For the pleasure of Allah, since 1994.
For the pleasure of Allah, since 1994.
Maahad Daawah Organisation began in 1994 with a handful of young men attending Wednesday darsas in Pangani and a request to sponsor students in Merti and Garba Tula. Thirty years on, it is a registered Kenyan NGO running education, relief, medical and welfare programmes across the country, and the sponsor of the Al-Furqan Training Institute in Maili Tisa.
Poverty Alleviation Through Education
Empowerment through Self Sustainability
For the Pleasure of Allah
Three decades, for the pleasure of Allah
The inception
Maahad Daawah was formed when a few young men, keen to deepen their Islamic knowledge, began attending darsas at the Maahad (GTI Pangani) every Wednesday. At one of those darsas they learned that students in Merti and Garba Tula, a marginalised, drought-prone corner of North Eastern Province, needed sponsorship to stay in secondary school. They raised the fees.
They then visited Garbatullah, saw families living in temporary grass huts, and funded the materials for proper shelters while the locals gave their labour. Those first students went on to become teachers, police officers, army officers, a lecturer in Jeddah and an assistant chief.
Maahad Daawah Group
The brothers formalised their work as the Maahad Daawah Group, with one objective: seeking the pleasure of Allah, with a focus on eradicating poverty through education and attending to the poor and needy of Kenya, regardless of race, religion or gender. MDG became the first Muslim organisation in Kenya to display all its activities and financials to the public, and the community responded.
A feeding centre opened in Madogo/Mororo, Tana River; a water pump was commissioned for irrigation on the Tana; and in 1996/7 the group partnered with Muslim Aid UK on famine and flood relief across North Eastern Province and Tana River. When members saw the shortage of trained imams, madrassa teachers and IRE teachers, they resolved to build an institute. A hostel block opposite Park Road Mosque came up for sale at 20 million shillings, payable in six months. Members walked door to door, house to house and town to town, and a fundraiser at KICC with Sheikh Abu Aminah Bilal Philips as main speaker closed the gap. Al-Furqan Institute took its first intake in August 1999. That September, the group was registered as a Non-Governmental Organisation and became Maahad Daawah Organisation.
Growing the work
The new decade widened the mission. The Money Tin programme put Sadaqa tins in homes, shops and restaurants so that every household could take part. The first charity walk was held in 2003 and a second in 2006.
Land was acquired in Maili Tisa, Namanga in 2003; the first Al-Furqan graduation followed in 2004 with 15 students, and in 2005 the Institute relocated to Maili Tisa to make room for a growing student body. MDO ran famine relief in North Eastern Province in 2005, assisted victims of post-election violence with food, clothing and blankets alongside Ummah Foundation, and partnered with Dr. M. R. Khan to open the Taiba Medical Centre in the former Al-Furqan hostel on Park Road.
Building for the long term
More than 50 motorbikes were handed to imams and daees over five years so they could reach their communities and earn a living. Al-Furqan introduced the KCSE curriculum and opened a science lab in 2011, built teachers' residences in 2012, and commissioned a new kitchen and dormitories in 2017.
The Al-Furqan Towers Waqf project was unveiled in 2015 to make the Institute self-sustaining, and construction on Park Road began in 2016, funded by fundraising functions in Mombasa and at various venues and masajid, the Halal Trade Expo, certificate books, and the cycling relay from Nairobi to Maili Tisa together with Pedal to Hajj: KShs 33 million in all. MDO organised the Halal Trade Expo Kenya in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the first of its kind in East and Central Africa. On 3 December 2017 the new Al-Furqan Masjid opened in Maili Tisa to serve both the town and the Institute. Donors working through MDO have also completed the stalled Mbale Masjid in Vihiga, built the Centre Kwanza Masjid in Trans-Nzoia, and expanded the Mumias Makunga Masjid in Kakamega.
Thirty years, and counting
The drought years tested everything we had built. With Angel Welfare & Education Trust (UK), MDO delivered relief food to 8,717 families across Isiolo North, Isiolo South and Marsabit in November 2021, and 1,050 parcels to ten villages in Tana River in April 2022. A medical camp at Al-Furqan in February 2022 treated 1,834 patients in nine specialities.
Longer-term answers followed: 46 donkey carts for water transport in Tana River, Isiolo, Wajir, Kwale and Kilifi; 300 goats restocked to 60 families in Meru and Marsabit; monthly stipends for ten imams in the Chalbi Desert and Merti; wheelchairs for disabled children and women in Isiolo; and business training and start-up capital for widows on our stipend programme. In 2023 Al-Furqan Towers was completed, Alhamdulillah. In 2024 Maahad Daawah marked thirty years.
From inception to today
Inception
Young men at Wednesday darsas in Pangani sponsor secondary students in Merti and Garba Tula.
First major relief
Famine and flood relief across North Eastern Province and Tana River with Muslim Aid UK.
Al-Furqan opens; MDO registered
First intake at Al-Furqan Institute, Park Road, in August. NGO registration on 8 September; MDG becomes MDO.
Maili Tisa
Land acquired in Maili Tisa, Namanga. First charity walk held.
Al-Furqan relocates
The Institute moves to Maili Tisa, a year after its first graduation.
KCSE at Al-Furqan
KCSE curriculum introduced and science laboratory inaugurated.
Waqf for the future
Al-Furqan Towers Waqf project unveiled; construction begins 2016.
Halal Trade Expo Kenya
First halal trade expo in East and Central Africa, repeated in 2017 and 2018.
Al-Furqan Towers complete
The waqf tower on Park Road is completed to support the Institute.
Thirty years
Over 11 years (2013–2023): KShs 133.65m on education sponsorship, 33.21m on medical assistance and 21.93m on widows' support.
Al-Furqan Training Institute
An affiliate of Maahad Daawah Organisation in Maili Tisa, Kajiado County, offering a six-year syllabus that combines Islamic Religious Education with secondary secular education. Students come mainly from marginalised communities and under-privileged families; monthly running costs of KShs 1.7m to 1.8m are met through zakat, student sponsorship, MDO funding and parents’ donations.
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