Muslim non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are a growing feature in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa with heavy influence on the societies in which they operate. Their impact is not only limited to the private sphere of the believers but extends to the public sphere as well. Public debates are impregnated by religiously inspired arguments. Striking examples of this development are the debates accompanying the role of Khadisâ Courts in the so-called Bomas draft constitution referendum of Kenya in 2005 or the re-implementation of Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria starting in the early 2000s.1 Muslim NGOs are playing an important role in shaping public debates on issues related to the correlation of state and religion in the respective countries. Some Muslim NGOs, after being accused of supporting militant movements, have even been dissolved. Under pressure of the international community, many states in Africa restricted the operational basis of Muslim NGOs after 9/11. Muslim NGOs are confronted with an increasing lack of trust. However, many of them play a pivotal role in providing social welfare . The perception of Muslim NGOs oscillating between supporting terrorism inspired by Islam and helping to overcome the marginalized role of Muslims in some African states is a reality.
The objective of this book is to give an overview on the discourses, agendas and actions of Muslim NGOs and activists to achieve empowerment of Muslim populations in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. The crisis of secular nationalism since the late 1960s and the 1970s has created favourable conditions in the Muslim World for a religiously oriented reflection and mobilization that integrates individual salvation and self-realization with a commitment to community welfare. Morally and religiously inspired social action underlies the provision of services for the poor that the state often cannot efficiently provide, including basic health care and education. Such social action can be informally organized, based on affinities of shared habits, expectations, practices and interests. Religiously based charitable associations, such as Muslim NGOs, focusing on a wide array of services (medical, educational, family welfare and emergency assistance), play exactly such a role. They rest initially on ties of local trust and community, although they can also provide a base for subsequent political participation. However, secular Western development institutions have been rather reluctant in recognizing the potentials of Southern religious organizations working on development. Muslim institutions and leaders, if recognized at all, were regarded as intrinsically hostile to modernization or at least articulating a critical attitude to the Western world. This negative perspective changed during the early decades of the twenty-first century when multilateral and bilateral government agencies recognized religious leaders and organizations, including Muslim faith-based NGOs, as key partners to achieve the UN Millennium (and subsequent) Sustainable Development Goals.2 Islamic instruments to promote social welfare and humanitarian assistance, not least through the collection and distribution of zakat or obligatory alms, have generated a significant amount interest both by Western academics and by development professionals.3
The emergence or development of a public sphere in sub-Saharan African countries is usually linked with the modern, postcolonial state and modern, Western-inspired associations and NGOs. Following Whitfield, the construction of âcivil societyâ is the outcome of a process in which donor agencies, international NGOs, the government and social organizations all actively engage in debates and activities in the public sphere and use their engagement in the public sphere to legitimize their actions. For the government, âcivil societyâ is a response to increasingly articulated demands from sections of society for greater representation and participation in policy-making. For donor agencies, âcivil societyâ is both a means and an end. For international NGOs, âcivil societyâ is the key to linking citizens around the world in common struggles. For social organizations, âcivil societyâ is a tool for mobilization and legitimation. With the construction of civil society follows a tendency towards its institutionalization.4
However, the concepts of the public sphere and civil society in a sub-Saharan African context have to be broadened as patterns of political and societal organization outside the formal state structures and Western-type NGOs have to be included as well. From a historical perspective, there existed already a well-defined public sphere and civil society in several colonies in British and French West Africa. From an African Islamic studies perspective, one could even argue that such a âpolitical sphereâ is even older, including that of the formation of specific âMuslim spheresâ in pre-colonial African societies. In many regions, the establishment of a distinct âMuslim sphereâ was a consequence of the colonial policy of granting religious and cultural autonomy for Muslim groups.5 In predominantly postcolonial Muslim states, such as Senegal and Mali, the transfer to the postcolonial state was equivalent with Muslim politicians and administrators taking over the colonial state. In states with a substantial Muslim population, such as Nigeria, the postcolonial condition has been marked by intra-community clashes between various Sufi and Sunni groups as well as inter-community clashes between Muslim and Christian groups, resulting into a complex political-cum-religious landscape: Officially, Nigeria is a secular federal state that applies (Western) civil law but in twelve northern states, Muslim law and Muslim political and economic institutions, such as the religious police (hisba) and zakat (religious tax paid by Muslims), are enforced since 2000.6
The purpose of the anthology is to outline and analyse articulations and actions of Muslim NGOs with a special focus on their instrumentalization of Islamic social finance instruments, namely sadaqa or voluntary almsgiving and donations; zakat or mandatory almsgiving; and waqf or pious endowments. Contemporary Islamic economists such as M. U. Chapra highlight the potential of Islamic social finance instruments to alleviate the sufferings of the extremely poor, namely those living on less than USD 1.25 per day according to UN definitions, and to take care of their basic needs.7 Various studies estimate that zakat amounts from USD 200 billion to USD 1 trillion per annum across the world or around USD 187 million among countries in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Therefore, not only Muslim states but also Muslim NGOs have turned their interest to mobilize zakat for poverty alleviation in Muslim majority countries as well as for international development and humanitarian projects. However, there exists no consensus among Muslim scholars about the or...