The Islamic Presence in Isoka and its Appeal to Local People

Abstract

This article investigated the presence of Islam in the Isoka district in Zambia and the influence the religion has had on the local people. The presence of Muslims, their religious establishment and influence on the socio-economic lives of the local community such as the Namwanga people in the Isoka Township seems not to have been written about. In the researchers’ view, this overlooked the significance of the Islamic presence in this part of the nation, depriving the scholars of religion and the concerned people of the knowledge of the existence and impact of Islam in Isoka. To explore these, the article used descriptive techniques of the qualitative strategy where an Interpretivist Research Design served as the foundation for data collection. The research drew upon a sample of 26 respondents; Semi-structured and Open- ended interview techniques were applied to obtain the required primary data. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed thematically for respondents’ perceptions of the kind of Islam being practised in Isoka and the categories of people that benefited from Islam in the area. The type of Islam present in Isoka was determined. Themes of unemployment, business opportunities, the aged, the poor and orphans, bursaries and educational sponsorships emerged from the findings as windows of opportunities that Islam utilised to make its presence in the area more appealing to the local community. It was recommended that more studies should be carried out to highlight the presence and role of Islam in Zambia and that scholars of religion should draw on the insights of the current study in their analysis of the inter religious conversion in Zambia.