African Converts

[Goku]

It wasn't Al-Jazeera, it looked like an interview on Al-Jazeera (not just some random thing by a reporter), and the person who said it is one who wants to build schools to educate Muslims before building Mosques. Do you not agree that is a smart idea?

Thats what i meant, an interview with scholars. We dont know how they arrived at that figure and which organisation contucted the research. It could be that the scholars wanted to raise awareness. Its not been reported in the media or verified, anyone can pull numbers up.

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

I never said it was wrong, i said there r some who take advantage. I dunno im starting to feel like im speaking an alien language :X cuz my words get taken out of context....

 

[IzakHalevas]

I don't. The mosque is the centre of the Islamic community and can be used for Islamic education. Why kind of schools did he mean? Strictly secular or secular and religious?

As in the importance in his words of educating the body thats praying (a school does that) so he will stay a Muslim instead of building a Mosque.

I thought it was a smart theory, if his wish is to stop the rapid exit of Muslims from their religion taking place in Africa.

I never said it was wrong, i said there r some who take advantage. I dunno im starting to feel like im speaking an alien language :X cuz my words get taken out of context....

lol, I wish I could speak alien languages.

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

You can recieve education in a mosque too. its not different from a school. The difference wit a school is it can be mix, secular or religious.

 

[Fishman]

Have you noticed that most of the Muslims who become Christians are from poorly-educated third-world countries, whilst most of the Christians who become Muslim come from highly educated western backgrounds?

I don't think this missionary work is denting Islam much, since there is an extremely high birth rate in sub-saharan Africa, which would at least ofset it. And many people in Africa who become Christian change back soon anyway. One of my friends has Gambian relatives, and says that in Gambia (where loads of people are Muslim) many people become Christian as children, to get the benefit of the good education that is given to Christians by missionaries. Then when they leave school the convert straight back to Islam.

 

[IzakHalevas]

Have you noticed that most of the Muslims who become Christians are from poorly-educated third-world countries, whilst most of the Christians who become Muslim come from highly educated western backgrounds?

No. I haven't noticed because your making a huge generalization. If you look back in history that is not the case at all.

 

[Fishman]

No. I haven't noticed because your making a huge generalization. If you look back in history that is not the case at all.

I meant in modern times! :rollseyes

 

[IzakHalevas]

I meant in modern times! :rollseyes

Alright, but I would just like to point to you that this was not always the case, and in reality there is no scientific study showing numbers of converts for both sides. The matter of fact is that majoirty Muslim countries where Christians wish to preach are "third world poorly educated" while Christian majority countries where Muslims preach are "western countries"

 

[starfortress]

1)Dark poverty (al-faqr al-aswad)

This is when poverty completely overwhelms a person to the extent that his mind is always occupied in trying to earn a living. This kills one’s intellectual potential and capacity, and the one involved in it disintegrates as a green plant would fade away when it is starved of water. This is the poverty regarding which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Poverty may sometimes lead to disbelief”. This is the type of poverty from which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) sought the refuge and protection of Allah Most High.

2) White poverty (al-faqr al-abyadh)

This is a situation where an individual is no doubt poor, but it is not to an extreme level. He is able to get through the daily economic responsibilities on a limited scale. One is content with what Allah has allocated for one; hence this poverty does not affect one’s intellectual potential, although others are generally far better well-off than one. This type of poverty is actually a blessing for a student of sacred knowledge, especially in the early days of learning, for one is saved from the worldly temptations that wealth can bring about.
Source

May Allah(S.W.T) protect us from the Dark poverty

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

In Africa, Muslims cant even have Islamic weddings. Do u know that? It goes both ways.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

In Africa, Muslims cant even have Islamic weddings. Do u know that? It goes both ways.

Tayyaba sis Africa aint a country many countries there have Islamic weddings around the clock

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

African goverment doesnt recognize Islamic weddings there..i read it myself :X
unless what i read is cruddy info.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

i never heard of this sis but you could be confusing it with the ban by African governments on Gay marriages but i could be wrong Allah calam

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

nah thats not it. I just recently read about it. but ur right, Allahu Alam

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

i will look it up sis

back to topic

Islam making in-roads in Zambia

19 July 2006 - Frank Jomo
Despite the declaration by the former president of Zambia Fredrick Chiluba that the country was a Christian state, Muslims in Zambia in this southern African country defied all odds in trying to make their religion thrive just as in other countries in this part of Africa. The country has seen a rapid development in the construction of mosques both in Moslem dominated areas as well as in areas chiefly dominated by Christians.


A recent report by a Christian organization, Frontline Fellowship, which spearheads the growth of Christianity in Africa, indicates that Islam is growing at a fast rate in this impoverished continent. Frontline Fellowship says one of the concerns in Africa in as far as growth of Christianity is concerned is the spread of Islam into southern Africa and Zambia in particular. It says Islam is growing twice as fast as Christianity in Africa. Much of this growth Frontline Fellowship says is due to the large amounts of money from the oil-rich Arab countries that are being funnelled into African missions.

Muslims are building primary and secondary schools in Zambia in an effort to convert the next generation of Zambians. Zambia now sits right at the edge of this Islamic advance into southern Africa, Frontline Fellowship says in its report. It adds, Muslim mosques and madrassas have been built all over, and there has been a concerted attempt to convert Zambians to Islam. Funded by oil money from Middle Eastern governments, Islamic Propagation Societies are offering "free education" to impoverished rural populations. Many Christian families have sent their children to these Muslim schools in the hope that an Islamic education is better than none. Others have said that they would no sooner send their child to an Islamic school than sell them into Islamic slavery.

Construction of mosques measured against Islamic growth

Responding to a questionnaire sent by this reporter, a Roman Catholic cleric in Zambia, the Reverend Benjamin* who belongs to a Christian missionary congregation confirmed that Zambia has seen scores of mosques being built in the country. But he was quick to say this alone can not be a genuine yard stick to measure the growth of the Islamic faith in the country. He said mosques have been built in different parts of the country but especially in Eastern and Lusaka provinces. He says the construction of mosques follows the pattern of already dispersed existing Muslim communities of the Yao tribe, chiefly, and cannot be termed as a deliberate venture into non-Muslim territories - with the exception of Lundazi and Petauke where the construction of mosques, spearheaded by the Indian Muslim communities, has led to the foundation of new Muslim communities.

Although the tendency has slowed down, it is surely continuing, sustained by material resources provided by both the local Asian community and external donors not identified by the local beneficiaries. There is a more steady, progressive visibility of the Muslim community among Yao adherents than there is net growth in terms of new converts, said Rev. Benjamin in an e-mail response. He confirmed that there were deliberate programs such as paying school fees for students and opening of orphanages that could be considered gimmicks to convert people to Islam. Such gimmicks have at times been denounced by Christians who used the same gimmicks themselves to garner support for their faith. Rev. Benjamin says that for an ever-growing number of Zambians Islam has become a real religious alternative to both Christianity and traditional religion .

The lead taken by Muslim associations in organizing the Muslim community locally has to be evaluated against the background of Islamic networks outside the country such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission (AMM), the African Muslim Agency (AMA), in Iran (through a network of Islamic university graduates, particularly from Razavi University) and Islamic universities in Arab and Asian countries that give more global discourse to local Islam, he said. Rev. Benjamin adds that Muslim networks outside the country have been able to exert influence on the development of Islam in Zambia through their close collaboration with local associations and the provision of necessary spiritual and material resources.

Islam in Zambia has not developed in total isolation from external influence. Its local development has been largely marked by contact with Muslims from outside the country. Such contacts reveal not only the great potential of local Muslim associations to respond to a global Islamic discourse but also the impact of the trans-national associations on the local Islamic discourse.

Muslim population in Zambia

There is a general consensus that Muslims represent only one percent of Zambia's 10 million people. However, the real figure according to Rev. Benjamin should be pegged at three percent. He says, although initially an insignificant minority group, within the past thirty years the Muslim community has undoubtedly become a non-negligible component of the Zambian society.

Through a more organized structural visibility such as mosques, schools, local associations and an ever-increasing number of indigenous converts, Islam has come to represent a significant change in the religious landscape of the country. It now constitutes a real alternative to tradition religion and indeed to the long established Christian churches, he says. That Islam has become an important component of the religious reality in Zambia is no longer questionable. Despite the National census of 2000 that puts Muslim population in Zambia at 41, 932 out of a total population of 9.4 million inhabitants, figures obtained from Muslim leaders peg it at 300, 000.

