Tag Archive: Middle East

Nizamiyah: An Madrasa in the History of Islamic Philanthropy

sduncan post on January 28th, 2015
Posted in Middle East Tags: , ,

By Janice McMurray

Islamic history has seen many philanthropic conventions and traditions over time. Although some of these customs are no longer existent or have been significantly altered from their original structure, there continues to be many philanthropic practices that prevail in current Islamic culture.

One such tradition that has been closely connected to Islamic philanthropy for many centuries is the construction and support of madrasas (Blanchard, 2007). A historic Islamic madrasa can be defined as an institution in which male Muslim students go to receive higher education chiefly on the topic of religion among many other subject areas (Hefner & Qasim Zaman, 2007). Madrasas were typically founded and supported by Islamic elites who offered funding through religious endowments to sustain services offered to students by the institution (Blanchard, 2007). This paper will specifically examine Nizamiyah; one of the earliest madrasas established in Islamic history.

Nazamiyah was founded by Seljuq vizier, Nizam al-Mulk, in Baghdad, Iraq during the middle of the eleventh century (Blanchard, 2007). The institution was made up specifically of male students who practiced Muslim faith (Makdisi, 1970). Attendees of Nizamiyah were not required to provide any payment to the founder or the institution itself (Makdisi, 1970). During their time receiving higher education at Nizamiyah, students had access to educational services, learning facilities, dormitories, dining halls, libraries, and medical services (Blanchard, 2007). They were also granted with scholarships and supplementary allowances to compensate for any further living costs they encountered (Makdisi, 1970). Much of what was taught at Nizamiyah was based on Muslim faith and focused on religious sciences, architecture, and literature (Hefner & Qasim Zaman, 2007).

Madrasas were constructed from the wakf of an elite family, which typically consisted of a building, piece of property, or funds that were donated specifically for the charitable purpose of helping others in need (Lapidus, 1984). Although madrasas possessed many benefits for students, founders of these institutions also received reward for their generosity on a social and spiritual level. During the eleventh century, when Nizamiyah was an operational madrasa in Iraq, funding and supporting these institutions enhanced the familial status of the founder and was thought to bring them close to their higher power (Lapidus, 1984).

Political in nature, the overall goal of Nizamiyah was to produce educated men who were capable of contributing to the bureaucratic class in Islamic culture (Blanchard, 2007). Although Nizamiyah had many immediate philanthropic notions, such as providing food and medical care, it also aimed to promote social mobility for Muslim men (Hefner & Qasim Zaman, 2007). Essentially, Nizamiyah has played an instrumental role shaping and perpetuating modern forms of education and philanthropy in modern Islamic society.

Works Cited

Blanchard, C. (2007). Islamic religious schools, madrasas: Background.

Hefner, R. & Qasim Zaman, M. (2007). Schooling Islam: The culture and politics of modern Muslim education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Lapidus, I. (1984). Muslim cities in the later middle ages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Makdisi, G. (1970). Madrasa and university in the middle ages. Studia Islamica, 32, 255-264. Retrieved from http://www.studiaislamica.com

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Beit Al – Yateem, a Druze Orphanage

sduncan post on January 28th, 2015
Posted in Middle East Tags: , ,

By Dida Raouda

Since the beginning of time people have used religion to help guide them through life. There are many different religions out there with different religious paths that all eventually lead up to the same end result, which is a higher power that we look up to (in most cases). Some religions are more common than others and are very well established around the world such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. In 1017 the Druze faith branched off the Islamic faith and was established. (Wikipedia, 2014) The Druze faith is a relatively small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by its close-knit identity and distinctive faith. They are a monotheistic religious and social community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan and account for approximately 2,000,000 of the world’s population. (Wikipedia, 2014) The Druze beliefs incorporate elements from Abrahamic religions as well as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism and other philosophies creating a distinct theology known to highlight the role of the mind and truthfulness. (Britannica, 2014)

Conversion into this religion is not permitted, so due to the smaller extent of the people in this faith it is important that they have a strong support system for one another in order to maintain strength and posterity. One of the many things the Druze do for their community is support and fundraise for an orphanage with has now become a non – profit Druze organization with a social philanthropic institution for public services called Beit Al – Yateem.
This facility was established by Arif Al – Nakadi who had a great deal of passion for assisting those in need. With little support from the Lebanese social welfare service at first, Mr. Nakadi received the majority of the funds as a loan from the bank, and collateral of his personal properties. (Druze, 2014)

This project was financially very unsteady for Mr. Nakadi, but over the past thirty years the Druze Orphanage with the assistance of private and corporate donors the Orphanage now owns the main building along with the new administration and schooling buildings. The orphanage provides boys and girls who have no family or come from broken homes with housing, nourishment, clothing and schooling. The Orphanage now owns seven buildings in which 900 children are cared for. (Druze, 2014)

The Druze community is very supportive of their own people and has provided much assistance in maintaining the foundation for the Orphanage. I am of Druze faith and we host many events at our community center along with many Druze people in different cities or communities. This Orphanage has always been a focus of ours along with many other Druze foundations. During our events much of our proceeds are donated to the Orphanage, along with clothing drives which take place in hopes to provide these children with bright futures and the tools for great opportunities. (Druze, 2014) This summer I had the opportunity to visit this Orphanage with my family and it was such a blessing to see how strong of a community and belief system we have in order to work together and give these children the opportunities and care they have, otherwise who knows where they could have ended up based on their circumstances.

