Southern Africa's Muslims: Emergence Development and Transformation

World Conference on Islamic Thought and Civlization – Ipoh, Malaysia 2014 Muhammed Haron (University of Botswana & University of Johannesburg)

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Southern Africa’s Muslims:

Emergence, Development, and Transformation

Muhammed Haron (University of Botswana and the University of Johannesburg)

Abstract

Muslim communities have gradually developed and settled in predominantly non-Muslim

regions such as Southern Africa. Unfortunately the social history of some of these communities

has not been well recorded except for those living in South Africa and Malawi. Despite their

minority status in the nation-states that form part of the Southern African region (i.e. Southern

African Development Community [SADC], these communities have gradually made their

presence felt through various socio-economic and educational structures that they have set up as

well as the role that some of their members played in the social and political arenas.

The purpose of this essay is essentially three-fold: to provide a broad overview of the

socio-historical context within which these communities emerged, developed and settled in the

region – inadvertently laying foundations of a possible „Muslim civilization‟ in the region; to

offer an insight into selected communities (e.g. South Africa) that demonstrated through their

resilience the contributions that they have made during the past few decades – capturing their

socio-political transformation; and to reflect upon the future of these communities in the

Southern African democratic environment. It intends to however make use of the notion of

„agency‟ as a theoretical frame within which to grasp these Muslim communities‟ role and

position within this changing region, and it moreover prefaces the essay with an overview of

Muslim demographics.

Key words/Phrases: Southern Africa, Muslim communities, agency, emergence,

development, transformation, Muslim civilization

1. Introduction

Generally Southern Africa may be described as a fairly free and stable region; one that is

unlike parts of the continent that have been characterized by conflict, tension and instability. This

region, however, shares similar features with others on the continent: it is not only a multi-ethnic,

multi-cultural and multi-lingual region but it should also be regarded as a multi-religious one. In

fact over the past few decades the region‟s cities have, moreover, been transformed into multi-

religious locales; this has been as a result of numerous factors amongst which migration has been

a major contributory cause (Ellis & Ter Haar 2008). Furthermore, though the region has by and

large been viewed by western trained social scientists as the natural home of African traditional

religions (ATR), Christianity was also acknowledged as an important regional stakeholder too.

But despite their definitive scholarly position, a few scholars demonstrated that certain

parts of the region have been infiltrated and influenced by other Abrahamic faiths such as


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Judaism and Islam. Whilst some of these scholars argued that the Varemba tribe in Southern

Zimbabwe reflected Judaic beliefs and practices (Mandivenga 1989), others have pointred out

that Islam was very much a part of Northern Mozambique for many centuries (Bonate 2007).

Interestingly Islam - as a minority religious tradition - gained adherents in this part of the

continent more than five centuries ago, and the outcome gave rise to the formation of the

region‟s relatively early religious minorities (Amra 2006); from that period onwards, it made

great strides in different ways. Since Islam‟s adherents (i.e. Muslims) have made an impact on

the region, the essay is interested in how they emerged, developed and transformed throughout

the latter part of the twentieth century; the time when all of these nation-states became

independent. Though the first part of this essay deals with the historical emergence somewhat

simiplistically, it will attempt to give an informative account of these adherents‟ development

and transformation towards the latter half of the century.

2. Agency: A Conceptual Tool

Agency, according to social scientists, means „the capacity of an agent to act in a world;‟

in other words it is essentially an individual who has the ability to make certain rational – moral

or immoral - choices and the one who follows through those choices. This agent, who possesses

free-will, is unlike other creatures; it has the capacity to make a particular choice and impose it

on others with whom he/she shares a physical and geographical space. Although the question as

to how a human being comes to make decisions is significant in philosophical circles and one

that social philosophers such as ibn Khaldun and Karl Marx raised, it is not that important when

considering the outcomes of human agency.

The notion of human agency forces one to ask: should an act have occurred or should it

have taken place in another context? Rich philosophical traditions that flourished in Greece,

China, India, Muslim heartlands and Europe regard human agency as a dynamic, collective

function that emerged as a result of the individual‟s actions or behavior. From among the

mentioned traditions, the Muslim civilizational tradition represented by Ibn Khaldun‟s notion of

asabiyyah and the European tradition represented by Hegel's „spirit‟ and Marx's „universal class‟

stressed that human beings are essentially social beings that organize themselves to act in concert

with one another. To sum up, human agency is the ability of the individuals to make choices for

him/herself, and the individual‟s ability to learn the difference between right and wrong, and to

eventually arrive at ethical and-moral decisions.

In line with the discussion on human „agency‟ and when applied to the actions of African

Muslims, it may be argued that they have collectively functioned as agents who made choices

and decisions that resulted in the presence and expansion of Islam on the African continent.

Their collective actions helped to carve out a special niche for Islam and assisted to shape a

particular image of the Muslims on the continent; hence, when referring to them as African

Muslims, their identity is automatically distinguished from the identity expressed by the Arab,

Indian, Chinese, European and Malay Muslims. And by extension, one may also distinguish


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between the various types of African Muslims; those that hail from West Africa compared to

those who come from East and Southern Africa. Taking into account these preliminary thoughts,

the essay shifts to the demographics of the Southern African Muslim communities.

3. Demographics: In Context

For the purpose of this essay it is useful to provide an insight into the Southern African

Muslim communities‟ demographic spread and to view them within larger religious mosaic.

„Southern Africa‟, as a matter of information, does not include all member states of the Southern

Africa Development Community (SADC) and nor does it fit into the UN Statistics Division -

Department of Social and Economic Affairs‟ system of classification; a system that identified

five different regions (namely, Eastern, Northern, Western, Middle/Central and Southern Africa).

