Al Jazeera World

The Widows' Sanctuary In Lebanon (2018x36)

Data di messa in onda: Ott 03, 2018

Filmmaker: Hala Mourad In the heart of Lebanon's second-largest city, Tripoli, is a 'Khan', an ancient guest house dating back to the period of Mamluk rule in the 14th century. The city fell to the Ottomans in 1516 and, under the Muslim charitable practice of 'Waqf', the Khan was donated to the community to house widows unable to support themselves. The Islamic philanthropic tradition of Waqf dates back to the Prophet Muhammad's time and is intended to be 'in perpetuity'. Waqf in Islamic law was developed in the medieval Islamic world, but bears a resemblance to English trust law. Every Waqf was required to have a waqif (founder), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) in addition to its beneficiaries, with continuity being 'secured by the successive appointment of trustees or mutawillis.' Now called the 'Khanka', few Tripolitans may be aware of the guest house's existence, or its governance by the Ministry of Endowments. When this film was made, the Khanka had fallen into disrepair and its 12 rooms offered its residents only the most primitive accommodation. 'Everything leaks here,' says Khanka resident Um Fadi, a mother of three. 'We wake up in the morning to find our mattresses and clothes completely wet. My little daughter fell ill because of this problem.' While the widows depend on charitable donations for sustenance, some of them do menial jobs like cleaning apartments and cooking for meagre pay. Everything leaks here. We wake up in the morning to find our mattresses and clothes completely wet. My little daughter fell ill because of this problem. Um Fadi, Khanka resident Many of the widows have quite sad stories to tell. One of them, Um Ahmed al-Tahesh, had seven sons and two daughters, but moved to the Khanka when her husband died in the Lebanese civil war. 'I had a very good life. We lived well and I had a housemaid. My husband was killed in Beirut and my life was turned upside down,' s