Ibn Jubayr's Travels and the Remarkable Endowments He Encountered

Ibn Jubayr's Travels

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Ibn Jubayr (540–614 AH / 1145–1217 CE) was a renowned Andalusian traveller, geographer, and writer from Valencia, Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain). He is best known for his travelogue, Riḥlat Ibn Jubayr, which chronicles his pilgrimage to Mecca and extensive travels across the Muslim world, including Egypt, Iraq, the Levant, and Sicily. His detailed accounts offer valuable insights into the political, social, and cultural conditions of the12th century. He documented the governance of Salahuddin Ayyubi (Saladin) andthe state of Muslims under Christian rule in Sicily. His works later influenced notable travellers such as Ibn Battuta.

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In his travelogue, Ibn Jubayr meticulously documents numerous endowments he encountered, describing them in remarkable detail. Some of these endowments stand out for their uniqueness, offering readers a glimpse into the ingenuity with which Muslims of the past allocated their wealth to achieve success in both this life and the hereafter. Below, I will share excerpts from Ibn Jubayr’s work highlighting some of the most fascinating endowments I came across1.

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Distribution of food

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“One of the Sultan’s most generous acts was the allotting of two loaves daily for each of the Moorish ibnāʾ al-sabīl [travellers], whatever their number; and for the daily distribution he appointed a person he trusted. Every day two thousand loaves or more, according to the lesser or greater number (of beneficiaries), were regularly distributed. (To meet this) there was his own personal awqāf [charitable endowments], apart from what he allotted for the purpose from the zakāt al-ʿain [zakāt on gold and silver]. He was insistent with those in charge of this that when the fixed sums were inadequate, they should draw upon his private purse.”²

Qur’āns, books and candlesticks

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Discussing his travels to the Ḥaram, Ibn Jubayr states:

“Beside the dome of the Well of Zamzam and behind it stands the qubbat al-Sharāb [the dome of drinking], which was erected by ʿAbbās – may God hold him in His favour. Beside this ʿAbbaside dome, obliquely to it, is the dome named after the Jews. These two domes are used as storerooms for pious endowments made to the blessed House, such as Qur’āns, books, candlesticks, and the like. The ʿAbbaside dome is still called al-Sharābiyyah because it was a place of drinking for the pilgrims; and there, until to-day, the water of Zamzam is put therein to cool in earthenware jars and brought forth at eventide for the pilgrims to drink.”³

Endowments to give sustenance to scholars

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“The baths in the city cannot be counted, but one of the town’s sheiks told us that, in the eastern and western parts together, there are about two thousand. Most of them are faced with bitumen, so that the beholder might conceive them to be of black, polished marble; and almost all the baths of these parts are of this type because of the large amount of bitumen they have. The question of this bitumen is strange: it is brought from a well between Basra and al-Kufah from which God has caused to ooze the fluid that produces the bitumen. It comes over the sides of the spring like clay and is scooped up and, after congealing, carried away. Glory to God who creates what He wishes. There is no God but He. The (ordinary) masjids in both the eastern and the western parts cannot be estimated, much less counted. The colleges are about thirty, and all in the eastern part; and there is not one of them that does not outdo the finest palace. The greatest and most famous of them is the Nizamiyyah, which was built by Nizam al-Mulk and restored in [A.H.] 504. These colleges have large endowments and tied properties that give sustenance to the faqihs (jurists) who teach in them, and are dispensed on the scholars. A great honour and an everlasting glory to the land are these colleges and hospitals. God’s mercy on him who first erected them, and on those who followed in that pious path.”⁴

Stipends for orphans and unique endowments

Describing the virtues of the Great Masjid in Damascus, Ibn Jubayr writes

“In this venerated masjid, after the morning prayers, there daily assembles a great congregation for the reading of one of the seven sections of the Qur’ān. This is unfailing, and it is the same after the evening prayers for the reading of what is called the Kawthariyah [The Abundance of God], when they read from the surah al-Kawthar [Qur’ān 103] until the end of the book. To this assembly of the Kawthar come all who do not well know the Qur’ān by heart; and all such participants receive a daily allowance, more than five hundred persons being able to live from it. This is one of the virtues of this venerated masjid, in which from morning till evening the Qur’ān is read unceasingly. In it lectures are delivered to students, and the teachers receive a liberal stipend. The Malikites have a zawiyah for study in the west side, and there the students from the Maghrib, who receive a fixed allowance, assemble. The conveniences of this venerated masjid for strangers and students are indeed many and wide.

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The strangest thing to tell of this masjid concerns the column which stands between the old and the new maqṣūrahs. It has a fixed waqf [endowment]for the benefit of those who lean against it in meditation or study. Wesaw beside it a jurisprudent from Seville, called al-Murādī. In the morning, at the end of the assembly for the reading of a seventh section of the Qur’ān, each man leans against a column, while in front of him sits a boy who instructs him in the Qur’ān. The boys also have a fixed allowance for their reciting, but those of their fathers who are affluent prohibit their sons from accepting it, although the remainder do so. This is one of the virtues of Islam.

