History Hash Outs: Sacred Capital—the Modernization of Islamic Endowments in Egypt, 1851-1914

When thinking of Islamic endowments, or awqaf, in the modern period, scholars often conjure up an image of ruined historical buildings or eyesores unsuited to progress and development. This applies to the many madrasas, Sufi shrines and Islamic institutions that were historically supported by awqaf, seen by scholars as archaic and incompatible with modern capitalism. This talk presents an alternative narrative to that of ruination, of how the modern Egyptian state conducted a unique experiment in modernizing awqaf. It discusses how the state transformed awqaf into a network of financial corporations, with important implications on the status of communities dependent on these institutions.

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Sultan Al-Qasimi Department of History

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