Projects

In Tanzania, the colonial government supported courts applying Islamic family law, which the independent government closed down. The project examines the legal practices of late colonial U+2018kadhisU+2019 courtsU+2019, reasons for their abolition, and the implications for Muslim congregations. It also examines why and how the demand for the reintroduction of kadhisU+2019 courts has become a focus for
recent Muslim activism.

Muslim activists in contemporary Tanzania claim that the country had a functioning system of Islamic courts, destroyed by the nationalist government following independence (1961). This PhD project examines the actual practice of the application of Islamic law in colonial Tanzania, the changes following independence, and their effects on Muslim communities, which were more gradual and ambiguous than activistsU+2019 narratives allow.

Belgium is a country of immigration. Labor migration, colonial migration, the arrival of different international institutions and membership of the EU, have brought a growing amount of non-Belgians into the country. Their influence on Belgian demographics is significant, most importantly so among children. Almost thirty percent of Flemish children have a foreign background, with ten percent having no Belgian nationality. However, the Flemish ...