Institutionalisation of Public Benefit in the Ottoman Empire: An Institutional History Study on the Süleymaniye Waqfiyye

Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

Makale detayları

Institutionalisation of Public Benefit in the Ottoman Empire: An Institutional History Study on the Süleymaniye Waqfiyye

Yazarlar:

Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Sağlık Politikası

Dergi:

Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi Issue 88, pp.205-239

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

7/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356212

pISSN:

1304-0103

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 This study examines the social service functions of the Süleymaniye Complex, an Ottoman social welfare institution, through its hospital Darüşşifa, mental asylum Bimarhane, and public soup kitchens Imarets, employing the lenses of social policy theory and institutional sustainability. Situated within social service frameworks and the historical continuity of waqf endowment organisations, our analysis reveals that these structures were far more than charitable relief centres: they were enduring social welfare institutions that fostered solidarity, upheld human dignity, and embodied public responsibility. The Darüşşifas waqfbased financing model, regular trustee audits, and transparent budgeting enabled it to operate continuously for centuries, creating a longlived service architecture dedicated to the public good. At the Bimarhane, holistic interventions, such as music therapy, pharmacotherapy, and thoughtful spatial design, emerged as early examples of psychosocial care. The complex also provided systematic housing and food aid through its Imarets, integrating health, education, shelter, and nourishment within a single institutional framework. These historic services anticipated the core tenets of modern social work, social justice, equality, privacy, and ethical accountability. By demonstrating how the normative regulations encoded in the Süleymaniye waqfiyye can inspire contemporary welfare policies, the article argues that the complex represents one of the Ottoman Empires most significant experiments in institutionalising public benefit. Ultimately, this study offers a methodological contribution to social policy scholarship by rereading Ottoman social history through the lens of institutional sustainability and community welfare as embodied in the Süleymaniye endowment.

 This study examines the social service functions of the Süleymaniye Complex, an Ottoman social welfare institution, through its hospital Darüşşifa, mental asylum Bimarhane, and public soup kitchens Imarets, employing the lenses of social policy theory and institutional sustainability. Situated within social service frameworks and the historical continuity of waqf endowment organisations, our analysis reveals that these structures were far more than charitable relief centres: they were enduring social welfare institutions that fostered solidarity, upheld human dignity, and embodied public responsibility. The Darüşşifas waqfbased financing model, regular trustee audits, and transparent budgeting enabled it to operate continuously for centuries, creating a longlived service architecture dedicated to the public good. At the Bimarhane, holistic interventions, such as music therapy, pharmacotherapy, and thoughtful spatial design, emerged as early examples of psychosocial care. The complex also provided systematic housing and food aid through its Imarets, integrating health, education, shelter, and nourishment within a single institutional framework. These historic services anticipated the core tenets of modern social work, social justice, equality, privacy, and ethical accountability. By demonstrating how the normative regulations encoded in the Süleymaniye waqfiyye can inspire contemporary welfare policies, the article argues that the complex represents one of the Ottoman Empires most significant experiments in institutionalising public benefit. Ultimately, this study offers a methodological contribution to social policy scholarship by rereading Ottoman social history through the lens of institutional sustainability and community welfare as embodied in the Süleymaniye endowment.

 This study examines the social service functions of the Süleymaniye Complex, an Ottoman social welfare institution, through its hospital Darüşşifa, mental asylum Bimarhane, and public soup kitchens Imarets, employing the lenses of social policy theory and institutional sustainability. Situated within social service frameworks and the historical continuity of waqf endowment organisations, our analysis reveals that these structures were far more than charitable relief centres: they were enduring social welfare institutions that fostered solidarity, upheld human dignity, and embodied public responsibility. The Darüşşifas waqfbased financing model, regular trustee audits, and transparent budgeting enabled it to operate continuously for centuries, creating a longlived service architecture dedicated to the public good. At the Bimarhane, holistic interventions, such as music therapy, pharmacotherapy, and thoughtful spatial design, emerged as early examples of psychosocial care. The complex also provided systematic housing and food aid through its Imarets, integrating health, education, shelter, and nourishment within a single institutional framework. These historic services anticipated the core tenets of modern social work, social justice, equality, privacy, and ethical accountability. By demonstrating how the normative regulations encoded in the Süleymaniye waqfiyye can inspire contemporary welfare policies, the article argues that the complex represents one of the Ottoman Empires most significant experiments in institutionalising public benefit. Ultimately, this study offers a methodological contribution to social policy scholarship by rereading Ottoman social history through the lens of institutional sustainability and community welfare as embodied in the Süleymaniye endowment.

