The arrival of Islam in Zimbabwe dates to the fourth Hijri century when Muslims established emirates on the coast of East Africa. During that period Muslim slave merchants extended their business to the interior regions reaching Zimbabwe Over a period of hundreds of years more than four million slaves were stolen from Zimbabwe and surrounding countries and exported from Swahili ports by Arab traders to India and Arabia.[1]
Many Muslims entered Zimbabwe during the colonial period, primarily came from the Indian subcontinent
Estimates on the number Muslims in Zimbabwe vary from as low as 120,000 to as many as 1.2 million. According the United States State Department:
"The Muslim community consists primarily of South Asian immigrants (Indian and Pakistani), a small number of indigenous Zimbabweans, Zimbabweans who descend from European migrants, migrants from other southern and eastern African countries (including Mozambique and Malawi), and a very small number of North African and Middle Eastern immigrants. There are mosques located in nearly all of the larger towns. There are 18 in the capital city of Harare, 8 in Bulawayo, and a number of mosques in rural areas. The Muslim community has expanded its outreach efforts with the aid of the Kuwaiti-sponsored African Muslim Agency (AMA); the Harare AMA office has had increased success proselytizing among the majority black indigenous population, in part because of its humanitarian projects in rural areas. Some chiefs and headmen in the rural areas have reportedly converted from Christianity to Islam."
The Islamic migrants are largely coming from the Yao tribe of neighboring Malawi.
References
See also
External links
- Reporter Interactive at Archive.org: Zimbabwean Christians and Muslims
- Adherents.com: estimates on Muslims in Zimbabwe
- New York Times: the ban of Calls to Prayer in Zimbabwe
- US State department: religion in Zimbabwe
- [Darul Ishaat Online Islamic Store http://www.darul-ishaat.co.uk/store]
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