A Wagf Foundation Document for al-Azhar Mosque What follows is a Mamluk historian’s description of a wagfiyyah, or wagf foundation document, for several mosques that were constructed in Cairo during the Fatimid period, A wagf(pl awgaf) is a type of endowment - a designation of and or property as a wagf for a specific purpose that alienated income from that land or property in perpetuity. This meant that the income from the endowed land or property could never again be used for any other purpose than that stated in the wagfiyyah, it could not be seized by a ruler, and it was often exempted from certain kinds of taxation (and sometimes from any taxation at all). There were two kinds of awgaf,! but here we are only concerned with the wagf khayri or charitable endowment, which supported mosques, schools, public fountains, and other edifices that served the public welfare. Wagfiyyah documents were extremely specific as to what properties were to be endowed, how much of their income was to go to charitable purposes, and how the endowed income was tobe spent, Note in this document the detailed lists of permitted expenditures and the precise allocation of funds. What kinds of expenditures were required for the upkeep of the mosque? Why do you think such detailed specification was necessary, and what does that imply? Al-Magrizi’s description of the Wagfiyyah of the Fatimid al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah for the Mosques of al-Azhar, al-Hakimi, and al-Maquss, and the Dar al-‘Ilm. Cairo, Ramadan 400 AH [1010 AD]? This writing was witnessed by the Chief Qedi Malik bin Sa‘id bin Malik al-Farigi, as to all that lies within it, specifications and descriptions, and as to the others who came to witness it in the court of his wisdom and judgment, in Fustat, Egypt, in the month of Ramadan in the 400" year. They witnessed - and they were that day the Qadi ‘Abd Allah and his governor, al- Mansur Abu ‘Ali al-Imam al-Hakimn bi-Ame Allah, the Commander of the Faithful, son of the Imam al-‘Aziz bi-Allah (blessings of God upon them both), {the governor of} Cairo, Egypt, Alexandria, the Holy Cities (God protect them both), the armies of Syria..and regions of the Maghrib, ' The second type is the wagfahli, or personal endowment, which served as means of ensuring that one’s descendants had a source of income but could also be dedicated to charitable purposes, ? arabic text of al-Magriai’s summary of this wagfiyyah from Mustafa Ramadan, “Dawr al-awgaf fi da‘m al-azhar ka-mu’assasah ‘ilmiyyah islamiyyah,” Proceedings of the Nadwat al- ‘Tatawwur al-Tarikhi li-Mu’assasat al-Awgaf fi al-‘Alam al-‘Arabi wa-al-Islami, Baghdad, April 1983, 35-38. Loose English translation by Indira Falk Gesink, DRAFT. iss”(The properties endowed] were the possessions of the ruler, which he devoted to the Mosque of al-Azhar in the capital, Cairo, the mosque in Rashida; and the mosque in al-Maquss; all of which he had ordered constructed; and to the Dat al-Hikmah? in the capital, Cairo, that had ‘been previously endowed. [The income of] the public property [would be dedicated to the upkeep of] the Azhar Mosque and the mosque in Rashidah and the Dar al-Hikmah in Cairo according to the conditions that follow. That which was donated to the Azhar Mosque in Cairo, the mosque in Rashidah, and the Dar al-Hikmah in Cairo: the whole shop known as the Dar al-Darb [the Mint], the whole marketplace known as the Qaysariyyat al-Suf {the Wool Market], and the whole shop known as the Dar al-Khiraq al-Jadidah [the new Tailor’s Shop], all of which are in Fustat, Egypt. ‘That which was donated to the Mosque of al-Maquss: all of four shops, the residences that are above them, and two storerooms, all of which are in Fustat, Egypt...on the west side of the shop known as the Dar al-Khirag, and those two shops known as the Dar al-Khiraq in the place known as the Hammam al-Far {the Bathhouse of Mice}...And all the joint shares of the four adjacent shops that are in Fustat, Egypt...in the place known as the Hammam al-Far. inclusive of all land, buildings, floors, ceilings, rooms, supports, shops, courtyards, streets, paths, and neighboring water holes, and every right to what is inside and outside of it [belongs to the mosque]... All of this, in its totality, is a devoted, protected, alienated endowment. It may not be sold, destroyed, or owned, according to the stipulations that {set these properties apart] as. charitable donations in this document. [The stipulations set forth in this document] will not weaken with the advancement of years, nor change with the progression of events; they permit no exemptions nor interpretations, nor petitions for renewal of its alienation as awgaf. The stipulations will continue in force despite changes in [social] conditions until God inherits the heavens and the earth... Nevertheless, [these properties} will be leased in every era...with God's supervision they will procure sufficient funds until they become bankrupt... Of this, there is due to the Azhar Mosque in Cairo mentioned in this written certification: ‘the fifth, the eighth, half of the sixth, and half the ninth...and that shall be spent on its buildings and general welfare. This is, in the opinion of the accountant: 1, 761 whole dinars, a half dinar, and an eighth dinar. (The following expenses and amounts allocated are listed] + 84 dinars for a khatib [preacher] + 4,000 nur for the cloth partition that provides privacy for female worshipers, so that there be one should someone need it. 3 “House of Wisdom, .,a school, ist13,000 nura’ for preparation of the kiswah* every year should there be need of it. 181 dinars for 3 gintars* of fowl and chickens. 12 and three-fourths dinars for a censor, incense (musk and camphor), and payment of she incense-maker, to be used on Fridays and during Ramadan. 15 dinars for a half gintar of wax. 5 dinars for the sweeping of the mosque and moving the dust, sewing of the curtain, the thread, and the payment of the seamstress. 1 dinar for the lighting of candles. one-half dinar for one gintar of charcoals for the censer. 24 dinars for the provision of copper, chains, al-tafaair, and the dome that is above the ceiling of the mosque. one-half dinar for fiber cord, four ropes, and six leather buckets. one-half dinar for two gintars of polishing cloth for the cleaning of the lamps. 1 and one-fourth dinars for 10 towels for the cleaners,10 rat/s of hemp to hang the lamps, and 200 brooms for the sweeping of the mosque. 3 dinars for the manufacturing of earthenware jars, into which water will be poured, and ‘the price of transporting them [from the well to the mosque]. 37 and a half dinars for oil to fuel the mosque, 1,200 ratls far the year, and the price of its transport. There are allocated 556 and one half dinars for the livelihood of three prayer-teadess (meaning the imams), four qawmah, and 15 mu’adhdhins [prayer-callers] each prayer-leader and gawmah receives 2 dinars, « third of a dinar, and an eighth of a dinar every month of the year. the mu'adhdhins and the qawmah receive two dinars every month the mushrif [supervisor] of the mosque receives 24 dinars every yest. for the sweeping of the mosque’s manufactory, and removal from it of mud and filth, there is one dinar. for necessary repairs of the mosque’s ceiling, floors, walls, and other things there is allocated per year 60 dinars And for the price of 180 loads of straw as fodder for the head of cattle belonging to the mosque’s manufactory, there are 80 and one-half and one-third dinars. And there are 40 dinars for the straw for the storehouse... And for the price of two feddans® of pastureland, for penning the aforementioned cattle, there are 70 dinars. And for the salary of the stable hand, the water boy, the ropes, buckets, and what pertains to them, there are 15 and one-half dinars, And for the salary of the custodian of the ablutions fountain in this mosque, there are 12 dinars, * The kiswah is a cloth covering, it usually refers to the beautifully tailored covering for the Ka‘ba in Mecca, which was sewn every year at great expense in Egypt. 5 100 ratls or 44.93 kg *® A feddan is about one acre. 1s7