Aiming to move beyond macro-historical and descriptive historiographies, this research delves into the micro-level and dynamic dimensions of scholarly life in Ottoman Bayt al-Maqdis (16th–19th centuries CE). The central problem of this study is to elucidate the actual function of educational institutions, not merely as centers for the transmission of knowledge but as active economic hubs and social actors. The research methodology is centered on a social history approach and the technique of qualitative content analysis, applied to a selection of records from the Sijillat al-Mahkama al-Shariyya of Quds. As a primary source and an archive of daily life, these sijillat offer unique data on the financial management, administrative structure, and human relations within these institutions. The findings of the research indicate that: 1) The waqf system, as the vital artery of the madrasas' economy, encompassed a complex mechanism of revenues and expenditures, which accounted for a significant portion of the legal disputes registered in the court. 2) Educational positions, from teaching in major madrasas to leading prayers in small mosques, were distributed within a complex network of competition and inheritance among scholarly families, with the Mahkama al-Shariyya playing the official role of registering and legitimizing these appointments. This study concludes that the sijillat portray educational institutions not as static structures, but as living socio-economic enterprises woven into the urban fabric of Bayt al-Maqdis. They played a decisive role in shaping the class structure, urban economic dynamics, and local power networks.