HARARE— As a commuter minibus approached a small crowd leaving a mosque after prayers in Harare’s Ardbennie area, the driver repeatedly hooted and hollered, hoping to entice them to board his bus. But the people ignored him. The crew on the minibus yelled insults at the crowd.

“Please don’t start trouble for us, don’t you know what these people can do?” said one of the passengers, igniting an animated discussion about Muslims that spanned from the on-going insurgency in neighboring Mozambique, the hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the harshness of Sharia law and every horrifying thing that the commuters associated with all Muslims based on stories in the media.

Conversations like this are not uncommon in Zimbabwe where, despite being around for more than 500 years, Islam has largely remained not only a minority religion, but also the most misunderstood religion. About 85% of the country practices Christianity. 

To improve knowledge and perceptions about Islam, the traditionally reclusive Muslim community in Zimbabwe has started reaching out to the broader society with various initiatives that aim to break down these stereotypes. These initiatives include charity projects to help the poor as well as educational programs to improve the average understanding of Islam, and where possible, win some converts.  

Reaching Out To Change Perceptions

One such initiative is the opening of the New Hope Civic and Cultural Islamic centers, facilities that give non-Muslims access to all the information that they may need about the religion.

“This center was opened after the realization that as a minority religion, many people did not know much about Islam,” said Naison Kamala, a scholar manning the centre that is located in downtown Harare. “You cannot blame them for this lack of understanding because for too long, their only source of information has been the media and unfortunately the media is not the best source of correct information about Islam.” 

The center has a rich library of every available literature on Islam in many languages, including the local vernaculars, as well as modern research facilities. In the center’s gallery there is an array of portraits of prominent non-Muslims like former U.S. president Barack Obama, ex-world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson among others, that have shared positive views about Islam.

The center also has an Islamic school, which teaches Arabic, the original language of the holy Quran. 

Sheik Shaibu Asali, a scholar at the school, said this project – run by the New Hope Charity Trust – is important in helping build harmonious relationships between the Muslim community and non-Muslims.

“As Muslims we have to explain ourselves, telling our own story to Zimbabweans so that non-Muslims will be free to live with us,” Sheik Asali said when the center opened in 2017. “In the past, our religion was practiced in isolation but it has begun to take a ‘pro-evangelical’ stance in recent years.”

Two other New Hope centers have since been opened in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, and in Masvingo, the country’s oldest town. The centers are run by the New Hope Charity Trust, which is funded by members of the local Muslim community; many are involved in the local business community. Foreign partners such as the Turkish Diyanet Foundation and Islamic embassies in Zimbabwe among others also financially support the initiatives.

One sign of rising Muslim public engagement is that Muslim clerics are now accepting invitations to such events as the National Day of prayer and even the presidential inauguration where they are given a platform to recite the Quran and pray alongside leaders of other religions.

“For us to live harmoniously and peacefully together the aspect of understanding each other is of paramount important,” Sheik Asali said.

Misconceptions Real

Trynos Maphosa, 31, who converted to Islam six years ago after becoming curious about his employer’s religion, told Religion Unplugged there is a world of difference between perception and the reality of Islam.  

“Contrary to what it is generally perceived to be, Islam is actually a religion of peace,” Maphosa said in an interview as he and several dozens of other converts left a mosque in the Harare central business district where they had gathered to break their Ramadan fast. “What I thought about the religion and what I now know are totally different. Many people, including my family members and some of my former friends, still fail to understand what attracted me to the religion.” 

Hardened misconceptions remain the biggest hurdle to overcome. When, in 2016, the government introduced a new education curriculum that includes teaching about other religions, including Islam, there was a huge outcry from both parents, teachers and law-makers who accused then Education Minister Lazarus Dokora of trying to forcibly convert learners into Muslims.

Such negative perceptions regularly come to the fore, especially when some Muslims seek to assert their Constitutional rights by challenging some decisions in the courts, like a 2018 school regulation that banned students from growing beards. In recent years the government of Zimbabwe has made sure that some Muslims are included on the judicial bench. 

Until now, Islam in Zimbabwe has largely been a religion of South Asian immigrants (mostly Indians and Pakistanis) as well as that of the descendants of East African migrant workers that came into the country (then Rhodesia) during the colonial era (1890-1980) to work in mines and on farms.

According to Sheik Asali, Islam in Zimbabwe can be traced to the 1500s when Arabs traders started visiting the country in search of gold and ivory. Some of these Arabs started intermarrying with the local Shona people and established a Muslim community. However, growth of the community has been slow, with the current Muslim population estimated to be between one and three percent of Zimbabwe’s 16 million citizens. Christianity was introduced in Zimbabwe by western missionaries in the early 1800s. The remaining 15% of the population is made largely of those following traditional African religions, and there are also smaller pockets of Hindus and other religious communities.

In Zimbabwe, Muslims are mostly found in urban centers, mines and farming centers. There are 20 mosques in Harare; eight in Bulawayo and other main urban centers usually have one or two mosques each. 

More Opportunities Availed

The Islamic community in Zimbabwe also has programs to assist the underprivileged in the country, especially in the area of education, in which many youths are in dire need.

Stanley Nhamo, the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Muslim Students’ Association, said the association helps hundreds of students from primary school right up university level.

“Most students need help, especially when it comes to tertiary education, so our association offers scholarships to ensure that they realize their dreams.”

Apart from facilitating understanding of the Quran, the added advantage of learning Arabic for many of the youths is that it puts them in good stead for the many educational scholarships offered by about a dozen Middle Eastern countries with embassies in Zimbabwe. The Arabic language also facilitates access by these graduates into the vast Middle Eastern business and job markets.

Sheik Asali said with more educated young people, Islam is spreading more and more rapidly.

“The availability of educational scholarships to foreign Islam-adhering countries has resulted in more converts,” he said.

Cyril Zenda is a Christian African journalist and writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe.