Islam in Mozambique

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Mozambique is a Christian majority country, with Islam being a minority faith practiced by around 17.5% of the population as of 2020. [1] [2] [3] [4] The faith was introduced by merchants visiting the Swahili coast, as the region was part of the trade network that spanned the Indian Ocean. [5] [6] This later led to the formation of several officially Muslim political entities in the region.

Contents

The vast majority of Mozambican Muslims are Sunni Muslims, with small Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities. The Muslims consist primarily of indigenous Mozambicans, citizens of South Asian (Indian and Pakistani) descent, and a very small number of North African and Middle Eastern immigrants.

Pre-colonial history

A mosque in Mozambique Island Mosque Mozambique Island.jpg
A mosque in Mozambique Island

Mozambique has long historic ties with the Muslim world. Initially by way of Sufi merchants, mostly from Yemen, and centuries after through a more organized system of coastal trading cities, more heavily influenced by the Ibadi Muslims from Oman along the shores of Eastern Africa.

The arrival of the Arab trade in Mozambique dates to the fourth Hijri century when Muslims established small emirates on the coast of East Africa. Links between Islam and the chiefly clans in Mozambique have existed since the eleventh century, when Islam made inroads into the northern Mozambican coast and became associated with the Shirazi ruling elites. [7]

Since the founding of the Kilwa Sultanate in the 10th AD century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi, Islam had become a major religion in the region. The former port city of Sofala, which became famous for its trade in ivory, timber, slaves, gold (by way of Great Zimbabwe) and iron with the Islamic Middle East and India, was one of the most important trading centres on the Mozambique coast. [8] Sofala [9] and much of the rest of coastal Mozambique was part of the Kilwa Sultanate from Arab arrival (believed to be the 12th century) until the Portuguese conquest in 1505. During the subsequent period of the Omani Al Bu Said dynasty, Muslim merchants expanded their trading zones south along the coast.

In fact, the name of modern Mozambique was derived from Mussa Bin Bique, an Arab merchant who lived in the island of the same name, which his name spelling was later adopted by the Portuguese for the entire country. [10]

Colonial history

A mosque in Mozambique Mesquita Maputo.jpg
A mosque in Mozambique

Islam faced challenges in Mozambique during the colonial era. Since the Estado Novo period (1926–1974), Roman Catholicism has become the dominant religion following a formal alliance (Concordat) between the Church and the government. Only with the start of the War of Liberation did the state lower its opposition to Islam and try to accommodate the religion, in order to avoid an alliance between Muslims and the dissident liberation movement.

Modern Mozambique

Percentage of total population of Mozambique's provinces made up by Muslims (2007) Muslim Demographics of Mozambique.png
Percentage of total population of Mozambique's provinces made up by Muslims (2007)

Since the end of the socialist period (1989 onwards), Muslims have been able to proselytise freely and build new mosques. Muslims have also made their way into the parliament. Several South African, Kuwaiti and other Muslim agencies are active in Mozambique, with one important one being the African Muslim Agency. An Islamic University has been set up in Nampula, with a branch in Inhambane. Mozambique is also an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Rather than relying on the culturally loaded notions of a "chief" of régulo, the FRELIMO government has preferred to use the term "traditional authorities" to indicate a group of chiefs and their entourage of subordinate chiefs and healers. Realizing the social importance of this group, FRELIMO gradually reinstated "traditional authority." [7]

While the Muslim leadership in northern Mozambique seems to have recovered the "traditional" side of their authority and power with legal reforms, they are still largely associated with chieftainship and African culture rather than Islam. Because of this they are barely able to access benefits or gain socio-political influence through Islamic platforms or organizations. This situation has been the source of their continual frustration and resistance to the alleged racial and cultural discrimination perpetrated by FRELIMO allied with southern Wahhabis, Afro-Indians, and Indians. [7]

Whereas Sudan, for instance, had made sharia the law of the land, Mozambique has made attempts to recognize both traditional and religious marriages. [12]

Impact

From the arrival of Islam in the region, literacy rates among the locals via utilizing the Arabic script had risen by the late 19th century. Use of the script was often used for secular affairs like recording business transactions, writing local histories or creating literature. The script was used by diverse groups including the Swahili, non-Swahili Africans, non-Muslims, and women. [13]

Prominent Mozambican Muslims

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com.
  2. ↑ "Religions in Mozambique | PEW-GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  3. ↑ "Mozambique". The World Factbook. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  4. ↑ "Mozambique". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  5. ↑ Bonate, Liazzat (2010-07-02). "Islam in Northern Mozambique: A Historical Overview". History Compass. 8 (7): 573–593. doi:10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00701.x. hdl: 11250/2779503 . ISSN   1478-0542.
  6. ↑ Von Sicard, S. (2008-12-01). "Islam in Mozambique: Some Historical and Cultural Perspectives". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 28 (3): 473–490. doi:10.1080/13602000802548201. ISSN   1360-2004. S2CID   216117226.
  7. 1 2 3 Nkirote., Maingi, Anne. The diversity factor in the history of Islam in Nairobi, 1900-1963. OCLC   61571423.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Sofala - MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
  9. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sofala"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 344.
  10. ↑ "Ilha de Moçambique - History" . Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "INE Destaques". Instituto Nacional de Estatistica. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Martin, Richard C. (2004). Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN   978-0028656038.
  13. ↑ Bonate, Liazzat J. K. (2016). "Islam and Literacy in Northern Mozambique: Historical Records on the Secular Uses of the Arabic Script". Islamic Africa. 7 (1): 60–80. ISSN   2333-262X. JSTOR   90017588.
  14. ↑ Luz, Nuno (23 December 2009). "Abel Xavier se retira y se hace musulmán" [Abel Xavier retires and becomes a Muslim]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  15. 1 2 Haron, Muhammed (2020), "Southern Africa's Muslim Communities: Selected Profiles", The Palgrave Handbook of Islam in Africa, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 163–202, ISBN   978-3-030-45758-7 , retrieved 2023-02-10

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