February 26, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Charity in Islamic Societies
by Amy Singer
Muslim charity has received increased attention in recent years, but most of that attention has come in the form of bad press linking Islamic charities with terrorist groups, writes Amy Singer, professor of Ottoman history at Tel Aviv University, in Israel.
“This book thus presents a constructive alternative approach to what had been posited so destructively since 9/11 as a nexus between charity and violence among Muslims. It decouples the connection by contextualizing charity within Islamic societies historically,” she writes.
Ms. Singer provides examples of how charity, which is one of the five fundamental obligations of all Muslims, has been practiced and how it has affected Muslim society since Islam emerged more than 1,400 years ago. She begins with a chapter on zakat, which is a regular, obligatory payment from one’s income meant to assist poor people.
The second chapter recounts how charitable giving was a part of everyday life in Muslim society in the Ottoman Empire: Hungry people could expect to find a meal in public kitchens, mosques, and the homes of the wealthy, and were provided water via public systems of fountains and wells paid for by rich benefactors. Charity was also associated with major life events like festivals, holidays, and weddings, as well as death and funerals.
Other chapters in the book focus on notable donors, the perspective of the needy recipients, and how individual attitudes toward giving changed as government agencies and other groups began to take over some social services, public works, and cultural projects in the Ottoman Empire and its successors beginning in the 19th century.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10013; http://www.cup.org; 264 pages; $32.99; ISBN 978-0-521-52912-9.
