"WHERE ARE THE AFRICANS?"

In the year 2000 Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (then world leader of the Naqshbandi Order) remarked at a masjid (mosque) in Cape Town, South Africa: "I am in Africa. Where are the African Muslims?" There were no African Muslims present in the masjid. He advised later: "The African people's hearts are open for Islam!"

Just over a decade later, Shaykh Yusuf da Costa (Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's then representative in Southern Africa) sent small groups of Muslims on dawah missions into Africa. Alhamdulillah, with Allah Almighty's help, these missions have proved remarkably successful. The people of Africa have embraced the religion of Islam in multitudes. Their hearts are truly open for the light of Islam. The beauty of Islam is there for all and it is our duty as Muslims to invite all non-Muslims to the Oneness of Allah Almighty.

Dawah (inviting non-Muslims to embrace Islam) is one of the most important sunnahs (prophetic traditions) of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the early days of Islam in Mecca, the poor and marginalized accepted Islam. We genuinely believe in following this important sunnah. And in line with what happened in Mecca 1,400 years ago, we again find the poor and marginalized embracing Islam. This time in Africa. Please help us in following this important sunnah and, with Allah Almighty's help, perform an Islamic obligation that has largely been neglected in Southern Africa for generations: inviting indigenous Africans to the beauty of Islam.

WHAT WE DO AND WHO WE ARE

Our primary focus is to take the message of Islam to mainly impoverished villages in Africa. When we find ourselves in these areas, we truly observe that we are merely instruments used by Allah Almighty, and that it is He who is actually at work. We are humbled to have witnessed the births of new Muslim communities, alhamdulillah. Our priority is speading the message of Islam as far as possible amongst Allah Almighty's creation, and to build on the dawah work by serving and educating the new Muslims.

Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "To be the means by which one person is guided to the truth is better for you than the whole world and what it contains."

Dawah 4 Africa was initiated by Naqshbandi Muhammadi Order of South Africa in 2012. Alhamdulillah, to date over 90,000 shahadas have been recited as a result of the dawah work in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Malawi and Suriname. 

MALAWI DAWAH

Malawi is statistically the poorest country in the world. Yet the Malawian people are the friendliest, mild mannered and kindest people one can encounter. The Christian missionaries have been active in Malawi for over 300 years, leading to a substantial decline of the Muslim population from 40% to 25% over the past few decades. 

Our dawah work in Malawi has resulted in over 20,000 people embracing Islam since 2016, alhamdulillah. These are poor people from the most remote villages in Malawi. Some villages were inaccessible by road and without cell phone reception. We plan to continue the dawah work in Malawi in coming years and to expand our work to other countries. Dawah missions in Malawi and Zambia are planned for the coming year, inshaa Allah.  

Some of the challenges we faced on dawah missions:

• We found people who had never heard about Islam before. 
• Some thought Muslims worship our Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
• In some villages, people were instructed to go to their homes as the Muslim extremists were coming to kill them.
• Muslims were killed or exiled, and numerous masjids were burned or looted in North Malawi after a Muslim was elected to public office in 1999.

Despite these challenges, people’s hearts were open for Islam. Over 90% of the people who were invited to Islam accepted our invitation. Alhamdulillah.

“Faith is a wonderful tree which the believer is called upon to plant where he can, in any suitable place, then tend to it to ensure it may have a chance to grow” – Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani.

Members of the entire Kauwa village recited shahada, 2016. 

Chief Silipano: “We would like to thank all of you for visiting us in this village. You blessed this village today. Whatever Allah is granting us today, we didn't think we can receive guests like you today, good people like you. Everything comes from Allah. Exalted be Allah but please don’t forget about our problems. All the rivers are dry. There is no water… Don’t forget us.”

Alhamdulillah, since then Kauwa masjid was completed and a madrassa established (2017). Many of the madrassa students are orphans due to the high prevalence of HIV/Aids in Malawi. In 2018, Chief Silipano embraced Islam and a new borehole was installed.

Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever builds a masjid in which the Name of Allah is mentioned, Allah will build a house for him in Paradise.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We need your financial support to help us expand our dawah missions further into Africa. Also, as our work does not stop once our brothers and sisters embrace Islam, we support them by implementing measures that aim to serve and educate new Muslims:

• Build and maintain masjids
• Install boreholes
• Employ Imams (Islamic leaders)
• Establish madrassas (Islamic learning centres) 
• Administer all-year feeding schemes (including Ramadan and Eid)

100% of the money raised through this campaign will be used for the above interventions.

Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The Believer’s shade on the day of Resurrection will be his charity.”

THANK YOU

Please feel free to visit our website or Facebook page for more information:

• https://naqshbandi.org.za
• https://www.facebook.com/NaqshbandiSouthAfrica

We thank you in advance for your generous support. Please share our campaign with your friends and family members so that you may enjoy the rewards of others who donate to this worthy cause. May Allah Almighty shower His richest blessings on you and your family, ameen.

Yours in Islam,

Shaykh Shamiel da Costa

Naqshbandi Muhammadi Order of South Africa