Chapter 1: Introduction: Muslim FBOs/NGOs and the Provision of Social Welfare in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa (Holger Weiss, Åbo Akademi University, Finland).- Chapter 2: Who do FBOs speak for? The conundrum of representation (Yonatan N. Gez, The Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Israel).- Chapter 3. Conceptualizing the Ethics and Actions of Muslim FBOs in Africa: Local/Global Connections and Contexts (Cecelia Lynch, University of California, Irvine, USA).- Chapter 4: Islamic NGOs in Somalia and their Role in the Somali State Building Process (Valeria Saggiomo, University l’Orientale of Naples, Italy).- Chapter 5: Zakat in Northern Nigeria (Franz Kogelmann, University of Bayreuth, Germany).- Chapter 6: Muslim Faith-Based Organisations and the Provision of Social Welfare in Ghana (Holger Weiss, Åbo Akademi University, Finland).- Chapter 7: Politics of Humanitarianism. The Ahmadiyya and the Provision of Social Welfare (Katrin Langewiesche, University of Mainz, Germany).- Chapter 8: Charity, ONG-ization and Emergent Ethics of Voluntarism: The Case of Islamic NGOs in Côte d'Ivoire (Marie Nathalie LeBlanc, Université du Québec à Montréal & Chaire de recherche sur l'islam contemporain en Afrique de l'ouest).- Chapter 9: Gulf Charities’ Welfare Provision in West-Africa: Working With or Against the Grain? (Mayke Kaag, African Studies Centre, Leiden University).- Chapter 10. Between Charity and Financing ‘Terror’: The Dilemma of Muslim Charitable Organizations in Kenya (Suleiman Athuman Chembea, Kagumo Teachers' College, Kenya).- Chapter 11: Braving the Radicals heads-on: Politics and Aesthetics of Counter-Radicalisation Discourses in a Kenya’s Muslim Civil Society Organisation (Halkano Abdi Wario, Egerton University, Kenya).- Chapter 12: Islamic FBOs in Tanzania – Considerations on the Influence of ‘Local Frameworks’ (Sebastian Müller, University of Bayreuth, Germany).- Chapter 13. Discourses of Shi'i Islamic NGOs in Senegal and Tanzania (Mara Leichtman, Michigan State University).
Holger Weiss is a Professor of General History at Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and ordinary member of the Finnish Society for Sciences and Letters. His research focuses on global and Atlantic history, West African environmental history, and Islamic studies, particularly Islam in Ghana.
This book addresses the discourses, agendas and actions of Muslim faith-based organizations and activists to empower Muslim communities in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. The individual chapters discuss how traditional Muslim welfare and charity institutions, zakat (obligatory or mandatory almsgiving), sadaqa (voluntary almsgiving and donations) and waqf (pious endowments), are used to improve social welfare, focusing on instrumentalization and institutionalization in the collection and distribution of zakat. The book includes case studies from West Africa (Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal), the Horn of Africa (Somalia) and East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), highlighting the role and interplay of local, national and international Sunni, Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslim faith-based organizations and NGOs.
Chapters "Muslim NGOs, Zakat and the Provision of Social Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Introduction" and "Discourses on Zakat and Its Implementation in Contemporary Ghana" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Holger Weiss is a Professor of General History at Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and ordinary member of the Finnish Society for Sciences and Letters. His research focuses on global and Atlantic history, West African environmental history, and Islamic studies, particularly Islam in Ghana.