According to the UN Statistics Division as quoted by Kaba (2009), this classification system was

divised for „statistical convenience‟ and it considered „Southern Africa‟ as a region that consists

of only five countries and one that is different from Eastern Africa that consists of nineteen

countries. The essay, for the purposes of convenience, includes along with UN Statistics

Division‟s five (namely, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) in this list

Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia as part of Southern Africa.

Figure 1: Southern Africa’s Population Distribution

SOUTHERN AFRICA POPULATION

0

10

20

30

40

50

Total Population

Countries in the South

Angola

Botswana

Lesotho

Malawi

Mozambique

Namibia

South Africa

Swaziland

Zambia

Zimbabwe

(Source: www.prb.org World Population Data Sheet 2010)

Each of the countries encounters - like all other regions - demographic challenges such as

poverty, lack of resources, and the absence of infrastructure. Some of the countries, for example,

face technological difficulties in that they do not have the means and resources to capture the

demographic data, others have to deal with among others low birth rate and migratory factors;

these are issues that are experienced in countries across the continent and they have been the

concern of demographers, statisticians and a host of other specialists. Apart from being interested

http://www.prb.org/


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in a range of issues that deeply affected and negatively impacted on the growth of the population,

some of these professionals have also shown an interest in the influence that religion in general

and Islam in particular has had in this part of the continent. Since this is the case, the essay turns

its focus to the demographic spread of the Muslims in the region.

On the whole, statisticians, demographers and census takers have been keen to get a sense

of Southern Africa‟s religious demographics and one of the reasons may be attributed to the fact

that some scholars such as Marshall and Keough (2004) have viewed religion as a positive player

in developmental affairs continentally and, in our view, regionally. As a consequence of these

scholarly positions as well as other factors, foreign policy makers and religion demographers in

the main demonstrated their desire to know to what extent Muslims play a role in the continent‟s

socio-economic and political development. That aside, this section offers a glimpse into the

Southern Africa‟s population distribution first prior to evaluating the numerical strength of the

Muslim communities.

According to the 2010 World Population Data Sheet (see Figure 1 above), the cumulative

figures of the ten countries – most of which are SADC members give a total of about 138.3 m by

mid 2010. Compared to other regional populations on the African continent, it is relatively low.

South Africa (more than 50 m) is a nation-state that consists of the largest population and

Swaziland (1.2m) with the smallest. Since religion has a powerful presence in Southern Africa, it

cannot be denied that its adherents have played and continue to play a critical role in its socio-

religious identity. When glancing at Southern Africa, one notes the conspicuous presence of

Christianity alongside ATR (see Figure 2 below). And when one takes a further look at the list of

nation-states, one is able to have a fair comparative perspective of the three religious traditions

(namely Christianity, ATR and Islam) in the region.

Figure 2: Southern Africa’s Religious Mosaic

ATR Adherents, Christians and Muslims in Southern Africa

53

24

92

42 40

99

7060

19 19

47

74.4

6.5 10

40

0.7

20

39

6980

0 1.6 1.5

48

20

0.3 2 112

10

20

40

60

80

100

120

Southern Africa’s Religious Traditions

Christianity

African Traditional Religion

Islam

(see Haron 2009)


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The available census in some of these nation-states have regrettably not been kind to the

various minority religious communities in that the census takers, demographers and statisticians

for some reason ignored to weave them into their census surveys. For example, when South

African undertook its census during 2011, it did not include religion in the survey; the reason for

this oversight is still somewhat of blurry; the same may be said for other countries in the region.

Nonetheless despite this rather deliberate omission, there are others such as Botswana that

penciled these traditions into their census surveys, and these consequently provided some idea of

the representation of the various religious traditions in these nation-states.

In Figure 2, one gets a sense of the demographic spread of the three religious traditions in

the Southern African region. Most of the countries have less than 0% Muslims; it is only Malawi

and Mozambique that have substantial numbers. From the graph, it affirms that Christianity is

and will remain the dominant religion for the foreseeable future. It should, however, be stated

that since some of the region‟s people have identified themselves with both ATR and

Christianity, it has resulted in giving a somewhat confusing picture of what the actual position of

both ATR and Christianity is. Since this was an issue that was addressed in a previous study

(Haron 2012), the essay revisits the numerical status of Southern Africa‟s Muslims and draws

upon Kettani‟s (2010) invaluable study (see Jones 2005).

Table 1: Southern Africa’s Muslims: 2010 Estimates

Kettani’s 2010 Southern Africa Estimates

COUNTRY POPULATION Muslims Muslim % APGR %

Angola 18,991.889 100,657 0.53% 2,672

Botswana 1,978, 091 8,308 0.42% 1.452

Lesotho 2,084, 963 4,378 0.21% 0.873

Malawi 15,687,893 2,009,619 12.81% 2.781

Mozambique 23,427,044 4,134,873 17,65% 2.327

Namibia 2,212,931 22,129 1.00% 1.925

South Africa 50,601,898 738,788 1.46% 0.982

Swaziland 1,200,731 2,401 0.20% 1.333

Zambia 13,250,215 132,502 1.00% 2.434

Zimbabwe 12,556,470 125,565 1.00% 0.269

The statistics in Table 1 demonstrate that Zambia and Zimbabwe‟s Muslim communities

amount to only 1%, whilst they reveal that Angola, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland‟s Muslims

have less than a half a percent. But as one travels northwards along the east coast of Africa the

demographics gradually changes, and one notes that the numerical strength of the Muslims

increased dramatically. Mozambique and Malawi, for example, have a sizeable number of


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Muslims compared to their neighbours in Zambia and Zimbabwe (Kettani 2010). For the record,

in the countries where Muslims are an insignificant minority most of them are located in the

major cities and towns and not in the rural districts (Pew Center 2009; 2011). Kettani‟s (2010)

interesting study provided one with some salient information: the population of each of the

mentioned countries, the number of Muslims based upon available estimates, their percentage

and the annual population growth rate (APGR). It was already mentioned earlier that Malawi and

Mozambique have sizeable percentages as compared to Swaziland and Lesotho that have the

lowest in the region.

