The book endowment system and its effects on some aspects of religious and scientific life in Morocco
Written by: Dr. Habeeba Ahadoush
The endowment system is considered one of the most important pillars relied upon to spread the values of solidarity, mutual support, and virtue within society. This system has had a significant impact on the prosperity of Islamic societies throughout the ages.
Waqf or endowment is a type of charity that Islam has legislated and encouraged. In fact, it is one of the greatest righteous deeds, due to its ongoing benefits and positive impact on the individual and society. In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When the son of Adam dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.” What is meant by ongoing charity is endowment, therefore it is one of the best ways to draw closer to Allah.
The meaning of Waqf in Islamic terminology is: to keep the principal and make the fruit available; that is, to prevent the Waqf thing from being sold, given away as a gift or inherited. Making the benefit, use and enjoyment of it a loss in the way of Allah for the benefit of those for whom it is kept by the endowment; this is the meaning that came in the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when Umar ibn al-Khattab asked him, saying: “The one hundred shares in Khaybar are more pleasing to me than any wealth I have ever acquired, and I wanted to give them in charity.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Keep the principal and make its fruit available.”
The basis for the permissibility of endowing or keeping movable property is what was narrated by Abu Hurairah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Whoever keeps a horse in the cause of Allah, out of faith and belief in His promise, its food, drink, dung and urine will be on his scale on the Day of Resurrection.” The truth is that endowments can encompass multiple fields, whether religious, scientific or educational. However, what often comes to mind is that endowments, as an ongoing charity, are only linked to the material benefit that meets the needs of the poor, needy and orphans. The issue of endowments of books, which are no less important than endowments of movable property, is often overlooked. So, what do we mean by endowments of books?
The purpose of endowing books is to keep them in libraries or libraries for the benefit of students of knowledge, teachers, and the general public, seeking the pleasure of Allah. They may not be sold or inherited, but may be acquired or borrowed, provided that they are returned to their original location when finished with them, so that the original remains and the benefit from them continues. This is in accordance with the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Omar ibn al-Khattab when he consulted him about the spoils of war he had captured in Khaybar: “Keep its original and make its fruits available.” There are many religious and scientific institutions—mosques, zawiyas, libraries, and schools—that contain endowed books.
First: Endowing books to mosques :
The first religious institution covered by the endowment of books and documents in Islam was the mosque, the nucleus from which the scientific renaissance emerged since the era of the Prophet. Since their founding until today, mosques have hosted most religious and scientific activities, as study circles and intellectual debates were held within them.
Thanks to the book endowment system, these mosques were transformed into centers of scientific and cultural influence, undertaking multiple cultural, educational and instructive roles...and graduating jurists, hadith scholars, and scholars in medicine, engineering and others. One of the most prominent Moroccan mosques that was a destination for all who wanted to sip from the pure springs of knowledge was Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, which included many academic chairs that were endowed with various and diverse books. The number of academic chairs supported by endowments in Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque during some historical periods reached approximately eighteen chairs. The books endowed to these academic chairs varied according to considerations, including the subject matter studied and the number of students...The most famous books endowed to academic chairs in Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, for example:
• Sahih Al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH), Hilyat Al-Awliya’ by Abu Na’im Al-Asbahani (d. 430 AH), Tafsir by Al-Tha’labi (d. 427 AH), Riyad Al-Salihin by Al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH), Ihya’ Ulum Al-Din by Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH), and other numerous and diverse books, all of which were kept on the “back of Khasat Al-Ain” chair.
The endowments allocated to these academic chairs were not limited to the endowment of books only, but also covered all the expenses required for the teaching and continuity of these chairs.
secondly: Books are placed on the corners :
As religious, educational, and learning institutions, the zawiyas played a significant role in spreading knowledge and learning in Morocco. They were a destination for many students of knowledge and a refuge for disciples seeking to gain more knowledge and learning.
Among the most famous zawiya treasuries that are full of precious manuscripts in Morocco are:
The Nasriya Corner Library in Tamgrout : Founded in the tenth century AH, Sheikh Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Durai'i worked to develop it and increase its holdings of manuscripts and documents. Most of its contents of books and documents are gifts from kings, wills from sheikhs, and endowments from benefactors among scholars and notables. During the years 1904 and 1905 AD, its holdings of manuscripts amounted to approximately ten thousand volumes. The library contains precious manuscripts in various sciences.
