Margari Hill, Stanford University
January 2009
available in PDF format ( 1.14 MB  )

While the presence of Islam in West Africa dates back to eighth century, the spread of the faith in regions that are now the modern states of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Nigeria, was in actuality, a gradual and complex process. Much of what we know about the early history of West Africa comes from medieval accounts written by Arab and North African geographers and historians. Specialists have used several models to explain why Africans converted to Islam. Some emphasize economic motivations, others highlight the draw of Islam’s spiritual message, and a number stress the prestige and influence of Arabic literacy in facilitating state building. While the motivations of early conversions remain unclear, it is apparent that the early presence of Islam in West Africa was linked to trade and commerce with North Africa. Trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean predated Islam, however, North African Muslims intensified the Trans-Saharan trade. North African traders were major actors in introducing Islam into West Africa. Several major trade routes connected Africa below the Sahara with the Mediterranean Middle East, such as Sijilmasa to Awdaghust and Ghadames to Gao. The Sahel, the ecological transition zone between the Sahara desert and forest zone, which spans the African continent, was an intense point of contact between North Africa and communities south of the Sahara. In West Africa, the three great medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and the Songhay developed in Sahel.

The history of Islam in West Africa can be explained in three stages, containment, mixing, and reform. In the first stage, African kings contained Muslim influence by segregating Muslim communities, in the second stage African rulers blended Islam with local traditions as the population selectively appropriated Islamic practices, and finally in the third stage, African Muslims pressed for reforms in an effort to rid their societies of mixed practices and implement Shariah. This three-phase framework helps sheds light on the historical development of the medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay and the 19th century jihads that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate in Hausaland and the Umarian state in Senegambia.

Containment: Ghana and the Takrur

The early presence of Islam was limited to segregated Muslim communities linked to the trans-Saharan trade. In the 11th century Andalusian geographer, Al-Bakri, reported accounts of Arab and North African Berber settlements in the region. Several factors led to the growth of the Muslim merchant-scholar class in non-Muslim kingdoms. Islam facilitated long distance trade by offering useful sets of tools for merchants including contract law, credit, and information networks. Muslim merchant-scholars also played an important role in non-Muslim kingdoms as advisors and scribes in Ghana. They had the crucial skill of written script, which helped in the administration of kingdoms. Many Muslim were also religious specialists whose amulets were prized by non-Muslims.

Merchant-scholars also played a large role in the spread of Islam into the forest zones. These included the Jakhanke merchant-scholars in [name region], the Jula merchants in Mali and the Ivory Coast, and the Hausa merchants during the nineteenth century in Nigeria, Ghana, and Guinea Basau,]. Muslim communities in the forest zones were minority communities often linked to trading diasporas. Many of the traditions in the forest zones still reflect the tradition of Al-Hajj Salim Suwari, a late fifteenth-century Soninke scholar, who focused on responsibilities of Muslims in a non-Muslim society. His tradition, known as the Suwarian tradition, discouraged proselytizing, believing that God would bring people around to Islam in his own ways. This tradition worked for centuries in the forest zone including the present day, where there are vibrant Muslim minority communities.

Although modern Ghana is unrelated to the ancient kingdom of Ghana, modern Ghana chose the name as a way of honoring early African history. The boundaries of the ancient Kingdom encompassed the Middle Niger Delta region, which consists of modern-day Mali and parts of present-day Mauritania and Senegal. This region has historically been home to the Soninken Malinke, Wa’kuri and Wangari peoples. Fulanis and the Southern Saharan Sanhaja Berbers also played a prominent role in the spread of Islam in the Niger Delta region. Large towns emerged in the Niger Delta region around 300 A.D. Around the eighth century, Arab documents mentioned ancient Ghana and that Muslims crossed the Sahara into West Africa for trade. North African and Saharan merchants traded salt, horses, dates, and camels from the north with gold, timber, and foodstuff from regions south of the Sahara. Ghana kings, however, did not permit North African and Saharan merchants to stay overnight in the city. This gave rise to one of the major features of Ghana—the dual city; Ghana Kings benefited from Muslim traders, but kept them outside centers of power.

