ISLAM IN MALAWI - PAST AND PRESENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L LILONGWE 000229

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/S KAMANA MATHUR
STATE FOR INR/AA RITA BYRNES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2012
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL MI
SUBJECT: ISLAM IN MALAWI - PAST AND PRESENT

REF: A. 04 LILONGWE 785

B. 06 LILONGWE 204

Classified By: Ambassador Alan Eastham for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Muslims make up over twenty percent of
Malawi's population, and are actively engaged in political,
economic, and civil society. After a perceived golden age
for Muslims under former president and fellow Muslim Bakili
Muluzi, many now complain of marginalization under the rule
of President Bingu wa Mutharika, a staunch Roman Catholic.
Muslims, by no means a homogenous group and often divided
along African-Asian racial lines, often see themselves as
being targeted for discrimination by a government that views
them as natural political opponents. However, Muslims in
Malawi still remain fairly insulated internationally, and are
moderate in their social and political views. Malawi!n
Muslim views on Americans, and to a lesser extent America,
remain in relatively good standing and have been enhanced by
recent programming and outreach to the Muslim community. End
Summary.

The Historical Context: Imported Islam
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2. (U) Islam was first introduced to Malawi in the late 1500s
by Arab Muslim traders seeking new economic markgts and slave
routes via Lake Malawi. Contact with these first Muslim
migrants led to the conversion to Islam of many indigenous
people living along the lakeshore and the Shire River.
Moreover, Islam married well with the cultural practices of
certain ethnic groups such as the Yao. Western missionaries,
motivated to spread Christianity and combat the slave trade,
began their activities in Malawi in the 1860s. The
perception among the indigenous Malawians was that children
were required to convert to Christianity before enrolling in
mission schools. Thus many Malawians, including those from
the numerous Chewa tribe, adopted Christianity. Many Yao
members, fearing that their children would be forced to
become Christian, kept their children away from mission
schools. Many black Muslims are still reluctant to send
their children to government schools for fear of forced
conversion. The legacy of inequitable access to education
and, by extension, economic opportunities, has led to black
Muslim communities having the highest illiteracy rates in the
country.


3. (U) The Asian Muslim population, primarily from modern-day
Pakistan and India, came with the British colonial
administration in the first half of the twentieth century.
With their international connections and superior access to
academic and economic opportunities, Asian Muslims quickly
gained an important place in the Malawian business sector.
Though Asians were heavily discriminated against under
President Banda's regime, including their forced relocation
to Malawi's four major cities in 1974, Asian Muslims managed
to prosper economically while building their own independent
social networks. Today, many Asian Muslims are among Malawi's
most wealthy individuals.

Islamic Sects in Malawi
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4. (SBU) Most Muslims in Malawi are Sunni. The two main
"tariqa" ("brotherhoods" or "orders"),both of which find
their roots in Sufism, are Qadriyah (or Quadriya) and Sukuti
(or earlier on Shadhiliyah). Though both orders came to
Malawi from Zanzibar via Lake Malawi, Qadriyah was dominant
in the early days. In the 1930's, a reform movement began
(Shadhiliyah first, then later Sukuti) that preached against
many of the forms of religious rites of the Qadriyah. The
reformists stressed the importance of Arabic literacy for
religion and English literacy f/r secular communication,
while denouncing Qadriyah practices such as dancing and
carrying flags and banners at funerals as being un-islamic
and contrary to scripture.


5. (SBU) By the 1960s, Asian Muslims in Malawi began funding
the construction of mosques and the establishment of schools.
Their support went to the Sukuti branch. Today, the newer,
more impressive mosques and schools are Sukuti, and the
smaller, poorer ones are Qadriyah. Those Muslim Malawians who
have contact with Muslims in other countries (or who have
been educated outside the country) are generally Sukuti. The
Qadriyah often resent the Sukuti's superior access to
resources and education, a sentiment that extends to
organizations like the Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM),
which is seen as a "Sukuti organization." The very small
Shiite presence in Malawi is primarily composed of foreigners.

Muslims in Politics
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6. (SBU) The end of Hastings Banda's "life-presidency" in
1994, and the election of the United Democratic Front's (UDF)
Bakili Muluzi, signaled a new day for Malawi's Muslim
community. Muluzi, a Muslim from Southern Malawi, strongly
supported Muslims at home, building a number of Mosques and
religious schools, while forging strong ties with other
Muslim countries abroad, including Libya, Morocco, and Egypt.
Locally, Muslims formed the backbone of the UDF party,
helping Muluzi win a second term in 1999. Malawi, for the
first time in history, began to recognize Muslim holidays
while political opponents decried the "Islamization of
Malawi." Upon Muluzi's urging Muslims again supported the UDF
candidate, Mutharika, and his running-mate, the Muslim Cassim
Chilumpha, in the 2004 elections.


