Page:Harry Charles Luke and Edward Keith-Roach - The Handbook of Palestine (1922).djvu/58

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ISLAM IN PRACTICE
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of the total tithe revenue of the country. The revenue department collects the waqf share of the dedicated tithes, handing over the proceeds to the Supreme Moslem Council. For the financial year ended 31st March, 1921, the collections on behalf of Moslem endowments amounted to LE.27,649; and for the financial year 1921–22 have considerably exceeded this sum owing to the restitution of the Khasqi, Sultan Waqf by the Government to the Waqf authorities. This famous waqf, which was founded by the mother of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in 1547, was seized by Ibrahim Pasha when he occupied Palestine and Syria in 1831 (see Part I., § 6) and was retained by the Ottoman Government when it resumed control of the country in 1841. The return of its revenue, which amounts to c. LE.10,400 per annum, to the objects of dedication has demonstrated the impartiality of the present Administration, and has favourably influenced Moslem opinion throughout Palestine.

One of the oldest Mulhaqa waqfs in Palestine is the Tamimi waqf at Hebron. This waqf, it is claimed, was dedicated to the Tamimi family by the Prophet Mohammed himself. Another important (tithe) waqf, also connected with Hebron, is one attached to the Mosque of Abraham mentioned above. Its average annual revenue amounts to LE.15,000.

The waqf receipts for the financial year 1921–22 are estimated at LE.43,297, the expenditure being fixed at the same sum. The tithes of Mulhaqa waqfs are excluded from the above calculations, the Mutawalis (Trustees) undertaking their direct collection. They amount approximately to LE.8,000.

§ 6. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

History.—The Bishopric of Jerusalem, out of which the Patriarchate subsequently arose, counted its bishops from S. James the Less, the 'Brother of the Lord,' and was in Apostolic times the centre of the Jewish Christian