Legal, Political And Religious Frameworks For Philanthropy In The West And In Islam

The political, legal and economic frameworks for philanthropy at the age of the Enlightenment are examined in some European countries : Great Britain and France, the two main rivals for hegemony, then some less populated and more decentralised European countries, Netherlands, the rising Prussia in Germany, Italy and Spain. Then the religious framework for philanthropy is isolated : There is a huge contrast between Protestant and Catholic countries, the former being more tolerant towards religious minorities and the latter being more marked by the Counter-Reformation and its intolerance. The case of France is specific since its desire to eliminate the institutions of the Ancien Régime , including religion, is at the origin of the most repressive regime towards associations during the nineteenth century. Therefore we observe a progressive modernization and secularisation of the frameworks for philanthropy in most European countries contrasting with a tabula rasa in France through the 1789 Revolution. In the last part of this chapter, our focus will shift to a very different yet adjacent civilization, that of Islam, with particular emphasis on how philanthropic institutions emerged and evolved under different belief systems.