Maqasid Al-Shariah, SDGs and the Ottoman Waqf

The Ottoman awqaf addressed societal concerns far beyond the SDGs. People were born in waqf property, educated in waqf schools, worked in waqf enterprises, received medical treatment in waqf hospitals and were buried in waqf lands.

During my research into the alignment of SDGs with the Maqasid al-Shariah (MaS) and how the awqaf sector can play a significant role in achieving the two, I came across a very interesting publication of the Turkish Directorate of Awqaf titled Marvelous Foundations containing details about selected awqaf projects from different parts of Turkey set up during the Ottoman era. There are about 113 awqaf covered in this publication. A cursory look through the list excited me enough to consider this rather unusual question. What if we move on a time machine back to the 18th Century or the 19^th Century Ottoman and we have this UN-mandated SDG document in our hands, then what’s going to be our verdict? What was the track record of the Ottomans in using the institution of awqaf towards achieving the MaS, the SDGs? Or, were the nature of public goods, societal needs (as reflected in the nature of awqaf that were created in response) very different from the present times?

So, I tried to classify the 113 awqaf foundations which have been documented in this particular publication based on their purpose and the social needs they served and map them to the MaS and the SDGs. The results showing the dispersion is before you. You can see that they almost address all of the SDGs. A few that are missing can be clubbed with other overarching SDGs, such as, poverty alleviation. Let’s take some examples. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to see the kind of creativity and innovativeness that went into the thinking of the donors in this particular era. And I’ll pick a few from every class of SDG that I find particularly interesting.

For example, consider SDG1 or poverty alleviation. You had these awqaf which would actually pay the taxes for the poor. This could be direct taxes or indirect taxes or whatever that the poor and needy were always finding it difficult to pay. You ask any salaried person today and s/he will tell you that perhaps one month in a year s/he has to go without any income because the tax liability has to be cleared. So here are some awqaf which basically helped the poor and the not-so-rich to pay taxes that was claimed by the government. Here is a case where awqaf were actually helping to augment the revenue of the state (instead of reducing the same because of their tax-free status). Then you have of course the orphans and need for orphan care that is covered by many other SDGs including SDG1.

The women’s waqf paying the taxes of the poor	Not Available	Bulgaria/Varna/Provadi	A.D. 1708
Taking care of orphans	Haci TimurtaÅŸ PaÅŸazade	Istanbul	A.D. 1500
Paying the taxes of districts’ people	Esbak MaraÅŸ Kadisi, Müftüzade, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1822
Buying cleaning materials and food for the poor	Not Available	Istanbul	A.D. 1904
Social security	Sadr-i Rumeli, Nakibu’l-EÅŸraf, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1846
Giving allowance to poor prisoners	Esbak Kaptan-i Derya, el-Hac	Istanbul	A.D. 1708
Paying taxes of the needy	ÃavuÅŸ	Istanbul	A.D. 1605
Dressing orphan students	Abdurrahman Kizi	Istanbul	A.D. 1773
Helping people who face great poverty	Ahmed bin Rahat, el-Hattab	Sivas	A.D. 1321
Sacrificing for the poor	Abdurrahman Nafiz PaÅŸa Karisi	Istanbul	A.D. 1857

Now considering SDG2, or zero hunger, here are some interesting examples. One waqf was dedicated to distributing halwa or sweets and that’s the only thing it was distributing! And there is another waqf which was distributing fruits and yet another distributing food at prayer places. Now these were examples of very specific objectives for which a (dedicated) waqf was created and this waqf was in operation year after year down the ages. Then, there is one waqf to run a soup kitchen for the needy, and one for distributing bread.

