Integrating Muslim Faith-based Organization (MFBO) into Civil Society Organization (CSO); An Empirical Review of Nigerian Islamic Organizations.
Civil society has been a central force in political, Socioeconomic reforms, and Nations Development. The activities of this groups has been seen by several authors as vital to the democratisation project and its sustenance. Only a few scholars have pointed to the Muslim Faith-based Organization (MFBO) that arises from the democratic ideals promoted by grassroots political activists and freedom fighters as the vanguard of educational struggle, health care institutions, and community-based development initiatives among Muslim faithful in South-West region of Nigeria.
Based on evidence from CSO groups in Nigeria, this paper tries to identifies goals, methods, strategies, and tendencies that should promote Muslim Faith-based Organizations (MFBO) as beacon of Muslim freedom, fountain for education and welfare development of the Ummah, protection of civil rights and resistance against state and other faiths repression of the Muslims, a mobilising platform for projection of substantive interests, the compelling force for religious moderation, and the epitome of popular struggles in an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence.
Originality/value – The paper uses a combination of literatures reviews from different articles by testing the connexion between Civil Society Organization (SCO) and Muslim Faith-based Organizations (MFBO). It identifies severe limitations as well as strengths in the kind of Muslim Faith-based Organizations (MFBO) approaches to the societal issues that should be seen as epitome to addressing key areas crucial to the attention of the Ummah and its implications.
Finally, it will clarify the dimensions in which Muslim Faith-based Organizations (MFBO) may play an important role as substitute for the welfare of the Ummah in an enabling sustenance of peace and tolerance for the betterment of the human society.
Keywords: Civil Society Organization, Muslim Faith-based Organizations, Community Development, Muslim Engagement Activities and Ummah.
