Lome, Dhul Hijja 8/Feb
20,2002(IINA) – Islamic Daawa is on the increase
in the republic of Togo, in that a number of
Islamic organizations have sprung up in this
country, in addition to the fact that the
country has joined the of the Jeddah-based
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). One of
the largest such organizations is the Federation
of Togo Muslims, a non-political organ,
concerned only with the welfare of the Muslims
in the country, and its membership is open to
all Muslims.
Among the Federation’s
objectives are to spread peace, justice, love
and freedom, and to help the Muslims live a
descent life and to co-exist with followers of
other faiths. It also aims at spreading the
Message of Islam and the Islamic culture and
education.
The Federation also takes
care of new Muslims, and has always discouraged
extremism and violence.
With the help of the Libyan
Jamahiriya, its has been possible to set up a
Training and Educational Center for new Muslim
reverts. Since the new Muslims are usually
boycotted by their kith and kin on embracing
Islam, they are also being helped to stand on
their own, and given the means to do so.
There are many people in Togo
who take to Islam, including members of the
Christian clergy, and they all need to be
assisted in offsetting the effects of being
boycotted by their own people.
In an interview with IINA,
the Federation’s secretary-general, Ahmadu Tito,
said that the Federation has established good
relations with the government of Togo, and that
the government itself has many Muslim civil
servants, and that the Minster of Defense,
Minister of Justice, Parliament Speaker, and the
Private Advisor to the President, are all
Muslims. He added that only two year ago, the
country’s Minister of Local Government embraced
Islam.
The Federation gives top
priority to the education of Muslim children,
and in this connection has established two
schools in Lome, the capital, in which French
and Arabic are taught. It has also established
an Islamic Center in Logi, and the Muslim
Academy at Sonko.
With the held of the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), the Federation has also
been able to set up the Muslim Academy, in which
there are 500 students, starting from primary
right up to secondary level of education. The
Federation has several other smaller educational
institutions in various parts of the country.
Since these Muslim schools
lack the right curricula of study, a number of
people concerned with education have been sent
to various countries in North Africa, such as
Tunisia and Morocco, to study their curricula,
and recommend their application to the schools
in Togo.
There are numerous mosques in
Togo, 40 of them in Lome alone, two of which are
large ones, and they are filled to capacity with
worshippers, particularly on Fridays, when they
overflow and some of the worshippers have to
pray on the pavements.
The Federation tries its best
to spread the word of Islam, and from time to
time holds seminars and symposia for this
purpose. But it is hampered from doing more,
mainly for lack of resources, since its funds
come mainly from donations and Zakat from its
members.
Togo’s Muslims have effective
means of spreading the Message of Islam,
including an Islamic broadcasting station, which
beams its programs round the clock. It is called
the Jabal Noor Valley Islamic Broadcasting
Station, and is on the FM wavelength. There is
also a television station, while every Saturday
the state television station allocates 30
minutes for Islamic programs.
But there is yet to be
published an Islamic newspaper or magazine in
the country.
As for Togo’s membership of
the Organization of Islamic Conference, many
Togolese Muslims have expressed the opinion that
they have yet to see the benefits of membership,
because the OIC is dealing directly with the
governmental authorities.
Togo is the smallest West
African country, with an area of 65,600 square
kilometers and a population of just 4.7 million,
half a million of whom live in the capital, Lome.
They belong to different ethnic groups.
