Unusual Foundations in the Ottoman Empire: Non-Muslim Waqfs and also those for “Poor Muslims”

Abstract

"Abstract   this work investigates fourteen non-Muslim (Christian and Jewish) waqfs and also those for “poor Muslims”. In the literature this is the first work to shed light on “unusual waqfs” which are unusual among innumerable non-Muslim waqfs. Five of these waqfs are charitable, and the other nine ones are ahlî (family) waqf in type. the names of these waqf founders are as following: Âkile bt. Harun b. İbrahim (Jewish), Mansur b. Abdullah (Jewish), Gâliye bt. Sadun Kallâş (Jewish), Musa b. Davut b. Yakub (Jewish), Süleyman b. Davud (Jewish), Panayot veled-i [v.] Rafir (Greek), Semha bint-i [bt.] Musa (Jewish), Benyamin v. Musa (Jewish), Limon v. Yani  (Greek),  Halepli  Sefer  (Armenian),  Sakyas  v.  Hacader  v.  Zirek  (Armenian), Anica  bt. Radul  v.  Angili  (Greek),  Mihail  v. Toma  (Greek)  ve  Nikolaki  v.  Şahin (Greek). The work is divided into two parts. In the first part, the legal background which allowed foundations to be set up for non-Muslims will be given with regard to its basis  in  history.  The  place  and  development  of  these  foundations  in  Islamic  and Ottoman history will be summarized retrospectively. The ideas of Shaykh al-Islam Ebussuud Efendi, who shaped the legal framework of non-Muslim foundations, will be examined in this context. In the second part, fourteen waqfs in question will be examined and the copies of the related documents (waqf deeds) will be found in facsimile form in an appendix. It has been hoped to arrive at the concept of a consensus  for  the  perception  of  charity  for  the  subjects  of  the  Ottoman  Empire, regardless of their religious identity.