The Waqf for Sufis in Belad Asham during the Mamluk Period: A Foundational and Applied Study

Abstract

This study examines waqf (Islamic endowment) dedicated to Sufis in Belad Asham during the Mamluk period by investigating the Hanafi juristic ruling on endowments for Sufis and presenting prominent historical examples of such endowments in the region. The study employs the descriptive approach to analyze the Hanafi legal position based on authoritative Hanafi sources, as well as the historical approach to examine documented cases of waqf for Sufis in Belad Asham during the Mamluk era. The findings indicate that endowments for Sufis are permissible—just as they are for Qur'an reciters, jurists, hadith scholars, the chronically ill, and the blind—provided that the beneficiaries adhere to a commendable Sufi path and that the proceeds are allocated to the poor among them rather than the wealthy. The study also highlights a number of practical examples of Sufi endowments in Jerusalem and Damascus, demonstrating that waqf for Sufis in Belad Asham during the Mamluk period served as an effective model of the social role of waqf in supporting and safeguarding society. The study also arrived at several recommendations. First, it recommends conducting more comprehensive research on waqf (Islamic endowments) dedicated to Sufis in Belad Asham, as this model—both in its original form and in terms of the conditions stipulated by its founders—has become largely absent from contemporary society despite its historical significance. A thorough historical examination of these endowments, together with an understanding of their founding conditions and operational mechanisms, may encourage the revival and establishment of similar institutions. The study further recommends that the authorities currently responsible for the administration of historical zāwiyas and khānqāhs restore their institutional and social role by reactivating them in accordance with the conditions stipulated by their founders (wāqifs). In addition, the study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive field-based documentary investigation, particularly concerning Sufi endowments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, many of which have undergone systematic alteration of their historical identity as a consequence of the occupation. Such an effort should focus on preserving the original waqf deeds, documenting and cataloguing the locations of endowed properties, and safeguarding the historical record to facilitate their restoration and reactivation in accordance with the founders’ stipulations once the occupation comes to an end.