The paradox of Islamic land governance and gender equality.

Abstract

Abstract The curious case of Islamic land perspectives in the context of African countries highlights the prospects and tensions in acknowledging distinctive Islamic land occurrences as part of the Islamic land governance or more broadly hybrid land governance regimes. Muslim customary land norms recall its history and context to produce land systems that appear more effective on the ground. These sociohistorical patterns mapping faithbased tenure contribute to additional types of land and property rights regimes that potentially increase access to land for women and marginalized groups. Examples from Kenya and Tanzania to Nigeria, Senegal and Somalia highlight that Islamic land perspectives cannot be seen as either homogeneous or existing in a vacuum. Shaped in various forms by customary practices, classical Islamic law, as well as colonial-era policies, Islamic land perspectives highlight the need for appropriate land governance. The paradox of 'Islamic' land governance is that while Islamic law has often been invisible and sometimes dismissed, it is an additional useful lens in rethinking the role of faith in land governance. The compelling and volatile relationship between Islamic land practices and governance query whether Islamic tenures need religious informed land governance to be effective.