7. (C) However, most Muslims later became disillusioned with
Mutharika, as the President targeted Muluzi with a corruption
probe and pulled out of the UDF to start his own party in

2005. Mutharika, attempting to split the Muslim population,
announced that his government refused to recognize the Muslim
Association of Malawi, but would instead work with the
Quadriya Muslim Association--widely seen as little more than
a government-stooge group. Muslims saw more and more
events--such as the arrest of VP Chilumpha on treason
charges, the banning of vendors (most of whom were believed
to be Muslim) from the streets, and the dismissal of a number
of Muslim civil servants--as targeted government
discrimination against Muslims. One Muslim MP recently told
an Embassy official that, "Muslims feel that (Mutharika's)
government is sidelining them...they have recal,ed all Muslim
Ambassadors, and removed all but one Muslim Principal
Secretary from the Ministries." He went on to say that some

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Muslims hope a return to power by Muluzi, who appears ready
to run for President again in 2009, will restore their
standing in the country.

The Xenophobia Factor
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8. (C) There exists a high level of resentment on the part of
the "indigenous", or Black, Muslims towards the Asian Muslim
community, who are seen as foreigners even though many were
born and raised in Malawi. Many Black Muslims, much as their
Christian countrymen, view Asian Malawians as unscrupulous,
predatory businessmen who rob "native" Malawians of their
economic opportunities and fraudulently run fake charities in
order to import goods duty free. In truth, while some graft
might take place, Asian Malawians spend a great deal of
resources supporting various charities in Muslim areas
throughout Malawi. Yet due to their cultural, financial, and
racial differences Asians run in completely separate social
and economic circles from Black Muslims, which breeds
resentment and jealousy. Muslim politicians, however, know
that Asian Muslims control the wealth of financial resources
available for both social and political pursuits, and thus
try to maintain close ties to the Asian community. For their
part, Asian Muslims remember the discrimination they faced
under President Banda's regime, and seek close ties with
Malawi's political elite in order to protect their own
interests.

Malawi's Muslims and Americans
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9. (SBU) The June 2003 expulsion of five non-Malawian (two
Sudanese, two Turkish, and one Saudi) Muslims suspected of
ties to Al-Qaida (AKA the "Malawi Five"),which the press
characterized and most Malawians believe to have been a USG
initiative, severely damaged the Muslim-American relations in
Malawi. However, in large part due to mission outreach to
the Muslim community--including Iftar dinners at the CMR,
regular appearances by Embassy spokespeople on Radio Islam,
and the 2006 visit to Malawi of Imam Darryl Wainwright--the
Malawi Five incident has largely been left in the past.
"Muslims here are beginning to realize that they don't have
to be afraid of America, and that while they might disagree
with a few people, they shouldn't generalize into thinking
that all Americans are one way or the other," a prominent
Muslim recently said privately. While Malawi's Muslims might
disagree with American policy, they are generally not
anti-American and appreciate USG efforts to assist in
Malawi's development.

Comment
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10. (C) Most of Malawi's roughly 2.5 million Muslims, like
their Christian countrymen, are subsistence farmers focused
on providing for their families and overcoming pervasive
poverty. Those interested in political affairs tend to focus
almost exclusively on internal domestic politics, and the
treatment of Muslims by Bingu wa Mutharika's government.
While this "marginalization" can hardly be considered any
more than that, with no physical intimidation or widespread
repression taking place, the perception emong Muslims is that
they are indeed discriminated against by Mutharika's
government. Mutharika, who sees Muslims as firm Muluzi
supporters, has done little to dispel this notion and can
count on most of those from the traditional Muslim
regions--Mangochi, Machinga and Balaka--to support Muluzi in
the 2009 Presidential elections. However, the Asian Muslim
community could split its very important financial support
between Mutharika--seen as a significantly better manager of
the economy than his predecessor--and Muluzi for financial
reasons. Regardless, with Black Muslims making up twenty
percent of the population and Asian Muslims controlling a
vast amount of Malawi's economic resources, the Muslim
community is sure to play an important role the next time
Malawians head to the polls.


11. (SBU) Post thanks the Department for its support of
Muslim outreach programs, including IV and Speaker
programs, which have been extremely effective at getting
out USG messages to the local Muslim community. Post views
these programs as central to the USG's continued efforts to
reach out to and engage Malawian Muslims, and requests
continued support for these programs.
EASTHAM