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The Waqf of Muhammad Bey Abu Al-Dhahab in Historical Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Daniel Crecelius
Daniel Crecelius
Affiliation:
Department of HistoryCalifornia State University, Los Angeles
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Abstract

Whoever builds a mosque for God, even like the nest of a bird to lay her eggs, God will build for him an abode in paradise.1.

In 1774, the Mamluk shaykh al-balad Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab began the construction of a large mosque-madrasa-takiyya in one of central Cairo's prime locations. The complex bearing the name of the donor lies within a rough triangle formed by the main gate of al-Azhar, the Khan al-Zarakisha, and the wikāla of the 16th-century Mamluk ruler Qansuh al-Ghawri and forms the most important part of Muhammad Bey's waqf. Extensive agricultural lands and urban properties were included in the waqf by the donor to support the personnel of the mosque, school, and rakiyya, to pay for the religious activities stipulated by the terms of the waqf, and for the upkeep of the buildings.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 57 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

NOTES

1 This saying of the Prophet collected by Ibn Māja in his Sahūh al-Sunna is mentioned on page 4 of Muhammad Bey's waqfiyya, which is preserved as waqfiyya no. 900 in the daftarkhāna of the Ministry of Awqaf, Cairo (hereafter MA). It has also been copied in the records of the shari⊂a court. See Shari⊂a Court Archives (hereafter SCA), al-Bāb al-⊂ālū, 284, 265, 194–218.Google Scholar A precise physical description of the document is provided by ⊂Abd al-Latūf Ibrāhūm ⊂Alū's article on the library that was part of Muhammad Bey's waqf. See “Maktaba ⊂Uthmāniyya,” Majallat Kulliyyat al-ādāb, Jāmū⊂at al-Qāhira XX, 2 (1958): 1–35.Google Scholar I have provided a translation of this complete document in the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt XV (1978): 83–105; idem, XVI (1979): 125–46.Google Scholar

2 ⊂Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda's waqfiyya of the previous year is truly remarkable in listing 13 shaykhs and 10 amirs as witnesses. See MA, , daftarkhāna, 940Google Scholar (1187 A.H.). ⊂Ali Bey's large donation in favor of the mosque of Sidi al-Badawi in Tanta is more typical, having a total of but six witnesses. See MA, , daftarkhāna, 743 (1183 A.H.).Google Scholar

3 A description of these religious offices, as well as the most important political offices in the Ottoman bureaucracy in Egypt, illustrated with examples from the Egyptian archives, can be found in Ibrahim, el-Mouelhy, Organisation er fonctionnement des institutions ottomanes en Egypte (1517–1917) (Istanbul, 1989).Google Scholar

4 Both are cited as katkhudās of Muhammad Bey.

5 On the revolt of ⊂Ali Bey against the Ottoman Empire and his subsequent struggle with Muhammad Hey, see Daniel, Crecelius, The Roots of Modern Egypt: A Study of the Regimes of ⊂Ali Bey al-Kabir and Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab, 1760–1775 (Minneapolis and Chicago, 1981).Google Scholar

6 Two examples of the manner in which urban historians can use waqfiyyas are Nelly, Hanna, An Urban History of Bulaq in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods (Cairo, 1983);Google ScholarDoris, Behrens-Abouseif, Azbakiyya and Its Environs from Azbak to Isma⊂il, 1476–1879 (Cairo, 1985).Google Scholar

7 A useful description of the institution of waqf in the Ottoman Empire can be found in John, Robert Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (Leiden, 1987).Google Scholar

8 On the long-term lease of waqf property, see Ibid., p. 52.

9 The seventeen documents are all from al-Bāb al-⊂ālūseries of the Shari⊂a Court Archives in Cairo. They are: 282, 337, 221 (7 Muharram, 1188); 282, 338, 222 (19 Shawwal, 1187); 283, 194, 140 (5 Muharram, 1188); 283, 195, 140–41 (Ghayat Dhu al-Hijja, 1187); 283, 190, 137 (3 Muharram, 1188); 283, 240, 173(1 Safar, 1188); 283, 241, 173(1 Safar, 1188); 283, 182, 132(4 Muharram, 1188); 283, 185, 133(4 Muharram, 1188); 283, 186, 134(8 Safar, 1188); 283, 188, 135 (18 Ramadan, 1187); 283, 189, 136 (I Muharram, 1188); 283, 206, 148 (27 Safar, 1188); 283, 207, 149 (I Muharram, 1188); 283, 214, 153 (19 Shawwal, 1187); 283, 193, 129(4 Muharram, 1188); 284,97,66 (10 Shawwal, 1188). Several factors help to explain why no more than 17 of the 64 cases have as yet been located. First of all, cases are not recorded in strict chronological sequence in the daftars. Moreover, a large proportion of documents from this period are preserved out of order in the unbound dashi series. Third, the indexes that exist for the various courts list only waqf donations by the name of their donors. They do not index any other type of court document pertaining to waqfs, such as exchanges, isqāt or additions. Finally, many of these cases take up no more than a few lines of script that are exceedingly difficult to read in daftars of 400 pages or more and are easy to pass over.

