Till God Inherits the Earth (Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World)

570 Pages·2006·3.19 MB·English

by  Alejandro García Sanjuán

TILL GOD INHERITS THE EARTH
THE MEDIEVAL
AND EARLY MODERN
IBERIAN WORLD
EDITORS
LarryJ. Simon(WesternMichiganUniversity)
GerardWiegers(RadboudUniversityNijmegen)
Arie Schippers(University ofAmsterdam)
DonnaM. Rogers(Dalhousie University)
IsidroJ. Rivera(University ofKansas)
VOLUME 31
TILL GOD INHERITS
THE EARTH
Islamic Pious Endowments in al-Andalus
(9-15th Centuries)
BY
ALEJANDRO GARCÍA SANJUÁN
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2007
On the cover: Arabic inscription commemorating the restoration of a Sevilian mosque's
minaret under the supervision of the ߧÈib al-aÈb§sAbå#Umar b. •ayyib (472 h/1079)
Courtesy of Cabildo de la Iglesia del Divino Salvador de Sevilla and R. Valencia.
This book was published with financial support of the University of Huelva.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
García Sanjuán, Alejandro.
[Hasta que Dios herede la tierra English.]
Till God inherits the earth : Islamic pious endowments in al-Andalus (9 - 15th
centuries) / Alejandro García Sanjuán.
p. cm. — (Medieval and early modern Iberian World ; v. 31)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-90-04-15358-5
ISBN-10: 90-04-15358-6 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Charitable uses, trusts, and
foundations (Islamic law)—Spain. 2. Waqf—Spain—History. 3. Spain—History—
Sources. I. Title. II. Series.
KKT526.G3713 2006
346.46’064—dc22
2006049273
ISSN 1569-1934
ISBN-13: 978-90-04-15358-5
ISBN-10: 90-04-15358-6
© Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill,
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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printed in the netherlands
Surely We shall inherit the earth and all that are upon
it, and unto Us they shall be returned
Qur"àn, XIX, 40
Trans. A.J. Arberry
And Zachariah—when he called unto his Lord, ‘O my
Lord, leave me not solitary; though Thou art the best
of inheritors’
Qur"àn, XXI, 89
Trans. A.J. Arberry
It should be known that history is a discipline that has
a great number of approaches. Its useful aspects are
very many. Its goal is distinguished
Ibn Khaldùn, al-Muqaddima
Trans. F. Rosenthal

CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements ................................................ ix
Glossary of Arabic Terms ........................................................ xi
Chapter 1 Sources used .................................................... 1
Chapter 2 The use of Islamic jurisprudence as a
documentary source ........................................ 24
Chapter 3 Origins and early development of the
institution .......................................................... 55
Chapter 4 The Legal Framework: general elements of
donations .......................................................... 82
Chapter 5 The family or private a˙bàs ............................ 142
Chapter 6 The aims of pious a˙bàs .................................. 184
Chapter 7 The organisation of mosques and the role
of pious endowments ...................................... 243
Chapter 8 The officials responsible for managing the
endowment: nàΩir, qà∂ì and ßà˙ib al-a˙bàs ...... 293
Chapter 9 Legal Theory versus Practical Needs: causes
and mechanisms to altering donations .......... 337
Chapter 10 Pious endowments in the context of the
Andalusian Social Formation .......................... 392
Conclusion .................................................................................. 436
Appendix I Jurists and fuqahà": identification and
alphabetical index ............................................ 448
Appendix II Inventory and breakdown of fatàwà included
in the Mi'yàr .................................................... 457
Appendix III Tables of Data ................................................ 467
Appendix IV Location of Ibn Rushd’s fatàwà ...................... 477
Appendix V Graphs .............................................................. 479
Appendix VI Texts in Translation ........................................ 484
Sources ........................................................................................ 523
Bibliography ................................................................................ 527
Index .......................................................................................... 539

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present work is the English version of my book Hasta que Dios
herede la tierra. Los bienes habices en al-Andalus (siglos X–XV), published
in 2002. I have a particular interest in making clear from the begin-
ning that this work is not a mere translation of its Spanish prede-
cessor. On this premise, three general remarks must be made. In
the first place, I have made a special effort to include the most
recent books and articles, published after 2002, in the field of Islamic
pious endowments, and even others existing prior to that date which
were neglected in the Spanish version for different reasons. On the
other hand, even if it is true that the general structure and the body
of the text are broadly the same, some relevant changes have been
introduced in several parts of the book, with the aim of improving
perspectives, presentation of subjects, formulation of ideas and even
literary style. In the third place, the corpus of documentary sources
has been slightly enlarged with new texts and translations, making
it richer. For all these reasons, I consider this book a new version
of the Spanish one and not a simple translation, even if my con-
clusions still remain the same.
The aforementioned work was the result of my Ph.D. entitled Los
bienes habices en al-Andalus, siglos X al XV. Estudio socio-económico de una
institución islámica a través del análisis de las fuentes jurídicas. (The Pious
Endowments in al-Andalus, 4th–9th/10th–15th centuries. A social and eco-
nomic study of an Islamic institution through the analysis of legal sources). That
dissertation was carried out at the Department of Medieval History
of the University of Seville and co-directed by Dr. M. González
Jiménez and Dr. R. Valencia. It was publicly defended on Monday
December 21st 1998 at the Faculty of Geography and History of
the University of Seville. I wish to thank all members of the panel
for their useful and accurate observations which have helped me to
improve several aspects of the contents of this work.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to other colleagues
who had the kindness to provide me with their invaluable assistance.
I would like to single out Dr. P. Chalmeta who offered suggestions
and ideas of great scientific value for the contents of the original
research. I am also grateful for the bibliographical help given by