Editing Waqf (section)

== Life cycle ==

[[File:Endowment Deed of Mihrimah Sultan.jpg|thumb|Endowment Deed of [[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Suleiman I)|Mihrimah Sultan]]. This document concerns the endowment of properties in Anatolia and Rumelia, from which revenues were used to meet the expenses of the [[Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar|Mihrimah Sultan Mosque]] complex. April–March 1550. [[Sadberk Hanım Museum]]]]

=== Founding ===

[[Sharia|Islamic law]] places several legal conditions on the process of establishing a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}.

==== Founder ====

A {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is a contract; therefore, the founder (called {{transliteration|ar|al-wāqif}} or {{transliteration|ar|al-muḥabbis}} in Arabic) must be capable of entering into a contract. For this, the founder must:
* be an [[adult]]
* be [[Sanity|sound of mind]]
* be capable of handling financial affairs
* not be under interdiction for bankruptcy

Although {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is an Islamic institution, being a Muslim is not required to establish a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}, and {{transliteration|ar|[[dhimmi]]s}} may establish a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}. Finally, if a person is fatally ill, the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is subject to the same restrictions as a will in Islam.<ref name = EI/>

=== 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.<ref>R. Marom, “S[https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0zf1p3d1 ukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy’s Endowment Deeds],” in K. Raphael and M. Abbasi (ed.s), ''The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri ‘Arra''f, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 60</ref> 

==== Women's contribution to the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} system ====

Some of the founders of Ottoman {{transliteration|ar|waqfs}} were women, with their establishments having a crucial impact on their communities' economic life.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Religious Practices: Zakāt (Almsgiving) and Other Charitable Practices: Ottoman Empire|doi = 10.1163/1872-5309_ewic_ewiccom_0619b}}</ref> Out of 30,000 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} certificates documented by the GDPFA ([[Directorate General of Foundations (Turkey)|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 {{transliteration|ar|waqfs}} that belonged to women.<ref name="Aydin1996"/>

==== Property ====

The property (called {{transliteration|ar|al-mawqūf}} or {{transliteration|ar|al-muḥabbas}}) used to found a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} must be objects of a valid contract. The objects should not themselves be [[haram]] (e.g. [[khamr|wine]] or [[Religious restrictions on the consumption of pork|pork]]). 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.<ref name = EI/>

The property dedicated to {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is generally immovable, such as an estate. All movable goods can also form {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}, according to most Islamic jurists. The Hanafis, however, also allow most movable goods to be dedicated to a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} with some restrictions. Some jurists have argued that even gold and silver (or other currency) can be designated as {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}.<ref name = EI/>

Documents listing endowments (waqfiyyas) often include the name of the endower, the listed property or fiscal unit, the endowed fraction (in 24-[[Carat (mass)|qarats]]), and a description of its [[Boundary marker|boundary]]. The boundary descriptions start in [[Qibla|Islamic direction of prayer]] and go [[counterclockwise]] by listing different [[landscape]] elements. Endowment deeds most often include the conditions of the endowment and its administration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2023 |title=Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan's Endowment Deed (1552) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cs6f5k5 |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |language=en |volume=139 |issue=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2023-10-01 |title=Mamluk and Ottoman Endowment Deeds as a Source for Geographical-Historical Research: The Waqfiyya of Haseki Sultan (1552 CE) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0sg1x015 |journal=Horizons in Geography |language=en |volume=103-104}}</ref>

==== Beneficiaries ====

The beneficiaries of the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} 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 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}. Modern legislation divides the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} into "charitable causes," where the beneficiaries are the public or the poor, and "family" {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}, 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.<ref name="EI"/>

Valid beneficiaries must satisfy the following conditions:<ref name="EI"/>
* They must be identifiable. At least some of the beneficiaries must also exist at the time of the founding of the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}. The Mālikīs, however, hold that a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} 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 ({{transliteration|ar|dhimmi}}) can definitely be beneficiaries.
* The beneficiaries may not use the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} for a purpose in contradiction of Islamic principles.

There is dispute over whether the founder themselves can reserve exclusive rights to use {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}. Most scholars agree that once the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is founded, it cannot be taken back.

The Ḥanafīs hold that the list of beneficiaries includes a perpetual element; the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} must specify its beneficiaries in case.<ref name="EI">Waḳf, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''</ref>

==== 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]] 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 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} becomes an institution in its own right.<ref name="EI"/>

=== Administration ===
{{redirect-distinguish|Mutawallī|Mutawālī}}
[[File:Waqfnameh.JPG|thumb|{{transliteration|ar|Waqf}} Writing Room in [[Mevlana Museum]]]]
Usually, a {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} has a range of beneficiaries. Thus, the founder makes arrangements beforehand by appointing an administrator (called {{transliteration|ar|[[nāẓir]]}} or {{transliteration|ar|mutawallī}} or {{transliteration|ar|ḳayyim}}) and lays down the rules for appointing successive administrators. The founder may choose to administer the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} 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 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}}.<ref name = EI/>

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]]s drop this requirement.<ref name = EI/>

=== Extinction ===
A {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is intended to be perpetual and last forever. Nevertheless, Islamic law envisages conditions under which the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} may be terminated:<ref name="EI"/>
* If the goods of the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} 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 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} can be used at all, exhausting all methods of exploitation before termination. Thus, land, according to such jurists, can never become extinguished.
* A {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} can be declared null and void by the {{transliteration|ar|ḳāḍī}}, 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 {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} is an Islamic institution, it becomes void if the founder converts to another religion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Abbasi|first=Muhammad Zubair|date=2012|title=The Classical Islamic Law of Waqf: A Concise Introduction|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23234650|journal=Arab Law Quarterly|volume=26|issue=2|pages=121–153|doi=10.1163/157302512X629124|jstor=23234650|issn=0268-0556}}</ref>
* According to the Mālikī school of thought, the termination of the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} may be specified in its founding declaration. As the {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} would expire whenever its termination conditions are fulfilled (e.g., the last beneficiary). The {{transliteration|ar|waqf}} property then [[Reversion (law)|reverts]] to the founder or to their heirs.