 Bu çalışma, Osmanlı Devletinin klasik döneminde sosyal hizmet kurumu işlevi gören Süleymaniye Külliyesinin sosyal hizmet fonksiyonlarını Darüşşifa ve Bimarhane ile İmaretleri üzerinden sosyal politika ve kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik perspektifinden ele alır. Sosyal hizmet teorileri ve vakıf kurumlarının tarihî sürekliliği çerçevesinde yapılan analiz, bu yapıların yalnızca sosyal hizmet merkezleri değil; sosyal dayanışmayı güçlendiren, insan onurunu gözeten ve kamusal sorumluluğu ilke edinen sosyal refah kurumları olduğunu ortaya koyar. Süleymaniye Darüşşifasının vakıf temelli finansman modeli, düzenli mütevelli denetimleri ve şeffaf gelir-gider planlaması sayesinde asırlar boyunca ayakta kalmış; böylece kamu yararına odaklı uzun ömürlü bir hizmet yapısı inşa edilmiştir. Bimarhanede ise müzik terapisi, farmakoterapi ve mekânsal tasarım gibi bütüncül yaklaşımlar, erken dönem psikososyal müdahale örnekleri olarak sunulmuştur. İmaretleri vasıtasıyla da barınma ve gıda bağlamında sosyal hizmet üreten Süleymaniye Külliyesi, böylece sağlık, eğitim, barınma ve gıda hizmetlerini bünyesinde barındıran bir kurum olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Bu tarihî kurum, modern sosyal hizmet anlayışının temel ilkeleri, sosyal adalet, eşitlik, mahremiyet ve etik sorumluluk ile örtüşür. Makale, Süleymaniye Vakfiyesinde yer alan normatif düzenlemelerin günümüz refah politikaları için ilham verebilecek modellere dönüştürülebilirliğini vurgularken, kurumun tarihi serüveninin Osmanlı Devletinde kamu yararının kurumsallaşmasına dair en önemli uygulama olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Sonuç olarak, Osmanlı vakıf sisteminin kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik ve toplumsal refahı nasıl bir arada tesis ettiğine dair sosyal hizmet literatürüne Süleymaniye Vakfiyesi üzerinden bir okuma gayesine hizmet eden bu çalışma, Osmanlı sosyal tarihinin sosyal politika disiplinince yeniden okunması için metodolojik bir katkı sunmayı hedeflemektedir.

Makale detayları

Institutionalisation of Public Benefit in the Ottoman Empire: An Institutional History Study on the Süleymaniye Waqfiyye

Yazarlar:

Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Sağlık Politikası

Dergi:

Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi Issue 88, pp.205-239

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

7/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356212

pISSN:

1304-0103

Süleymaniye Complex and Waqfiyye

Social policy and public benefit

Institutional sustainability

Waqf

Institutional-organisational historySüleymaniye Külliyesi ve Vakfiyesi

Sosyal politika ve kamu yararı

Kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik

Vakıf

Kurum tarihi

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

Yayıncı: Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar: Sağlık Politikası

Dergi: Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi Issue 88, pp.205-239

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 7/2025

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001356212

pISSN: 1304-0103

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Sağlık Politikası

Dergi:

Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi Issue 88, pp.205-239

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

7/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356212

pISSN:

1304-0103