HABOUS

In North Africa, a family endowment whose usufruct is destined for charitable purposes.

According to Maliki jurisprudence, a family endowment, or habous, can be established over property "whose utilization will not result in its dissipation or consumption" (Powers, p. 382). The terms under which the endowment will work must be stipulated in an endowment deed. Public habous were created for the benefit of religious organizations or public institutions such as schools, mosques, hospitals, the shrines of marabouts, orphanages, or public foundations. Private or family habous were created for the benefit of the constituent's descendants. Habous properties—known as waqf, or awqaf outside the Maghrib—are inalienable. Traditionally, the nadhir (administrator) who controlled the collection and distribution of the revenues was under the supervision of the chief qadi (judge). The French colonial administration nationalized public habous during the mid-nineteenth century.

After independence, Morocco and Tunisia enacted legislation transforming the role of the habous. With the introduction of national welfare policies, the habous lost its importance as a guarantor of social services. During the nineteenth century, one-third of Tunisia's land was habous. Tunisian urban aristocrats (known as baldi, who were closely related to prominent religious families) administered most of the habous land and were severely affected by its nationalization after the Habib Bourguiba government instituted a sweeping agrarian reform. Public habous was abolished in 1956; family habous was abolished a year later. In 1971, a new program of economic liberalization scheduled the redistribution of 300,000 hectares of collectivized farmland, and habous land that had been appropriated by the state was returned to the original benefactors. The simultaneous dismemberment of the habous system and collective land has partially contributed to an increase in the number of farmers. A law promulgated in 2000 reactivated the habous liquidation procedure, but auditing of habous lands remains incomplete.

In Morocco, the administration of habous land depends on the Islamic Affairs and Habous Ministry (Ministère des Habous et des Affaires Islamiques). Although technically inalienable, during the protectorate period habous land could be exchanged or sold. After independence, the state has consistently encouraged the registration of habous land. A royal edict (dahir) in 1977 allowed for the liquidation of family habous by the authorities in charge of its administration for reasons of public interest.

See also marabout.

Bibliography

Islamic Affairs and Habous Ministry of the Kingdom of Morocco. Available from <http://www.habous.gov.ma/ministere/fr/index.htm>.

Nelson, Harold D., ed. Tunisia: A Country Study, 3d edition. Washington, DC: American University, 1988.

Powers, Davis S. "The Maliki Family Endowment: Legal Norms and Social Practices." International Journal of Middle East Studies 25, no. 3 (1993): 379–406.

vanesa casanova-fernandez