Works Cited

Druze Orphanage. (2014). Retrieved September 19, 2014, from:

http://www.druze-orphanage.org/

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2014).Druze. Retrieved September 19, 2014, from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/172195/Druze
Wikipedia. (2014). Druze. Retrieved September 19, 2014, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze

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Zakat and Sadaq in Islam

sduncan post on February 25th, 2013
Posted in Middle East Tags: , ,

By Jamie Tyrrell

Acts of philanthropy occur in almost every population, all over the world. Often these acts stem from religious beliefs. In Islam, Allah is the owner of everything that exists (Jalili, 2006). From this comes the belief that wealth and money should be evenly distributed among the people in order to avoid the concentration of economic power within a few hands (Jalili, 2006). Read the rest of this entry >>

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Symbolic Gift of Food, and Muslim Inspiration

sduncan post on February 25th, 2013
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By Linda Innes

The Muslim tradition of sharing sacrificial meat with relatives and friends, and the poor and the needy, occurs during the religious celebration of Eid al-Adha, or the “Greater Eid” or “Festival of Sacrifice”, which is observed annually from the 10th to the 12th of the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Read the rest of this entry >>

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Sadaqah & Waqf in Islam

sduncan post on February 25th, 2013
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By Cody Copeman

Sadaqah is an Islamic word that means “voluntary charity”. This concept includes any act of giving out of compassion, love or generosity and is the non-mandatory form of giving in Islamic culture (Wikipedia, 2010).

Often Sadaqah is made in the form of a “waqf, which is a gift that is used to bring a return, with the profits being put towards charity. Read the rest of this entry >>

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The Emergence of Hospitals in Byzantium

sduncan post on February 1st, 2013
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By Iain Newbigin

A hospital is a building that houses sick and diseased individuals so that they can be treated and, ideally, cured by specialized medical staff. Absolutely central to the sophisticated medical care offered by modern societies, hospitals in fact evolved at a specific time and place – during the 4th century in Constantinople, Read the rest of this entry >>

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Zakat in Afghanistan

sduncan post on January 29th, 2013
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By Roma Rashidi

Afghan Muslims are responsible for carrying out the duties and rituals commonly referred to as the five pillars of Islam. These include the recitation of the creed (shahdah), daily prayers (namaz), almsgiving (zakat), fasting (ruzah) and pilgrimage (hajj), (Sitar, 1969).

In this paper I will be focusing on the zakat system as practiced in Afghanistan. Zakat, or almsgiving, means donating a percentage of one’s wealth to the needy or poor. Currently, many institutions and organization are surviving solely on zakat money within Afghanistan. Schools and orphanages actively Read the rest of this entry >>

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Philanthropy in Islam

sduncan post on January 29th, 2013
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By Melissa Pimenta

Islam is the second largest religion in the world and still growing. There are five pillars which are obligatory acts of worship: The Testimony of Faith, Prayer, Giving Zakat, Fasting the Month of Ramadan, and The Pilgrimage to Makkah. (Leslie, 2010)

The third pillar is Zakat which means “purification” and “growth”. Giving zakat means “giving a specified percentage on certain properties to certain classes of needy people”. It is required that every year 2.5% of one’s wealth is given away to the poor and needy. (Pennington, 2009) This may be in form of gold, silver, Read the rest of this entry >>

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The Role of Philanthropy in the Islamic Tradition

sduncan post on January 29th, 2013
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By Emily Hoffpaiur

Giving is an important part of religious practice in the Islamic tradition. The fact that there are two different forms of giving, one that is obligatory (zakat) and one that is voluntary (sadaqa), shows that philanthropy is highly valued in Islam. Both forms of charity are a way of balancing out social inequalities, or in other words “part of an effective social apparatus to ensure distributive equity and social justice” (Ansari, 1992).

In Islam, almsgiving should be done out of religious commitment rather than compulsion. Muslims are always striving for communities based on submission and service, “working for a more just world, not just a personal path to Read the rest of this entry >>

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The Distribution of Wealth in Islam

sduncan post on January 29th, 2013
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by Kyla Brierley

“Compassion, social justice, sharing and strengthening – these are all encompassed in the Quranic articulation of the ethical concept of charitable giving.” As giving and moral values became fundamental elements in the growth of Muslim practice, charitable giving and the process for collecting and distributing these monies soon became institutionalized, and giving in the form of zakat was created. Zakat is a method of obligatory giving, in which one must give a minimum 2.5% per lunar year of their total wealth. Read the rest of this entry >>

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