58 Islam and Modernity
The materiality of religion
There are common forms of institutions in most historical Muslim societies, such
as the mosques, madrasas (seminaries), and awqaf (endowments). These, however,
had different signifi cance at different times and places. In Ottoman lands, religion,
for the most part, was well institutionalised and even bureaucratised. The ulama
were organised in ranks and functions divided between education and the practice
of law. These were, in turn, related to madrasas as educational and qualifying
institutions, hierarchically ordered with commensurate ranks of their diplomas
and licences. There were strict rules as to the level of attainment allowing licensees
to assume different ranks within the judiciary, the educational system and the
bureaucracy. These rules, however, were arbitrarily suspended for considerations
of kinship and patronage, allowing young men with little or no proven competence
to take over the ranks of their deceased or retired fathers and uncles.^1
The awqaf
The awqaf were crucial elements in the economy and politics of cities and
countries. Vast endowments of agricultural and urban real estate, as well as, in
some cases, cash investments and cattle, generated considerable revenues and
provided avenues of employment and patronage, assumed primarily by the
religious classes as administrators, overseers and agents.^2 Over the years, the
Ottoman sultans endowed mosques, madrasas, Sufi (mystical brotherhoods)
lodges, soup kitchens and numerous charities. High-ranking palace offi cials (for
many years, until the eighteenth century, it was the Chief Black Eunuch, the
kiz aghasi) controlled these revenues, but they were disbursed to and through
religious institutions and personnel (Gibb and Bowen 1957: 171–8). In Istanbul
we have a well-preserved example in the Sulaymaniya mosque complex, built
and endowed by Sultan Sulayman the Magnifi cent in the sixteenth century,
with his architect Sinan. It comprised the mosque, a madrasa, Sufi lodges and
soup kitchens for feeding professors, students (the food portions were double for
the former), travellers and the mendicant poor. The revenues and management
were undertaken by a hierarchy of religious personnel. They were primarily sus-
tained by rents from urban real estate, giving their administrators control over
vital sectors of the urban economy. In addition to the royal awqaf there were
numerous endowments from prominent offi cials and families, as well as ‘private’
endowments designed to benefi t families and their descendants. As one would
expect, these endowments and their administration constituted crucial elements
in urban politics and relations of power (van Leeuwen 1999).
Judicial institutions
The offi ce of qadi was one of the edifi ces of power and patronage in the
Ottoman state. Under the shaykh al-islam, who occupied the top religious rank