Now that one has an overall view of the statistical data, the questions that arise are: how

did the Muslims arrive in these places? What did they do to maintain their presence? Why did

they settle in remote areas? To what extent did they influence the communities that they

encountered along these paths? Who were the pioneering figures that helped to lay the

foundations for these communities? Well to answer these questions in this somewhat restricted

essay, it will not manage to do justice to each of the listed nation-states. Since this is the case, it

will identify a few points that gave rise to the formation of these communities and it will briefly

elaborate upon the founding communities to illustrate how they emerged over the centuries.

4. Emergence: Historical Reflections

Now since the Muslims entered the region through diverse means, it is perhaps useful to

provide a cursory outline of Islam‟s growth and the Muslims‟ spread over the centuries; these

developments, historians have recorded, gave rise to Muslim empires such as the „Abbasids

(circa 750-1250) that, in turn, flourished and transformed the various ethno-linguistic and

cultural communities into remarkable „Muslim Civilizations‟ (see Hiskett 1984; Clarke 1982).

When reflecting upon the developments in the northern part of the African continent, one notes

that various Muslim empires contributed in a substantial manner to what has been described by

some scholars as „Islamic Civilization‟ – note not „Muslim civilization‟ - on the continent; one

specific example that may be used as proof is Mali‟s city of Timbuctou where many manuscripts

have been found (Diagne & Jeppie 2012). So when we compare the social historical

developments in North/West Africa to those in East/South Africa, it is quite evident that East

Africans cannot speak of an „Islamic Civilization‟ because of their relatively weak numerical

strength and influence along Africa‟s long East and South coast. At this point it is pertinent to

briefly assess the extent of Muslim penetration into the Southern African region.

Upon reflection one notes that there are numerous factors that led to the Muslims‟ spread

in these regions and historians, it may be argued, cannot deny that Muslims who moved into the

hinterlands did so for commercial reasons. What is, however, significant is the fact that some of

them were influenced by the teachings and ideas of Sufi masters such as Abdul Qadr Jilani who

stressed the mystical dimensions of Islam (Westerlund & Rosander 1997; Vikor 2000); as a

consequence these Muslim traders (and teachers) gradually opened pathways into Southern

Africa‟s hinterland in spite of the challenges that they encountered in setting up structures to


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reinforce their identities amidst a predominantly non-Muslim environment. In many instances the

Muslim traders/teachers innovatively blended their understanding of Islam with the some of

ATR‟s ideas and at no stage can it be argued that Muslims imposed themselves forcefully onto

the indigenous communities in the Southern African region (Levtzion 1997; Levtzion & Pouwels

2000). As a matter of fact, the historical developments that unfolded were vastly different from

what had taken place during the earlier eras when defensive battles were fought to establish

Muslim presence. Taking into account these few points, the table below that drew upon Ali

Mazrui‟s (1988; 1995; 2009) insights provides a simplistic synopsis of developments over the

past few centuries; these should be factored in when evaluating the Muslim presence and

influence in various parts of Southern Africa.

Table 2: Six Phases of Muslim Penetration

PHASE AGENCY TIME-LINE GEOGRAPHICAL

SPREAD

One Conquerors 635-1050 Along northern part of

the Sahara to Morocco

on the Atlantic side

Two Traders & migrants 11th

– 12th

centuries Along the east coast of

Africa from the Horn

until the middle part of

Mozambique

Three Traders/Sufi Shaykhs 12th

and 16th

centuries

From the northern part

of Africa across the

Sahara into Tropical

Africa and the western

part of West Africa

towards the east

Four Jihadists, Sufi Shayhs,

Missionaries

17th

– 19th

centuries Jihadi oriented

movements in West

Africa and the formation

of the Sultanates/

Khaliphate

Five Brotherhoods/Colonialists 17th

& 18th

– 19th

centuries

Transfer of slaves as

cheap labor from

Southeast Asia & South

Asia to Southern Africa

Six Missionaries/organizations 20th

& 21st

West, East and Southern

Africa

(Source: Mazrui 1995; 2009; Haron 2009; 2012)

Since the essay is not concerned with the earliest developments - aspects that had been

dealt with elsewhere, it will comment albeit briefly on the penetration of Muslims along the East

coast of Africa (particularly that section that intersect with southern Africa). It may be argued


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that Muslims gained ground in East Africa through trade ties and regular social contact since the

fifteenth century. The seafaring Muslims strengthened their connections as they navigated

around the horn of Africa to the Shebele River and beyond (popularly known as: the land of

Barbar [the coast of Somalia]). Subsequently they trekked further down south to Pemba; a stretch

that they called: the land of the Zanj (coast of Kenya and Tanzania).

