Sacred endowments: Muslim women patrons of Islamic manuscript culture

For most of its history, the Islamic textual tradition was transmitted through handwritten manuscripts. The production and preservation of these manuscripts depended upon a vast infrastructure of scribes, patrons, intellectuals and many others. Several manuscripts within UCLA Library’s collections contain endowment statements (waqfiyah) from a range of Muslim women, including a descendant of the celebrated Sufi poet Rumi (d. 672 A.H. / 1273 C.E.), the grandmother of a Safavid emperor, as well as others who are little known within the historical record. These statements show how such women actively patronized Islamic manuscript culture and scholarship by literally inscribing their names into the pages of these manuscripts.

In Islamic law, endowing manuscripts made them inalienable, forbidding their sale, barter, or use as collateral. Given the monetary value of manuscripts, this practice was intended to safeguard the manuscripts within a mosque, college, Sufi lodge, or private collection. It was also considered a pious act, aligning with the Islamic concept of a recurring charity (sadaqah jariyah), where the benefactor gains spiritual rewards as others benefit from their charitable endowment (waqf). By endowing manuscripts, patrons intended to gain spiritual or otherworldly rewards for supporting the proliferation of knowledge or the worship of fellow believers.

Since manuscripts were expected to outlast - in physical terms - the individuals who endowed them, endowments were also expected to form a source of blessing for the patrons after they passed away. Endowment statements were therefore often written with a strong awareness of human mortality, coupled with prayers for the forgiveness and salvation of the patron. Eschewing anonymity, patrons would write their names within the pages of a manuscript so they could be remembered and prayed for by name. The statements were meant not only for people around them, but for readers in the future (like us!).

This manuscript was endowed by Rahimah Khatun al-Khawarizimiyah, daughter of Yusuf, in 1124 A.H. (1712-13 C.E.) Her endowment statement stipulates that the manuscript be used to teach and preach within a newly established chair at the Devlet Han Camii, a Friday mosque built in the 14th century in the Anatolian city of Yalvaç. There is otherwise no information readily available about Rahimah Khatun.

Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta’wil (The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation) was one of the most popular commentaries of the Qur’an, taught historically throughout many pre-modern Muslim societies, including the Ottoman and Mughal empires. Written by Qadi Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi (d. 719 A.H. / 1319 C.E.), who lived in the cities of Fars and Tabriz (in modern-day Iran), this would be an attractive text to endow, since it could be expected to be actively used by the town’s imam to teach local residents. The manuscript itself was copied a century earlier in 989 A.H. (1581-82 C.E.) and displays extensive marginal notes in a number of different hands, as well as an aesthetically pleasing illuminated floral headpiece.

Fatimah Khanum, the pearl of virtue and gem of refinement, daughter of the late governor of Sidon Hajj Sulayman Pasha, has duly and lawfully endowed, dedicated, and donated this blessed book, placing its divine reward upon the soul of the humble woman in need of her Lord’s mercy, the Lady Aminah, consort of cousin Sayyid Abd Allah Pasha, the former governor of Sidon, hoping thereby in reward from the Generous Sovereign Lord, under the condition that the book may not be sold, pawned, or exchanged. Whoever alters it after hearing this, the sin shall be upon those who alter it; indeed God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Year 1251, on the 29th of Rabi’ al-Akhir.

The years leading up to Fatimah Khanum’s 1251 A.H. (1835 C.E.) waqf witnessed several profound changes to the political order of the Levant. The Ottoman Mamluk system in Fatimah’s home province of Sidon (modern-day Lebanon), under which enslaved people were imported to lead the administrative and military structures of provincial governance, had come to an end by the rule of the very same Abd Allah Pasha (r. 1823-1832), who is identified as Fatimah’s cousin in the endowment. His predecessor, Sulayman Pasha (r. 1805-1819), identified in the waqf as Fatimah’s father and governor of Sidon, was a Georgian mamluk who had previously served under the formidable governor Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (r. 1777-1804). A series of failed revolts against al-Jazzar, including one briefly tied to Sulayman Pasha, heralded the beginning of the end of a centuries-old system.

Fatimah Khanum’s manuscript endowment provides an interesting glimpse into the social history of the late-Ottoman Levant. Fatimah’s gesture of charity on behalf of Aminah, the consort of Abd Allah Pasha, reveals a deeper affinity between the families of Sulayman Pasha and Abd Allah Pasha (who appear as uncle and nephew, despite not having actual family ties). It also testifies to the role women played in the endowment of landed property, wealth and personal possessions throughout the history of Ottoman Mamluk governance in Egypt and the Levant.

The book itself, entitled Ghunyat al-Talibin wa-Munyat al-Raghibin (The Provision of the Seekers and Desire of those Who Yearn), is a 15-chapter primer on the science of Qur’anic recitation (‘ilm al-tajwid) authored by the Egyptian Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Baqari al-Shafi’i (d. 1111 A.H. / 1699 C.E.). No location or institution was specified within the endowment, which may point to its use within a private collection. Studies on tajwid appeared in both private and institutional settings, from personal libraries to mosques.

The physical features of the manuscript point to 19th-century technological developments: endpapers and supports displaying intricate arrangements of printed English and Ottoman text, as well as European machine-made paper displaying the watermarks “Checchi” and “Giovanni,” all accompany a gold illuminated headpiece. Taken together, the material attributes and waqf statement of the codex subtly reflect broader shifts in both political power and industry.

Interested in viewing these texts in person? Visit the library research guide(opens in a new tab) on Middle East Studies for more information on accessing UCLA Islamicate Manuscript Collections.