Page 46 - 2020 SoMJ Vol 73 No 2_Neat

The Establishment of Islam in Malawi 37

areas most villages would have their own mosques or prayer houses to which the
muezzin would call the people to the five daily prayers. On Fridays many would
attend the obligatory noon prayer at the main mosque, which was almost
invariably in the chief’s village. There a sermon would be read by a shaykh or
mwalimu. Ramadan would be observed each year, with varying degrees of
strictness, as a time of fasting and increased religious scrupulousness. Both Eid-
ul Fitr, at the end of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, would be
celebrated. Strict Muslims would avoid intoxicants and keep Islamic dietary laws,
avoiding the eating of pork and other prohibited animals and refusing to eat any
animal that had not been killed in the approved manner. Many men would wear
the cap and robe in the style of the coast to show their Muslim identity.
Certain traditional customs were altered under the influence of Islam. In
addition to changes to the initiation rituals mentioned above, the periodic offerings
that had traditionally been made for the spirits of the departed survived in an
Islamised form and with an Islamic name sadaka, when the community and the
family of the deceased, in the presence of a shaykh or mwalimu, would share a
meal and pray for the spirit of the departed. With regard to marriage, divorce and
inheritance though, it was traditional rather than orthodox Islamic custom that was
followed.
A further stimulus to increasing the number of Muslims and the
development of some of the features which characterised the way Muslim
communities in Malawi practised their faith was the activities of the Shadhiliyya
and Qadiriyya Brotherhoods, or tariqas. Both came to Malawi via Zanzibar and
the East Coast, the Shadhiliyya from about the first decade of the 20 century and
th
the Qadiriyya, which eventually became the stronger, by about 1920. By the 1930s
most shaykhs were associated with one or other of the tariqas. These shaykhs
introduced some of their practices which became widely popular among
Malawian Muslims. Perhaps the most noteworthy was sikili, related to the Arabic
dhikr (remembering God by repeating his names and attributes). In its typical form
in Malawi this was a set of rhythmical movements accompanied by controlled
breathing which could be performed at the mosque, during festivals and at
weddings and, for the Qadiriyya, at funerals. Another popular practice that they
introduced was the use of flags and banners.
One other significant factor in the spread and development of Islam in
Malawi was the contribution of Muslim Asians who from the earliest colonial
times settled as traders in towns and trading centres throughout the country.
Though they followed the Hanifite school of law and the Malawian Muslims were
associated with the Shafi-ite one, and while they remained socially separate, they
supported Malawian Muslims in their attempts to build up their religion,
particularly by providing resources for the building of mosques. They often also
provided with employment many Malawian Muslims who moved with them as