Usurious piety: the cash Waqf controversy in the Ottoman Empire

The waqf al-nuqud (the establishment of an endowment, the interest of which is used to pay salaries or for personal gain) is an Ottoman contribution to Islamic civilization. Although Islamic legal scholars condemned the waqf al-nuqud, the Ottomans legitimized its use through a detailed process. This legitimization is an example of positive law within shari`a. Use of the waqf caused the creation of a government-controlled money market for small lenders and buyers. The availability of credit coupled with the social and political situation of the late sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire led to rising turbulence throughout the empire.