Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Doctorate in Iranian Islamic History of Payam Noor University,Tehran,Iran
2
Associate Professor, Department of History of Shi'ism, Faculty of Theology, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran.
10.30481/psa.2026.593376.1125
Abstract
Waqf deeds constitute one of the most significant primary sources for examining patterns of property ownership, economic agency, and women's religious participation in local communities. Nevertheless, women's endowment practices, the types of endowed properties, and the purposes of their endowments in the cities of Amol and Babol during the First Pahlavi period have received little attention based on documentary evidence. This study aims to analyze women's waqf practices and examine their economic, religious, and social dimensions through a descriptive–analytical method within a historical–social approach. The research is based on seven waqf deeds established by women between 1926 and 1940, which were examined using qualitative content analysis.
The findings indicate that the women donors primarily endowed privately owned or inherited properties, including agricultural land, residential houses, commercial shops, and undivided shares of rural estates, reflecting their recognized property rights and authority over their assets. Analysis of the endowment purposes reveals that the common objective of all examined waqf deeds was to finance and sustain the mourning rituals of Imam al-Husayn (A.S.). Most of the endowment revenues were allocated to mourning ceremonies, ta'ziyeh performances, rawḍa-khwānī (mourning recitations), and the provision of food for participants, while only a limited number of deeds also designated revenues for charitable and public welfare purposes alongside their religious objectives.
The study concludes that, within the scope of the examined documents, waqf was not merely an act of personal piety for women in Amol and Babol. Rather, it functioned as a means of participating in the religious and social life of their communities, providing sustained financial support for religious rituals, and consolidating women's social role within local society.
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