From the eighth to the thirteenth century, contact between Muslims and Africans increased and Muslim states began to emerge in the Sahel. Eventually, African kings began to allow Muslims to integrate. Accounts during the eleventh century reported a Muslim state called Takrur in the middle Senegal valley. Around this time, the Almoravid reform movement began in Western Sahara and expanded throughout modern Mauritania, North Africa and Southern Spain. The Almoravids imposed a fundamentalist version of Islam, in an attempt to purify beliefs and practices from syncretistic or heretical beliefs. The Almoravid movement imposed greater uniformity of practice and Islamic law among West African Muslims. The Almoravids captured trade routes and posts, leading to the weakening of the Takruri state. Over the next hundred years, the empire dissolved into a number of small kingdoms.

Mixing: The Empires of Mali and Songhay

Over the next few decades, African rulers began to adopt Islam while ruling over populations with diverse faiths and cultures. Many of these rulers blended Islam with traditional and local practices in what experts call the mixing phase. Over time, the population began to adopt Islam, often selectively appropriating aspects of the faith.

The Mali Empire (1215-1450) rose out of the region’s feuding kingdoms. At its height, the empire of Mali composed most of modern Mali, Senegal, parts of Mauritania and Guinea. It was a multi-ethnic state with various religious and cultural groups. Muslims played a prominent role in the court as counselors and advisors. While the empire’s founder, Sunjiata Keita, was not himself a Muslim, by 1300 Mali kings became Muslim. The most famous of them was Mansa Musa (1307-32). He made Islam the state religion and in 1324 went on pilgrimage from Mali to Mecca. Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca showed up in European records because of his display of wealth and lavish spending. Apparently, his spending devalued the price of gold in Egypt for several years. The famed 14th century traveler Ibn Battuta visited Mali shortly after Mansa Musa’s death. By the fifteenth century, however, Mali dissolved largely due to internal dissent and conflicts with the Saharan Tuareg.

Several Muslim polities developed farther east, including the Hausa city-states and the Kingdom of Kanem in modern Northern Nigeria. Hausaland was comprised of a system of city-states (Gobir, Katsina, Kano, Zamfara, Kebbi and Zazzau). The Kingdom of Kanem near Lake Chad flourished as a commercial center from the ninth to 14th century. The state became Muslim during the ninth century. Its successor state was Bornu. Modern day Northern Nigeria comprises much of Hausaland and Bornu in the east. By the 14th century all ruling elites of Hausaland were Muslim, although the majority of the population did not convert until the 18th century jihads. Much like the rulers of earlier Muslims states, the rulers of Hausaland blended local practices and Islam.

Emerging from the ruins of the Mali Empire, the Mande Songhay Empire (1430s to 1591) ruled over a diverse and multi-ethnic empire. Although Islam was the state religion, the majority of the population still practiced their traditional belief systems. Many rulers, however, combined local practices with Islam. Sonni Ali, the ruler from 1465-1492, persecuted Muslim scholars, particularly those who criticized pagan practices.

During the 13th century, Mansa Musa conquered the Kingdom of Gao. Two centuries later, the kingdom of Gao rose again as the Songhay Empire. Sonni Ali captured much of the Empire of Mali. Under [Aksia Muhammad] 1493-1529), the Songhay’s borders extended far beyond any previous West African empire.

The Songhay state patronized Islamic institutions and sponsored public buildings, mosques and libraries. One notable example is the Great Mosque of Jenne, which was built in the 12th or 13th century. The Great Mosque of Jenne remains the largest earthen building in the world. By the 16th century there were several centers of trade and Islamic learning in the Niger Bend region, most notably the famed Timbuktu. Arab chroniclers tell us that the pastoral nomadic Tuareg founded Timbuktu as a trading outpost. The city’s multicultural population, regional trade, and Islamic scholarship fostered a cosmopolitan environment. In 1325, the city’s population was around 10,000. At its apex, in the 16th century, the population is estimated to have been between 30,000 and 50,000. Timbuktu attracted scholars from throughout the Muslim world.

The Songhay’s major trading partners were the Merenid dynasty in the Maghrib (north-west Africa) and the Mamluks in Egypt. The Songhay Empire ended when Morocco conquered the state in 1591. The fall of the Songhay marked the decline of big empires in West Africa. Merchant scholars in Timbuktu and other major learning centers dispersed, transferring learning institutions from urban-based merchant families to rural pastoralists throughout the Sahara. During this period there was an alliance between scholars, who were also part of the merchant class, and some warriors who provided protection for trade caravans. Around the 12th and 13th century, mystical Sufi brotherhood orders began to spread in the region. Sufi orders played an integral role in the social order of African Muslim societies and the spread of Islam through the region well into the 20th century.

