Malawi: Disturbing growth of Islam

Mosque in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi.

Bishop Stima Monfort of the diocese of Mangochi, in southern Malawi (eastern Africa), expressed concern about the spread of Islam in his diocese in the course of a visit to the group Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on May 26, 2016. According to ACN, he said, “Moslem preachers from Sudan” were preaching “Islamic extremism”. They declare themselves “dissatisfied” with local Islam and want to “bring real Islam” to Malawi. So, he says, “in some villages there are four mosques: a traditional mosque, which has always been there, and three recently built mosques.” The bishop emphasized that it is difficult to control the imams since “anyone with enough money has the right to build a mosque. And whoever builds it also controls the imam.”

Bishop Monfort said as well that more and more young people are granted scholarships to study in Sudan or Saudi Arabia and then return, radicalized. The bishop explained that many Moslems have several wives, which increases the number of their children and increases the percentage of Moslems in the population. “Often, these families do not have the means to provide regular schooling to so many children. They can only send them to the Koranic schools, the madrassa.”

For Bishop Monfort, “this is a great temptation to convert to Islam, especially when the only school in the village is a Moslem one. “

The total population of Malawi is made up of an 80% majority of Christians and only 13% of Moslems, but the percentage of Moslems in the diocese of Mangochi is 75%.

(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – ACN – DICI no. 337, 17/06/16)

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