Colonial impacts on awqãf and Muslim social welfare in Kenya

Abstract

This article analyzes the socio-cultural impact of failure by Muslims in Kenya to review British colonial statutes that disrupted traditional awqaf (religious endowments) practices in the postcolonial period. Awqaf are autonomous enterprise meant for spiritual expression of taqwa (piety), seeking qurba (closeness) with God, and to ensure socio-economic security of the endower’s progeny and social welfare in the community. Upon establishment of the British colonial rule (1895–1963), however, a wide range of legal codes, that remain enforced in the postcolonial period, were instituted effectively impacting on the local Islamic notion on awqaf, resource control, and social welfare. As Muslims negotiated the legal statutes from the colonial to postcolonial era, nonetheless, it became manifest that the struggles revolved around not only control of awqaf and fulfillment of spiritual obligations but also appropriation of the principle of shurut al-waqif (conditions of endower) to safeguard sectarian interests that compromised Muslim cultural unity and identity.