Ambivalence and Islam in the institutional-building of the Spanish Sahara Province

Abstract

This paper argues that the ambivalence in the colonial institutions during the Spanish Sahara provincialización may have allowed the continued existence of some sovereignty social relations of the colonized population. For that purpose, late colonial administration is analysed, followed by an anthropologically informed lecture of the legal institutions building is done. In this regard, the Spanish imperial discourse’s definition of the Islamic religion as an essential element of the territory’s population and uttermost limit for it to be effectively integrated into the nation favored a certain autonomy of the legal realm. On the other hand, the qadis of the cheranic juridical institutions, subordinated from the perspective of provincial organization, engaged in legal practices of regional scope that exceeded the colonial state’s capacity for action. The stress produced by this ambiguity can help to understand not only the sovereignty social relations in the territory, but also the Spanish imperial discourse presumptions.