Listen closely in Mangochi or Machinga today and you may hear it echoing from masjids, madrasahs and quiet living rooms: Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Allah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulu-Allah. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
It is the Shahada, the declaration of faith and doorway into Islam. And across Malawi, more people are embracing Islam, while many born into the faith are also deepening their connection to it.
Islam is not new to Malawi. It arrived centuries ago through traders moving along regional routes and took root particularly among the Yao people in the south. Today, Islam is the country’s second-largest religion.
According to Malawi’s 2018 Population and Housing Census, Muslims made up 13.8% of the population, with particularly strong communities in Mangochi, Machinga and areas around Lake Malawi.
But the picture is broader than one region or ethnicity. Muslim communities today stretch across the country.
“Over the past decade, we have seen encouraging growth and, perhaps more importantly, a growing interest in learning and practising Islam,” said Moulana Yousuf Desai, an administrator at Namanolo Islamic Educational Trust.
“The growth is not only something reflected in numbers; we see it in the establishment and development of madrasahs, the participation of children and adults in Islamic learning, increased interest in Qur’an and Salaah, and communities becoming more organised around their masaajid.”
Faith in action
If Islam first reached Malawi through trade, its presence today is being reinforced through community service, education and dawah.
Islamic teachings place mercy and concern for others at the centre of faith.
“There certainly has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. He is concerned by your suffering, anxious for your well-being, and gracious and merciful to the believers.” [Surah At-Tawbah:128]
That ethos can be seen in food parcels, school fees, boreholes, classrooms and other community initiatives. Organisations such as Islamic Relief, alongside local Muslim charities and community groups, provide assistance to vulnerable Malawians while also supporting Islamic education.
Migration has also become an important vehicle for dawah.
“Migrants played a big role in people learning Islam, as some people went to places like Egypt, Malaysia, Sudan, South Africa and other places in the world, coming back with the skills to give dawah and proper Islamic teachings,” said Moulana Kassim Hussein Akili, a Halaal auditor at SANHA.
Why are people drawn to Islam?
For Desai, one important factor is straightforward: the way Muslims live among their neighbours.
“One important factor is the peaceful and sincere manner in which Muslims interact with their neighbours and communities,” he said.
“People are often attracted to the clarity of Islamic belief, belief in one Creator, the importance of worshipping Him, developing good character, helping others and living a purposeful life.”
Education also plays a major role. Qur’an classes, madrasahs and community programmes give people opportunities to ask questions and learn about Islam directly.
“When people have an opportunity to learn about Islam properly and ask questions, many discover that their previous understanding of Islam was incomplete,” Desai said.
The growth of Malawi’s Muslim population appears to come from several factors at once: Muslim families raising new generations, Malawians returning from abroad with greater Islamic knowledge, and people from other backgrounds choosing to embrace Islam.
Akili also pointed to larger Muslim family sizes as one possible demographic factor.
“Islam allows men to marry four wives, so one cannot deny the fact of an increasing population compared to other religions; take the Mangochi region for instance,” he said.
Desai, however, cautioned against attributing overall growth to conversion without firm data.
“We are seeing people who were not born Muslim becoming interested in Islam and accepting it. I would, however, be cautious about attributing the overall growth purely to conversions without reliable statistics.
“What we can say from the ground is that there is genuine interest in Islam among people from different backgrounds.”
The double-edged phone
Then there is the phone in almost every pocket.
Social media has dramatically expanded access to Islamic knowledge, placing lectures, Qur’an recitation, tafsir and question-and-answer sessions within reach of communities that may previously have had limited access to scholars or Islamic libraries.
But Desai warned that the same technology also carries risks.
“Social media is a very powerful tool… At the same time, there is a serious responsibility attached to it. Not everything that is presented in the name of Islam is necessarily correct,” he said.
“People should distinguish between qualified Islamic scholarship and individuals simply sharing opinions online. Technology can help spread knowledge, but it cannot replace sound scholarship and learning directly from people of knowledge.”
Beyond numbers
Ask Desai how the growth of Islam should be measured and he shifts the focus away from demographics.
“The growth of Islam should not simply be measured by how many people identify themselves as Muslim. Real growth is when a person learns who Allah is, understands the purpose of life, establishes Salaah, learns the Qur’an, develops good character, and begins to live according to the teachings of Islam.”
For him, that growth is visible not only in census figures but in children attending madrasah, adults learning to recite the Qur’an, new masjids being built, and communities investing time and money into Islamic education.
“We also see the importance of investing in the next generation. If children are given proper Islamic education, good tarbiyyah, and a connection with the Qur’an, then the future of the Muslim community becomes much stronger,” he said.
From ancient trade routes to TikTok tafsir, Malawi’s Islamic story continues to evolve.
It is not only a story about numbers. It is also about neighbours, migrants, families, students and seekers encountering Islam and finding meaning in its message.
“From an Islamic perspective, numbers are not the ultimate measure of success,” Desai said.
“The quality of a person’s Imaan, character, and actions is what truly matters.”