Distributing warm bread	Sahib-i Ata, Emir-i Kebir, el-Konevi, Vezir	Sivas	A.D. 1280
Distributing bread	Davud AÄŸa Zevcesi	TekirdaÄŸ/Ãorlu	A.D. 1739
Soup kitchen for the needy	Mengli Giray Kizi, Yavuz Sultan Selim Zevcesi	Istanbul	A.D. 1522
Distributing halvah	ÃaykÃy AÄŸasi	Amasya/Central	A.D. 1780
Providing fruits	Biyiklizade, Kethüda	Bursa/Iznik	A.D. 1594
Distributing meals at prayer places	Sadr-i esbak, KÃprülü	Samsun/VezirkÃprü	A.D. 1661

As I think through and seek to understand the mindset of the donor, I’m inclined to feel that these awqaf were perhaps created by business people or merchants who were themselves into the business of either selling fruits or making halwa or sweets or into bread making. These business people also created awqaf in their corresponding lines of businesses. Take a pause and look around. How many of our businessmen in present times think of creating awqaf in their own areas of expertise or areas of businesses?

Relating to SDG3 or healthcare, several of the Ottoman awqaf were dedicated to provision of good health care and hygiene that includes some interesting examples, such as, circumcision of boys and distributing honey during Ramadan night prayers. Now it is not hard to see an Islamic dimension in such projects. So that’s why I see them as SDG3 but blended with MaS. You have awqaf for providing Summer clothes for orphans. Moving on, we also find awqaf for building hospitals and dispensaries for the blind, for infectious diseases etc.

Making medicine for patients	Kanuni	Istanbul	A.D. 1547
Offering domiciliary care for patients	Germeyanoğlu	Kütahya	A.D. 1888
Infectious Disease Treatment	Ahmed bin Rahat, el-Hattab	Sivas	A.D. 1321
Having boys circumcised	Sultan, Veli	Amasya	A.D. 1496
Buying summer clothes for orphans	Habib-i Acemi, Kizil, Cami-i Kebir	Urfa	A.D. 1384
Wishing that doctors have good temperament	Sultan Izzedin I Keykavus bin II Keyhüsrev bin II Kiliçarslan bin I Mesut	Tokat	A.D. 1221
Serving blinds	El-Hac	Siirt	A.D. 1903
Prohibiting tobacco to elementary school teachers	Not Available	Diyarbakir	A.D. 1833
Distributing syrup made from kaçkar honey after Ramadan night prayers	Not Available	Istanbul	A.D. 1663
Establishing hospitals for the needy	Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1847
Building hospitals	Ebu’l-feth, Sultan	Sivas	A.D. 1200
Protecting patient rights	Sultan Murad-i Salis Validesi, Atik Valide Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1582
Preparing medicine for eye illnesses	Ortayazici, Tokadi, SekbanbaÅŸi, el-Hac, Zaim, Hafiz, Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1745

When it comes to provision of education or SDG4, again you have some interesting examples of teaching calligraphy, taking students for picnicking, repairing books, distributing and donating science books and for employing qualified personnel in education. Indeed, we did a very quick survey of contemporary awqaf after this exercise and it was hard to find a present day waqf with such narrow and focused programs of action. There reason perhaps lies in the comparatively huge number of awqaf in the Ottoman society so that each waqf could focus on a single microscopic objective instead of having a broad social agenda as in case of contemporary awqaf. The flipside is that such awqaf face the risk of becoming redundant as soon as ground realities shift.

Awarding scholarship to Boarders	Antep Müftüsü, Müderrisin-i Kiramdan, Kozanizade	Gaziantep	A.D. 1831
Taking students for picnicking	Melek Ahmed PaÅŸa Kizi Fatma Hanim Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1716
Contributing outfits and stationery for students	Sefer AÄŸazade, Istabl-i Amire de KaÅŸikci	Istanbul	A.D. 1730
Teaching calligraphy	Not Available	Istanbul	A.D. 1740
Repairing books	EÅŸ-Åžeyh	Kastamonu	A.D. 1860
Providing education for poor children	Veli, Gazi Sultan	Amasya	A.D. 1495
Donating science books	Çildir Valisi, Sefer Paşazade, el-Hac	Ahiska	A.D. 1756
Employing qualified personnel in education	Valide-i Sultan Mehmed Han bin Kanuni Süleyman Han	Istanbul	A.D. 1551