Reform in the Nineteenth Century: Umarian Jihad in Senegambia and the Sokoto Caliphate in Hausaland

The 19th century jihad movements best exemplify the third phase in the development Islam in West Africa. Specialists have highlighted the ways in which literate Muslims became increasingly aware of Islamic doctrine and began to demand reforms during this period. This period was significant in that it marks a shift in Muslim communities that practiced Islam mixed with “pagan” rituals and practices to societies that completely adopted Islamic values and established Shariah

Scholars have debated the origins of the 19th century West African jihads. The first known jihad in West Africa was in Mauritania during the 17th century. At that time, Mauritanian society was divided along scholar and warrior lineages. The scholar Nasir al-Din led a failed jihad called Sharr Bubba. Unlike the failed jihad in Mauritania, the 19th century jihad movements in Senegambia and Hausaland (in what is now northern Nigeria) successfully overthrew the established order and transformed the ruling and landowning class.

In 1802, Uthman Dan Fodio, a Fulani scholar, led a major jihad. With the help of a large Fulani cavalry and Hausa peasants, Uthman Dan Fodio overthrew the region’s Hausa rulers and replaced them with Fulani emirs. The movement led to centralization of power in the Muslim community, education reforms, and transformations of law. Uthman Dan Fodio also sparked a literary revival with a production of religious work that included Arabic texts and vernacular written in Arabic script. His heirs continued the legacy of literary production and education reform.

Uthman Dan Fodio’s movement inspired a number of jihads in the region. A notable example was the jihad of al Hajj Umar Tal, a Tukulor from the Senegambia region. In the 1850s, Umar Tal returned from pilgrimage claiming to have received spiritual authority over the West African Tijani Sufi order. From the 1850s to 1860s, he conquered three Bambara kingdoms. After Tal’s defeat by the French at Médine in 1857 and the subsequent defeat of his son in the 1880s, his followers fled westward spreading the influence of the Tijani order in Northern Nigeria. Although the French controlled the region, colonial authorities met another formidable enemy. Samori Toure rose up against the French and gathered a 30,000 strong army. Following his death, French forces defeated Toure’s son in 1901. The French occupation of Senegal forced the final development of Islamic practice where leaders of Sufi orders became allies with colonial administrators.

Although European powers led to the decline of the Umarian state and the Sokoto Caliphate, colonial rule did little to stop the spread of Islam in West Africa. The British used anti-slavery rhetoric as they began their conquest of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1897. The Sokoto Caliphate ended in 1903, when British troops conquered the state. Colonial authorities attempted to maintain the established social order and ruled through Northern Nigerian emirs. Despite the efforts of colonial authorities, colonialism had far reaching effects on Northern Nigerian Muslim society. Modern communication and transportation infrastructure facilitated increased exchange between Muslim communities. As a result, Islam began to spread rapidly in new urban centers and regions such as Yoruba land. Similarly in the French Sudan, Islam actually spread in rates far greater than the previous centuries. Although Muslims lost political power, Muslim communities made rapid inroads in the West Africa during the early 20th century.

The three stages of containment, mixing, and reform can shed light on the historical developments of Islam in this region. The trans-Saharan trade was an important gateway for the spread of Islam in Africa. The legacy of the medieval empires and nineteenth century reform movements continues to have relevance in present day Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, as well as many neighboring communities. Muslim communities have existed in West Africa for over a millennium, pointing to the fact that Islam is a significant part of the African landscape.

