Endowments

Have you ever set up an endowment? Considered a planned giving program? People in Christian and Muslim (and other) societies have been giving charitable gifts since the beginnings of their faiths, at least because their belief systems taught them to give. Moreover, basic concern for less fortunate people would promote such giving in some people. Christians have always been taught to give, to help the poor and the needy. For example, see Luke 14:12-14, wherein we’re reminded that our rewards for giving to those in need are in heaven:

“When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors – for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”

Muslims too learn to give. Two citations in the Qur’an relate to this:

2:215: They ask you about giving: say, "The charity you give shall go to the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien." Any good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof.
and
9:60: Charities shall go to the poor, the needy, the workers who collect them, the new converts, to free the slaves, to those burdened by sudden expenses, in the cause of GOD, and to the traveling alien. Such is GOD's commandment. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.

Most of us, as individuals, give a little of what we have to others. We make donations, and contributions to favorite causes as memorials, celebrations, and as part of our daily routines. Some wealthy individuals might feel an obligation, resulting from their wealth, to give lavishly: Those who have much, have an obligation to give much.

I recently was given Amy Singer's book, CONSTRUCTING OTTOMAN BENEFICENCE: AN IMPERIAL SOUP KITCHEN IN JERUSALEM (SUNY Press, Albany: 2002), an interesting discussion of organized charity as it developed in Jerusalem in the 16th century. As a vehicle for giving, any person might establish a waqf, what we would call an “endowment.” The word means essentially that the item endowed is no longer available to sell or transfer in any other way. Singer discusses this process at length. These endowments would be established for pious purposes (those found in the Qur’an citations above). Basically, the person making the endowment must own the item being endowed and there must have no outstanding liabilities against the item. The item of property – it might be a building or a room, an orchard or a tree, a mill or a bath house, a slave, a horse, ...- would be put into service to generate income for the support of the beneficiary. Beneficiaries could be institutions and people, as named in the Qur’an.

Some other interesting facts:

• Cash endowments existed in the Ottoman society. Contrary to teachings of the Qur’an, cash endowments could earn interest. However, these were not allowed in Arabic – speaking societies.
• Christians and Jews could establish endowments too in the Ottoman society.
• A manager of the endowment was responsible to ensure the productivity of the endowment. He oversaw upkeep, repair, etc.
• Endowments stipulated that when the beneficiaries expired the revenues and remaining value would go to the poor. As Jesus said to Mary, “The poor are always with you.”

Next time you see a “planned giving” symposium set up for your congregation, take a moment to consider just how long people of faith have been giving, and sharing their wealth and property with others in need.