With the passage of time they set their sights further down the coast until they reached

Cape Delgado (present-day Mozambique) and this part was called the land of Sofala (Lapidus

2002). From then onwards they dominated that section for more than two centuries until the

arrival of the Portuguese, German and British colonial powers. By the mid 13th

century when the

Abbasid powers dwindled and disappeared trade began to increase and flourish between

Southern Arabia and East Africa as well as regions as far as South Asia and South East Asia.

Since the Muslims monopolized the East African coast they traded in a variety of products from

nut-meg to gold and by the 14th

century Muslim city-states were established along the coast.

Mozambique‟s Sofala, along with others, became the most important ports and centres not only

for trade but also for learning; and as a result of this many manuscripts are found in northern

Mozambique (Bonate 2007). Throughout this period the Muslims seemed to have only traded

along the coast and only chose to shift into the hinterlands by the fifteenth century.

Their trek into the inner part of the east African coast brought more Africans into fold of

Islam and this resulted in the transformation of the East African coast from a predominantly

seafaring and coastal Arab identity to an African Muslim presence (Sperling 2000). The Muslims

are said to have reached the inner regions of central Africa such as the Great Lake States

(Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda), Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Malawi and moved as

far as the Zimbabwean ruins; others state that they even went further and entered the northern

part of what is today known as South Africa. Within this geographical locale, scholars have

closely evaluated the Lemba/Varemba tribe; this tribe, which is found along the borders of South

Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, is said - according to some authorities - to be the offspring

of the Muslim groups that moved southwards. Jewish scholars have however countered this

argument after some of them performed DNA testing to prove that the remnants of this tribe

belong to the „lost tribes‟ of the Jewish faith (Gayre 1967; Mandivenga 1989).

In any event, as a consequence of being agents of socialization Swahili culture penetrated

the Eastern parts of Africa and Islam became an integral part of the region‟s identity. The

Swahili speaking East African Muslims - unlike their co-religionists in West Africa who were

Malikis - were predominantly Shafis and Ibadis; these are two important jurisprudential schools

were joined by the Hanafis that formed key identity markers in this part of the African continent.

In addition, to these jurisprudential schools many of the East African and Southern African

Muslims also identified – as already pointed out earlier - with various Sufi masters and their

tariqah (i.e. order/path); two such orders that played a prominently role in East and Southern

African affairs are the Qadriyyah and the Shadhdhilis that influenced the ideas of Muslims in

these parts (Vikor 2000). Interestingly along the east and south coast these orders acted as


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important unifying strands to counter the Portuguese that landed there during the sixteenth

century to colonize the region.

The Portuguese not only disliked the Muslims, who they regarded as heathens, but they

also feared them. Despite their fighting power and strength they had an extremely difficult time

to subdue the Muslims; though they conquered and subdued them in Sofala and the surrounding

areas, they failed in subjugating the Muslims in the upper regions of the African coast. In fact, by

then the Umanis became a powerful force that countered them and others in the late seventeenth

century (circa 1660–1698). The latter captured Mombasa by 1698 and by 1840 Zanzibar also

came into their hands, and from then onwards it became the capital of Umanis. Whilst Muslims

settled and made their contribution in terms of trade and producing Swahili literature in the

Arabic script all along the East coast (Hunwick 2001), another story was unfolding further south

of the east African coast by the mid 19th

century and another as early as the late sixteenth

century.

The Dutch colonial powers, who colonized the Cape of Good Hope (the Southwestern

part of South Africa), brought Muslims – as political prisoners and slaves - from Southeast and

South Asia; as political prisoners and slaves, they were thus restricted to certain areas at the Cape

of the Good Hope. But notwithsatnding the restrictive laws that were imposed upon the Muslims

with the purpose of limiting and containing their movements, they found ingenious ways of not

only maintaining their Muslim identity but in also spreading their religious tradition among the

slave community; this was particularly through the establishment of educational circles. In these

circles the nascent Muslim community benefited from some of the Muslim theologians who

penned theological scripts in Afrikaans using the Arabic script; the Dutch colonizers were

oblivious of these developments (Haron 2003). What the Dutch as well as the British were

alarmed about was the fact that Muslim numbers were steadily increasing. Their demographic

increase appeared to have been unstoppable even though Christian missionaries tried to bring an

end to it. By the mid nineteenth century when the British colonized the eastern part of South

Africa, they were in desperate need of laborers to work on their expanding sugar plantations;

they thus brought from South Asia Indians to work on the farms. These sugar plantation farm

workers were accompanied by Muslim free traders who travelled into the hinterland where they,

as expected, expanded their trade and eventually settled.

5. Development:

5.1 Economic Front

These Muslim traders, in spite of the discriminatory policies that were instituted to ban

them from traveling from one town to the other, sought ways of by-passing and escaping these

laws to pursue their business ventures. Whilst some of these traders entered Southern Africa

through the ports of Mozambique to cross-over into Zimbabwe and Botswana, others accessed

South African ports to reach the hinterland. Added to these commercial activities, the British also

brought along Zanzibaris to work in South Africa. Amidst creating opportunities for themselves


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as merchants, other Muslims made their impact in the clothing and building industries where

their skills as alteration handers, tailors, dress makers, carpenters, bricklayers, and plumbers

came handy.

These developments demonstrate that notwithstanding their disadvantaged socio-political

circumstances, they made contributions towards the economic transformation of their respective

areas/cities. In Durban the famous Grey street mosque that is located in the heart of the city had

an array of businesses that showed to what degree their religio-social acts were tied to their

commercial activities; this is something that has been ongoing wherever Muslims settled in

Southern Africa. In the light of these contributions Amman Muhammad, the Chief Executive

Officer of First National Bank‟s Islamic Banking Unit (29 June 2014 Sunday Business Times),

made a telling observation when he said that, “Africa provides a large opportunity for growth

(and) Muslim entrepreneurs play an important role in the African economy.”

