Know the Origin of the Name of Mafia Island
When the Tanzanian and non-Tanzanian public is preparing to go to Mafia Island in a big tourist festival known as Mafia Island Festival.
Of course, many who will hear the name of this island for the first time will wonder why it is called Mafia? Is there any connection with the Mafia gang in Italy and Europe? Maybe it is an island with events similar to the actions of the Mafia gang founded on the island of Sicily, Italy? It is important to note that the word "Mafia" is usually associated with organized crime, especially in Italy.
The Sicilian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra, originated in Sicily and has had a significant impact on Italian and European history. However, it has nothing to do with the name of the Mafia island. The truth is that there is no relationship or origin of these names to either Party. Mafia mob or Sicily Mafia is a name derived from the Italian language (mafioso), especially a dialect that comes from the island of Sicily, which can mean influence or courage.
While the Mafia or the criminal Mafioso has recently started (at the beginning of the 19th Century or at the end of the 18th Century) the name of the island of Mafia existed even before the Portuguese arrived on the East Coast of Africa at the end of the fifteenth Century. Before that, a large part of the big island of Mafia was known as the "shamba Kilole" where later the name changed to Mafia. According to the stories of the elders who are natives of this island, the name of Mafia island is derived from Arabic words that were misquoted and slaves were passed around this island.
It is said that a ship full of slaves passed by this island and in a state of curiosity the Arab masters asked in Arabic (Maa fiy haaa) in informal Kiswahili it is like asking what's in it (what's in it). When they didn't have answers they decided to anchor and found the island uninhabited even though it had a good living condition and they decided not to continue the journey and the slaves took the words 'Maa fiyaa' and pronounced them MAFIA and the name started from there.
There is another theory and it tries to explain the origin of the name Mafia that since long ago this island has become a refuge for people who are burdened with diseases and come to seek cures from far and wide and with God's blessings every time they arrive, recovery is found and that is why the Arabs named this area and the Arabic name Maa_afiya with a healthy meaning,