Page 49 - 2020 SoMJ Vol 73 No 2_Neat

40 The Society of Malaŵi Journal

Revival and Development
An important impetus for this revival came in the form of an injection of
finance and expertise from the Gulf Region of the Middle East. From 1982 until
1990 the main player was the African Muslims’ Agency, a progressive
propagation and development organisation, with its headquarters in Kuwait.
Through its professional administrators the Agency cooperated with the Muslim
Association of Malawi and the growing number of young, western educated and
committed Malawian Muslims who were ready, willing and able to use its finance,
help and guidance to further the development, wellbeing and religious reform of
Malawi’s Muslim communities.
By the 1980s the revival of Islam in Malawi began to flourish in ways
that, by design, were very apparent both to Muslims and to wider Malawian
society. A very obvious sign of the presence of the religion in Malawi, especially
in the Southern Region, was the rapid construction of impressive new mosques,
many of them prominently situated near main roads and built with money mostly
from the Middle East. This, along with the refurbishment of many existing
mosques, and the establishment of yet others sponsored by Muslim Asian families,
set out to give confidence to Muslims and notice to non-Muslims of the presence
and vitality of Islam in the nation.
Most of the new mosques had madrassas built beside them which were
set up to teach the Qur’an, Hadith, Jurisprudence and Arabic language with the
aim of building up Islamic knowledge, along orthodox rather than traditional lines,
particularly among its young people. Funding from the African Muslims’ Agency
provided for the setting up in Blantyre of a centre for higher Islamic studies.
Staffed by highly qualified expatriate teachers, many from Sudan, it offered not
only Islamic teaching but also education that would lead to Malawi Certificate of
Examination qualifications. Along with five other centres, it worked to improve
the knowledge and competence of madrassa instructors through in-service
training, and to provide successful students with qualifications to study abroad.
Throughout the decade numbers attending madrassa education increased.
Sometimes in predominantly Muslim areas local schools, whoever the proprietor,
were claimed after hours for madrassa classes such was the demand. The 1980s
also saw a proliferation of Islamic literature available in Malawi, mostly in
English and Chichewa. Apart from translations of the Qur’an there was also a
wide range of booklets explaining and commending the beliefs and practices of
Islam.
In this decade efforts by Muslims to ensure that their young people
improved their chances of gaining access to higher levels in society intensified.
This was apparent in the number of schools under Muslim proprietorship, and the
number of bursaries granted to Muslim children to study at any primary and
secondary school. The Muslim Students Association, set up in Malawi in 1982,
and reformist in outlook, was particularly effective in carrying out the aims of