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Hasseki Sultan Imaret was an Ottoman public soup kitchen constructed in Jerusalem to feed the poor and the needy during the reign of Sultan Suleiman I, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent. The imaret was actually part of a massive Waqf Complex established in 1552 by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), the favorite concubine and then wife of Sultan Suleiman I ^[1]. Allegedly, this public soup kitchen fed at least 500 people twice a day, everyday ^[2].

The Hasseki Sultan Waqf Complex

The Hasseki Sultan Waqf Complex was constructed at the height of Ottoman Power. In addition to the huge soup kitchen, the complex consisted of a mosque, a dwelling house with 55 rooms for pilgrams, and an inn (Khan) for travellers. After obtaining consent and authority from her husband, Hasseki Hurrem Sultan dedicated extensive revenues from various assets to fund its construction and long-term maintenance in Jerusalem. These assets included land properties in Palestine and Tripoli, and businesses such as shops, public bath houses, soap factories, and flourmills ^[3].

Purpose

The Hasseki Sultan Imaret served a variety of functions besides providing basic sustenance to the poor and needy. The existence of the soup kitchen not only fulfilled the religious requirement for charity, but it reinforced a particular social order as well. Moreover, the enormity of the institution helped the Ottoman Empire to project the political image of power and generosity ^[4].

Religious Implications

Charity is an extremely important aspect for the religion of Islam. In order to secure a place in paradise after death, one must assist those who cannot help themselves. There are two categories of charity in Qur’anic injunctions: Zakat, an obligatory alms tax for Muslims who obtained a certain level of wealth; and Sadaqa, voluntary donations that are highly recommended. One of the most popular forms of Sadaqa was waqfs, or endowments. Waqfs were founded by wealthy individuals, especially members of the imperial family, who donated their properties to permanently benefit a variety of charitable institutions. Public soup kitchens, therefore, were waqfs that provided basic nutritional sustenance for people in need ^[5]. In the case of the Hasseki Sultan Imaret, Hurrem Sultan strived to build a public soup kitchen in Jerusalem because of the religious significance of the city. Jerusalem, along with Hebron, Mecca and Medina, were holy cities. As a result, she wanted to ensure that each of the four holy cities (Jerusalem, Hebron, Mecca and Medina) had an institution to feed the hungry ^[6].

Social Implications

Like all the other imarets throughout the Ottoman Empire, the Hasseki Sultan Imaret was a crucial tool to maintain the social order of Jerusalem. For example, the identities of the administrators, the employees and the beneficiaries of the imaret displayed the social hierarchy of the community. The administrators were often members of the local noble families, and they have considerable power to recruit their friends, relatives and free slaves to be the employees of the imaret. The beneficiaries could also be appointed by the administrators, but they were mostly the poor who must defer to those with higher social status in order to receive the sustenance they needed^[7].

Furthermore, social status determined the order and amount of food distribution. During each meal, the employees were the first to receive one ladle of soup and two loaves of bread, then the guests received one ladle and one loaf, and the poor were the last to receive the least amount of food. There were even a hierarchy within the poor. For instance, the learned poor usually ate first, followed by the men, and finally the women and children. When the food ran out, the women and children remained unfed. Consequently, the imaret not only revealed the social hierarchy of Jerusalem, but it was an effective method to keep people in line ^[8].

Political Implications

There was a strong political motive to build a soup kitchen in Jerusalem. In fact, it is “an integral component of the Ottoman project of settlement, colonization, legitimization and urban development” ^[9]. The Hasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem demonstrated the far-reaching strength and power of the Ottoman Empire. It was also an effective means for the Ottoman Empire to control its subjects in Jerusalem. By granting the administrator position to the most important families of Jerusalem, the Sultan used the extensive influences and connections of the nobles to strengthen their rule in the local population. Nevertheless, the dependence on nobles to maximize political control also had a detrimental effect on the maintenance of the imaret ^[10].

Abuse of the Imaret

Because the Ottoman Empire heavily relied on the co-operations of noble families to influence the people of Jerusalem, it granted significant authority to these individuals in the operations of the imaret. Most importantly, the imaret was more than “just another poor-relief institution, but also a special fund used for granting benefits to certain favourite people” ^[11]. As a result, it became vulnerable to abuse. For example, the administrators manipulated the criteria for becoming a beneficiary to favour their friends and relatives, or to gain favour from others. Additionally, the rights to being a beneficiary were transferable, further compounding the problem of excessive beneficiaries. Eventually, the imaret supported even the richest families in Jerusalem. Moreover, these powerful beneficiaries used their status to exploit the financial and material resources of the institution. For instance, a legal document in 1782 mentioned that a mercenary army commander was entitled to 48 loaves of bread from the imaret daily. By the Eighteenth Century, the imaret could no longer support the excessive expanses incurred by the various abuses. The attempts to reduce food distributions and beneficiaries were met with fierce opposition and blatant disregard ^[12]. Therefore, throughout the rest of its rule, the Ottoman Empire continually struggled to “find the delicate balance between the need to cut down and restrict the number of the waqf’s beneficiaries, and the wish to collect the maximum political gain by granting benefits to the greatest possible number of people” ^[13], most of whom, ironically, were not the poor and the needy.

