Usama Joya, Missionary Mayotte
Mayotte is a beautiful archipelago in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. In essence, it is an extension of France, known as “Department of Mayotte”. The culture and heritage of Mayotte resembles the neighbouring Comoros islands. Mayotte is the only department of France with 95% of the population being Muslim, mostly Salafist.
With nearly 30,000 people, Mayotte is extremely under privileged and people do not have basic needs, like drinking water, electricity and access to education.
Before I was sent to Mayotte in 2015 by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his Helper, a missionary had never been sent to the island. However, to the readers’ surprise, there existed a Jamaat and a community of believers in Mayotte! I had no hand in converting these people to Islam Ahmadiyyat. In reality, Allah blessed this island through technology.
The first converts to Islam Ahmadiyyat in Mayotte were actually guided through Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA International).
The background to this story takes us back to 2009, when a local Muslim, Zaidou Saindou, would preach about Islam in different villages of Mayotte and also possessed a madrasah (Islamic School) heard about MTA through a friend. After research and speaking about the channel with his friend, he finally decided to have MTA installed at his home. Zaidou Saindou began to regularly watch MTA 3 Al-Arabiyya, especially the extensive programmes on the death of Jesusas. After watching MTA 3 Al-Arabiyya for a few months, he decided to learn more about Islam Ahmadiyyat.
During his research, he would discuss his findings with his students who would come to his madrasah to learn about the Quran and hadith. Finally, after extensive research into Islam Ahmadiyyat, the gentleman decided to accept Ahmadiyyat as he saw it as the truth. He began preaching the beliefs of Islam Ahmadiyyat to his students (most of whom were ladies) and told them that he had accepted a Jamaat called “Ahmadiyyat”.
Slowly but surely, after discussions and preaching across three years, his students also accepted Islam Ahmadiyyat. In this manner, a community of believers was formed solely through MTA International. No missionary was present on the island, but Allah decided to guide them and once again fulfilled the great prophecy given to the Promised Messiahas that “I shall cause thy message to reach the corners of the earth”.