DA—WAH and INTERFAITH MARRIAGES in MALAWI: a CASE STUDY of NKHOTAKOTA DISTRICT by ABBAS SAIDI MDOKA a Dissertation Submitted In
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DAÑWAH AND INTERFAITH MARRIAGES IN MALAWI: A CASE STUDY OF NKHOTAKOTA DISTRICT BY ABBAS SAIDI MDOKA A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia AUGUST 2018 ABSTRACT In Malawi, many Muslim youths choose their life partners from other religions such as Christianity who at the beginning of their life embrace Islam. However, the situation changes after divorce and in case of death of the husband. The widow or the divorced woman denounces Islam and goes back to her old faith or religion. In many cases, this practice affects the children's future of religion when they are still young, and it jeopardizes the DaÑwah process in the country. The primary purpose of this study is to find out the impact of such interfaith marriages on DaÑwah process in Malawi. The findings obtained from this study shall have far-reaching implications on the lives of all Muslims in the country, especially the ImÉms of the MasÉjid. This research employed the qualitative method. The qualitative approach utilized library research and semi-structured interview methods for data collection. The library research focused on laws practiced in Malawi, books, case studies and journal articles related to interfaith marriages. The population of this study consisted of Muslim communities of Nkhotakota District. ii خﻻصة البحث ABSTRACT IN ARAB يف مﻻوي، خيتار عديد من شباب املسلمني شريكات حياهتم من أهل الدايانت اﻷخرى، مثل املسيحيّة اليت يف بداية حياهتا تعتنق اﻹسﻻم. غري أ ّن الوضع يتغّري بعد الطﻻق، ويف حالة وفاة الزوج؛ اﻷرملة، أو املطلقة اليت تدين ابﻹسﻻم تعود إىل إمياهنا القدمي أو دينها. يف كثري من احلاﻻت، تؤثِّّر هذه املمارسة يف مستقبل اﻷطفال الديين، وهم مايزالون صغاًرا، مما يهدد عملية الَّدعوة يف البﻻد. والغرض اﻷساس من ِّ هذه الّدراسة هو معرفة أثر مثل هذه الزجيات بني اﻷداين على عملية الَّدعوة يف مﻻوي. النتائج اليت متّ احلصول عليها من هذه الدراسة ستكون هلا آاثرها بعيدة املدى على حياة مجيع املسلمني يف البﻻد، وخاصّةً أئمة املساجد. يعتمد هذا البحث على الطريقة النوعيّة، وهي تستخدم يف البحث املكتيب، وأساليب املقابﻻت شبه املنظمة جلمع البياانت. والبحث املكتيب يرّكز على القوانني اليت تطبّق يف مﻻوي، والكتب، ودراسات احلالة، واملقاﻻت الصحفيّة املتعلقة ابلّزواج املختلط بني اﻷداين. تتكون عيّنة هذه الدراسة من اجملتمعات املسلمة يف منطقة خنواتكوات. iii APPROVAL PAGE I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage. .......………………………………….. Assoc. Prof. Dr Che Amnah bt Bahari Supervisor I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage. .....………………………………….. Asst. Prof. Dr Masitoh bt Ahmad Internal Examiner This thesis was submitted to the Department of UÎul al-DÊn and Comparative Religion and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage. …………………………..............… Asst. Prof. Dr Amilah Awang Abd.Rahman Head, Department of UÎul al-DÊn and Comparative Religion This thesis was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage. ………………………….............… Prof. Dr Mohammad Abdul Quayum Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions. Abbas Saidi Mdoka Signature........................................................... Date......................................... v INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH DAÑWAH AND INTERFAITH MARRIAGES IN MALAWI: A CASE STUDY OF NKHOTAKOTA DISTRICT I declare that the copyright holder of this dissertation is Abbas Saidi Mdoka. Copyright © 2018 Abbas Saidi Mdoka. All rights reserved. No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below 1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement. 2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes. 3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries. By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy. Affirmed by Abbas Saidi Mdoka ……..…………………….. ……………………….. Signature Date vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alhamdulillah, all praise and thanks are due to Almighty Allah. May His peace and blessings be upon beloved Prophet MuÍammad, his household, companions and followers. Praise to Allah I have finished this research. The success of this research is all due to Allah and the shortcomings from this research are entirely mine. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Associate Professor Che Amnah bt Bahari for her continuous and excellent guidance, encouragement and supervision for making my research a success. She not only guided me in this research but also advised me based on her experience and opinions which can be applied in my life. Her guidance and support extended cannot be recompensed. A note of thanks must also go to Moulana Umair and the entire staff of Madrasah al-×ikmah Jelebu. I would also like to express my gratitude to my close friend and mentor Sharrif Abobakar Kaisi, a Dean faculty of Development and Applied Sciences at Skyway University, Malawi, for his unwavering support. I am forever indebted to you brother. I must also acknowledge Asst. Prof. Dr Masitoh bt Ahmad for her insightful and intellectual suggestions that has impacted this research. Last but of all I dedicate my utmost gratitude to my wife Ruqayyah my sons Abdullah, Abdul Rahman, Abdul Raheem and my daughter Husna who has patiently tolerated, assisted and encouraged me throughout the crucial periods of completing this work. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii Abstract in Arabic .................................................................................................... iii Aproval page ............................................................................................................ iv Declaration ............................................................................................................... v Copyright Page......................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. vii List of Tables............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Question .................................................................................. 4 1.4 Objective of the Study ............................................................................ 4 1.5 Research Methodology ........................................................................... 4 1.6 Significant of the Study .......................................................................... 6 1.7 Limitation................................................................................................ 6 1.8 Literature Review ................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO: INTER-RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE IN ISLAMIC LAW. 12 2.1 Definition of Marriage ............................................................................ 12 2.2 The Purpose of Marriage ........................................................................ 17 2.3Inter-Religiuos Marriage .......................................................................... 21 2.4 Interfaith Marriage in Judaism and Christianity ..................................... 24 2.5 Marriage between Muslim Men and Women from among the People of the Book ........................................................................................... 24 2.6 Marriage between Muslim Women and Non-Muslims .......................... 27 CHAPTER THREE: THREE: THE LAW AND PRACTICE IN MALAWI................................................................................................................ 30 3.1The Legal System of