Pious Endowments in Words and Images

This book presents an attempt to introduce the concept of the Waqf (pious endowments) through presenting its definition, characteristics and uses. It also sheds light on its history and the significant role it played in previous periods through providing the needs of Arabic and Islamic societies, including education, healthcare as well as religious and urban services. These diverse uses provide testimony to the flexible nature of the Waqf as an institution and the various roles it allowed women to play in Arab socieites. The book attempts to present this historical institution which is part of Arab cultural legacy to lay readers in a simplified and enjoyable way through the method of "words and images" followed in a previous publication by the Women and Memory Forum. The book also poses the question as to what extent the Waqf as an institution could be put to use in contemporary Arab and Muslim societies, especially in the field of education.