Islamic Endowments (Waqf) and Western Philanthropic Foundations: Historical Institutionalist Insights

Abstract

An Islamic endowment (known in Arabic as waqf) is a widely adopted form of giving in the Muslim world. However, this model’s institutional effectiveness and societal innovation have been questioned throughout the last centuries. Thus, a further theoretical discussion is necessary to evaluate its institutional appropriateness before re-promoting this model in modern Muslim societies. In this paper, I use historical institutionalism to compare the cultural background of Islamic endowments and Western foundations. The latter claims high professionalism and institutionalism, especially compared to traditional endowments. I study their establishment, development, and societal interactions with other domestic institutions. Both institutions experience different cultural bases and social references that shape their institutional trajectories. Despite engaging in close tasks, I argue that they deal with distinct founding and legitimizing mechanisms, fill unidentical social gaps, and show incompatible tracks toward achieving institutional and social change. Islamic endowments can stimulate structural social changes in Muslim societies much better than the Western foundation model and use indigenous mechanisms to achieve their goals smoothly, considering their cultural appropriateness to Muslim societies.