Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
PROF. MEHMET
MAKSUDOGLU
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Sultaniyya
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Waqf
We know that Rasulullah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, made his date orchard in Madinah al-Munawwara into a
waqf for Hawadlithud Dahr, i.e. for the protection of Islam and
other cases of urgency. He also made a date orchard in Fedek
into a waqf for travellers.
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Those who read this document should know for certain that it
is genuine and has been written in the presence of the
witnesses.2
The witnesses:
2. This is because four of the witnesses are Orhan Bey’s brothers, one his
sister and three his own children; they and their descendants will have no
right whatsoever over the revenue of the waqf for ever.
3. Ismail Hakki Uzuncarsili, “Gazi Orhan Bey Vakfiyesi”, Belleten, vol. V,
number 19, July 1941, pp. 280-282, Ankara 1941.
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Sultaniyya
of Osman Gazi. Orhan Gazi served the meals and lit the
candles of the imaret in person the first day. 4
It seems that the Osmanlis were not content to feed only the
stomachs of the people when they built an imaret; they took
care of the people’s well-being spiritually as well. Their
appointment of a spiritual master as head of the newly built
imaret is enough to prove this. Needless to say there was
property dedicated to maintain the imaret.
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Waqf
* * * * *
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Waqf
10.Waqfs to help the wayfarers, to set slaves free and to pay the
kitibet required to set slaves free.
11. Waqfs for having the Qur’an and other religious books
written, for purchasing them, for repairing and binding
them, as well as for maintaining charitable institutions.
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Sultaniyya
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Waqf
The government did not pay a penny for education until the
time of the Tanzimat (1839) which marked the beginning of
Europeanization. The well-off Muslims built madrasahs and
assigned waqfs (shops, buildings, fields, orchards) for these
institutions.
Fatih built four madrasahs at the east of his mosque and four
more at the west side of the mosque. These eight madrasahs
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The madrasahs called tetimme had more than one pupil in each
room. They received their meals also from the imaret.
Suleymaniyye medresesi had mathematics, medicine and darul
hadis sections for specialization. There was a chemist and a
clinic also.
The waqf for the library: It was stated in its waqfiyye how much
payment the librarian would receive, how much other people who
work there would be paid, and from which sources revenue would
come for repairing and maintaining the building and the books.
Waqfs for zawiyyas and dergahs: Generally the rulers and high
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Waqf
officials would build these institutions for well known Sufi orders.
The waqfiyye stated clearly what sort of meals would be cooked
and served, from which sources the revenue would be received,
how much the Spiritual Master would be paid, and so on.
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and:
“Your share from your world is what you eat and consume,
what you put on and wore out and what you donated and left
untouched.”
(Hadith Sharif)
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Waqf
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10. Osman Turan, “Selcuk Kervansaraylari, Belleten, v.X, number 39, pp. 477-
494, Ankara 1946.
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Waqf
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Waqf
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Waqf
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Osman Nuri Ergin, the erudite writer, states that külliyyes con-
taining mosque, madrasah, hospital, restaurant, guesthouse,
tomb, castle, even minaret, are called imarets. One of the best
examples of these imarets is the one built and dedicated by
Mihirishah Valide Sultan, spouse of Sultan Mustafa III and
mother of Sultan Selim III in the Ayyub Sultan district of
Istanbul. This imaret and külliyye was put into service in
1208/1793, and still continues to serve people.17
When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, migrated to Madinah al-Munawwara, he was the guest
of Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased
with him. Abu Ayyub participated in the campaign of 50 H / 670
CE to Constantinople, where he died a shahid and was buried
outside the city walls. Orientalists mention him as ‘an Arab
soldier’. To the Turks he is Eyüb (Turkish pronunciation of
Ayyub) Sultan. When the Osmanli Sultan Fatih Mehemmed
opened Constantinople (Istanbul) to Islam, he asked his spiritual
master Akshemseddin, may Allah have mercy on him, to
determine the place of burial in 857/1453, which Akshemseddin
did by way of mukishefe. A tomb and a mosque was built in Abu
Ayyub’s name by Fatih, and the district became known as ‘Eyüp’.
His tomb was visited by the new Osmanli Sultans and the
ceremony of accession (julus merasimi) was carried out there,
girdling the sword of Islam in the presence of that Companion
and mujahid. The Sultan, Grand Wazir or Wazir, whoever went
out at the head of Ordu-yu Humayun (the Royal Army) for jihad,
first visited Abu Ayyub. Even today, boys visit his tomb before
circumcision and newly married couples visit his tomb.
17. Ahmet INAN, “Vakfiyesinin Dilinden Eyüp Imareti”, Vakif ve Kültür, v.I,
n.1, p.23, Vakiflar Genel Müdürlügü, Mayis 1998.
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So, this charitable lady built her imaret in the vicinity of Eyüp
Sultan.
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* * * * *
Waqifs would build nice looking places for birds on the walls of
their mosques and other buildings. A certain Mürseli Aga
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Waqf
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