Bilal Muslim Mission

The Bilal Muslim Mission is an international Shi’a twelver organization, established in East Africa on December 25, 1964 through the efforts of Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, Hussein Nasser Walji and other dedicated volunteers. The organization is named after Bilal ibn Ribah, the famous African Sahabi.

History

When the organization was established, there were hardly any Shi’a communities of native African origin in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, there are several. Shi’a twelver organization

The website of their Tanzania branch writes:

When past Chairman Ebrahim Hussein Sheriff went to see Ayatullah Uzama Seyid Muhsin Al-Hakim A.M. in early Sixtys: Ayatullah asked Haji Ebrahim “How long are you people in East Africa?” to which Haji-Ebrahim replied “About a hundred years.” “How many Africans have accepted Mazhabe Haq?” Was the next question. To which the reply was “none”. Immediately Agha asked Haji Ebrahim that “Will these people not complain on Youmal Hashr that you knew the right path, yet you did not show them?” Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi conceived a plan in 1962, for propagating Islam. His plan was proposed and approved at the triennial Conference of the Supreme Council of Africa Federation of K.S.I Jamaats of Africa in Tanga in 1964. and became the Bilal Muslim Mission. BILAL MUSLIM MISSION OF TANZANIA was established in 1968 and a sister organization BILAL MUSLIM MISSION OF KENYA was incorporated in 1971 and Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi became Chief Missionary.

They are now part of the World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities, an international umbrella organization that was formed in the 1976, after 1500 Shi’a twelver families emigrated from East Africa to the United Kingdom and Canada. Shi’a twelver organization

The carried out missionary efforts aimed at both non-Muslims and Sunni Muslims, and their efforts intensified after the Iranian Revolution.

In the late 1970s, the Bilal Muslim Mission and World Organization for Islamic Services had sent many books to America, by July 1977, about 5,770 books and booklets had been mailed out.

The Bilal Muslim Mission had been able to accomplished at lot in its objective of spreading the true teaching of Islam, through the hard work of its dedicated founders. This was achieved with very limited means and resources. Main source of spreading the true faith was person to person or through correspondence and publication of books and its dissemination. People from Guyana in South America to Poland in Europe and from Malaysia to West Africa benefitted and embraced the true Islam. Shi’a twelver organization

At present, 2017, the Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania a still trying to get its rhythm since the void left by the death of Allama Sayyid Saeed Aktar Rizvi.

The Bilal Muslim Mission is recognized by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

Member organizations

Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya – kenbilal.org
Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania – bilaltz.org
Bilal Muslim Mission Moshi Branch – bilalmoshi.com
Bilal Muslim Mission of Americas – bilalmma.org
Bilal Muslim Mission of Scandinavia – immi.se (in Swedish)

Publications

Bi-monthly magazines:

Sauti ya Bilal (The Voice of Bilal) to cater for the Swahili readers, since 1965.
‘The light’ which has global readership, since March, 1963. This magazines also spawned a book named “Muhammad is the Last Prophet”.

Books: The Mission has more than 108 (57 English, 51 Swahili) books written on a wide range of Islamic topics.