Even though this statement may be regarded as an accurate assessment of Muslim

participation during the contemporary period, this was not the case during the early years when

their forebears found chances that were rather restrictive particularly in the service sector; a

sector in which they played a marginal but critical role; they did so because they provided

services to both the urban and rural communities in various parts of the region. It may be argued

that they only entered the primary and secondary sectors of the economy during the second half

of the twentieth century as they became more economically mobile. Being financially mobile,

some of them managed to enter different sectors of the economy. A few made headway in the

secondary industries such as clothing manufacturing and others into the primary sector such as

the fishing industry; it should, however, be stated that many Muslims located along

Mozambique‟s northern coast and South Africa‟s southern shores were ardent fishermen who

gradually dominated this industry for a long period before they were challenged by the entry of

major corporate companies that took control of this and other industries.

In the absence of tangible evidence, it may be hypothesized that despite the Muslim

communities‟ numerical weakness regionally they have made an impact in a minor manner in

each of the following industries: construction & manufacture (e.g. Kalla brothers), mining &

quarry, public administration & utilities, transportation & communication (e.g. Chilwan

brothers), finance & real estate (e.g. Adam brothers), hospital & health (e.g. Bhorat family),

wholesale & retail trade (e.g. Moolla family, business & repair services, entertainment &

recreation (e.g. Moosa family), agriculture (e.g. Karaan), and education (e.g. Abdurahman).

Indeed it is in the last mentioned field that many Muslims made their mark; in fact,

during the 1940s and 1950s when a fair number had specialized to be teachers, some (e.g. Fataar)

went into exile to teach in countries such as Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania where they were

welcomed because of the shortage of these professionals. During final four decades of the

twentieth century one witnessed an increase in the number of Muslim teachers and institutions in

South Africa; most of them served as teachers in state schools and when many private schools


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were set up quite a number joined them. As key skilled individuals they contributed and continue

to make an input to the private and public eduational sector in a fairly decent manner; whilst

many have excelled as teachers, others have moved up the administrative rungs to become

principals and deputy principals (e.g. Emeran brothers).

Education is indeed one of the critical structures within the economy and since this is the

case the essay wishes to turn its attention to it; however, instead of considering the whole sector

and its diverse units, it focus will specifically be on Muslim tertiary institutions. Its objective is

to demonstrate to what extent these institutions have helped to add to the dynamic and rich

Southern African educational environment and to illustrate in which manner they created

opportunities for members of the communities that they serve. These institutions have

undoubtedly assisted in reinforcing and shaping the community‟s religious identity in each of the

nation-states and of course regionally.

But before looking at these Muslim educational institutions, it is perhaps important to

emphasize that throughout the twentieth century the non-homogenous Muslim communities had

made an impact in both the cultural sphere and linguistic arena. This was already witnessed in

East Africa and South Africa. During the nineteenth century, for example, Swahili speakers were

responsible for taking Islam from the coast into East Africa‟s hinterland penetrating the eastern

part of the Congo and Melayu speakers firmly planted the seeds of Islam in South Africa‟s Cape

of Good Hope. As noted in various studies, these religio-linguistic communities were, moreover,

embroiled in intra-theological differences and jurisprudential disputes. And when these

differences could not be resolved by local theologians, they sought assistance from the Turkey or

from Zanzibar (Bang 2010; Lomeier 2013). Furthermore these communities established Muslim

educational institutions such as madrasas to help them advance their status within their

communities.

5.2 Educational Sector

Since Muslims have been around for more than a century in different parts of the region,

a quick survey will show that they set up madrasas and mosques in almost each and every city

and town where they settled. As the communities grew and developed, it was natural for them to

scout around for complementary institutions that further reinforced their identity and more

importantly provided advance learning about Islam. Those (such as Maulana Cassiem Sema)

who had the training and foresight approached businesses to invest in the formation of such

institutions; their efforts resulted in the establishment of an array of Muslim Theological

Seminaries (namely Darul-„Ulum) in the region and it is to these the essay turns its attention.

Part of the rationale for the creation of these specific institutions may be attributed to the

fact that towards the end of the twentieth century the tension between

conservatism/traditionalism and modernism/liberalism deepened and the gulf between these

groups widened; the latter groups are those that expressed the opinion that individuals should be


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able to learn about Islam or rather Islamic Studies at secular-oriented institutions such as the

universities and the graduates from the traditional institutions argued otherwise. They were of the

view that one cannot learn about one‟s beliefs and practices in secular educational structures; for

them, a special religious enviroment should be created so that the students may benefit

intellectually and spiritually. Though the debate between these two groups has not died down,

the mentioned Muslim Theological Seminaries have increased and most of them have over the

past 20 years flourished. And since the Muslim communities have come under the spell of the

traditionally trained theologians particularly those who completed their studies in South Asian

Muslim theological seminaries, they have been supporting these institutions and their graduates.

In Table 2 below a selected list of Darul-„Ulums that exist in South Africa‟s

neighbourhood has been inserted. From the list it is observed that Mozambique has to date five

Darul-„Ulums and these are further complemented by Mussa bin Bique University located in

Nampula; an institution that has been in existence for 16 years and one that operates and follows

a different menu of courses from that offered by the listed Darul-„Ulums. Malawi however

boasts two as compared to Zambia that only has one at present. About three years ago Jamia

Islamia Botswana was established as the first institution of Higher Islamic Education in

Botswana and one of the latest in the region outside South Africa.

