ISLAM IN AFRICA ORGANISATION
Introduced by Dr. Usman Bugaje, IAO Secretary‑General,
at the Launching of Islam in Africa: Proceedings of
the Islam in Africa Conference, on June 18, 1994,
at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna

The Islam in Africa Conference which took place in November 1989 in Abuja, Nigeria, the published proceedings of which we are launching today, is in many respects a watershed. Muslims in Africa have always taken part in Islamic conferences and organizations along with their Muslim brothers and sisters from other parts of the world. November 1989 was the first time in our contemporary period when Muslims from Africa came together to address the issue of Islam in Africa. The attendance itself was a unique blend of traditional Islamic scholars, western educated Muslim scholars as well as Muslim activists and statesmen from all over the continent and the diaspora. But by far the most important decision which made the conference a watershed was the resolution to create the Islam in Africa Organization. The creation of the IAO not only confers permanence to the thoughts and ideas expressed at the conference but it puts in place a machinery for the pursuance of these ideas to fruition. It also provided a forum for Muslims in Africa to come together to discuss their affairs, compare notes and coordinate their activities. The resolution which created the organization identified some thirteen objectives which fall into three broad categories: the promotion of unity, harmony and development of the Ummah in Africa and the elimination of all forms of discrimination, oppression and human exploitation; the promotion and dissemination of knowledge through research, translations and publications; the promotion of cooperation with national and international bodies to uplift human dignity and enhance human welfare and provide relief and comfort to those in distress in Africa and other parts of the world. Soon after the resolution, a steering committee drawn from nine African countries was set up to establish the organization. The Nigerian group was tasked with the job of drawing up the draft charter as well as the working papers of the organization, covering some seven areas, which were later discussed and adopted at the full meeting of the steering committee. Each of these working papers focused on a specific area of activity which the organization is to undertake. Such areas include the procurement of appropriate literature, the development of relevant manpower, the organization of relief and welfare work, the organization and coordination of da’wah and the organization of the necessary investments to fund and sustain this rather ambitious list. The organization was formally inaugurated in July 1991 at Abuja where the chairman of the general council and the secretary general were elected. The structure of the organization is made up of four main organs: the General Council which is the highest authority in the organization, currently made up of 43 members drawn from all over Africa and the Diaspora; the executive committee, which is a committee of the General Council; the secretariat, which is to be located at Abuja; and such subsidiary organs that the IAC may find desirable to establish for the realization of its objectives. This decision to locate the secretariat in Nigeria and to elect Nigerians into the principal offices of the organization reflects the confidence our brothers and sisters in Africa repose in us. It is now left to us to justify or betray this confidence. The published proceedings of this conference is the first assignment the IAO has so far successfully carried out. And it seems quite proper and appropriate that the IAO should start with a book. This is not only because of the dearth of suitable and relevant Islamic literature in Africa but more importantly because books have, through out human history, conveyed the thoughts and ideas, which transformed human societies. Despite advances in science and technology, books have remained the most effective medium through which ideas are preserved and disseminated across regions and over generations. Islam has from its very inception recognized the power of thoughts and ideas in changing and shaping human societies. This is clearly gleaned from the simple but significant fact that the message of Qur’an itself started with the command to READ! Indeed the history of the greater part of Africa in the last one millennium is a history of transformation spearheaded by ideas conveyed through books. The al‑Murabits movements in the 11th century north‑west Africa, the transformations occasioned by Muhammad al‑Maghili in 15th century Songhai, the 19th century Jihads of Usman Dan Fodio, Umar al‑Futi, Muhammad Ahmad al‑Mahdi, were all the consequences of ideas conveyed through books. These movements were led by scholars who read many books and wrote yet more. Muhammad Bello the first Sultan of Sokoto was reported to have read twenty thousand books. Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, his brother Abdullahi and his son Bello together wrote nearly three hundred works of varying disciplines and sizes. Without these books the history of not only this region but the whole tropical Africa would have been different. The Islam in Africa Organization has already commissioned three books: one on the Sharia, another on the Islamic state and the other on the role of Muslim women. The latter is going to be the result of an international workshop on the role of Muslim women in Africa starting in Zaria, immediately after this launching, Insha Allah. The choice of these areas is informed by the need to clarify those issues which have become targets of both open and subtle western propaganda. We believe a lot of the misunderstandings have been possible because of the absence of relevant literature in these areas. The IAO has already embarked on a modest manpower development programme. We are all too familiar with the way colonial authorities connived with Christian missionaries to deny and discourage Muslims from partaking in education. The IAO believes that reversing tilts attitude is essential to the regeneration of the Ummah in Africa. It is the hope of the IAO to begin to address the issue of the coordination of da'wah efforts in the continent, give focus to the practice of mass media in Africa, and come to grips with the important and pressing issue of relief and welfare work. These certainly require substantial amount of resource which luckily the Muslims in Africa possess in abundance. The only thing the Muslims in Africa seem to lack is the will to make these resources available for the service of Islam. It is our hope that the Muslims in Africa generally but Nigeria in particular will come to appreciate the simple but important fact the without this will to make the necessary sacrifices, the Ummah may not survive to play the role it had always played in history; a role which underlines the very purpose for its existence; a role we will all collectively and individually have to account for on the day when wealth or social standing will be of no avail. Wassalamu Alaikum