Page 45 - SoMJ Vol 74 - No 1, 2021

Malawi’s Muslims In The Era Of Multi-Party Democracy 35

and individuals make good use of the media. Radio Islam continues as a
broadcaster with high professional standards and along with the Islamic
Information Bureau’s website ‘Malawi’s Muslims’ provides coverage of religious
matters, education, development, politics, health, agriculture and other general
news. Between these two outlets and the coverage provided by other national
media providers, Muslims and issues that concern them are highly visible. Many
of the news items concern the charitable contributions Muslim individuals and
organisations make, often for the benefit of the wider community, in terms of
famine and disaster relief, support for patients and health centres as well as for
educational and developmental causes.

Unity in diversity
One significant indication of how much more unites than divides
Malawi’s different religious communities is the work over the years of the Public
Affairs Committee (PAC) in which Muslim and Christian leaders cooperate with
the main civil society bodies.
In the area of politics, the PAC has been involved in promoting voter
education, campaigning for electoral reform, calling for calm during elections,
castigating individuals and organisations who have at any time tried to politicise
religion, opposing Government interference with the Judiciary, conciliating
between political parties, holding joint prayers for peace, and warning religious
leaders against endorsing any one political party. In 2019-20 the PAC played an
important role in bringing about the re-run of what was eventually judged to be
an invalid election. In other areas the PAC has spoken out against what it has
termed tribal and regional patronage, and against widespread and systemic
financial corruption. It has also been involved in helping to resolve inter-religious
conflicts such the issue of Muslim girls wearing hijab in Christian controlled
schools.
One incident from 2020, involving an intervention of the PAC, illustrates
not only some of the inter-religious tensions that can find expression in
contemporary Malawi but also the level of good will and tolerance that exists to
contain and help to resolve them. The incident had its origins in the erection of a
poster by the Islamic Information Bureau on a prominent site in the city of
Blantyre. Based on the Islamic teaching that the Qur’an is the fulfilment of the
Bible, it invited Christians, having read the Old and New Testaments, to read the
Last Testament, namely the Qur’an. A conservative evangelical Christian group
objected, on the grounds that this was a provocative message in what they claimed
was a predominantly Christian country and demanded that it be removed by the
City Council. When this did not happen, the poster was vandalised which in turn
provoked a reaction from some Muslims, who threatened mass demonstrations. In
order to find a resolution to what was starting to look like an inflammatory
situation the Government Minister of Civic Education called on the PAC to
mediate. As a result of the negotiations that followed it was agreed that the poster