Administration of Mosques and Schools through Endowments Based on the Endowment Deed of Khwaja Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani

Abstract

Khwaja Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani, the renowned vizier of Ghazan Khan and Öljaitü, was one of the figures who played a highly significant role in the expansion of educational, religious, and charitable institutions in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Iran. What distinguished him was his precise planning for the establishment of a sustainable endowment system, including the construction of buildings such as schools and mosques together with the provision of permanent financial support for them. His programs pursued objectives such as strengthening culture and knowledge through the establishment of educational centers, promoting Islam and Shiism during a period when the Ilkhanids had recently converted to Islam, creating urban infrastructure and increasing the legitimacy of the Ilkhanid state, and ensuring sustainable financial support for schools, mosques, and even urban services through endowments. Khwaja Rashid al-Din’s attention to the establishment of schools and mosques through endowments was not merely a charitable act; rather, it laid the foundation for a form of sustainable cultural management that remained a model for the scientific and religious development of Iran for centuries. Rashid al-Din regarded endowment as an instrument for promoting Islam and religious education, expanding rational and religious sciences in Ilkhanid Iran, and strengthening the legitimacy of the Ilkhanid government among Muslim communities. His endowments were not limited to architectural or developmental functions, but also had cultural and political functions. Rashid al-Din adopted an integrated and scholarly approach in constructing public-benefit buildings, combining the mosque, school, library, and hospital within a single complex; financing all sections through the revenues of endowed properties; and precisely defining the duties of administrators, teachers, students, and service staff. This structure is considered a major innovation in the history of Iranian architecture and endowment management.