ABSTRACT
Judges (qadis) throughout the Ottoman Empire played an important role in the creation, management, and overall supervision of the awqaf (pious endowments) of their Muslim community. 1 They “tested” new awqaf in their courts, registered validated awqaf in their carefully prepared registers (sijillat), and supervised the supervisors (nuzzar; sing. nazir) of both awqaf khayriyya and ahliyya. 2 They frequently heard complaints from worshippers that the nazir was withholding funds for the services, salaries or upkeep of the religious structure for which he was responsible, judged cases from competing parties pertinent to the supervision of awqaf, or listened to the complaints of beneficiaries that the nazir was not distributing benefits properly or was not maintaining the income-producing value of the properties endowed to support the waqf. In Egypt, for instance, the Qanunname-i Misir of Sultan Sülayman al-Qanuni specifically ordered that an inspector (nazir) and clerk (katib) sent from Istanbul annually should check the accounts of the awqaf through the qadi to make certain that their expenditures were according to the stipulations set out by the donors. This official was charged with broad authority to inspect these waqf properties and to assure their maintenance and repair. 3 In the absence of these officials from Istanbul, the local qadi assumed responsibility for maintaining the structure of awqaf in his jurisdiction. It does not appear that the practice of sending officials from Istanbul on an annual basis was maintained; nor did the qadi always exercise effective supervision of awqaf in his jurisdiction. There are numerous cases of citizens or beneficiaries of awqaf lodging complaints in the qadi’s court against negligent or corrupt supervisors. Many of these cases indicate that for decades, the nazirs did not file reports on the income and expenditures of the awqaf they supervised.
