Charity and Giving in Monotheistic Religions

by Frenkel, Miriam

• ISBN13: 9783110209464
• ISBN10: 3110209462
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-01
• Publisher: De Gruyter

Summary

This book deals with various manifestations of charity or giving in the contexts of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim medieval societies. Monotheistic charity and giving display many common features. These underlying similarities reflect a commonly shared view about God and his relations to mankind and what humans owe to God and expect from him. Nevertheless, the fact that the emphasis is placed on similarities does not mean that the uniqueness of the concepts of charity and giving in the three monotheistic religions is denied. The contributors' diverse and heterogeneous approaches distinguish the book from other works on charity and giving in monotheistic religions.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The World of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
The Early Byzantine State and the Christian Ideal of Voluntary Poverty	p. 15
Charitable Ministrations (Diakoniai), Monasticism, and the Social Aesthetic of Sixth-Century Byzantium	p. 45
Charity and Piety as Episcopal and Imperial Virtues in Late Antiquity	p. 75
Healing the world with righteousness? The language of social justice in early Christian homilies	p. 89
Almsgiving, Donatio Pro Anima and Eucharistic Offering in the Early Middle Ages of Western Europe (4th-9th century)	p. 111
Medieval Islam
Christian Pious Foundations as an Element of Continuity between Late Antiquity and Islam	p. 125
Charity and Piety for the Transformation of the Cities. The New Direction in Taxation and Waqf Policy in Mid-Twelfth-Century Syria and Northern Mesopotamia	p. 153
Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria	p. 175
Forms and Functions of Charity in Al-Andalus	p. 203
"When Death Will Fall Upon Him": Charitable Legacies in 15th Century Granada	p. 217
Charity and Gift Giving in Medieval Islam	p. 235
Charity and Repentance in Medieval Islamic Thought and Practice	p. 265
The Jewish World
Geniza Documents for the Comparative History of Poverty and Charity	p. 283
Charity in Jewish Society of the Medieval Mediterranean World	p. 343
Benefaction (Ni'ma), Gratitude (Shukr), and the Politics of Giving and Receiving in Letters from the Cairo Geniza	p. 365
An Indigent Scholar's Plea for Charity: A Geniza Letter	p. 391
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