10 Every piece of real estate, whether it is land or a building (or part of one), is divided in waqf law into 24 units known as qūrāts. No other unit of measurement was used in these older daftars until the modern age, when European measurements began to find their way into descriptions of waqf properties. The donor could encumber the total amount of his property or any part of it, which he expressed in qūrāts. When, as is the case in Muhammad Bey's waqfiyya, it is stated that all(jāmi⊂) or 24/24 qūrāts of such and such a village (or even a district) is constituted as waqf there is no way of knowing, without reference to other obscure sources, how many feddans are actually involved. The situation with urban property is even more complicated, for very often a building comprising a number of dwellings, shops, or storerooms was held in multiple ownership on land belonging to a well-established waqf. Any donor could divide his property, whatever its size, into 24 qūrāts and make a waqf of any portion of it. Even a doorway, a corridor, or a cabinet could be so divided and 2/24, 8/24, or any other fraction of it could be endowed. One can easily see how incredibly complicated the legal titles to a property could become after the lapse of a generation or two, when the beneficiaries of the waqfs (supposing it were ahlū) would multiply geometrically. Then, too, the nāzir of each waqf could exchange his share, add or subtract to it, etc.

11 Muhammad Badawi was quite active in acquiring nizāras for himself prior to ⊂Ali Bey's expulsion from Egypt in 1772 and was later identified as an official in the mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn (see SCA, Fihrist Taqārūr al-Nazar, Sanat 1181–Sanat 1190). It is not known how he became associated with Muhammad Hey, but as an official of the important al-Husayn mosque and a respected resident of that area he was well situated to acquire the required property for Muhammad Bey's proposed construction. There can be no doubt that his control of waqfs belonging to the mosque of al-Husayn and his relationship with the shaykh al-balad made him an important and rich man. But the patron– client relationship he had established with Muhammad Bey worked to his disadvantage upon the sudden death of Muhammad Bey in 1775, for he was subsequently ruined by Muhammad Bey's enemies. When Shaykh Abu al-Anwar al-Sadat wrested the control of Sayyidna al-Husayn from him after Muhammad Bey's death, the wrathful Shaykh al-Wafa⊃iyya destroyed Muhammad Badawi's house situated to the east of the mosque and built a new one in its place (see ⊂Abd, al-Rahmān al-Jabartū, ⊂Ajā⊃ib al-āthār fū al-Tarājim wa-al-A khbār [Cairo, 1879–1880], vol. IV, p. 190 [hereafter Jabartū).Google Scholar

12 See the following cases in al-Bāb al-⊂ālū series of the SCA: 283, 240, 173; 282, 338, 222; 284, 97, 66; 283, 186, 134; 283, 188, 135; 283, 207, 149; 283, 214, 153.

13 Page 29 of the waqfiyya. See also SCA, al-Bāb al-⊂ālū 283, 240, 173.Google Scholar The AbūT;āqa riyāl, also known as the batāqa (pataque to the French), was the German thaler. See André, Raymond, Artisans et commerçants au Caire au XVIIIe siècle (Damascus, 1973), vol. 1, p. 23.Google Scholar

14 SCA, al-Bāb al-⊂ālū, pp. 282, 338, 222.Google Scholar

15 Ibid., pp. 284, 97, 66.

16 Ibid., pp. 283, 185, 133 and 283 188, 135.

17 Ibid., pp. 282, 337, 221 and 283 185, 133.

18 The nisf fidda was the popular Egyptian name for the standard silver coin in use during both the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. The Ottomans called it the para, and used it as the standard of account in their record-keeping in Egypt. One Egyptian kūs (purse) equaled 25,000 nisf fiddas. The Egyptian irdabb was a unit of dry measure whose actual weight varied according to place and item being measured; it was roughly equivalent to 141/6 English bushels. See Raymond, , Artisans el commerçants, vol. 1, pp. 34–35;Google ScholarStanford, J. Shaw, The Financial and Administrative Organization and Development of Ottoman Egypt. 1517–1798 (Princeton, 1962), pp. XXII, 79.Google Scholar

19 Page 72 of the waqfiyya. This implies that Muhammad Bey had no children. Indeed, none have been found in the records of the shari⊂a court or ministry of Awqaf. The families bearing the name of Abu al-Dhahab in Egypt today claim descent through his mamluks, not through any children of the bey.

20 Jabartū, , vol. I, p. 419.Google Scholar

21 SCA, al-Bāb al-⊂ālū pp. 283, 190, 137.Google Scholar

22 See Jabartū, , vol. II, pp. 52–54; vol. II, p. 148.Google Scholar

23 Ibid., vol. I, pp. 408–9.

24 Ibid., vol. I, pp. 414–16.

25 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 259.

26 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 244–45.

27 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 147–48.

28 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 165–67.

29 Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 227–33. vol. IV, pp. 76–77.

30 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 125.

31 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 126.

32 ⊂Abd al-Latūf Ibrāhūm ⊂ālū, “Maktaba ⊂Uthmāniyya” p. 10.