For Further Reading:

• “Western Sudan, 500–1000 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/06/sfw/ht06sfw.htm (October 2001)
• “Western and Central Sudan, 1000–1400 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/07/sfw/ht07sfw.htm (October 2001)
• “Western and Central Sudan, 1400–1600 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/sfw/ht08sfw.htm (October 2002)
• “Western and Central Sudan, 1600–1800 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/sfw/ht09sfw.htm (October 2003)
• David Robinson. Muslim Societies in African History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
• Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels (eds). The History of Islam in Africa. Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 2000.
• Spencer Trimingham, History of Islam in West Africa.New York: Oxford University Press, 1962.

source https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_spread_of_islam_in_west_africa_containment_mixing_and_reform_from_the_eighth_to_the_twentieth_century

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spread across Africa through early 20th-century literature and active missionary work, deeply integrating itself into local societies via education and healthcare. [1, 2]

Early Beginnings and West Africa

• Introduction via Literature: The movement first reached West Africa around 1916 through Ahmadiyya publications sent to Nigeria. [1]
• Official Missionaries: Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar arrived as the first official missionary in Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1921, responding to invitations from local Africans who read the community’s English-language texts. [1, 2]
• Growth Centers: Ghana and Sierra Leone became major hubs. Ghana hosts a large Ahmadi population (estimated at 1 to 2 million), making it the second-largest Muslim denomination there. Sierra Leone counts over 500,000 members, representing one of the highest national percentages of Ahmadis globally. Nigeria also established an early and lasting presence. [1, 2]

Expansion into East Africa

• The Gateway: Kenya emerged as the eastern gateway when the community acquired land for its first mosque in Nairobi in 1926, followed by formal missionaries like Sheikh Mubarak Ahmad in the early 1930s who translated and preached in Swahili.
• Tanzania: Tanzania developed a substantial community alongside Kenya, contributing to millions of adherents across East Africa. [1, 2, 3]

Social, Educational, and Humanitarian Impact

• Infrastructure: The movement gained widespread traction by establishing primary schools, secondary schools, and medical clinics open to all regardless of religious background. [1, 2]
• Development Schemes: Initiatives like the Nusrat Jehan Scheme, launched in 1970 by the third Caliph, expanded hospitals and schools across rural West Africa, a legacy that continues through modern projects like eye institutes. [1]

Jazib MehmoodAfrica•Ahmadiyyat

Islam Ahmadiyyat in Africa – Fulfillment of a Grand Prophecy

13th April 2022

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Jazib Mehmood – Ghana

In March 1889, the Promised Messiah (as) founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Allah the Almighty gave him glad tidings that his message would reach the corners of the earth. Allah promised him that his community would flourish, that he would be blessed, so much so that kings would seek blessings from his garments. This was at a time when he was virtually unknown. [1]

During his lifetime, his message spread to other countries. And since his demise in 1908, the community has gone on to reach the corners of the earth, as the Promised Messiah (as) had prophesied. In Africa, the community has progressed rapidly under the guidance of the Khulafa. In the blessed era of the fifth Khalifa of the Promised Messiah (as), Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba), Ahmadiyyat has greatly progressed in Africa.

Early Ahmadiyyat in Africa

The earliest mention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Sub-Saharan Africa goes back to 1916. Interestingly, the message of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community first reached here through the Review of Religions in Nigeria. A Nigerian trader in Islamic literature from Cairo and other places including Britain had brought the magazine to Lagos, which intrigued many young Muslims, who were ready to accept Ahmadiyyat at the time. [2]

In Ghana, then the Gold Coast, a nascent group of Sunni Muslims and ex-Christians among the Fante people in the southern region also heard of Ahmadiyyat community through a Nigerian Ahmadi, who was living in the south of Ghana, when Yusuf Nyarko, a Fante, dreamt that “white” men were leading his community of Muslims in prayer. Upon discovering the existence of a community in South Asia, the Ghanaian Muslims took the unique initiative to contact Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) in Qadian through the Review of Religions and request that a missionary be sent to teach them Islam. In 1921, Huzoor (ra) therefore sent Hazrat Maulvi Abdur Rahim Nayyar sahib (ra) to Ghana, thereby sowing the seed of Ahmadiyyat for the first time in Africa. It is indeed a sign of the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah (as) that Ahmadiyyat reached Africa through a dream. [3]

At this time, when the seed of Ahmadiyyat was just being sown in Sub-Saharan Africa, the message had already reached Mauritius. It was during the time of the Promised Messiah (as) that the ‘Ikhwanul Muslimun’ [Muslim Brotherhood], an organization in Port Louis started the island’s first Muslim newspaper, ‘De Islamisme’. Noor Muhammad Nooraya Sahib, a school teacher who later became the first Ahmadi, was the president of this organization, and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. [4]