Table 2: Southern African Darul-‘Ulum: A Regional Selection

Southern Africa’s Dar ul-‘Ulum

Name E-mail Address Country

Darul-ulum JamiyaAbdullah Ibne Abbas

[email protected] Av. Samora Machel, Nampual, Mozambique

Madrassah ArabiyahIslamiyah: Academia de Estudos Islámicos

[email protected] / [email protected]

Av: Eduardo Mondlane,Beira,1632

Sofala Mozambique

Al-Markaz Maqsood-ul-Uloom

[email protected] / [email protected]

Av Guerrra Populat, Maputo Plaza,

Maputo, Mozambique

Jamia Anass Bin Malik [email protected] Av.ungunhana avenº734,Maputo

Matola, Mozambique

Madrassah Mahdul [email protected]

Avenida Amilcar Cabral 1442,Maputo

Maputo, Mozambique

Darul Uloom MahadurRasheed

Chipata Zambia

Bilal Darul Uloom

Chipoka Darul Uloom

[email protected]

Limbe

Lilongwe

Malawi


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All of these Darul-„Ulums as well as those – about 12 - located in South Africa follow a

special syllabus; they perpetuate the South Asian Deobandi curriculum. This is a curriculum that

pursues a set theological programme; one that differs markedly from some of the Southern

African universities that offer Islamic studies programmes at both the undergraduate and

postgraduate levels respectively. When making reference to Islamic studies in Southern Africa,

one cannot ignore the fact that the first fully-fledged Islamic studies undergrad programme was

established at the University of Durban-Westville in 1974 and it was followed by related

programmes at other universities in South Africa; universities in the neighbouring countries such

as Botswana and Zimbabwe also saw the importance of offering modules in Islam for those who

were pursuing religious studies. Whilst some of the scholars who teach these modules have had

their training mainly in secular institutions, others have had their training in traditional

institutions in South Asia (Pakistan and India) and Southwest Asia (Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia

and Egypt).

It is perhaps of relevance to state that in the distant past most of Southern Africa‟s

Muslim theologians were trained at well-known institutions such as Al-Azhar University;

however with the emergence of other related institutions in other Muslim countries (e.g. Syria

and Saudi Arabia) young promising students have been granted alternative choices. This resulted

in many having been trained in Saudi Arabia‟s theologically oriented institutions (i.e. Medina

Islamic University, Umm ul-Qura University and Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University); the

graduates from these institutions automatically challenged the authority and influence of those

from came from South Asia‟s Darul-„Ulums.

The reason for the challenge resides in the fact that these theological groups adopt

different approaches in understanding and interpreting Islam‟s primary sources. When one

compares the South Asian Darul-„Ulum graduates with those who graduated from, among others,

Al-Azhar University, Medina Islamic University, and Jordan University one immediately notes

the variation in their styles of interpretation and the differences in their approaches. It may be

argued that most of the Arab based institutions‟ graduates have been more open and liberal in

their approach as compared to their counterparts from South Asia. Moreover of late, scholars

have highlighted their concern regarding the influence of Saudi Arabia‟s propagation of

Wahhabism as an ideological cum theological method to restrict theologians from thinking

critically and from adopting an open-minded approach to contemporary issues such as politics.

6. Transformation:

6.1 Political Front

One of the contemporary challenges that many theologians faced was the question of politics.

Among these theologians there have been divergent views as to whether Muslims are permitted

to participate in the political arena; some argued that Muslims who are religious minorities in

their societies should steer clear of supporting parties that promote secularism and others spurred

them on to vote as long as the parties‟ policies – for whom they are voting - were generally in


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line with some of Islam‟s ideals. In spite of the diverse views, Muslim communities have

generally responded positively to their circumstances and this implied that they did not take heed

the opinion of those theologians who wish to literally insulate themselves from growing multi-

religious community as well as the nation-state‟s political affairs.

Apart from having gone to the polls in their respective countries the Muslim communities

fielded their own political candidates and in the case of South Africa Muslims were permitted to

form their own political parties; a political development that is seldom witnessed in the Muslim

heartlands. In all of these countries Muslims readily participated and they did not shy away from

demonstrating to what extent they disagreed among themselves and who they sided with

politically. Whilst in South Africa they have had a choice to choose one of the few parties that

vied for positions, in other Southern African nation-states they have generally leaned towards

supporting the main party; this may be attributed to the political spin-offs that they usually

encountered soon after the elections took place. Since it is well-nigh impossible to reflect in

some detail upon each of the ten countries, the essay will deal with them somewhat scantily to

give an idea of Muslim-state relations.

South Africa would be a good locale to begin with because it is Southern Africa‟s youngest

democracy and it is a place where the freedom of the individual has been firmly secured

constitutionally. So when Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the country‟s first democratically

elected president, he appointed Abdullah (Dullah) Omar as his Minister of Justice. In addition to

Omar‟s appointment, Mandela‟s cabinet also consisted of a few other Muslims. Mandela‟s

successors, namely Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, continued with the same practice and co-

opted Muslims into their respective cabinets. Under Mbeki‟s leadership Omar was transferred to

the Ministry of Transport, Kader Asmal became the Minister of Education, and the Pahad

brothers, namely Essop and Aziz, were appointed Minister (witout portfolio) in the presidency

and deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In Zuma‟s cabinet Naledi Pandor, after having served as

Minister of Education in Mbeki‟s cabinet, first served as Minister of Science and Technology

and thereafter moved to Home Affairs where she was joined by Fatima Chohan as the Ministry‟s

deputy. Ebrahim Patel, who was deeply involved with the trade unions, was appointed as

Minister of Economic Development.

