Eirik Hovden, Ph.D. (2012), has worked on Yemeni history and ethnography with a focus on medieval and modern Zaydī history, Islamic law, endowments (waqf) and local knowledge in water management.

'... a rewarding and thought-provoking read. Beyond its great benefit to readers from different academic fields, such as Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, Yemeni studies, legal and fiqh studies, Zaydī and Shii studies, and anthropology, and its engagement with the topic of religious endowments, Islamic or otherwise, it provides a wealth of background information for the development and water supply sectors."Kerstin Hünefeld in Shii Studies Review 7.1-2 (Online Publication Date: 14 Nov 2023)DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/24682470-12340095

• AcknowledgementsList of FiguresTransliterationPersonal Names and Imamic TitlesDates1 Introduction1 Waqf as Public Infrastructure and Welfare in Muslim Societies2 Field, Scope, and Focus3 Types of Data4 Fieldwork5 Archival Material6 The Structure of the Book2 Representing Validity in Islamic Law1 Normative and Descriptive Models of Waqf2 Academic Debates on Islamic Law3 Arriving at an Analytical Framework3 Central Waqf Administration1 Types of Waqf in Yemen2 Historical Overview of Centralized State Waqf Administration3 Waqf Administration Under the Qāsimī Dynasty (1045–1289/1636–1872)4 The Waqf Administration of Imam Yaḥyā and Imam Aḥmad (1911–62)5 The Ministry of Awqāf After the Revolution (1962–)4 Main Texts of Zaydī Waqf Fiqh and Law1 Zaydism2 Zaydī Fiqh Texts and Authors3 Zaydī Validated Fiqh, Imamic Decrees, Yemeni Codification and Laws5 Family Waqf and Inheritance1 Structure and Main Argument of the Chapter2 The Arrival of al-Hādī and His Waqf-waṣīya Model3 The Fatwās of Imam al-Manṣūr ʿAbdallāh b. Ḥamza (561–614/1166–1217)4 Instiṣār and Nūr al-abṣār5 The Views of Ibn al-Murtaḍā (d. 840/1436) and Ibn Miftāḥ (d. 877/1472)6 The Fatwa Collection of Imam ʿIzz al-Dīn (846–901/1442–95)7 Ikhtiyārāt of al-Mutawakkil Ismāʿīl (ca. 1060/1650)8 Al-Risāla al-Mahdawiyya from 1188/17749 al-Shawkānī’s Views (1173–1250/1760–1834)10 Imam Yaḥyā’s Decrees11 Imam Aḥmad’s Decrees (r. 1948–62)12 Republican Waqf Laws on the Matter13 Exclusion of the Awlād al-Banāt in Other Law Schools6 The Tenant’s Strong Hand1 Property and Lease Law2 The Genealogy and Trajectory of the Three-year Rule3 The Three-year Rule in Zaydī Fiqh: A Chronological Presentation4 The Three-year Rule in Modern Yemeni Codification5 The Three-year Rule in Other Law Schools and Legal Traditions6 Waqf Lease in Practice7 Private Rights in Public Waqf1 The Waṣīya of Three Cisterns: Bayt al-Laḥafa (2008): An Ethnographic Description2 Four Waqf Documents of Public Sanaa Sabīl-waqfs with Private Benefits3 Theoretical Possibilities for Private Aspects of a Public Waqf4 Questions Concerning the Right to Guardianship in Combined Waqfs8 Pure Law, ʿUrf, and Maṣlaḥa: Conclusions1 Sources of Validity2 Situating Legal Knowledge3 The Potential in WaqfBibliographyIndex