai town and Communes of Mali, urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the ...
in Massina Empire. Instead, Islamic west African societies placed a much greater emphasis on non-permanent acts of charity. According to expert Illife, this can be explained by West Africa's tradition of "personal largesse." The imam would make himself the collector and distributor of charity, thus building his personal prestige. According to Hamas, all of historic Palestine is an Islamic waqf. This belief, a relatively recent one, forms part of the group's mythology. In
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
, there are several places in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
that were originally built under the waqf system, such as
Gornji Vakuf Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje ( sr-cyrl, Горњи Вакуф-Ускопље) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Etymology Although settlements ...
, and
Donji Vakuf Donji Vakuf ( sr-Cyrl, Доњи Вакуф, ) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded by Malkoçoğlu İbrahim Bey in 1572 an ...
.


Funding of schools and hospitals

After the Islamic waqf law and madrassah foundations were firmly established by the 10th century, the number of
Bimaristan A bimaristan (; ), or simply maristan, known in Arabic also as ("house of healing"; in Turkish), is a hospital in the historic Islamic world. Its origins can be traced back to Sassanian Empire prior to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The word ...
hospitals multiplied throughout Islamic lands. By the 11th century, many Islamic cities had several hospitals. The waqf trust institutions funded the hospitals for various expenses, including the wages of doctors, ophthalmologists, surgeons,
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
s,
pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...
s, domestics and all other staff, the purchase of foods and
medicines Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...
; hospital equipment such as beds, mattresses, bowls and perfumes; and repairs to buildings. The waqf trusts also funded medical schools, and their
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...
s covered various expenses such as their maintenance and the payment of teachers and students. From the more peculiar examples of healthcare-related waqfs, in the city of Tripoli, a man had set up a waqf which employed two people who would "walk through the hospitals every day and speak quietly to one another in the patients' hearing, remarking on their improvement and good colour".


Comparisons with trust law

The ''waqf'' in
Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
, which developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 7th to 9th centuries, bears a notable resemblance to the English
trust law A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...
. Every ''waqf'' was required to have a ''waqif'' (founder), ''mutawillis'' (trustee), ''
qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...
'' (judge) and beneficiaries. Under both a ''waqf'' and a trust, "property is reserved, and its
usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'', as in usage of or access to) is the right to use or en ...
appropriated, for the benefit of specific individuals, or for a general charitable purpose; the corpus becomes inalienable; estates for life in favor of successive beneficiaries can be created" and "without regard to the law of
inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
or the rights of the heirs; and continuity is secured by the successive appointment of trustees or ''mutawillis''." The only significant distinction between the Islamic ''waqf'' and English trust was "the express or implied reversion of the ''waqf'' to charitable purposes when its specific object has ceased to exist", though this difference only applied to the ''waqf ahli'' (Islamic family trust) rather than the ''waqf khairi'' (devoted to a charitable purpose from its inception). Another difference was the English vesting of "legal estate" over the trust property in the trustee, though the "trustee was still bound to administer that property for the benefit of the beneficiaries." In this sense, the "role of the English trustee therefore does not differ significantly from that of the ''mutawalli''." Personal trust law developed in England at the time of the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, during the 12th and 13th centuries. The Court of Chancery, under the principles of equity, enforced the rights of absentee Crusaders who had made temporary assignments of their lands to caretakers. It has been speculated that this development may have been influenced by the ''waqf'' institutions in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
.


See also

* Central Waqf Council (India) * Jerusalem Islamic Waqf * Charitable trust *
Islamic economic jurisprudence Islamic economics () refers to the knowledge of economics or economic activities and processes in terms of Islamic principles and teachings. Islam has a set of specific moral norms and values about individual and social economic behavior. There ...
* Islamic economics in the world *
Private foundation A private foundation is a Tax exemption, tax-exempt organization that does not rely on broad public support and generally claims to serve humanitarian purposes. Unlike a Foundation (nonprofit), charitable foundation, a private foundation does no ...
*
Trust law A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...
* Zakah * Waqf of Ibshir Mustafa Pasha Complex * AWQAF Africa * Haryana Waqf Board (India) *
Ministry of Awqaf (Egypt) The Ministry of Awqaf of Egypt () is one of ministries in the Politics of Egypt, Egyptian government and is in charge of religious endowments. Religious endowments, awqaf, are similar to common law trusts where the trustee is the mosque or indivi ...
* Ministry of Evkaf (Ottoman Empire) * Office of the Waqf Administrator (Bangladesh)


References

Max Abrahms, Why Terrorism Does Not Work, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Fall 2006), pg. 74 al Wakf Council, India
Aydın, M. A. "Osmanlı Toplumunda Kadın ve Tanzimat Sonrası Gelişmeler" (Women in Ottoman Society the Developments after the Tanzimat), ''Sosyal Hayatta Kadın'' (The Woman in Social Life), (İstanbul: Ensar Neşriyat, 1996): 144
info page on book
at
Martin Luther University Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
) // Cited: p. 39 (PDF p. 41/338) // " ..ut the term ..s widely used in the legal literature at that time. The same applies to the term "fonds ''vakouf'' (art. 48; "pious foundations", Turkish ''vakıf''), which did not sound exotic either."


Further reading

* * * * * ''Real property, mortgage and wakf according to Ottoman law'', by D. Gatteschi. Pub. Wyman & Sons, 1884. * ''Waqf in Central Asia: four hundred years in the history of a Muslim shrine, 1480–1889'', by R. D. McChesney. Princeton University Press, 1991. . * ''Wakf administration in India: a socio-legal study'', by Khalid Rashid. Vikas Pub., 1978. . * ′′Le vakif – un aspect de la structure socio-économique de l'Empire Оttoman (XV-e - XVIII-e s.)′′, by Vera Moutaftchieva. Sofia-Press, 1981 * ′′Inventory of Ottoman Turkish documents about waqf preserved in the Oriental Department at the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library. Part 1- Registers′′, by Evgeni Radushev, Svetlana Ivanova, Rumen Kovachev, Rossitsa Gradeva, Vera Mutafchieva. Sofia, IMIR, 2003.
http://veramutafchieva.net/pdf/198.pdf
* ′′Agrarian Relations in the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th Centuries′′, by Vera P. Mutafchieva. New York, Columbia Univ. Press (East European monographs; CCLI) 1988.


External links


Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library, an open-source Library managed by the research program at the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo


* ttp://huquq.com/maghniyah Islamic Law According to Five schools of jurisprudence
Islamic law concerning waqf (Public Trust)


* Th
Hoda Center
in Gainesville, FL is also known (lovingly) as "The Waqf"
Es Seyyid Osman Hulûsi Efendi Waqf
in Darende, in Turkiye.
Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation

Waqfuna موقع " وقفنا "


{{Authority control Islamic terminology Sharia Philanthropy Law of the Ottoman Empire Charity law Mandatory Palestine in World War II Legal entities