In a magazine received from England, Mr. Nooraya found an advertisement for The Review of Religions; the editor of The Review of Religions had sent him some articles from the magazine, having seen it in another newspaper called ‘De Crescent’. In this way, news of Ahmadiyyat first reached the island in 1907. [5]

In early 1907, Mr. Nooraya began to receive actual copies of The Review of Religions from the editor, and he began publishing excerpts from them in ‘De Islamisme’. In 1913, he sent a letter to the First Caliph, Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nooruddin (ra), pledging allegiance to Ahmadiyyat. In the beginning of 1914, several more embraced Ahmadiyyat. A new member also wrote the First Caliph (ra) a letter, requesting for an English-speaking missionary. [6] Despite the lack of resources, the First Caliph (ra) accepted his request. Hazrat Sufi Ghulam Mohammad (ra) was the first missionary to be sent in the early era of the Second Caliph, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra) and the first missionary to be sent to Africa. [7]

Mauritius sits at the edge of the African continent. In this way, the Promised Messiah’s (as) prophecy was fulfilled in his lifetime, and for the first time, in Africa. Again, it will be of great interest to readers that the very first pioneer converts to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Mauritius, the second oldest foreign mission established after the U.K., also learned of Ahmadiyyat through The Review of Religions. [8]

In East Africa, the first mission was opened in 1934. Since then several missions have been established in other places such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Local communities have sprung up in many places, and quite a few mosques have been built. [9]

The message of Ahmadiyyat soon spread around Ghana, and the first Ahmadiyya mission was established in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire in the early 1960s. New national communities have been established in the 1970s in Burkina Faso, proselytized from Ghana, and Benin, Cameroon, and Niger, proselytized from Nigeria. Senegal added a mission, proselytized initially from the Gambia. [10]

In North Africa, the Jama’at had already been introduced to the people of Egypt during the lifetime of the Promised Messiah (as), whose book Ijaz al-Masih (Miracle of the Messiah) was published in Egypt and reviewed in several Egyptian periodicals. [11] In Algeria & Morocco, although the Jama’at dates to the 1970s and 1990s respectively, members have often faced persecution at the hands of the government. [12]

Ahmadiyyat in Africa Today

It is no doubt that Ahmadiyyat has come far in Africa. In the last decade, the Nigerian Jama’at celebrated its centenary, and nearly 30,000 people from surrounding countries attended this Jalsa. [13] Sierra Leone likewise held their centenary celebrations, and they too attracted large numbers of Ahmadis from around the country and foreign guests. [14] Ghana’s annual gathering regularly attracts over 30,000 people. [15]

Africa also holds the distinct honour of being the first place where the prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as), that ‘kings would seek blessings from your garments’ was fulfilled. It was during the time of the Third Caliph, Hazrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad (rh) that Sir Singhate, who was elected Governor General of Gambia, requested that he wanted to obtain blessings from the garments of the Promised Messiah (as). Accordingly, a piece of the clothing was sent to him from Rabwah that was a source of immense joy to him. Since then, many African kings and chiefs have visited the Khalifa, and some have even accepted the Jama’at. [16]

In some countries, the Jama’at has been directly involved in efforts to gain independence, and by truly recognizing that love for one’s nation is part of faith, Ahmadi Muslims in Africa have always tried to play an active role in their country. Mentioning some examples of this, the Fifth Caliph and Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) states:

“When Sierra Leone’s independence was achieved, its Government officially recognised the role of our Jama’at and the humanitarian services it had rendered, to both the country and to its people.

“The Government did this by specially inviting a central representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at from Pakistan, to attend the main function marking the country’s independence… Since the independence of Sierra Leone was achieved, there have been a number of Ahmadi Muslims who have had the honour of becoming Members of Parliament, Ministers of Government and Ambassadors of State.

“Similarly, upon the independence of Tanzania, the Ahmadiyya Community was also able to play a significant role. One of our local Tanzanian Missionaries, Sheikh Amri Abedi, who received two years missionary training in our centre in Rabwah, Pakistan, was also personally able to play a valuable role towards the independence of Tanzania. The leaders of the country used to consult with him regularly and seek his wise counsel. Later on, he was appointed the first African Mayor of Dar es Salaam. He was also elected unanimously to the Legislative Council of Tanganyika, and then in 1963 he was appointed Minister of Justice and proved to be greatly loved and popular in this role. Therefore, throughout his life he rendered great services to his nation. “Another example of the services rendered by the Ahmadiyya Community is that the name ‘Tanzania’ was actually chosen upon the recommendation of an Asian Ahmadi Muslim, to the Government of the time. This too was an historic service to the nation.” [17]

Jamia Ahmadiyya (Missionary Training Centers)

Jamia Ahmadiyya International in Mankessim, Central Region of Ghana

The Jama’at has been successful in opening missionary training centres in many countries in Africa. Currently, Jamia Mubashireen is operating in countries like Ghana, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso.

