The Emerging of Islam in an African Township

Abstract

IntroductionWhile Islam is a fairly dominant religion in Africa, it is verysmall and has been treated as insignificant in southern Africa. Forexample Trimingham, in his survey of the phases of Islamic expansionin Africa, makes the dismissive comment: “Islam’s penetrationinto central and south Africa is so slight that it may be ignored."The presence of Muslims in South Africa, albeit a small percentageof the total population, cannot easily be ignored in terms of theirsocial, economic, and political contribution to the country as individuals,as members of an ethnic group, or as a religious minority. Apartheid has not only prompted a diverse set of responses fromMuslim organizations,s but the political and social events of the lasttwenty years have influenced conversion rates among the nominallyChristian African majority. Although there have been academicattempts to analyze the implications of some of these phenomena.there has been no ethnographic research at a local level to understandhow events in the sociopolitical arena shaped proselytizing work, theconversion process, and the interethnic relationships of the Muslims.This paper, based on ethnographic research in the townships ofKwaMashu-Ntuzuma-Inanda, located near Durban, is a contributiontoward understanding the position of African Muslims. The paper islimited to data collected during the latter half of 1992 and early 1993 ...