Among the endowments that were famous among the Arabs before Islam was the Waqf for the Holy Kaaba, by tailoring its cloth and rebuilding it whenever it needed maintenance. The first to cover the Kaaba and to endow it was As’ad Abu Kurayb, king of Himyar.
The first Waqf in Islam was the Qibaa Mosque, which was founded by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then the Prophet’s Mosque, when he came to Medina as an immigrant.
The first charitable Waqf known in Islam was the Waqf of the seven orchards in Medina, which belonged to a Jewish man named Mukhayriq.
He bequeathed them to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, when he decided to fight with the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud.
He said in his will: “If I am injured - that is, killed, then my money is for Muhammad - he will put it wherever God shows him”. When he was killed, the Prophet (pbuh) took possession of those seven orchards, and dedicated them as a charitable Waqf.
Omar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, established what was said to be the second Waqf in Islam. In the hadith, he acquired land in Khaibar, so he came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and said: O Messenger of God, I have acquired land in Khaibar. I have never acquired property more valuable for me than this, so what do you command me to do with it? Thereupon he (Allah's Apostle) said: If you like, you may keep the corpus intact and give its produce as Sadaqah. So 'Umar gave it as Sadaqah declaring that property must not be sold or inherited or given away as gift. And Umar devoted it to the poor, to the nearest kin, and to the emancipation of slaves, aired in the way of Allah and guests” – Sahih Muslim, Book 25, Hadith 21.
Othman bin Affan bought the well of Rumah and dedicated it as a Waqf for all muslims, and Ali bin Abi Talib gave alms in Yanbu, Wadi Al-Qura, Al-Udhayna and Ra’a for the sake of God.
In the Umayyad Era, there was a dramatic development in the management of Awqaf. In the past, the Waqif was responsible for his Waqf and supervising its care and management; in the Umayyad Era, special bodies were established to supervise the Awqaf, and an independent office was created to register them.
Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik was the first to establish hospitals for the sick, and he built the Umayyad Mosque and ordered the digging of Waqf water wells.
The Umayyad caliphs were interested in building bridges and arches and dedicated Awqaf for them.
Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz ordered the construction of an arch in Cordoba, and the Umayyads were also interested in building Gauges on flowing rivers; the most famous of which was the Helwan Gauge in Egypt, which was built by Abdul Aziz bin Marwan in succession of his brother Abdul Malik bin Marwan.
During the Abbasid Era, the Awqaf had a special administration independent of the judiciary, with a head called “Sadr Al Awqaf”. This administrative development was accompanied by a useful scientific effort to control the provisions of the Waqf, the methods of disposing of them and the protection its properties from loss.
The jurists devoted special books to it and devoted extensive chapters to it in the jurisprudence codes. This development and expansion in caring for the Awqaf led to them playing a major role in social development throughout Islamic history.
In the Abbasid Era, the institution of the Caliphate paid great attention to the healthcare Awqaf.
Hospitals spread, and the caliphs brought in senior doctors and books by leading medical scholars and dedicated them to the public hospitals’ Waqf. They also paid attention to establishing religious, charitable, social and economic Awqaf. Scholars and businessmen played a major role in contributing to public and private Awqaf.
An example of this is the imam Abd al-Malik bin Muhammad al-Kharkushi al-Naysaburi, who built a school and a home for the sick, established a Waqf, and had a bookcase dedicated to a Waqf.
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Mosque
One of the most famous Awqaf during the Fatimid Era was the Cairo Mosque, built after Jawhar al-Siqilli’s conquest of Egypt in the year 969 AD.
He was later known for Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Mosque and then Al-Azhar University.
The Zengid and Ayyubid states were not isolated from the world of Islamic Awqaf.
Rather, these two states played essential roles in organising the affairs of society and improving the condition of the people.
Their period witnessed the spread of some types of Awqaf that were once few, such as Awqaf for schools and orphanages.
Ibn Jubayr described these Awqaf and said: “ The orphan boys have a large council in the country with a dedicated Waqf, from which the guardian takes funds and spends from it on the boys for their care and clothing, and this - also - is one of the strangest things that is reported as one of the glories of this country”.
Sultan Saladin al-Ayyubi is considered one of the most famous sultans who revived the value of the concept of the Waqf internationally. He built a school in Cairo and established the Salahia Waqf school in Jerusalem. After Saladin al-Ayyubii, the Ayyubid princes were keen to establish Waqf schools, so King al-Adil built his famous school (Al-Adiliyya School in Damascus). Perhaps one of the most peculiar and beautiful types of Waqf in this period was the “Palace of the Poor” which Nour Al Din Zenky established in Damascus.
Suleymaniye Mosque
Waqf in the Ottoman era
The Ottoman sultans took care of the Awqaf to a remarkable degree. This was especially true among the women of Bani Uthman.
The Awqaf proceeds were expanded to include medical colleges and medical services for existing hospitals, to keep pace with development and scientific progress in contemporary times.
They focused on building schools, vocational training, providing money to orphans and widows, caring for the elderly and the disabled, securing funds for debtors, ensuring breastfeeding of children, caring for disabled adults, preparing girls for marriage, securing the needs of travelers, providing work for the unemployed, marrying young men who were unable to pay the expenses of marriage, building water canals, constructing bridges, building waterways inside cities and external roads, building khans, bathrooms, and roads, digging wells, providing food to wayfarers, travelers, the poor, and the needy, and feeding the birds.
