Networks of Islamic NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa: Bilal Muslim Mission, African Muslim Agency (Direct Aid), and al-Haramayn

Abstract

This article considers the activities of three Islamic NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Muslim Agency (Direct Aid) is a Sunni Muslim NGO involved in charity, relief, development and da‘wa (missionary effort), created in 1981 by a group of Muslim Brothers (Ikhwân al-MuslimÛn) from Kuwait. The Bilal Muslim Mission is a Shî′î Muslim NGO founded in Tanzania in 1963 by the Indian Shi'ites of East Africa. Its aim is to spread Twelver Shi′ism in East Africa and beyond, and to assist Shi′ites living in poverty worldwide. Until its dissolution, al-Haramayn was engaged in very much the same work as the African Muslim Agency, the main difference being that al-Haramayn emphasized the propagation of Salafî Islam rather than charity work. Like any modern Islamic NGO, these institutions pursue two aims: while giving support to those in need, they simultaneously try to spread their particular version of Islam. This article has four aims: to analyse the network structures that link these NGOs to other parts of the world; to discover the socio-political and cultural implications behind their activities; to investigate the education and formation of the actors involved in Islamic charity by tracing the biographical itineraries of two representatives of Islamic NGOs in Africa; and to analyse the state of affairs for these NGOs after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the USA.

Keywords:

• Non-governmental organizations
• Islam
• Muslim charity
• sub-Saharan Africa

Notes

1. This article is part of a research project on new conversions to Islam in Africa, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Fund). Field research was conducted in May–June 2004 and April–May 2005.

2. See Ahmed, Les conversions à l'Islam; Bruinhorst, “Raise Your Voices and Kill Your Animals”; Morier-Genoud, “L'Islam au Mozambique après l'indépendance.”

3. For an in-depth explanation of the da‘wa concept see Ahmed, Les conversions à l'Islam, especially chapter 1 (“Les Missions de conversion à l'Islam ou da'wa (appel, invitation à l‘Islam): les sens d‘un concept”), pp. 25–31.

4. Bruinessen, “Development and Islamic Charities,” 5; Benthall and Bellion-Jourdan, The Charitable Crescent, especially chapters 4–7.

5. Ever since the 1970s, the term sahwa (awakening) has been very much en vogue to designate the activities of different Islamist movements. The term is widely used because of its positive connotation.

6. See his article “Hakadha bada'na [Thus we started]” in the pamphlet-calender published by the organization in 2001, freely distributed.

7. See, among others, the interviews with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt in the journal al-Nun and the newspaper al-Haraka with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt, both published December 12, 2006, at http://www.labaik-africa.org (accessed October 27, 2007). See also the interview Sumayt “Muslims Have their Mother Teresa too.”

8. See, among others, the interviews with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt in the journal al-Nun and the newspaper al-Haraka with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt, both published December 12, 2006, at http://www.labaik-africa.org (accessed October 27, 2007). See also the interview Sumayt “Muslims Have their Mother Teresa too.”

9. See, among others, the interviews with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt in the journal al-Nun and the newspaper al-Haraka with Abdurrahman H. Sumayt, both published December 12, 2006, at http://www.labaik-africa.org (accessed October 27, 2007). See also the interview Sumayt “Muslims Have their Mother Teresa too.”

10. The term “salafi” is derived from al-salaf al-sâlih (pious ancestors). The salafiyya advocates a strictly literal interpretation of the fundamental Islamic texts, i.e., Qur'an and Hadiths. In doing so, they believe to follow the example of the first generation of Muslims (or the first three generations of Muslims), the Salaf al-Sâlih.

11. On the Antemoro, see especially Beaujard, “Islamisés et systèmes royaux”; Rajaonarimanana, Savoir arabico-malgache.

12. See the interview with Sumayt, “Message from Madagascar.”

13. On the creation of al-Haramayn Foundation see, among others, al-Ansari, “Mu'assasat al-Haramayn al-khayriyya,” 1, 6 and 15.

14. Penrad, “Sauti ya Bilal,” 17–33.

15. Amiji, “The Asian Communities,” 141–81; Amiji, “Some Notes on Religious Dissent,” 603–16; Rizvi and King, “Some East African Ithna-asheri Jamaat,” 12–22.

16. Penrad, “Sauti ya Bilal.”

17. Amiji, “The Asian Communities”; Amiji, “Some Notes on Religious Dissent.”

18. Salih, “Islamic NGOs in Africa,” 146–81.