Influence of African immigrants on Zambia's gateway to Islam

Islam's gateway into Zambia has also been influenced by some African immigrants -especially those from the East and West African countries of Somalia, Tanzania, Congo, Senegal, Mali, Ghana and Nigeria. Most of these stay in the country as illegal immigrants, according to Rev. Benjamin. Illegal or not, they do not come with their spouses and end up marrying Zambians, converting some along the way.

The typical way for women to embrace Islam has been through marriage with Muslim spouses. Some western African Muslims married local women. Although it is not an absolute pre-requisite of Islam for non-Muslim women to embrace Islam upon marriage, the majority of indigenous women married to Muslim spouses end up becoming Muslims, either by indirect coercion or for the sake of family unity. Associations such as the Lusaka Muslim Women Trust have helped women to come out in the public and present themselves in a way that has attracted other women to embrace Islam, says Rev. Benjamin.

On youths he says different reasons have motivated some without any Islamic background to embrace Islam. Firstly, he says, it has been a common occurrence in the past three decades for young people to break away from their traditional religious affiliations in favour of new ones. Embracing Islam is just one example of that. He says though scholarships to study abroad, mainly in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan etc offered to whoever declare themselves Muslims, hundreds of young men entered into the fold of Islam in the 1980s.

In addition, Muslim clerics have made sure Islamic literature is available for people to read and learn about the faith. This has also greatly contributed to the spread of the Islamic faith. The pattern experienced in Zambia is the same in Malawi, giving credence to the belief that the Islamic faith is indeed making strides in southern African states.

Source

 

[KAding]

Have you noticed that most of the Muslims who become Christians are from poorly-educated third-world countries, whilst most of the Christians who become Muslim come from highly educated western backgrounds?

I think thats mostly because Islam was introduced in the more 'educated' West through economic and political immigration, i.e. Muslims refugees who fled the harsh conditions in their home countries. Christianity on the other hand came to Africa development aid and (at an earlier time) imperialism.

On the original article. There might be 6 million a year that leave Islam, but there probably are millions that convert to Islam as well. I would guess (and thats all it is, a guess) that in the end the religious shifts are pretty limited.

 

[dougmusr]

The difference is, we let people choose for themselves. We dont say ur only salvation to heaven is through Jesus(pbuh) and get them while they r vulnerable.

A recent report by a Christian organization, Frontline Fellowship, which spearheads the growth of Christianity in Africa, indicates that Islam is growing at a fast rate in this impoverished continent. Frontline Fellowship says one of the concerns in Africa in as far as growth of Christianity is concerned is the spread of Islam into southern Africa and Zambia in particular. It says Islam is growing twice as fast as Christianity in Africa. Much of this growth Frontline Fellowship says is due to the large amounts of money from the oil-rich Arab countries that are being funnelled into African missions.

Muslims are building primary and secondary schools in Zambia in an effort to convert the next generation of Zambians. Zambia now sits right at the edge of this Islamic advance into southern Africa, Frontline Fellowship says in its report. It adds, Muslim mosques and madrassas have been built all over, and there has been a concerted attempt to convert Zambians to Islam. Funded by oil money from Middle Eastern governments, Islamic Propagation Societies are offering "free education" to impoverished rural populations. Many Christian families have sent their children to these Muslim schools in the hope that an Islamic education is better than none. Others have said that they would no sooner send their child to an Islamic school than sell them into Islamic slavery.

So whether this is humanitarian or deception depends on whether it is the Bible or the Quran that is coupled with the assistance.

 

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Lol yea like im gunna use this as credible source?

A recent report by a Christian organization, Frontline Fellowship, which spearheads the growth of Christianity in Africa

Pure propaganda.

Peace

 

[north_malaysian]

I think Christianity, while gaining millions of ex-Muslims, they're loosing more of ex-christians leaving Christianity to be atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, non religious, new age cults, islam, hindu, buddhism etc.

 

[dougmusr]

Lol yea like im gunna use this as credible source?



I stopped reading right there.

Peace

My apologies. AHMED_GUREY, a Muslim, posted this article above #35 as if he found it meaningful in the conversation. Perhaps you should share your concerns with him concerning his selection of sources.