Pious Endowments: Land and Women in Late Ottoman Egypt: Reading the Grand Muftī’s Opinions from 1848–1849

This essay is a micro-analysis of legal opinions (fatwā, pl. fatāwā) in 19th-century Egypt, drawing on my research in preparation for a larger project about Egyptian legal-administrative history and, more specifically, land administration. The legal opinions I present here are answers to questions concerning pious endowments (waqf, pl. awqāf), usually connected to endowed real estate.