Conclusion

Despite all the difficulties, the Ottoman Empire managed to keep the Hasseki Sultan Imaret alive, albeit dysfunctional, for most of the Ottoman rule in Jerusalem ^[14]. The comprehensive implications of this public soup kitchen illustrated that it was more than just a poor-relief institution. Moreover, the imaret reflected Ottoman ingenuity at integrating religious, social and political objectives in the form of charity. Unfortunately, due to the desire to achieve as many functions as possible, the intended beneficiaries of the imaret, “the poor and wretched, weak and needy” ^[15], often remained hungry.

Notes

^ Peri, Oded. Waqf and Ottoman Welfare Policy, The Poor Kitchen of Hasseki Sultan in Eighteenth-Century Jerusalem, pg 169
^ Singer, Amy. Serving Up Charity: The Ottoman Public Kitchen, pg 486
^ Peri, O. pg 170-171
^ Singer, A. pg 483-484
^ Singer, A. pg 482, and pg 484
^ Singer, A. pg 494
^ Baer, G. pg 269
^ Singer, A. pg 486-487
^ Singer, A. pg 492
^ Peri, O. pg 174-175
^ Peri, O. pg 175
^ Peri, O. pg 172-173, 177-178
^ Peri, O. pg 182
^ Peri, O. pg 186
^ Singer, A. pg 486

Reference

Baer, G. (1997). The Waqf as a Prop for the Social System (Sixteenth-Twentieth Centuries). Islamic Law and Society, 4(3): 264-297.

Peri, O. (1989). Waqf and Ottoman Welfare Policy: The Poor Kitchen of Hasseki Sultan in Eighteenth-Century Jerusalem. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 35, 167-186.

Singer, A. (2005). Serving Up Charity: The Ottoman Public Kitchen. Journal of Interdisciplainary History, 35(3), 581-500.

External Links

Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Program Honored With Architectural Award, for information about the restoration of Old City of Jerusalem and pictures of the soup kitchen.

Dar al-Aytam al-Islamiyya Restoration, for pictures of the Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem

My Memories of Khassaki Sultan or "The Flourishing Edifice", for a personal story about the Hasseki Sultan Imaret

Mavi Boncuk: Haseki Hurrem Sultan, for more information about Hurrem Sultan

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 == Abuse of the Imaret ==
-Because the Ottoman Empire heavily relied on the co-operations of noble families to influence the people of Jerusalem, it granted significant authority to these individuals in the operations of the imaret.  Most importantly, the imaret was more then “just another poor-relief institution, but also a special fund used for granting benefits to certain favourite people” <ref>Peri, O. pg 175</ref>.  As a result, it became vulnerable to abuse.  For example, the administrators manipulated the criteria for becoming a beneficiary to favour their friends and relatives, or to gain favour from others.  Additionally, the rights to being a beneficiary were transferable, further compounding the problem.  Eventually, the imaret supported even the richest families in Jerusalem.  Moreover, these powerful beneficiaries used their status to exploit the financial and material resources of the institution.  For instance, a legal document in 1782 mentioned that a mercenary army commander was entitled to 48 loaves of bread from the imaret daily.  By the Eighteenth Century, the imaret could no longer support the excessive expanses incurred by the numerous beneficiaries.  The attempts to reduce food distributions and beneficiaries were met with fierce opposition and blatant disregard <ref> Peri, O. pg 172-173, 177-178</ref>.  Therefore, throughout the rest of its rule, the Ottoman Empire continually struggled to “find the delicate balance between the need to cut down and restrict the number of the waqf’s beneficiaries, and the wish to collect the maximum political gain by granting benefits to the greatest possible number of people” <ref>Peri, O. pg 182</ref>, most of whom, ironically, were not the poor and needy.
+Because the Ottoman Empire heavily relied on the co-operations of noble families to influence the people of Jerusalem, it granted significant authority to these individuals in the operations of the imaret.  Most importantly, the imaret was more than “just another poor-relief institution, but also a special fund used for granting benefits to certain favourite people” <ref>Peri, O. pg 175</ref>.  As a result, it became vulnerable to abuse.  For example, the administrators manipulated the criteria for becoming a beneficiary to favour their friends and relatives, or to gain favour from others.  Additionally, the rights to being a beneficiary were transferable, further compounding the problem of excessive beneficiaries.  Eventually, the imaret supported even the richest families in Jerusalem.  Moreover, these powerful beneficiaries used their status to exploit the financial and material resources of the institution.  For instance, a legal document in 1782 mentioned that a mercenary army commander was entitled to 48 loaves of bread from the imaret daily.  By the Eighteenth Century, the imaret could no longer support the excessive expanses incurred by the various abuses.  The attempts to reduce food distributions and beneficiaries were met with fierce opposition and blatant disregard <ref> Peri, O. pg 172-173, 177-178</ref>.  Therefore, throughout the rest of its rule, the Ottoman Empire continually struggled to “find the delicate balance between the need to cut down and restrict the number of the waqf’s beneficiaries, and the wish to collect the maximum political gain by granting benefits to the greatest possible number of people” <ref>Peri, O. pg 182</ref>, most of whom, ironically, were not the poor and the needy.
 == Conclusion ==