The Rise of Islam

One of the things that surprised me about Tanzania, and particularly the island of Zanzibar, was the overwhelming presence of Islam there. In fact, the majority of the people in coastal Tanzania are Muslim, including more than 99% of the 1.2 million people in Zanzibar. That was very surprising to me. I knew that Islam was strong in Northern Africa, but I did not expect to find it to be so strong in East Africa.

From what I have been told, Christianity actually came to Zanzibar first, several centuries ago, but "conversion" at that time meant mostly just a name change. The Africans there were deemed "Christian" if, for example, they changed their name from Jabali, a traditional African name, to John, a "Christian" name. With very little change happening in their belief system, Zanzibar was easily transformed into an Islamic state when it was later taken over by Arabs. Although Zanzibar is now part of the United Republic of Tanzania, a free state, it continues to be dominated by Islam. And while it is not illegal to be a Christian there, the believers in Zanzibar still face a great deal of persecution.

I think this picture symbolizes the unfortunate shift in belief systems in Zanzibar. On the right is an old, archaic church, now literally serving as a museum. On the left is a mosque, alive and active and at the center of society.

Even with the intense tropical heat, the Muslim women follow strict dress codes.

A man wearing a typical Muslim outfit.

We spent the weekend with the pastor of this church. It was the only active Christian church that I saw while in Zanzibar.

Please pray that the Spirit of God would break through in this spiritually dark place! Also, pray for the believers there as many of them face persecution daily!

Weekend in Zanzibar

With no classes to teach on the weekend in Tanzania, Bhuti, Biggie, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania (see map on the left). To give you a brief history lesson, Zanzibar was formerly its own island country. First, in the 7th century, it was an Arab state. It later passed into the hands of the Portuguese, then to the British, and finally back to the Arabs in 1963. However, in 1964 the Sultan of Zanzibar was overthrown from power. At the same time, Tanzania (then known as Tanganyika), had been colonized by the Germans, then passed on to British rule until 1962, when Tanganyika became an independent republic, with Julius Nyerere as President. After the Sultan of Zanzibar was overthrown in 1964, the two independent states combined to make one state: the United Republic of Tanzania. Interesting stuff.

I digress...

So, we decided to go check out this crazy Arab/Portuguese/British/African island called Zanzibar. We took a boat out to the island, which looked like a yacht from the outside, while the inside looked more like the cabin of an airplane. It was to take nearly 2 hours to reach Zanzibar. The cabin got hot and stuffy quickly, so Biggie and I retreated to the upper deck of the ship. There, we met a few Muslim guys who were studying IT (Information Technology) in Uganda but were traveling on holiday to Zanzibar (you seriously meet the most interesting people when you travel).

For over an hour, we had quite an interesting conversation with these guys about Jesus. They were very hung up on the Trinity, thinking that the Trinity meant that Christians worship three gods. They also had some very interesting beliefs about Jesus. For instance, they believed that at the last minute God replaced Jesus on the cross with another man who only looked like Jesus. The real Jesus, then, still has to come back and live on earth for 40 years, at which point he will die. I had never heard that theory before.

I asked them to share with me everything about their god, Allah. So, they did, and then they asked me about my God. I walked them through creation, the fall, separation from God, the need for a Savior, all the way up to Jesus himself--his death and, more importantly, his resurrection (which I contrasted with Mohammed, who is still in the grave). The guys listened intently, and we had a great discussion, but, in the end, we agreed to disagree. One of them, not knowing my vocation, actually said, "You'd make a great preacher. I believe that you will someday become a Muslim and be a great preacher of Islam." Not exactly the response I was looking for, but I shook their hands and told them that even though they don't believe the way I do, I still consider them friends. And I do. It was weird walking away from those guys, troubled by the state of their souls, but knowing that there was nothing more I could do. It was their choice, and fighting with them, like so many Muslims and Christians throughout history have done (and even still do today), was simply not the answer. I will likely never see them again, but they are in God's hands now. It will have to be a work of His Spirit to guide them to the Truth (I suppose it's always that way, isn't it?).

Biggie chatting with our new Muslim friends on the boat to Zanzibar.

A view of Zanzibar from the ship.

Welcome to Zanzibar!