After the 2014 elections Zuma retained some of his comrades such as Ebrahim Patel

(Economic Development), Naledi Pandor (Science and Technology), Enver Surty (Education)

and Fatima Chohan (Home Affairs) as part of his trusted cabinet. At the time the democratic

government came to power, it appointed many Muslims in prominent positions: Ismail Mohamed

was the Chief Justice of the country, Farid Esack served on a Gender Commission during the

first few years of its formation, Gamiet Gabier was the country‟s ambassador to Saudi Arabia

(for one term during Mbeki‟s rule), and Ebrahim Rasool as the Premier of the Western Cape

under Mbeki and subsequently as ambassador to the United States of America during Zuma‟s

reign as president. Rasool, as a matter of interest, was a member of the National Religious

Leaders that advised the president on religious matters (Vahed & Jeppie 2005). Most of these


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individuals and many others have been loyal dedicated members of the African National

Congress (i.e. South Africa‟s ruling party) as well as the existing parties. South Africa, as stated

earlier, allowed Muslim parties to register and compete with others for power; the open political

space witnessed the formation of the African Muslim Party, Al-Jama‟at Party, the Islamic Party

and the Cape Muslim Congress. On the national level these parties failed dismally but some

managed to secure seats in the provinces where they had the necessary influence and support.

Now the vibrant political environment stimulated similar socio-political developments in

some of the neighbouring countries. In Malawi after the Banda era the Malawians were able to

vote Bakili Muluzi into power as the country‟s first Muslim president; he came through the ranks

of the Muslim Association of Malawi that formed part of the Public Affairs Committee. When

Muluzi stepped into office he appointed another Muslim to be the Minister of Education (Bone

2009). In Zambia Yusuf Badat was the Deputy Minister of Health and prior to that the Minister

of Commerce and Industry; Nasim-ul-Gani Hamir was the Lands Deputy Minister and Ali Hamir

the Attorney General of the country. In Botswana Mr. Abdul-Sattar Dada was coopted into

Parliament as Botswana Democratic Party‟s special member and its key treasurer. And in

Mozambique Abdul Razak Noor Mahomed was the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and it

has a few Members of Parliament.

In countries such as Angola, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, the Muslim numbers are

negligible and thus did not really influence developments socially or politically. Angola‟s

situation compared to all the other countries in the region took a negative turn; since the relations

between the Muslims and the state soured because of the state‟s policies towards others religions.

In Angola the government imposed restrictions upon the Muslims banning them from setting up

places of worship such as mosques or madrasas. Angola thus stood out as the only state where

religious traditions other than Christianity – the Roman Catholics – were not readily welcomed.

Unlike Angola the other Southern African states viewed the role of religious traditions positively

and consequently adopted a religious pluralist position even though most of them are pre-

dominantly Christian.

6.2 Social Arena

Now that one has a fair insight into the political environment, the essay moves on to reflect in

the final section on the social arena; an arena where one comes across numerous organizations

and groups that have made a qualitative difference to the region‟s societies. Being a fairly broad

and vast area, it will limit itself to African Muslim humanitarian organizations that have made

critical interventions in various ways nationally, regionally and continentally (Weiss 2002). So

far none of these NGOs have set up a base in Southern African states except in South Africa and

Malawi; in the latter state the Malawi Muslim Agency opened its doors as a charitable

organization with Kuwayti funds (see later). Apart from the Malawi Muslim Agency aka Africa

Muslim Agency (AMA) others have also emerged and developed into strong social welfare

organizations; they are, among others, Muslim Hands, Islamic Relief Agency SA, Nakhlistan,


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Al-Imdaad Foundation and the Gift of the Givers. The latter in particular has left a solid legacy;

one that the essay intends to return to shortly.

It should however be stated that whilst many contemporary Muslim NGOs have only been

formed within the last three to four decades, these have been preceeded by numerous others;

organizations that had a vision of social welfare work but that limited itself and did not have plan

of action to develop into a national or an international structure as had happened with

organizations such as Muslim Hands, Islamic Relief and AMA; these types of organizations, as a

matter of fact, are not recent inventions as has been argued by Benedetti (2006) and Saggiomo

(2012). That aside, these organizations have come under close scrunity by Western Think Tanks

based upon the questionable notion that they have been created and set up to fund and support

extremist elements in Muslim communities in and beyond the Muslim heartlands since 9/11; the

online article by Terdman (2007) is one among many current spurious and debatable research

texts that appear to argue along these lines. Since Terdman looked at AMA and considered it „a

real threat on the long run‟, it is perhaps opportune to turn to this organization.

AMA was established in 1981 by the Kuwayti born Shaykh Abdurahman As-Sumait

(d.2013) who received the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences

for his sterling social services during 2008. Having been trained in the medical sciences and

influences like many others by Muslim revivalist Movements in the Muslim heartlands As-

Sumait saw the need to create a humanitarian organization after he visited Malawi in 1980; he

then called the organization the Malawi Muslim Agency but subsequently changed it to AMA. It

however operated in certain countries under the name Direct Aid Society (Chanfi 2009). He set

up the organization by combining its humanitarian activities with missionary work; with these

twin objectives in the developmental sector AMA not only extended its hands to the poor and

needy communities in different parts of the continent but it did so to every community that

needed and continues to need financial and others forms of assistance.

