In Mayotte, an island in the Indian Ocean that is 95% Muslim, they combine religious practice and the principle of French secularism. Until an order in 2010, on the eve of departmentalization, cadis exercised the official functions of judge, notary, civil registrar who could register marriages or separations.
They were responsible for the application of local law authorizing polygamy and testifying to the history of the Comoros archipelago and the establishment of sultanates of Arab-Shirazian origin, before the colonization of Mayotte by France in 1841 and the establishment of an administration for ” native “.
The application of common law in Mayotte put an end to the coexistence of these two justice systems. From traditional judges, cadis have become mediators. Surrounded by recognized moral authority, they remain employed by the departmental council. Beyond these institutional functions, the Cadial Council sets the rules relating to the practice of worship in mosques and validates the teaching programs in Koranic schools and mosques.
Great disparities
In the fall of 2022, photographer Ludovic Carème, from the VU agency, spent six weeks in Mayotte, as part of the major photographic commission. Launched in 2021 by the Ministry of Culture, at a request from the President of the Republic, and led by the National Library of France (BNF), this vast operation was intended to provide an overview of France and distributed scholarships to two hundred photographers to crisscross the territory. Their work is on display until June 23 at the BNF in Paris.
In Mayotte, Ludovic Carème wanted to describe the essential role played by the island’s twenty cadis: contributing to social peace in a society fractured by great disparities. A territory, the poorest in France, hit in recent months by an exceptional drought and, at the end of January, by a security crisis, with five weeks of roadblocks erected on the roads by citizen groups demanding more resources in the fight against delinquency and irregular immigration.
In the 101e French department, the population takes recourse to the cadis to resolve disputes of daily life according to Muslim religious laws. The photographer traces their conciliatory missions in the island’s slums and in the madrasas (Koranic schools).
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