The English translation of N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, is “The place of rest”. Unfortunately, N’Djamena has been anything but a place of rest for the past few decades: the history of this city is marked by ethnic conflicts, political unrest and even war in the 1980s. Today, N'Djamena has a population of about one million - and significant urban expansion is still continuing. Muslims in N'Djamena are politically, economically and religiously powerful, as well as imposing and sometimes even aggressive, making many of the Christians in the city feel inferior.

Some of the Kanuri tribes do not yet have a translation of the Bible in their native dialect; others tribes have only portions of the Bible. Kanuri main tribes consist of the Yerwa Kanuri, the Manga Kanuri, and Kanembu Kanuri.

Around the middle of the 17th century, Abdelkerim led the Maba (or “Wadday”) people from animism to Islam, set them free from their oppressors and became their first sultan. He is said to have been a descendant of Abbas, an uncle of Mohammed.