Gaborone Muslim Community: A Vignette into their lives

Abstract

Southern Africa's Muslim minorities have been growing at a steady pace through procreation, conversion and migration. These Muslim communities have rooted and embedded themselves onto the Southern African soil and have contributed in varied ways to the respective countries where they reside and live. Apart from South Africa's well documented Muslim community, very little attention has been given by scholars to the Muslim communities in its neighbouring states. When one surveys the region, it becomes evident that nothing substantial has been written about the Muslims in Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho except for a few popular journalistic articles, and that few attempts have been made by scholars to write about the Muslim communities in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana. This article will therefore try to look at the last mentioned country with specific focus on the Gaborone Muslim community. This article complements the academic studies that have been produced in 1989 and 1998/2000 respectively. This article mainly focuses itself upon the contemporary developments that have taken place in Botswana's capital city where most of the Muslims reside and work. It intends to pinpoint, describe and briefly analyse all the major role players and institutions that are around and that have contributed towards creating a unique Gaborone Muslim community.