The current progress and expansion of the Jama’at throughout Africa has been simultaneously drawing the attention of the Jamaat to the ever-increasing need of missionaries. During the blessed era of the fifth Caliph, Allah the Almighty has blessed the Jamaat with the establishment of a Jamia Ahmadiyya International in Africa, which offers a seven-year course on religious education, and is open for students from all African countries. [18]

MTA Africa, MTA 3 & MTA Ghana

MTA’s Wahab Adam Studio in Accra, Ghana

MTA Africa was launched in August 2016, when the need for a channel specifically for viewers in Africa was sorely needed. On 27 May 2020, MTA International rearranged its channels and introduced two channels specifically for Africa. [19]

MTA Africa 1 is a satellite-based television channel of MTA International. The main languages of this channel are English, French, and Swahili. MTA Africa 2 is for viewers in Western Africa. The main Languages of this channel are English, while programmes are also broadcasted in Creole, Hausa, Twi and Yoruba. MTA 3 Al-Arabiya is also broadcasted in North Africa. It was launched on 23 March 2007. All these channels are also available for live streaming via the Internet.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) officially launched MTA Ghana on 15 January 2021 – a new digital terrestrial television channel established specifically to meet the needs of the people in Ghana. [20] Highlighting one of the unique aspects of the channel, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) stated:

“The channel will be utilized to convey the true and beautiful teachings of Islam to the people, God willing. MTA Ghana is the only channel on a digital platform in the country that is solely dedicated to broadcasting Islamic teachings.” [21]

Today, MTA studios in Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, and many other African countries are producing multiple programmes specifically designed to educate African viewers in their language.

Services to the Holy Qur’an in Africa

Under the blessed guidance of the Khulafa, the Jama’at has also been able to publish translations of the Holy Quran in many African languages – some of which have never been translated. Countries across Africa have been provided copies of the Holy Quran in their language. Major languages like French and Swahili aside, the Jama’at has successfully translated the Quran in other, less mainstream languages like, Mossi, Twi, Fula, Mandinka, Wolof, Kriol, and Yao to make sure the message of the Holy Quran reaches to every tribe and people of Africa. [22]

The Jama’at has also been able to open many schools, or madrassas, dedicated to helping young boys and girls to memorize the Holy Quran. Such schools are operating in many countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Benin, and Sierra Leone. [23]

Humanitarian Efforts in Africa

The Jamaat has built hundreds of mission houses, thousands of mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals and clinics across Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Raqeem Press is also established in eight African Countries. Speaking of the Jama’at’s humanitarian efforts in Africa, Huzoor (aba) stated:

“The majority of our humanitarian projects are based in Africa. With the Grace of Allah, over the past eighty or ninety years, we have strived not only to bring the African people closer to Allah, but also to discharge the rights owed to the people of this great continent. It is in this spirit that our Jama’at has opened many schools in Africa. It is with this spirit that many of our Ahmadi engineers, who have been trained and brought up in the West, travel to the remotest parts of Africa to try and provide a supply of drinking water to the poor and deprived local villagers…

In the same way our Ahmadi teams have provided electricity to people living in the remotest parts of Africa, by installing solar panels. Also, now in certain countries we have started a new project of creating model villages, in which facilities such as tap water, electricity, street lights, community centres and paved streets will be provided Insha’Allah.” [24]

The Nusrat Jahan Scheme

On 4 April 1970, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh) launched the Nusrat Jehan Scheme. This initiative increased educational and health services in Africa through development projects funded by donations from Ahmadi Muslims worldwide and led by Ahmadi Muslim volunteers who committed to terms of service in Africa. [25]

