Category: In His Own Words

A woman who knew nothing of Islam but al-Fatiha became the imam of her village in southern Benin, until 352 of its people embraced Islam.

A queen of Arab descent in Madagascar who did not know the meaning of her own name, and a journey to her across sea and mud.

A tribe in northern Kenya without a single Muslim, and the will of a sage who lived among them three centuries earlier.

An orphanage in Africa, two brothers, and the answer a six-year-old gave when Dr. Al-Sumait asked him what he dreamed of becoming.

A village called “Mecca” in Madagascar, four hours through the swamps, and the answer its people gave when asked about their religion.

A Friday in Nkhata Bay, northern Malawi: a sermon in Arabic that neither the preacher nor the worshippers understood — ending with a prayer for a sultan who had died a century before.

A chief in southern Chad became Muslim after a refused marriage proposal, and thousands followed him. Then there was no one to teach them — they did not even know the Eid prayer.

A clinic among the Christian Loko of Sierra Leone, opened without a word of preaching — and the warning Al-Sumait drew from it about zeal without knowledge.