Networks of Islamic NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa: Bilal Muslim Mission, African Muslim Agency (Direct Aid), and al-Haramayn

Abstract

This article considers the activities of three Islamic NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Muslim Agency (Direct Aid) is a Sunni Muslim NGO involved in charity, relief, development and da'wa (missionary effort), created in 1981 by a group of Muslim Brothers (Ikhwan al-Muslim) from Kuwait. The Bilal Muslim Mission is a Shıa Muslim NGO founded in Tanzania in 1963 by the Indian Shi?ites of East Africa. Its aim is to spread Twelver Shi?ism in East Africa and beyond, and to assist Shiites living in poverty worldwide. Until its dissolution, al-Haramayn was engaged in very much the same work as the African Muslim Agency, the main difference being that al-Haramayn emphasized the propagation of Salafi Islam rather than charity work. Like any modern Islamic NGO, these institutions pursue two aims: while giving support to those in need, they simultaneously try to spread their particular version of Islam.