Hamziyah Corner Library in Errachidia ...which is also known as the library of the Zawiya Al-Ayyashiyya, named after Abu Salem Al-Ayyashi, the famous Sufi Sheikh who is credited with developing and improving the contents of this library of manuscripts and documents. There are some manuscripts in the library that the Sheikh himself bequeathed to the library, including the book “Taqrir Al-Tahdhib” by Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, on the second volume of which he wrote a waqf in which he said: “…This book will benefit whoever has the qualifications among the residents of the Zawiya of Sidi Muhammad bin Bakr Al-Ayyashi…”
Third: Endowment of books to scientific libraries :
In addition to the direction of endowments towards mosque facilities, the creation of academic chairs, and the allocation of funds to run them and provide their requirements of books and other things, the interests of the owners of the endowments, who were jealous of knowledge and appreciated scholars, were directed towards establishing libraries and treasuries. During the era of the Almohad state, some public endowment treasuries appeared, the most famous of which was the treasury that Sheikh Abu al-Hasan al-Shari (d. 649 AH) endowed and attached to his school in Ceuta. As for the Marinid era, most historical sources that recorded the scientific and cultural movement in the city of Fez agree that the first signs of the establishment of the Qarawiyyin Mosque Library go back to the year 750 AH / 1349 AD, the period of the reign of Sultan Abu Inan al-Marini, who took care of the library and established a law for reading, studying and copying, and provided it with precious books in various sciences and arts. Ali al-Jizani described it by saying: “As for the library of books that is entered from the upper depository in the mosque, since it was among the characteristics of our master al-Mutawakkil Abu Inan, may God have mercy on him, the love of knowledge and its preference, and his concern for it and the desire for its dissemination, and caring for its people and those who carry it, and being kind to its readers and those who claim it, he was assigned to build this library, and he expanded the students of knowledge by bringing out for it books containing various types of sciences of religions, bodies, minds and language, and other sciences of all kinds, and their various types and kinds, and he endowed it seeking closeness and hoping for the reward of God The most faithful and appointed a guardian to control it and handle what is in it.
In addition to the Qarawiyyin Library, the Marinid Sultan established a special library for Qur’anic copies, a number of which he endowed himself, and wrote on them in his own handwriting what indicated this, and appointed a guardian to take them out, display them, and maintain them. The historian Ali al-Jazna’i says: “As for the Qur’an library that our master al-Mutawakkil Abu Inan, may God have mercy on him, placed in the qibla of the front of this mosque, he made it to make it easier for people to recite the Qur’an at the chosen times, by preparing in it a large number of Qur’ans with beautiful handwriting, splendid beauty, and splendid beauty, and he made them permissible for whoever wanted to read them after he wrote on each part of it in his own handwriting, endowing it for the duration of the years, nights, and days.”
The Sultans of Morocco were keen to provide this library with many precious manuscripts and new works. Sources mention that "Ahmed Al-Mansur Al-Saadi, who added to the Qarawiyyin Library what is known in its history as the Saadian Dome, was keen to enrich it with useful and beneficial things. He would endow it with whatever he saw fit, writing this in his own handwriting. Keen to provide it with rare items, he would send his ambassadors, specialist scholars, to the Levant to acquire what they could supply to the Moroccan libraries, especially the Qarawiyyin Library, with what it lacked in terms of books dealing with all the sciences and arts."
The kings of Morocco were not content with supplying this library with the books they obtained. Rather, a number of the sultans of the Alaouite dynasty compiled numerous works and donated copies of them to the Qarawiyyin Library, including the book “The Divine Conquests” by Sultan Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdullah.
The library of the Ibn Youssef Mosque in Marrakesh, founded by the Saadi Sultan Abdullah al-Ghalib opposite the mosque, was one of the most famous libraries in southern Morocco, thanks to the books supplied to it by kings, notables, and scholars.
We must not forget the Sobhi Library in Salé, which was bequeathed by Hajj Muhammad al-Subaihi, the former Pasha of Salé, to be a waqf for scholars, students, and ordinary readers. Hajj Abdullah al-Subaihi built a new headquarters for the library in 1396 AH/1976 CE, and the scholar Muhammad Hajji (may God have mercy on him) compiled a catalog of its manuscripts, which included approximately 1,337 items. The library also contains numerous endowed manuscripts.
Fourth: Endowment of books to scientific schools :
Among the most prominent Moroccan madrasas supported by endowments is the Halfawiyyin Madrasa, also known as the Saffarin Madrasa, built by Sultan Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq, to which he endowed numerous scholarly works. Al-Nasiri recounts in Al-Istiqsā that "his sons also followed in his footsteps, building numerous madrasas, endowing them with lavish endowments, and providing students with adequate stipends. As a result, they retained a vital source of knowledge and revived its traditions."
Other schools that received book endowments include the Sahrij School, the Sabaiyin School, the Attarin School, the Misbahiya School, and the Bou Inania School, all of which were endowments of the Marinid sultans. As for the Charatin School, it was established by Sultan Moulay Rachid Alaoui in early Sha'ban 1081 AH and completed by his brother, Sultan Moulay Ismail.
In short, the process of endowing books has contributed throughout Morocco's history to the dissemination and consolidation of numerous religious and intellectual values that have positively impacted many aspects of religious and scholarly life in Morocco. This underscores the need to revive this system in our current era. This can only be achieved through concerted efforts and the adoption of a set of measures that will raise awareness of the importance of endowing books in contemporary life. These measures include:
Holding scientific seminars To highlight the efforts of Moroccans in stopping and impounding books.
ChAll owners of private scientific libraries are urged to stop using their libraries. And publish it for the benefit of students and researchers.
Allocating wings within public scientific libraries in our country bearing the names of Moroccans who were famous for endowing books....whether they were kings, scholars, or common people...because this encourages and motivates citizens to endow books.
Quoted from: “Da’wat al-Haqq” magazine
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