ABSTRACT
This article explores how we might best understand the potential establishment of a waqf (plural: ‘awqaf), or Islamic charitable endowment, in London. Drawing on ethnographic and archival data, it considers the waqf space from four angles that emerged as significant during fieldwork: Islamic quality, temporality, communities of interest, and local relationality. In doing so, the article offers a detailed account of an example of an under-studied Islamic institution, as well as a portable framework for thinking about Islam and space in Muslim-minority contexts. It draws on these explorations to offer conclusions about the fieldsite, arguing that “Islam” is a major structure for shaping this particular space, but not a totalizing presence. The conclusion considers how this case study about space might relate to a debate within the Anthropology of Islam, as well as providing additional reflections on studying space and Islam in Europe relevant to the Special Issue.