In South Africa it was Farid Choonara (d.2011), the loyal Muslim Youth Movement of South

Africa member, who directed the organization and extended – with Al-Sumayt‟s blessings -

AMA‟s tentacles far beyond the South Africa. In countries such as Angola, Madagascar,

Mozambique and Zimbabwe the organization built healthcare structures (such as clinics and

hospitals) and educational institutions (such as schools and institutes). AMA for example funded

the building and maintenance of the College of Zanzibar (est.1998) that boasts among others a

Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language; in this manner AMA made a qualitative

difference in the socio-educational sector of these communities. Related to this Bone (2009)

mentioned that AMA not only built schools but also mosques in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Whilst

Western Think Tanks appear to constantly question Muslim charitable organizations such as

AMA, it cannot be denied that these organizations have made significant contributions to

developmental sector for which the governments have been grateful.


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In fact this has been the case with one of a plethora of South African Muslim organizations,

namely Gift of the Givers; an organization that has since partnered with the government to

address social-welfare and other issues. Gift of the Givers, it may be argued, is one of the few

NGOs that gained the government‟s confidence because it has tangibly demonstrated that it has

and continues to serve the needs of Africa‟s communities as well as those who experienced

natural disasters and as a consequence has worked closely with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and this is. In 1992 Imtiyaz Suliman laid the foundations of the Gift of the Givers (Waqf al-

Waqifin) after having received the necessary spiritual instructions to do so from his Turkish-

based mentor and guide, Shaykh Muhammad Al-Jerrahi. For the past two decades, it has grown

into one of the most significant and influential relief organizations in South Africa (Desai 2008).

With a clear vision and agenda under Suliman‟s leadership the organization‟s activities expanded

and its reputation as a dedicated humanitarian organization soared since it managed to address

disasters that occurred across and beyond Africa.

Since Gift of the Givers was formed it achieved the following: (a) it innovated the world's

first containerised mobile hospital, (b) it invented the world's first containerised primary health

care unit, (c) it created the world's first groundnut-soya high energy and protein supplement in

the use of severe Malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, TB, Cancer and other debilitating conditions, and (d)

it set up the largest Open Source Computer Lab in Africa. As a result of these and other

innovative outputs, GoG received various awards from the South African government and other

institutions. He, for example, received the „Order of the Grand Counsellor of the Baobab‟ in

2010 and South Africa‟s Parliament passed a „Motion of Congratulations‟ in 2013. Despite all

the good tasks that Gift of the Givers have thus far carried out, Desai suggested ways in which it

can be more accountable in the public arena; a suggestion that in fact applies to most NGOs

whether they are religious or secular.

That aside, both organizations have demonstrated their resilience and significance as bona

fide Muslim social welfare cum humanitarian organizations. One agrees with Chanfi (2009)

observation that none of these organizations have had political agendas as had been implied by

those accusing Muslim groups and organizations of perpetuating extremist ideas and teachings.

These organizations generally pursued their objectives to extend a helping hand because their

religious tradition emphasizes this in the primary sources from which they derive their

inspiration and guidance. However, one tends to agree with Chanfi that these organizations

should declare their intentions of wanting to proselytize upfront and not conceal these. On the

whole, faith-based organizations such as AMA and Gift of the Givers have fortunately not

veered off their agendas and that is being humanitarian and relief organizations.

7. Towards a Conclusion: Creating a Muslim Civilization in Southern Africa?

Reflecting upon the Southern Africa‟s Muslim communities this essay attempted to string

together a number of issues. It first gave a break down of the demographics in order to place the


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Muslims in a broader demographic context. What it basically illustrated was that the Muslims

were indeed a minority in a predominantly Christian environment.

The essay went on to trace the emergence of these communities; it did so by giving a general

overview of specific case studies so that one can appreciate the various actors and agents that

were involved in this process. Thereafter it turned its focus to the development sector and made

references to two inter-connected dimensions that assisted in bringing about economic and

educational changes. One of the main arguments that gave rise to this was the fact that these

Muslims became economically mobile and this had rippling effects on other sectors. The sector

that gained from these is the educational arena where Muslims have made a reasonable input to

the nation-states where they reside and live as well as to the Muslim communities that they

represent.

It concluded by looking specifically at two related sectors; the first was the political sphere in

which the Muslims also played a role and the second was the social welfare arena where their

contributions have been officially recognized by governments and civil society groups. In

countries where they are less than 0%, nothing noteworthy has been recorded on the political

front; and in states where they are a sizeable minority - in spite of their numerical weakness -

their representatives appear to have made an indelible impact and left a strong legacy of Muslim

participation in political affairs. In addition to their inputs in these affairs, the Muslim run NGOs

have also made a deep impression on the minds of the nation-states where they made significant

interventions.

The question that may finally be posed is: Looking back and seriously reflecting these

Muslim communities‟ emergence, development and transformation have they laid the foundation

of a Muslim Civilization in Southern Africa? The question prompts two opposing responses. As

for those who reply in the negative, they argue that though these communities have settled in

these nation-states throughout the twentieth century, it is unlikely that such a civilization would

ever emerge because the communities are non-homogenous and their members belong to

different strands of thinking, they associate with various groups that vie for religio-political

power and all sorts of factors that are at play in keeping them from being a united force in the

region. Those who are positively view all of these dimensions as the main ingredients for such as

civilization and their opinion is based upon the former empires and civilizations that existed in

and beyond the Muslim heartlands; none of these were homogenous but they shared certain

commonalities that were the main ingredients of a civilization; taking into account these, the

possibility of such a civilization is not remote but possible. Whatever

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Southern Africa's Muslims: Emergence Development and Transformation

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