Working in partnership with West African states, the Ahmadiyya founded new schools, hospitals and health clinics throughout the region, serving rural areas and admitting students and patients from any religious tradition. This scheme has expanded over the decades and remains a major aspect of the work the community does in Africa. One noteworthy example is the foundation of the Masroor Eye Institute, which has been helping people in Burkina Faso since its foundation. [26]

Humanity First in Africa

Humanity First Team in Ghana making a donation

When Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh) launched Humanity First in 1995, his aim was simple – help humanity. This was especially needed in third-world countries in Africa. Since then, Humanity First has played an active role in helping people across Africa. [27]

In 2014, when the Ebola virus epidemic hit West Africa, Humanity First treated over 200,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, and Mali by offering medical services, clean water, orphan care, and shelter. Their initiatives like “Feed a Family” and “Water for Life” have also been helping many people across Africa for years. [28]

IAAAE in Africa

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh) initially launched The International Association of Ahmadi Architects & Engineers (IAAAE) to use modern technology to provide humanitarian relief to regions in need. From humble beginnings where it was involved in simple projects like making and distributing small dry cell lamps, today, IAAAE is providing clean potable drinking water to remote parts of Africa. [29] At the recent annual symposium of IAAAE in the UK, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) remarked:

“During the past two years, people in nine countries have benefited from your Water for Life projects. In this time, the IAAAE was able to rehabilitate more than 100 water pumps to a functioning level, and so thousands of the most impoverished people in Africa were able to gain access to clean water. The biggest struggle for people living in remote parts of Africa is the lack of clean drinking water, and so, by installing water systems, the IAAAE has had a genuinely life-changing impact upon those people who are the hardest hit by poverty and deprivation.” [30]

A Prophecy Fulfilled

The Promised Messiah (as) had prophesied that the Jama’at would spread from Qadian to the rest of the world. Despite extreme circumstances, in the last 133 years, the Jama’at has done just that under the banner of Khilafat. At the time, no one outside the Jama’at believed a small band of brothers would gain followers in their town, let alone the world. But today, the progress of the Jama’at, and the faith and passion of its followers all over the world, is a testament to the fulfilment of this promise.

ENDNOTES:

1.Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) (2016). Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya — Part Four. Tilford, Surrey, UK: Islam International Publications Ltd. 400

2. Jegede, A. O. (1989, December 18). History of Ahmadiyyat in Nigeria. Review of Religions, 84(12), pp. 19–26. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/8062/history-of-ahmadiyyat-in-nigeria/; The Ahmadiyya Movement in Nigeria. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School: https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/ahmadiyya-movement-nigeria#:~:text=The%20Ahmadiyya%20Movement%20was%20introduced,of%20the%20Nigerian%20Youth%20Movement.

3. Hanson, J. H. (2017). The Ahmadiyya in the Gold Coast. Indiana: Indiana University Press. 163–180; Adam, A. W. (1990, September 18). Ahmadiyyat in Ghana. The Review of Religions, 85(9). Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/8236/ahmadiyyat-in-ghana/

4. Shahid, D. M. (2007). History of Ahmadiyyat [Urdu] (Vol. 4). Qadian, Gurdaspur, India: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat. 169–172; Munir, M. A. (2022, March 23). Ahmadiyyat in Mauritius [Urdu]. Daily Alfazl Online, 4(71), pp. 6–9. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.alfazlonline.org/23/03/2022/56924/

5. Ibid.

6. Call to good: The faithful of Mauritius [Urdu]. (1915, April 11). The Alfazl Daily, 2(125), pp. 7–8. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://www.alislam.org/alfazl/rabwah/A19150411.pdf

7. Shahid, D. M. (2007). History of Ahmadiyyat [Urdu] (Vol. 4). Qadian, Gurdaspur, India: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat. 169–172

8. Safir, S. A. (2018, October 27). His Holiness Launches New Spanish Edition of The Review of Religions. The Review of Religions. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/14150/groundbreaking-his-holiness-launches-new-spanish-edition-of-the-review-of-religions/; Shahid, D. M. (2007). History of Ahmadiyyat [Urdu] (Vol. 4). Qadian, Gurdaspur, India: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat. 169–172

9. Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK. (2008). Khilafat Centenary Special Edition. Tariq. 167

10. Hanson, J. H. West Africa, Ahmadiyya in. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Oxford Islamic Studies: https://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t343/e0062

