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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology

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Waqf is basically a charitable donation, usually of property (for the purpose of some kind of religious or cultural bettering, like an orchard, or a school) or the erection/devotion of a building. The waqf is significant economically, because it often provided financially for institutions like mosques, and also reveals certain aspects of Islamic law about the owning of property and inheritance. But religiously, culturally, the waqf demonstrates the power of doing good deeds. Not only does giving a waqf give the sponsor significant "merit points" that count towards their salvation, but waqf also act in the favour of the sponsor posthumously - as long as the waqf is used, the sponsor continuously accrues these rewards, even after death.

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Ian's comments:

It was through these endowments that many of the public buildings were errected throughout the cities of the Muslim world. It was a social institution that thoroughly changed social relations through its impact on the built environment. It tied the city to countryside in that many endowments were funded with agricultural lands and their annual harvests. it also established the social roles of the elite and their role in public life that in many ways negated the need for government to deal with certain aspects of the city and its management - particularly the needs of the poor and other essential services.