Now SDG5 is very interesting because it is about women empowerment. For good reasons, Islamic economists are not always very comfortable with this concept. In the context of Islamic microfinance our practitioners will tell you that they aim at family empowerment and not just women empowerment. Islam considers family as one unit, as an integrated whole. You don’t look at empowering a part of this integrated unit. But then there are cases of deserted or displaced women. Then you certainly have an obligation to provide for shelter and all other basic amenities. Among the Ottoman awqaf, many were essentially targeting a good marriage, a good and successful marriage (as a precursor to a strong family). And one can very easily or very clearly link this purpose with one of the Maqasid al-Shariah, which is protecting and nurturing lineage or progeny. You cannot achieve this successfully if you are somehow downplaying the importance of marriage as an institution. So, marriage is a very sacred institution in Islam and you have the husband and wife playing a very important role, the family playing a very important role in the development of the society. And this is something that perhaps is not very well understood by our contemporary policy makers. So, what we see in Ottoman can perhaps be classified as cases of blending this maqasid – protection and nurturing a family – with woman empowerment. And then there were awqaf which took care of widows, which provided shelter to women. Interestingly, some were dedicated to preparation of dowry for (poor) girls. Preparation of dowry being an Islamic obligation of parents, these awqaf performed this task on behalf of poor parents or in case of orphan girls. And there were awqaf arranging for wedding ceremonies and dresses for poor brides.

Preparing dowry for girls	Sadr-i Rumeli, Nakibu’l-EÅŸraf, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1845
Women’s shelter	El-Hac, inegöllüzade	Bursa,  inegöl	A.D. 1916
Uniting poor bachelors	II Selim Kizi	Istanbul	A.D. 1573
Meeting the needs of widows and poor women	Defterdar Mustafa Çelebi Zevcesi	Istanbul	A.D. 1588
Arranging wedding ceremonies and dressing poor ladies	Çapanzade Abdulfettah Bey Kizi	Istanbul	A.D. 1865

With respect to SDG6 there are again some very interesting examples. In addition to awqaf digging water wells (something that many present day awqaf also do), some were dedicated to providing hot water during cold winter for ablution. Similarly, there were awqaf distributing cold water during hot summer time or building bath houses and wash houses for the people. SDG7 is about as you know, providing lighting and energy. In this sample we did find a couple of cases of lighting of minarets and lighting of masjids.

Distributing cold water during hot summer time	Hoca-yi Sultani	Istanbul	A.D. 1571
Providing hot water for persons who perform ablution in winter time	Kocabeyzade	Ankara	A.D. 1721
Digging water wells	Kizi	Istanbul	A.D. 1720
The water waqf eradicating harmful vermin	Şeyh Ali Semerkandi	Çankiri, Eskipazar, Şeyhler Çamlidere village	Not Available
Building bathhouses and washhouses for people	Sakizli, es-Seyyid	Medina	A.D. 1713
Building prayer places and washrooms	Haci IsmailoÄŸlu	Istanbul	A.D. 1762

SDG8 is very important which is to create decent work and employment opportunities. Now for some of these awqaf we find that their ultimate objective was to create employment opportunities whether through self-employment or entrepreneurship or through giving a boost to industrialization by establishing factories or for example, by helping merchants who go bankrupt. Now these were awqaf, which are dedicated to ensuring a vibrant business culture. Similarly we have dedicated awqaf for silk-farming, preserving seeds, supplying agricultural tools, planting gumwood and so forth.

