Islamic Information Bureau (IIB) has described the year 2011 a prosperous year for the organisation, given the achievements scored against myriad economic woes currently rocking the country.
According to Sheikh Dinala Chabulika, National Coordinator for the organisation, despite the financial constraints and other factors, they managed to conduct all activities which were in their strategic plan.
“In 2011, we opened three new offices namely in Salima, Monkey Bay and Zambia. We also managed to narrow the rift between Sukutiyyah and Qadriyyah, though we don’t entertain such names. The Qadriyyah Muslims are also flocking into our offices, the thing that was not possible in the past. And, through our non-Muslim programs, we managed to convert over 1500 to Islam. We also extended our office to Lilongwe and introduced Marital and Counselling department which has been a success,” he told Malawi Muslims Official Website.
The National Coordinator also said that his organisation had managed to convince the government of Malawi through the Immigration Department to allow Muslim women to have their passport photos taken without removing their headscarf.
Chabulika said discussions have also just been completed with the Ministry of Health on the issue that Muslim Nurses should also be allowed to wear Hijab on duty.
“On that one [Muslim Nurses], we are just waiting for the response from the top officials after their board meeting which we were told is going to take place this month. But we are sure that it will work as we have managed to do all things they asked as to do,” he said.
Among other things, IIB was asked to come up with the sample of uniform that will be in accordance with the Islamic teachings – the thing the organisation in conjunction with other Muslim nurses, managed to do.
Challenges
Sheikh Chabulika said that despite those achievements, the organisation faced some challenges such as limited funds, among others.
“As you know that everyone is affected with the hard economic and social-political environment in the country, we too, as an organisation that depend on donations were partly affected…. but we managed to survive by the grace of Allah,” said Chabulika.
Appeal
The coordinator therefore appeals to all Muslims in the country to continue their support to ensure that the organisation achieves all its programs planned for the 2012.
“We cannot work without support from the people. So, we ask everyone to continue their support, be with us so that we should not lose focus. We also ask women to come to patronise our bureaus because their number in the just ended year was too low,” he said.
But what has the organisation brought in the year 2012?
According Sheikh Chabulika, the organisation is planning to open new offices in the North, Central and some more districts in the Southern region. He also said that the organisation has planned to increase the number of workshops from 30 to 35 this year.
Islamic Information Bureau is a non-profit entity that was established in the year 1999 after realising that there is a great demand and interest in understanding and acquiring knowledge about Islam by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
To this effect, seminars discussions and workshops have been organised and a number of Islamic books have been printed and translated into local languages that have helped in clearing the misguided misconceptions about Islam.
Some of the workshops which IIB carried out last year include: Muslim chiefs, non-Muslim chiefs, Sheikhs and Imaams, Muslim Teachers, Non-Muslim teachers, Fishermen, Daw’ah Groups, Reverts, Coloured Community, Masajid Committees, Women Leaders, Non-Muslim Teachers and non-Muslim Journalists.
Since its establishment, IIB has opened 13 offices in Malawi and one in Zambia. And it is their dream to open other offices almost in all countries particularly in southern Africa.
