The social and legislative history of the Islamic trust (waqf) in Mauritius

Abstract

In Islamic law, a trust for charitable purposes is a waqf (awqāf is the Arabic plural). The waqf pre-dates but shares essential features with the English trust. This article is the first published work on waqf in Mauritius. Based on two months of interview, observation and textual collection in Mauritius (July–August 2014), this article explores the social, political and legislative history of the Islamic charitable trust in a jurisdiction where the waqf has been upon statutory footing since 1941 and under which considerable assets continue to be secured and directed towards the benefit of Muslim and non-Muslim individuals, groups and families.