Mauritius: Dynamic Islam in an Island Nation
In the midst of the Indian Ocean there is a group of islands which form the Republic of Mauritius. The largest island is Mauritius, where the capital of Port Louis is located. The Indian Ocean experiences prevailing winds which reverse direction seasonally, allowing sailing vessels carrying passengers and goods to travel to a predictable annual schedule to and from Arabia, India, Africa and islands along the way. It was along these maritime trade routes that Arab Muslim traders brought Islam to the peoples of the western Indian Ocean. Muslim merchants established trading hubs in ports along the east African coast, their interaction with local peoples creating a vibrant hybrid Swahili African-Arabian culture.
Remote Mauritius played a negligible role in this intercontinental network until Europeans started to sail into the Indian Ocean around the southern tip of Africa. In competing for access to Asia’s rich commercial opportunities, they sought oceanic routes which they could control from bases along the way. The possibilities of Mauritius with its fine natural port were first investigated by the Portuguese in the early 16th century but they showed no sustained interest. It was the Dutch who eventually established themselves there in 1638 but their settlements were unsuccessful and were eventually abandoned. The French took occupation in 1710.
The island of Mauritius is stunningly beautiful. Just 1,864 sq. km in area, its interior is ringed by mountain peaks and its coasts by the world’s third-largest coral reef in the world. It is indeed a tropical ‘paradise’ with rich volcanic soils, abundant rivers and streams and rich vegetation. For the French the new colony was of importance both as a strategic port and for its agricultural potential at a time when tobacco, indigo, cotton and sugar were lucrative globally traded commodities. Skilled manpower was needed to service its shipping and free Muslim artisans and seamen were brought for this purpose from India. For other labour, slaves were imported from Africa. Many of these were Muslim.
Another group of free Indians settled in Port Louis from 1758 onwards: independent Hindu and Muslim merchants established businesses there. In 1787, Port Louis was declared a free port, open to ships of all nations: the number of merchants based there rose fourfold, trading goods with vessels from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. From this beginning, local businessmen became a formative element in the make-up and orientation of Mauritian society. In 1805, permission was given to a group of Muslim property owners to buy land on which to build a mosque, the first on the island.
In 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British took control of Mauritius. The French were allowed to keep their possessions, language and legal system and to continue to trade freely. Their slaves continued to be exploited, but the anti-slavery movement in Britain was reaching its height and for additional manual labour the British initially imported convicts from India, many of whom were Muslims.
Britain abolished slavery in 1833 but had another way of recruiting cheap workers. Impoverished Indians were offered contracts as indentured labourers for periods of up to seven years on terms which gave them little more than their passage, subsistence and shelter. Many had no choice but to agree. In 1834, the first indentured workers, including many Muslims, arrived. When their indentures expired, many returned home but a significant number remained to work as labourers and petty tradesmen.
As had occurred during French rule, independent Muslim merchants continued to settle in Mauritius. Muslim businessmen continued to make major contributions to the island’s development and earned a highly respected place in local society. They ultimately came to own sugar estates, steamships and docks and to handle almost entirely the export of sugar and the importation of foodstuffs, textiles and other commodities.
Educated and commercially astute Mauritian Muslim merchants were well able to hold their own in relation to their local colonial rulers. They had a rich repertoire of languages and their communities in India had countless centuries of experience in cross-ocean trading. Although without formal political influence and administratively subject to colonial power, they were not subservient to it. The overall outcome in Mauritius was noteworthy in British colonial history, in that leading elements of the Muslim community played a dynamic and central - and not merely subordinate and peripheral role - in the day-to-day realities of local colonial existence.
Successful Muslim businessmen actively supported their community materially and morally. They helped build madrasas and mosques, including the main Jummah Masjid in Port Louis. There are now more than 200 mosques throughout Mauritius, serving Sunnis (c. 80% of the Muslim population), Shias, Ahmadiyyas and other groups.
Education – as always in Islam – was highly valued and prominent Mauritian Muslim families were well able to provide their children with a higher education. From the beginning of the 20th century, a rising Muslim professional middle class began the long process of first challenging and then assuming administrative and political power as civil servants, municipal councilors and parliamentarians. In 1968, Mauritius became independent of Britain and a republic in 1992. Today it has a population of 1,290,000 of which 48.5% are Hindu, Catholic and Protestant Christians 32.7%, and Muslim 17.3%.
Through a policy of accommodating multiple traditions, Mauritius has been able to establish a stable and democratic political system. Although religious community affiliation is a significant factor in national political life, no single ethnic-religious group has been able to maintain itself in political power without relying on an alliance with others.
The first Governor General of the Republic of Mauritius, Sir Abdool Raman Osman, was from the Muslim community, as was the first elected President, Cassam Uteem. The nation’s current President, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, is Muslim - a world-renowned expert in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Mauritius is a secular state with freedom of religion a constitutional right. A Waqf Board administers mosques and is responsible for funerals, madrasa education and Islamic ceremonies. In 1987, an Islamic Cultural Centre was established. Amongst other activities, it organises Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages and teaches Arabic and Urdu.
Mauritius is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when visiting Mauritius this year, praised it as a “role model of democracy and accountability”. According to the 2016 Democracy Index of the Economist Intelligence Unit that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, Mauritius is ranked as a “full democracy”. It is 18th worldwide of only 19 countries so highly rated: it is the only African country rated as having “full democracy” The 2006-2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Mauritius as first in good governance in the continent.
Since independence, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculture-based economy to an upper middle-income diversified economy, based primarily on tourism, light manufacturing industries, sugar and financial services. In recent years, information and communication technology, seafood, hospitality and property development, healthcare, renewable energy and education and training have also emerged as important sectors. Economic growth has resulted in a very low level of unemployment (2.5%). It has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa.
The economic development of Mauritius since independence has been called the “Mauritian Miracle” and the “Success Story of Africa”. The nation is ranked highly internationally in terms of economic competitiveness and friendly investment climate, good governance and a free economy. In the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom, Mauritius was ranked as having the 21th freest economy in the world (and 1st in Africa) and given the highest score in investment freedom of 183 countries. The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index 2018 ranks Mauritius 25th worldwide out of 189 economies. The Bank of Mauritius is actively engaged in the development of the global and local Islamic finance industry.
In Islam a country is considered blessed if its merchants and businesses abide by its religious principles, as reflected in the hadith of the Prophet (sas), “The truthful and trustworthy businessman will be in the company of prophets, saints and martyrs on the Day of Judgement” (at-Tirmidhi 1209). Across the last three hundred years of Mauritius’ history, Muslims – not only in the commercial sector but the community as a whole - have played a central role in developing its freedoms and prosperity through their moral and commercial probity and their strong sense of intergenerational responsibility. Educated Muslims were core participants in the process leading to national independence – as they have been in national leadership following independence.
The Republic of Mauritius is a work in progress. It provides an example of the rich and dynamic contribution which a Muslim minority community can make to the creation of a multicultural, globally orientated and just society, if able to function freely according to its own principles over time.