11. Dard, A. R. (2008). Life of Ahmad. Tilford, Surrey, England: Islam International Publications Ltd.; Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) (2019). Majmoo’ah Ishtiharat (Vol. 3). Qadian, Gurdaspur, India: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat Qadian. 223–227

12. Algeria: Wave of arrests and prosecutions of hundreds of Ahmadis. (2017, June). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/algeria-wave-of-arrests-and-prosecutions-of-hundreds-of-ahmadis/; Sakina Benzin. (30 December, 2016). مغاربة يعتنقون الأحمدية. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Maghress: https://www.maghress.com/ahdathpress/450592; Human Rights Watch. (2017, September 4). Algeria: Stop Persecuting a Religious Minority. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/04/algeria-stop-persecuting-religious-minority

13. Ahmadiyya holds 63rd annual conference. (2014, December 19). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Vanguard News: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/ahmadiyya-holds-63rd-annual-conference/

14. Quraishi, A. H. (2021, March 12). 100 years of Ahmadiyyat in Sierra Leone: Three days of centenary celebrations. Al Hakam(56), pp. 6-7. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.alhakam.org/100-years-of-ahmadiyyat-in-sierra-leone-three-days-of-centenary-celebrations/

15. Wilson, A. B. (24th, January 2020). Ghana Holds 88th Jalsa Salana. Al Hakam(97), p. 7. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.alhakam.org/ghana-holds-88th-jalsa-salana/

16. See Khurshid, M. A. (2017). Cherished Memories Of Africa. (D. M. Ahmad, Trans.) Munawar Ahmad Khurshid. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.alislam.org/library/books/Cherished-Memories-of-Africa.pdf

17. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) (2012, January 28). Pan African Address. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from Review of Religions: https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/5408/pan-african-address/

18. For more information, please see About – Jamia Ahmadiyya International Ghana: https://www.jamiaghana.org/about/

19. Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International (MTA). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Ahmadipedia: https://www.ahmadipedia.org/content/institution/12/muslim-television-ahmadiyya-international-(mta)

20. GNA. (2021, January 17). Ghanaian Ahmadis to benefit from new terrestrial TV Channel. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from News Ghana: https://newsghana.com.gh/ghanaian-ahmadis-to-benefit-from-new-terrestrial-tv-channel/

21. Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Launches MTA Ghana TV Channel. (2021, January 16). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Press & Media Office: https://www.pressahmadiyya.com/press-releases/2021/01/head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-community-launches-mta-ghana-tv-channel/

22. Published Translations of the Holy Quran. (2017, September 30). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Al Islam: https://www.alislam.org/quran/translations.pdf

23. Qurashi, A. H. (2021, July 2). First Madrasatul-Hifz for Sierra Leone Jamaat. Al Hakam(172), p. 21. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.alhakam.org/first-madrasatul-hifz-for-sierra-leone-jamaat/; Salau, S. (2015, December 11). Ahmadiyya’s Qur’an memorisation school graduates 48 Hufaadz. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from The Guardian Nigeria News: https://guardian.ng/features/ahmadiyyas-quran-memorisation-school-graduates-48-hufaadz/

24. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) (2012, January 28). Pan African Address. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from Review of Religions: https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/5408/pan-african-address/

25. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh) – Significant Appeals. (2008, March 1). Retrieved March 18, 2022, from The Review of Religions: https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/1961/hadhrat-khalifatul-masih-iiiru-significant-appeals/

26. Majlis Ansarullah UK (2021, November 30). Masroor Eye Institute – Granting the Gift of Sight in Africa. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from The Review of Religions: https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/35775/masroor-eye-institute-granting-the-gift-of-sight-in-africa/

27. About Us. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from Humanity First: https://humanityfirst.org/about-us/

28. Humanity First. (2014). Annual Report 2014. Surrey: Humanity First. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://humanityfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/HF-Annual-Report-2014.pdf

29. IAAAE. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from IAAAE: https://iaaae.org/

30. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad – Khalifatul Masih V (aba) (2022, March 10). IAAAE – A Long Term Vision to Help Developing Nations. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from Review of Religions: https://rorenglish.wpengine.com/37778/iaaae-a-long-term-vision-to-help-developing-nations/

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source https://www.reviewofreligions.org/38121/islam-ahmadiyyat-in-africa-fulfillment-of-a-grand-prophecy/