33 The Dar at-Kutub in Cairo preserves the Qur⊃an. See Mushaf, no. 25.

34 Jabartū, , vol. II, p. 199; ⊂Abd al-Latūf lbrāhūm ⊂ālū, “Maktaba ⊂Uthmāniyya,” p. 10.Google Scholar

35 ⊂Abd, al-Latūf Ibrāhim ⊂ālū, “Maktaba ⊂Uthmāniyya,” p. 17.Google Scholar

36 Ibid., p. 15.

37 This interpretation does not agree with Peter Gran's assertion that Egypt was experiencing a renaissance in religious thought during the 18th century. See Gran, , Islamic Roots of Capitalism: Egypt, 1760–1840 (Austin and London, 1979).Google Scholar

38 Plates 11–13 of Dr. Ibrāhūm's article give examples.

39 Jabartū, , vol. 1, p. 419.Google Scholar

40 Ibid., vol. II, p. 232.

41 SCA, Taqārūr al-Nazar, 16, 40, 9 (2 Jumada Akhir, 1191).Google Scholar

42 Jabartū, , vol. II, pp. 17–19.Google Scholar Yusuf Bey deposed Shaykh al-Kafrawi as mufti after Muhammad Bey's death and replaced him with Shaykh Ahmad ibn Yunus al-Khalifi. See Jabartū, , vol. II, p. 165.Google Scholar

43 SCA, Taqārūr al-Nazar, 29, 491, 93 (1234 AH.).Google Scholar

44 SCA, al-Qism al-⊂Askariyya, 201, 223, 161 (18 Dhu al-Hijja, 1191 A.H.).Google Scholar

45 SCA, Taqārūr al-Nazar, 21, 34, 4 (1217 A.H.).Google Scholar

46 Ibid., 34, 56, 10 (1244 A.H.).

47 Ibid.,39, 20, 132 (1270 An.).

48 Ibid., 39, 43, 270 (1271 A.H.); 39, 48, 303 (1271 AH.).

49 Ibid., 21, 357, 44 (1215 A.H.).

50 lbid., 24, 251, 43(3 Muharram, 1221 A.H.).

51 Ibid., 24, 340, 56(1221 A.H.).

52 Ibid., 25, 44, 8 (1226 A.H.).

53 Ibid., 29, 122, 22 (1232 An.).

54 lbid., 29, 486, 93 (1243 A.H.).

55 lbid., 34, 235, 38 (1243 A.H.).

56 F., de Jong, Turuq and Turuq-Linked Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (Leiden, 1978), pp. 77–86.Google Scholar

57 Jabartū, , vol. III, pp. 173–74. Jabartū claims he died in 1800.Google Scholar

58 Several female freed slaves, who were barred by the stipulations of the waqf from assuming the nizāra, remained. One, the clever ⊂Arifa Qadin, the freed slave of Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab and wife of the Amir ⊂Ayyub Bey al-Kabir, established several waqfs, one in 1803 and the other in 1826. (See MA, , Qalam al-Sijillāt al-Ahliyya, Sijill 16 Ahlū, p. 30.) The former stipulated that prayers were to be said in her house for the soul of her deceased husband, ⊂Ayyub Bey, and for her deceased master, Muhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab.Google Scholar

59 SCA, Taqārūr al-Nazar, 35, 83, 416 (23 Shawwal, 1250 A.H.). His identification as shaykh of the Syrian riwāq at al-Azhar was made in a reference in the second sijill cited in n. 60.Google Scholar

60 MA, , daftarkhāna, Sijill Hisābāt al-Awqāf al-Khayriyya min Sanat 1251, pp. 121–25;Google Scholaridem, Sijill ⊂an Hisāb Uşūm wa-Khuşūm Awqāf al-Masājid wa-Zawāya wa-Adriha wa-al-Makātib wa-Sahārūj bū-al-Mahrūsa wa-Būlāq wa-Misr al-Qadūma, pp. 307–10.Google Scholar

61 Ibid.

62 Responsible officials from the Dar al-Mahfuzat insist that the Dar has no tax records for the villages endowed in Muhammad Bey's waqf before the turn of the century. Daftars reporting the taxes of the villages of ⊂Arab al-Raml and Minyat al-Hawiyyin for the years 1902–6 from the district of Quwaysna contain no reference whatsoever to Muhammad Bey's endowed lands.

63 See n. 60.

64 SCA, Taqārūr al-Nazar, 38, 93, 526 (1268 A.H.).Google Scholar

65 ⊂Alū, Mubārak Pāshāal-Khitat al-Tawfūqiyya al-Jadūda (Bulaq, 1886–1889), vol. II, p. 92.Google Scholar

66 MA, , dafsarkhāna, Taqārūr al- Nazar, 11, 23.Google Scholar

67 lbid., Taqārūr al-Nazar, 582 (27 12 1898).Google Scholar

68 Muhammad, Muhammad Amūn, Al-A wqāf wa-al-Hayāh al-Ijtimā⊂iyya fū Misr, 648–923 A.H./1250–1517 A.D. (Cairo, 1980);Google ScholarFihris: Wathā⊃iq al-Qāhira hattā Nihāyat ⊂Asr Salātin al-Mamālūk (239–922 A.H/853–1516.A.D.) (Cairo, 1981).Google Scholar