From Islamic Guesthouses to Sharīʿah-Compliant Hotels: Historical Institutions and Implications for Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism Management

Abstract

This study examines the historical development of hospitality institutions in Muslim societies, from early Islamic practices of receiving guests to the emergence of contemporary Sharīʿah-compliant hotels. Using a qualitative historical review of Qur’anic and ḥadīth sources, historiographical accounts, and scholarship on Islamic hospitality, it compares the social purposes, financing arrangements, administrative responsibilities, and beneficiaries of dār al-ḍiyāfah, funduq, khān, and waqf-supported guesthouses. The review identifies a significant institutional contrast: historical provision for travellers and pilgrims was frequently associated with charitable, communal, or state-supported obligations, whereas contemporary hotels generally operate within commercial tourism markets. The reported establishment of the ʿAbbāsid Dīwān al-Ṭabq provides a useful case for examining supervision and resource allocation in pilgrimage accommodation, although its administrative procedures require further source verification. Rather than positing an uninterrupted institutional lineage, the article proposes a comparative framework for waqf governance, service accountability, inclusive guest care, and contemporary pilgrimage and religious tourism management. The contribution is conceptual and historical; it does not claim to empirically establish the effectiveness of a modern hospitality-management intervention.