COMPASSION THROUGH THE PRISM OF WAQFNAMA

In the Islamic country, and therefore in Bosnia during Ottoman administration as well, waqfs were an important leverage in the development of society, i.e. in satisfying daily needs. State administration was in charge or organizing the army, collecting taxes and judicial administration, while all the other needs of the society (education, municipal infrastructure, religious life etc.) were typically satisfied by means of waqfs. Founding waqfs and their way of operation were defined by a special deed of endowment (waqfnama). In many segments, the waqf, initiated by the waqif's need for gaining God's mercy, is an expression of his compassion for the most vulnerable categories of population.  

In the waqfnama of Isa-bey Ishaković from 1462, one of the oldest Ottoman documents written in our regions, we find the waqif's decision to commission a lodging in the village of Brodac, in the area of Sarajevo, which would consist of three houses, one stable, one fenced courtyard (harem) and everything else that was necessary, all of which were intended to serve as a tekke (monastery) and free lodging for poor students, sayyids and travelers. Its staff shall prepare meat, rice and bread, in sufficient quantities, and will use fats, as much as necessary. Guests are entitled to three days' food, and the surplus of food, after the guests and the staff have had enough, is to be given to weak orphans who live in the town.

A similar provision is found in the waqfnama of the other founder of Sarajevo, Gazi Husrev-bey, half a century later. To the west of the noble mosque, he commissioned an imaret – public soup kitchen. According to the well-established custom in other Islamic imarets as well, he provided that travelers should stay here, whether they are learned people, shaykhs, dignitaries, aristocrats, or the poor, the wretched or foreigners, as his waqfnama defined.

Similar endowments were founded in other towns and cities across Bosnia. When founding a waqf in Čajniče, Sinan-bey Boljanić dictated the following in his waqfnama: “With a pure heart and completely sincerely, seeking satisfaction of the Lord Almighty, he commissioned, in the above-mentioned town, an unequaled zavija (monastery) for lodging of travelers, for hosting the poor, the foreigners and the wretched, which has two warm guest rooms on the upper floor and on the ground floor – a stable, a kitchen, a storage, a bakery and other necessary rooms and furnishing. When once, during and after passage of a long time, all waqf goods and revenues from them get into a difficult financial position and incur losses, let everything be spent on the poor”.   

The founder of Varcar Waqf (today Mrkonjić Grad), Kizlar-aga Mustafa, expressed his compassion for the population of the town which he founded in the late 16th century in another way. Among other things, he commissioned in his town “a solid and high inn with twenty rooms for the wretched and the poor, powerful and powerless, and provided that every year an overcoat and a pair of trousers of white woolen cloth, and a colored belt should be bought for every child who attends the maktab. On Laylat al Qadr, these clothes should be distributed to the children and they should dress them. Regardless of how many children there are in the maktab, none of them should be denied these gifts, if at all possible. And, in brief, every year clothes for eighty children should be bought by the waqf in the described way”.  

A waqif from Mostar named Ćejvan-Ćehaja, son of Abdurahman, founded a waqf in this city in the mid-16th century. Among other details, we find the following in his waqfnama: „The waqif provided 2 dirhams a day for the muallim to buy fruits as they ripen in every season and time. And if there are none, he will then procure fine candies. The fruits shall be given to children who attend the maktab, in the afternoon, every Thursday. If there are leftovers, they should be given to the poor, children or adults”. And so on and so forth. In every waqfnama we find a detail as an expression of the benefactor's desire to satisfy needs of the poor, the weak and the needy by charity. To illustrate it, we list several such examples from waqfnamas of Mostar:

-   Hadži Salih Džundija, from Nezir-agina mahala (neighborhood) in Mostar, in 1677, provided for the annual salary of 30 akčas (Ottoman coins) from his waqf for an officer who will bring water from the Neretva in front of the Roznamedžija Mosque for needs of inhabitants of this neighborhood, during Ramadan, every day before iftar;

-          Hadži Osman, son of Husein, from Mostar, in 1746, endowed funds for the purchase of two cauldrons, one of 45 and the other of 25 okas (1 oka = 1.25kg), which will be lent to the poor for organizing weddings; allocated 360 akčas a year for the officer who will bring water (from the Neretva) to the sebilj (wooden fountain) in the minaret of the Kanberaga masjid (at Luka) and who shall take care that there is water in it „day and night“ throughout the year, and 30 akčas a year for the purchase of  burilos (wooden vessels) and susaks (ladles).

-   Ibrahim-effendi, son of hadži Salih-effendi, from Mostar, in the waqfnama from 1781 provided for the purchase of one load of good grapes which should be distributed to the poor of Nezir-agina mahala.

Most waqfnamas had provisions which pertain to satisfying needs of orphans, poor and weak citizens of places the waqf belonged to, which corresponds to the basic goal of the waqf: to gain God's satisfaction by satisfying needs of these categories of population, among others.