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For orphan boys, there is in the town a large school with a generous endowment from which the teachers draw enough to sustain themselves, and disbursements are made from it to support and clothe the children. This also is one of the uncommon things to tell of the virtues of these lands. The instruction of boys in the Qur’ān in all these eastern lands consists only of making them commit to memory; writing they learn through the medium of poetry and other things. The Book of Great and Glorious God is thus kept undefiled from the markings and rubbings out of the boys’ efforts.”⁵

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Endowments to support public places and services

“To all these venerated places (mashhad)⁶ are attached endowments consisting of gardens, arable lands, and houses, to the extent that all that is in the country is almost wholly comprised of these pious bequests. For every masjid, school, or convent newly erected, the Sultan will assign to it a religious endowment that will support it and those that dwell therein as well as its officials. These also are among the generous deeds that are enduring. Amongst the princesses who possess the means, some order the building of a masjid, or an asylum for the poor, or a school, spending on them large sums, and assigning to them endowments from their properties; and there are Emirs who do the same. In this blessed path they reveal a readiness to do good that will be rewarded by Great and Glorious God.”⁷

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Endowment as a means of job creation

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“To this hill are attached many pious endowments, compromising gardens, arable lands, and houses (whose revenues) are assigned to their various uses. Some are allotted under the heading of expenses for the subsistence of visitors who stay there, some for clothing under the heading of covering for the night, and some for food. There are allocations to cover all needs, including those of the resident guardian as imam and the mu’adhdhin charged with the service of the place, who draw a fixed monthly stipend from this source. It is a great institution. The present guardian is one of the marabits [marabouts or monks] from Massuf and one of their chief men, called Abu ’l-Rabi‘ Sulayman ibn Ibrahim ibn Malik, who has standing with the Sultan and the leading personages of the realm. He receives five dinars monthly, exclusive of the revenue of the hill. Kindness is impressed on his features and stamped on him. He is an incumbent of one of those benefices that provide Maghrib strangers lonely in these lands with means of support, such as an inmate in a masjid, lodgement in a school with expenses paid, an appointment to a zāwiyah in a jāmi’ masjid and gaining a livelihood there, assisting in the sectional reading of the seven parts of the Qur’ān, or the curatorship of a blessed shrine and receiving a benefice from its endowments, and such-like ways of living of the same blessed pattern as would take long to describe; and the needy stranger, so long as he has come for righteous purposes, will be cared for without being given cause to blush.

The other strangers who are not in this state and who have a trade or craft, are also found divers means of livelihood, such as being a watchman in a garden, supervisor of a bath, or keeper of the clothes of the bathers, manager of a mill, custodian of boys, conducting them to school and returning them to their homes, and many other occupations. In all this they trust only strangers from the Maghrib, for their fame for honesty is high and their repute has spread. The people of the town do not trust their own fellow citizens. This is one of the gifts of God Most High to strangers. Praise and thanks be to Him for what he has granted His servants”.⁸

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The ruler taking places of evil to make into a pious endowment

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“One of their most splendid convents is a place called al-Qasr, an enormous structure rising alone into the skies. In its upper storey are apartments than which I have never seen more beautiful for their lofty site. It is half a mile distant from the city, and has an extensive garden connected with it. It had once been the pleasure-lodge of a Turkish king. The story goes that he was one night taking his ease in it when some Sufis passed by, and some of the wine which the Turks were accustomed to drink in the castle was poured out for them. They raised the matter to Nur al-Din, who immediately demanded it from its owner as a gift and then gave it in perpetual endowment to the Sufis. Wonder lasted long at bounty like this, which remained an enduring monument to the merits of Nur al-Din – may God’s mercy rest upon his soul.”[9]

Endowments of baths, shops, mills etc.

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“The virtues of this pious man were great, and he was indeed among the ascetic kings. He died in the month of Shawwal in the year 569 [15th of May, 1174].After him came Saladin to power, and the virtues of his way are known. His state among kings is great, and a lasting monument to his honour is his raising of the customs tax on the Hejaz road, giving a grant in compensation to its ruler. For long times this accursed tax had lasted before God annulled it at the hand of this just Sultan—may God prosper him. Amongst the merits of Nural-Din—may God’s mercy rest upon his soul—was his assigning to the strangers from the Maghrib who were employed in the Maliki zāwiyah of the blessed jāmi’ masjid many pious endowments including two mills, seven gardens, arable lands, a bath, and two shops in the perfumers’ market. I was told by one of the Maghrabis who supervised this, one Abū ’l-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibnSardal al-Jayyāni [from Jaen in Spain], known as al-Aswad [the Black], that if properly controlled these endowments yield five hundred dinars a year. Nur al-Din—may God’s mercy rest upon his soul—showed much favour towards these people. May God reward him for the good he did. For the readers of the Book of Great and Glorious God he prepared an endowed house in which they might live.”[10]

Ibn Jubayr vividly recounts the many endowments he encountered during his travels across the Muslim world, highlighting their profound impact on society.

His observations emphasize two key points:

1. Endowments were a cornerstone of Muslim life, shaping and supporting various aspects of daily existence, from education and healthcare to social welfare and religious institutions.
2. The remarkable creativity and ingenuity behind these endowments should serve as an inspiration for Muslims today to explore new and innovative ways to establish and utilize them for the benefit of their communities.