Is the Waqf a part of the third sector ?

Abstract EN

Throughout the study of the Waqf of Qubā’ and the European critics of the third sector in the Anglo-Saxon speaking tradition, this paper tests the conceptual framework articulated around the triptych ‘market / state / third sector’ to show that the institution of the Waqf was born way before the constitution of the State and the market in the city of Yathrib – future Madīnah al-Munawarah; it cannot be considered as a component of the third sector.

This requires a new conceptual framework in the light of the history of the social and economic facts of the Muslim world and its civilizational legacy, which should be explored with fresh eyes and renewed energy