Abstract

This article explores the evolution of "waqf" legislation in Algeria during the first four decades of the colonial period, through the case of the Haramayn "awqaf". Despite the classical thesis of an early "waqf" liquidation policy and the final triumph of the seizure option in 1873, the history of French legal approach to Algerian "waqf" was generally one of ambiguities and hesitations. A careful analysis of the geneaolgy of colonial intervention reveals the existence of two administrative trends: firstly, a seizure option considering "waqf" as an obstacle - to be simply removed - to urban changes and the colonial project in general; and, second, a more gradual reform option concerned with the achievement of a sustainable colonial project that did not exclude the integration of traditional social patterns like "waqf". The history of the administrative and financial control of "awqaf" shows a progres substitution by the French state of the Haramayn "waqf" foundation.