The Waqf and Welfare in Islamic Countries: A Preliminary Investigation into the Development of Modern Medical Establishments Funded by Charitable Endowments in Iran, India and Turkey. (360G-Wellcome-105491_Z_14_Z)

Waqf or endowment in Islamic countries are the most imortant legal institutions that particularly before the modern period comprised an important number of public and private properties. All properties of certain size created waqf, in other words set aside a part of their income for charitable purposes. While this so-called 'pious act' could protect the owner's properties from confiscation, it also could secure salut and peace for the owner's afterlife. During the pre-modern period some of the w aqf endowments were established for public welfare but mainly their purpose was for religious establishments or for funding religious festivals. My research will examine the development of waqf in Islamic countries alongside the reform movements since the end of the nineteenth century. a) to examine the impact of reform movements since the end of the nineteenth century in Iran and other Islamic countries on the development of waqf institution; b) to compare the development of waqf-endowed medica l institutions in terms of their secular or religious purposes and their contribution to the development of medicine and to public welfare in general. The study will involve visits to archives and waqf institutions in at least in three countries, including Iran, India and Turkey.