From gift to Waqf or the phenomenon of property exchange: The dialectic of religion and politics in the Islamic endowment in the middle ages

Abstract

The connection of the Islamic endowment‭ ‬“waqf”‭ ‬with Islamic law‭ ‬“fiqh”‭ ‬has prevented historical studies from addressing the issue away from legal rulings‭, ‬which made returning to the history of the‭ ‬waqf not easy‭, ‬except for what we have reached with the narration framed by the religious text‭. ‬On this basis‭, ‬this study aims to approach the waqf from a historical perspective‭, ‬by attempting to construct a new perception concerning the implications of property transfer in Islamic civilization during the medieval period‭, ‬in terms of the reproduction of social relations and its impact on the nature of the economic cycle‭. ‬The study also attempts to address the relationship of religion‭/ ‬fiqh with politics/authority in the process of property transfer‭, ‬as the institution of waqf became‭, ‬during the period under study‭, ‬a jurisprudential‭ ‬strategy used by landowners and notables to preserve their property from confiscation by the rulers‭.‬