Old Rent and No Rent – Waqfs and Land Profits

Understanding the waqf

A waqf is a form of endowment or land trust that has seen criticism in the past few decades, stemming from an Islamic law tradition to “imprison the capital and liquidate its fruit”. In essence, a waqf  is created for the purpose of benefiting the people in the community. A person I assigned the management of the property, which needs to be self-sustaining, through the establishment of businesses and trades on that land but is not allowed to reap great profit from the waqf  itself. Additionally, the funds created by one waqf are only to be used for the maintenance of that waqf . It is not to be traded, sold, or otherwise placed on the market as the term itself means that there is a “stop” on this land. While originally organized in a decentralized manner, most property placed as a waqf has gone to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Awqaf, established under the Khedive Ismail, and any new waqf would then be established through it. 

Old rent, new rent, and finance capitalism – waqf as pushback?

Info on new rent laws

def of finance capitalism

how have we historically stopped the profiting off of land where marginalized populations live?

land trusts, waqfs, and building the perpetual

Mapping the waqf

The first waqf built in Egypt was upon the entrance of Islam into the nation – the beloved mosque of Amro ibn al ‘Aas. 

Sabeel Qait Bay. (going into what is a sabeel, why it was developed, etc)

Al Azhar Mosque (emphasizing how Al Azhar has shaped Egyptian politics, religion, and its geopolitical role as a cultural institution)

Maspero and other neighborhoods (emphasizing the concept of a land not for sale – and what that can signal when the land increases in potential profit)

As such, we’ve historically had methods of keeping our history, culture, and lands safe(r) from profit. (smth along those lines, leading to conclusion)