The Testamentary Waqf as an Instrument of Elite Consolidation in Early Twentieth-Century Massawa (Eritrea)

Bibliographic Data

ID12192558
AuthorsJonathan Miran (0009-0004-7959-0994, 1Western Washington University, corresponding author), Aharon Layish (2The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume25
Issue1-2
Pages78-120
Publication date2018-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueIslamic Law and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0928-9380 • E-ISSN: 1568-5195
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685195-02512p04
OpenAlexW2797712856
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited5

This study examines the testamentary waqf of Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ghūl (1853-1919), a prominent merchant and communal leader in the cosmopolitan Red Sea port town of Massawa in Eritrea during the period of Italian colonial rule (1885-1941). We provide an annotated translation of the document and a detailed socio-legal analysis of its features. We argue that the testamentary waqf was a vehicle for ensuring the family’s integration in Eritrea in perpetuity. We also consider how the testamentary waqf was used as a strategy to sustain the al-Ghūl family as a corporate unit by preserving the integrity of its real estate assets and by upholding the family’s internal hierarchy of authority. Finally, by endowing properties to mosques and wells, the testator-founder sought to establish the family’s role as a patron of the Muslim community

Archaeology · Business · Consolidation (business · Custodians · Elite · Estate · Islam · Perpetuity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Testamentary trust · Waqf · Accounting · African history and culture analysis · Finance · History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Law

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