Bilal Muslim Mission

The Bilal Muslim Mission is an international Shi'a twelver organization, established in East Africa in December 25 1964 World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities [http://www.world-federation.org/ZCSS/Articles/bilal_muslim_mission_africa_glance.htm] ] through the efforts of Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi [http://www.victorynewsmagazine.com/PassingAwaySayyidAkhtarRizvi.htm victorynewsmagazine.com] ] . The organization is named after Bilal ibn Ribah, the famous African Sahaba

History

When the organization was established, there were hardly any Shi'a communities of native African origin in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, there are several.

The website of their Tanzania branch writes:cquote|When past Chairman Ebrahim Hussein Sheriff went to see Ayatullah Uzama Seyid Muhsin Al-Hakim A.M. in early Sixtys: Ayatullah asked Haji Ebrahim "How long are you people in East Africa?" to which Haji-Ebrahim replied "About a hundred years." "How many Africans have accepted Mazhabe Haq? Was the next question. To which the reply was "none". Immediately Agha asked Haji Ebrahim that "Will these people not complain on Youmal Hashr that you knew the right path, yet you did not show them?"

It was therefore decided in the meeting of Supreme Council of the Federation of K.S.I Jamaats of Africa at Tanga to start the mission and ultimately BILAL MUSLIM MISSION was established in 1968 and a sister organization BILAL MUSLIM MISSION OF KENYA was incorporated in 1971 and Allamah Seyid Akhtar Rizvi became Chief Missionary. [http://www.darulmuslimeen.org/BilalMuslimMission/BilalMuslimMission.htm darulmuslimeen.org] ]

They are now part of the World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities, an international umbrella organization that was formed in the 1976, after 1500 Shi'a twelver families emigrated from East Africa to the United Kingdom and Canada [Mapping Women, Making Politics: feminist perspectives on political geography By Linda J. Peake, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415934486&id=osN27Czz6WoC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&ots=eG1ZBNrXlP&dq=Bilal+Muslim+Mission&sig=e5YPCg5xyNZB702Zvy346cOXeqI read online] on Google Books ] .

The carried out missionary efforts aimed at both non-Muslims and Sunni Muslims, and their efforts intensified after the Iranian Revolution [Islam and Politics in Kenya By Arye Oded, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1555879292&id=8_UL9yJrD4QC&pg=RA2-PA17&lpg=RA2-PA17&ots=6H1OyR4OHu&dq=Bilal+Muslim+Mission&sig=zyaVCKijb3iHF_zhryV5NmNy1nsread online] on Google Books] .

In the late 1970s, the Bilal Muslim Mission and World Organization for Islamic Services had sent many books to America, by July 1977, about 5,770 books and booklets had been mailed out [Larry Poston, Islamic Da’wah in the West, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 128-129. on [http://www.du.edu/~ltakim/article_ShismAmerica.htm#_edn45 du.edu] ] .

The Bilal Muslim Mission is recoqnized by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs [ [http://moia.gov.in/showsublink.asp?sublinkid=240 moia.gov.in] ] .

Member organizations

*Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya – [http://www.kenbilal.org/ kenbilal.org]
*Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania – [http://www.bilaltz.org/ bilaltz.org]
*Bilal Muslim Mission Moshi Branch – [http://www.bilalmoshi.com/ bilalmoshi.com]
*Bilal Muslim Mission of Americas – [http://www.bilalmma.org/ bilalmma.org]
*Bilal Muslim Mission of Scandinavia – [http://www.immi.se/biblio/1991.htm immi.se] Sv icon

Publications

Bi-monthly magazines:
*Sauti ya Bilal (The Voice of Bilal) to cater for the Swahili readers , since 1965
*'The light' which has global readership , since March, 1963 . This magazines also spawned a book named "Muhammad is the Last Prophet" [ [http://www.dartabligh.org/books/items.asp?Prophet dartabligh.org : Global Bookstore ] ] .

Books:The Mission has more than 108 (57 English, 51 Swahili) books written on a wide range of Islamic topics .
*Music and it's Effects [Music and it's Effects, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9976956363&id=ClKsk_j7FPEC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=jE-inaCXql&dq=%22Bilal+Muslim+Mission%22&sig=7s_L34Ev_hzzVxxaUG6AENcofcc read online] on Google Books ]

References

External links

* [http://ieb.world-federation.org/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&btitle=CE&mid=&ceid=66 power point presentation] created by Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi on the World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities website.