Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-fv566 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T01:16:55.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Contribution of Islamic Waqf to Managing the Conservation of Buildings in the Historic Stone Town of Zanzibar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2012

Khalfan Amour Khalfan  and
Nobuyuki Ogura
Khalfan Amour Khalfan
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Engineering & Science, University of the Ryukyus. Email: khalfanani@yahoo.com
Nobuyuki Ogura
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering & Architecture, University of the Ryukyus. Email: oguranob@tec.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The conservation of historic buildings depends on their physical maintenance as much as it depends upon their protection against external threats resulting from economic forces, the political climate, and human interference. Although physical conservation is what keeps the buildings standing, protecting buildings from these external threats can be considered more important because, without such protection, the buildings might not survive for any maintenance to be performed. To achieve the envisaged protection, proper management techniques are required. This article draws management inspirations from the unique and long-enduring tradition of the Islamic waqf, as practiced in the historic Stone Town of Zanzibar, now a World Heritage Site. The structure of waqf management is examined, along with aspects of finance and building maintenance. It was found that the ability of a management system to evolve according to prevailing conditions can be an effective shield against the external threats mentioned here.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , May 2012 , pp. 153 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Assi, Eman. “Islamic Waqf and Management of Cultural Heritage in Palestine.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 14, no. 4 (2008): 380–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnham, B. “Architectural Heritage: The Paradox of its Current State of Risk.” International Journal of Cultural Property 7, no. 1 (2005): 149–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frishman, M., and Khan, H.. The Mosque: History, Architectural Development & Regional Diversity. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.Google Scholar
Gaudiosi, M. M. “The Influence of the Islamic Law of Waqf on the Development of the Trust in England: The Case of Merton College.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 136, no. 4 (1988): 1234–1261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hakim, B. S. “Urban form in Traditional Islamic Cultures: Further Studies Needed for Formulating Theory.” Cities, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1998): 51–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, “Heritage Pasts and Heritage Presents: Temporality, Meaning and the Scope of Heritage Studies.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 7, no. 4 (2001): 319–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hennigan, P. C. The Birth of a Legal Institution: The Formation of the Waqf in Third-Century A. H. Hanafi Legal Discourse. In Studies in Islamic Law and Society, edited by Peters, R. and Weiss, B., vol. 18. Boston: Brill, Leiden, 2004.Google Scholar
Hitchcock, M. “Zanzibar Stone Town Joins the Imagined Community of World Heritage Sites.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 8, no. 2 (2001): 153–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jokilehto, J.A History of Architectural Conservation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999.Google Scholar
Juma, A. M. “The Zanzibar Town: Continuity of Urban Tradition.” Paper presented at the Zanzibar Stone Town Workshop, 19–20 November 1990, Zanzibar.Google Scholar
Ma, Shu-Yun. “Built Heritage Conservation and the Voluntary Sector: The Case of Tung Wah Coffin Home in Hong Kong.” International Journal of Cultural Property 17 (2010): 87–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maghniyyah, A. M. J. “Waqf According to Five Schools of Islamic Law.” Al-Tawhid 7, no. 4, part 1 (1998): 83–98.Google Scholar
Makdisi, J. A. “The Islamic Origins of the Common Law.” North Carolina Law Review 77, no. 5 (1999): 1635–1739.Google Scholar
Morita, M., and Sasano, S.. “Transformation of the Urban Structure and Waqf of Istanbul during the Second Half of the 16th Century in ‘Istanbul Vakiflar Tahrir Defteri’.” Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transaction of AIJ) 73, no. 624 (2008): 479–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberauer, N. “‘Fantastic Charities’: The Transformation of Waqf Practice in Colonial Zanzibar.” Islamic law and Society 15 (2008): 315–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheriff, A. “Mosques, Merchants & Landowners in Zanzibar Stone Town.” In History and Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town, edited by Sheriff, A., 46–66. London: James Currey, 1999.Google Scholar
Sheriff, A. “The Records of the ‘Wakf Commission’ as a Source of Social and Religious History of Zanzibar.” In Islam in East Africa, edited by Amoretti, B. S., 27–45. Rome: New Sources, 2001.Google Scholar
Siravo, F.Zanzibar, A Plan for the Historic Stone Town. Zanzibar: The Gallery Publications for The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Historic Cities Support Programme, 1996.Google Scholar
Yahya, S. S. “Financing Social Infrastructure and Addressing Poverty through Waqf Endowments: Experience from Kenya and Tanzania.” Environment & Urbanization 20, no. 2 (2008): 427–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zanzibar Government. Valuation List for the Town of Zanzibar. Zanzibar: Government Printing Press, 1914.Google Scholar