Planting gumwood	Umera-yi Deryadan	Sakiz	A.D. 1105
Develop silk farming	Edirne Governer	Edirne	A.D. 1923
Supplying agricultural tools to farmers	Ahmed bin Rahat, el-Hattab	Sivas	A.D. 1701
Reclaiming agricultural areas	Es-Seyyid	Iznik	A.D. 1749
Preserving seeds	Cedid, Semiz, Gedik	Istanbul	A.D. 1565
Establishing factories	Laleli Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1773
Helping merchants who go bankrupt	Kile (Keyli) Naziri, el-Hac, SilahÅŸor-i Åžehriyar	Istanbul	A.D. 1826

With respect to waqf for infrastructure the sample includes one dedicated to providing transportation in river and another in the form of an emergency ship in a lake.

Providing transportation in the river	Sinan Bey	Istanbul	A.D. 1522
Providing an emergency aid ship in lake Van	Diyarbakir Beylerbeyi	Van	A.D. 1588
Providing infrastructure services	Kaptan-i Derya, Cezayirli, Gazi	Çanakkale	A.D. 1777

A large percentage of the awqaf we found were city-based. Most were seeking to address various needs that are related to an inclusive sustainable city with all its facilities. So, we have a very large percentage – almost one third – of awqaf that were for managing road safety, building guest houses, preserving town aesthetics, erasing graffiti, and this list continues. And here one can find some good examples, some more examples of how the SDG11 relating to sustainable and inclusive cities was so well taken care of, for example, by awqaf for building graves for the muslims and non-muslims as well.

Erasing graffiti	Ebulfeth, Fatih Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1470
Repair fountains	Baradoğlu	Amasya/Gümüşhaciköy	A.D. 1860
Preventing wastage	Sultan Üçüncü Mehmedoğlu Ahmed Han	Istanbul	A.D. 1613
Establishing camps for people to rest during summer and winter	Lüfti Efendi Azadlisi	Istanbul	A.D. 1754
Providing domiciliary care for the poor old people	Yorgani Emirzade, SirkecibaÅŸi, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1597
Preserving town aesthtics	Mehmed Hayri PaÅŸa	Istanbul	A.D. 1903
Building guest houses	Sari, Berber, Müftü	Izmir	A.D. 1673
Putting snow to public fountains in hot days	Mehmudzade, el-Hac	Aydin/Atca	A.D. 1860
Managing road safety	Not Available	Antakya	A.D. 1705
Building prayer places by rivers	Dergah-i Ali Gediklilerinden, YeÄŸen	Istanbul	A.D. 1766
Repairing martyr and companion shrines	Haci, Ömeroğlu	Kayseri	A.D. 1832
Donating olive grove to the lodge of Mevlevi Dervishes	SarioÄŸlu EÅŸi	Istanbul	A.D. 1883
Illuminating mosques and minarets	el-Hac	Aydin	A.D. 1742
Building rest stops for pilgrims	Kazasker	Bursa	A.D. 1570
Beautifying the environment	Nebizade el-Hac	Istanbul	A.D. 1596
Repairing pavements	Sadr-i Rumeli, Nakibu’l-EÅŸraf, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1861
Dedicating houses for elderly women	Sultan	Istanbul	A.D. 1553
Hosting guests who come to the village	Not Available	Balikesir/Edremit	A.D. 1757
Carrying out the maintenance and repair works after a natural disaster	Hassab Haci Iskenderzade	Istanbul	A.D. 1549
Repairing bridges	Rumeli Beylerbeyi, Kara, Anadolu Beylerbeyi	Macedonia/ Skopje	A.D. 1514
Protecting historical locations	Haci Mehmed oğlu Ali Efendizade	Çanakkale/Çan	A.D. 1801
Providing fountains	Kayserili	Erzurum	A.D. 1722
Building dervish lodge for pilgrims, dervishes, and the poor	El-Hac, Hoca, Vilayet Meclis-i Azasi	Urfa	A.D. 1860
Caring for the interior design and cleanness of historical places	Köprülüzade, Diyarbakir and Van Valisi	Diyarbakir	A.D. 1721
Building graves for the muslim and non-muslim	Silahdar-i Åžehriyari	Istanbul	A.D. 1795

