Vznik "náboženské" nadace (waqf) a její význam pro ranou muslimskou společnost

Islamic endowments (sg. waqf, in North Africa habs) emerged in the first century after the birth of Islam, and spread to the whole of the Middle East to become one of the distinctive features of its societies. Although waqfs played many different socio-economic roles, their significance has up to now been described usually by means of the dichotomic concept distinguishing between waqf chajrí (charitable endowment) and waqf ahlí (family endowment), the first having been established as a kind of charity to provide free social services to the population (mainly mosques and madrasas), the latter as a means for evading inheritance rules (cilm al-fará'id), which, when applied, would cause the fragmentation of properties into uneconomical units. The article traces the origins of waqf as reflected in hadith literature (collections of sayings and deeds of the prophet Muhammad and his companions) and compendiums of fiqh (Islamic law). The stress is put on the concept of waqf in hanafi madhab, where controversy over the legality of the institution in relation to inheritance rules occurred in the eighth century. The final consensus of early Muslim authorities in support of family-like endowments and the frequency with which they appear in early fiqh works should impel one to consider carefully if the primary purpose of early Islamic endowments was really a charity, as is commonly agreed. This study presents the waqf as a component part of a wider inheritance system with waqf originating shortly after the advent of Islam to compensate for testamentary restrictions of Koranic inheritance law.