Kadhis Courts in Kenya’s Constitutional Review (1998–2010): A Changing Approach to Politics and State Among Kenyan Muslim Leaders

Abstract

Debate over Kadhis courts in the constitutional review process (1998–2010) in Kenya antagonized relations between Muslims and Christians. Generally, Muslims found themselves on the defensive as some Christian groups mounted a sustained campaign against the place of Kadhis courts in the constitution. This paper presents Muslim responses to this public debate in the larger framework of Muslims in the nation-state. Since the 1990s, the Kenyan state was engaged in a search for a new politics. This paper turns to this question, and finds that beneath the rhetoric about Kadhis courts, Muslim responses were focused on politics. They were placing the Kadhis court debate within the larger question of how Muslims relate to the nation-state of Kenya.