It is often believed that our early Islamic scholars didn’t fully realize the importance of preserving the planet and its environment.  This turns out to be an erroneous assumption considering the fact that some of the Ottoman awqaf were precisely created to address SDG 14 and SDG 15 that relate to protection of the environment, land and marine resources and so on and so forth. The Ottoman had some very interesting awqaf for protecting the environment, for forestry, for getting fresh air in bosphorous, and for planting willows by rivers. And there were awqaf establishing meadows for animals. Care for animals and all living things was exclusively pursued as an objective of some awqaf, such as, for building shelter for pigeons or protecting storks aor cleaning up lakes.

Protecting the environment and forestry	Altunizade	Istanbul	A.D. 1885
For getting fresh air in Bosphorus	Peksimetçibaşi	Istanbul	A.D. 1730
Planting willows by rivers	Sadrazam, Sokullu, Sokullu, Åžehid, Tavil, Ibrahim Hanzade	Istanbul	A.D. 1574
Providing water for animals of the public and passengers	Not Available	Aydin/Tire	A.D. 1544
Establishing meadows for animals	Adana Beylerbeyi, RamazanoÄŸlu	Adana	A.D. 1538
Giving bread to street animals	El-Hac, es-Seyyid	Istanbul	A.D. 1778
Building pigeonry	Çandarlizade	Bursa	A.D. 1707
Improving animals and seeds	Ahmed bin Rahat el-Hattab	Sivas	A.D. 1321
Protecting storks	Mürselli, Haci	Izmir, Ödemiş	A.D. 1889
Cleaning up lakes	Not Available	Edirne	A.D. 1585

SDG16 is about dignity of individuals and their right to live in peaceful societies that is free from strife. Some awqaf were dedicated to strengthening the defense system through supporting the naval forces of the country or providing logistics support to the army. Some awqaf were dedicated to rescuing Christian slaves, rescuing  Muslim slaves and also providing horses to veterans going to war.

Treating prisoners at holy nights	Es-Seyyid	Bursa	A.D. 1799
Rescuing Christian slaves	Not Available	Istanbul	A.D. 1740
Rescuing Muslim slaves	Selahaddin Pehlivan Kizi	Damascus	A.D. 1308
Uniting slaves	Not Available	Edirne	A.D. 1472
Helping castaways	SubaÅŸi	Istanbul	A.D. 1576
Supporting the navy	Not Available	Istanbul	A.D. 1910
Providing logistic support to the Army	Sultan Selim III Validesi	Istanbul	A.D. 1795
Providing horses to veterans who are going to war	Sadrazam, Sokullu, Sokullu, Åžehid, Tavil, Ibrahim Hanzade	Istanbul	A.D. 1574

So one cannot but find it amazing that the Ottoman could think of these needs – needs for such a wide range of public goods – and they could think of providing solutions to them through the institution of awqaf. And of course, there were some awqaf, which were exclusively for protection and nurturing of deen, such as, for sending people for Hajj and providing clock repairing service at masjids or cleaning services for masjids.

Now when we look at the contemporary awqaf, to what extent they try to address the SDGs and the MaS? We are right in the middle of a comprehensive study that seeks to address this question. Preliminary results show that contemporary awqaf have a long way to go. A bulk of them focus on provision of education and healthcare with a few examples of skill enhancement, gender equality and livelihood generation and financing the poor. Some of the upcoming areas include agriculture and infrastructure.

In the Ottoman Empire, waqf services were spread far and wide. As rightly underscored by the following statement, the Ottoman awqaf addressed societal concerns far beyond the SDGs. People were born in waqf property, educated in waqf schools, worked in waqf enterprises, received medical treatment in waqf hospitals and were buried in waqf lands