The Zambian Journal of Religion and Contemporary Religious Issues (ZJRCRI) began in 2018 as Zambian Journal of Religious and Contemporary Issues. The title was changed in 2023. It is the leading journal in Zambia for the dissemination of research into religion, religious issues, and religious education in Zambia. The Journal aims at generating fresh scholarly inquiry and rigorous exposition in disciplines that have to do with religion, education and religion, church history, theology and its various branches, religious studies, etc. Inter-disciplinary analysis and research that reflects new theoretical or methodological approaches is encouraged. The current issue (ZJRCRI Vol 5 No. 1 (2025) ) has five articles, four articles focusing on Zambia and one contribution from Zimbabwe on Islam in Zimbabwe. This issue opens with Hachintu’s exploration of the Chikankata Tonga people’s strong preference for ancestral burial. The research was conducted in the villages of the Mwenda Chiefdom in Southern Province. The findings indicated that graves within people’s homesteads served as mnemonic landscapes, rekindled fond memories, extended love and ownership to the dead by their loved ones, and linked the spirits of the deceased relatives to the community of ancestors. James Phiri in the second article discloses that representation of women in leadership roles in the Anglican Church in Zambia is low, religious spaces continues to be low. Situated in the interpretivist paradigm, the article draws on insights from document analyses of the Anglican Church’s doctrines and other literature to inform understanding of women representation in leadership roles in the Anglican Church in Zambia. Phiri argues that although the Anglican Church in Zambia does and is still actively involved in advocating for women rights, and gender equality in Zambia, in collaboration with different stakeholders and partners, it does not have women in its official leadership positions or holy orders of deacon, priest and bishop. Alfred Kapepe has contributed to this journal in the area of Pentecostalism and naming of children. In this article, Kapepe examines the kind of names that Pentecostals in Zambia give to their children in place of the names of their deceased members of the lineage. Kapepe established that Pentecostals choose names of their children from the Bible because they believe that traditional names from their lineage are demonic. Mugala and Simuchimba in the fourth article explore the status of Religious Education as a curriculum subject after the introduction and implementation of the 2013 Zambia curriculum framework. Ndola district on the Copperbelt was the study site. According to the findings of the study, RE had dropped from being fully compulsory at junior secondary school level to being compulsory only in one of the two learning pathways and remaining optional at senior secondary school level. The last article is based on Islam in Zimbabwe and Tauya Chinama and Isaac Mutelo analyse the complexity of the notion of jihad from the perspective of Muslim political engagement and activism in Zimbabwe. The authors note that despite being a minority in a predominantly Christian nation, Muslims in Zimbabwe have been actively participating in humanitarian efforts, such as education and welfare initiatives, demonstrated by organisations such as Muslimahs for the Nation Zimbabwe. The authors note that, while the legal framework in the country does not strictly limit the role of religion in the public sphere, challenges such as political instability and social discrimination hinder meaningful engagement.