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Scholar launches Islamic book today

In a bid to tell the story of the spread of Islam in Malawi, Islamic scholar Abdul Razzak Fattani will today launch a book that details the history of the religion in Malawi.

The launch will take place at Malawi Sun Hotel in Blantyre this morning.

The book, titled Footprints of Islam in Malawi, goes back 500 years into history.

Author of the book: Fattani
Author of the book: Fattani

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In an interview, Fattani, who is also a prominent businessperson, said the book is an attempt at documenting how Islam spread across the country since the first Arab traders landed in Nsanje in 1506.

“What I discovered during my research is that we locals gave the Arab traders food and shelter like we always did with all visitors in the country.

“But what prompted the locals to embrace Islam is that they were impressed with the behaviour of the Arab traders,” he said, adding that the first literature in Malawi was Arabic.

The cover of Footprints of Islam in Malawi glows with the image of the remains of the historical Jumbe’s Mosque in Nkhotakota.

According to Fattani, the book is an attempt to ensure that future generations have a source of information to refer to on the history of Islam in Malawi.

Fattani was born in India in 1944 and pursued Islamic studies at Madrassa Islamia in 1958 after which he obtained a diploma in Islamic studies before joining Islamia College in 1962.

He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree of Commerce at Karachi University in Pakistan in 1966 and went to teach Islam in Mozambique from 1976 to 1979.

He became a member of the Council of Ulama and Sheikhs in Malawi in 1997. In 1983, he founded Fattani Offset Printers. n

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