The Contribution of the Islamic Wakf to the Formation of the Modern and Western Institution of the Foundation

Abstract

This article provides a historical exploration of the genealogy of the institution of the foundation in Western societies over the last millennium. The first foundations emerged in the twelfth and thirteenth century – the time of the Crusades – from interreligious and intercultural contacts and transfers between Islam and Christianity. The Western institution of the foundation was inspired by the institution of the wakf that developed in Islamic society. In the following centuries, the foundation developed into its modern incarnation through the impact of the Protestant Reformation, the subsequent secularization, and the accumulation of large surplus capital in the hands of entrepreneurs and businessmen during the industrial revolution.