Kenya Socialist Web Site
LET US LISTEN TO OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS FOR UNITY'S SAKE!
April 26, 2003
By Onyango Oloo
I believe that Kenya should
be a secular, rather than a theocratic state. I say this as a Kenyan who
professes NO RELIGIOUS BELIEF but who simultaneously demands the EQUALITY
AND RESPECT of ALL RELIGIONS in Kenya, including the indigenous African ones.
Christianity MUST NOT be Kenya's state religion. At the same time, I would
fight tooth and nail any attempt to transform Kenya into an Islamic state.
As Kenyans we must very careful about how we deal with our religious differences.
Having grown up in a predominantly Muslim town- Mombasa- I know that it is
possible for religious minorities to coexist with dominant neighbours without
giving up on their faith, customs and beliefs. In all the years I lived in
Mombasa, I never saw a single attempt by a single Muslim(with the exception
of the lunchtime street preachers at the Mwembe Tayari bus stop) to
try and coerce a single Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or African Traditionalist
to abandon their faith and convert to Islam. On the other hand, there were
countless examples by many shameless evangelists(local and imported) to entice
Muslim youth (using food, money and other inducements) to convert to Christianity.
We will be playing with fire if we approach the constitutional discussions
from partisan, parochial or sectarian blinkered visions.
Around Africa, we see a civil war raging in Algeria because the civilian/military
dictatorship there thought they could impose a
military "solution" to the democratic victory of the Islamist forces during
the 1992 elections. And we are witnessing what religious fanaticism is doing
to northern Nigeria.
That is why I think some of the Christian leaders are treading on very dangerous
ground in their approach to the concerns of Kenyan Muslims regarding the
Kadhi's courts. I say this because by and large, the leadership of the Kenyan
Muslims consists of patriotic, democratic and peace loving people who are
the biggest safeguards against the emergence in Kenya of our own homegrown
Osama bin Ladens. Let us all ensure that Kenyan Muslims remain in the mainstream
of the constitutional reform process rather than outside this framework.
And we will ignore this exhortation to our collective peril.
Relentless indoctrination
Between Form I and Form IV I was in a secondary school run by conservative
Christian missionaries from the American South. I did my "A" levels at a
school run by the educational arm of a Shia Muslim organization. At Baptist
High School, we had two designated periods (Tuesdays and Thursdays between
9:05 am and 10 o'clock) called "Chapel" which was mandatory for ALL students
irrespective of their faith. This was essentially a mandatory Christian service
with Bible readings, born again testimonies, sermons, followed by the obligatory
invitation to the assembled students to give their lives to Jesus. If there
was one factor that drove me to waiting arms of atheists, it was the
relentless indoctrination of these Southern Baptists in Mombasa in
the mid to late seventies…but I digress….
At Aga Khan Kenya Secondary School where I did my "A" levels, there was also
an obligatory session every morning featuring Muslim prayers. The big difference
however, was that there was VIRTUALLY NO PROSELYTIZING at Aga Khan in an
attempt to convert the Christian students into Muslims.
In spite of what happened at Baptist High, Muslim parents still brought their
kids to that school even when there were repeated
incidents of these(with the benefit of hindsight I can see it now) Southern
rednecks casting aspersions at what they derogatorily
referred to as the "Mohammedan faith."
Given the actual history of Muslims in Kenya, I do not think that Kenyans
who are Christian or non-Muslims have anything to fear from Muslims, who,
in my experience at the Kenyan Coast are tolerant, law abiding peace loving
people who embrace their Kenyan identity even as they adhere to their Islamic
faith.Let us accept our history as multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-
faith diverse NATION. The different threads make us a richer, more colourful
society.
Muslims talking about democratic rights
Muslims in Kenya are a religious minority. In addition, Islam is predominant
among certain ethnic and cultural minorities like the Somali, the Borana,
the Swahili, the Arabs, the Digos, the Bohras, Memons, Ismailis, etc. It
is interesting that people who know that affirmative action does not mean
"favours" to women, can simultaneously turn around and accuse Muslims for
agitating for a special status in Kenya. What is the cause of the hullabaloo?
Rummaging around the internet, I came across the following document: And
here
is just one of the many reports on the growing controversy: Then there
is this fascinating interview
with one of the Christian
religious representatives:
To my mind, what Kenyan Muslims are talking about are democratic rights that
can be enshrined and safeguarded in the supreme document of the land, which
is the constitution. We all should commend, support and encourage Kenyan
Muslims to
advance their demands as part of this constitutional reform process. The
demands they are making are not unreasonable, in my opinion.
In my view, I think that neither the Muslims nor the Christians should come
to the table with a list of ultimatums that brook no
criticism, negotiation or debate. That belligerent stance would undermine
the very democratic process
that some of us are insisting should be used in advancing and protecting
the rights of all Kenyans.
Kenya is lucky and privileged to have a number of brilliant Muslim minds
who have been part of this democratic and constitutional review process-
I am thinking of people like Willy Mutunga, Khalif Khelefa, Alamin
Mazrui to name just three- who can be entrusted in pushing for Muslim
rights while guaranteeing overall democratic rights for all Kenyans.
Rights of Muslims should be protected in New Constitution
Again, as a Kenyan who consciously and publicly professes NO RELIGIOUS FAITH
I would be extremely queasy to live in a society dominated by any kind of
FUNDAS (fundamentalists) - be their Bible thumping rabidly pro-life Jerry
Falwell cloned crusaders or Wahabbi influenced, Osama quoting, Saudi funded,
Khomeini influenced mullahs advocating death by stoning for convicted adulterers.
You all know what happens to the godless communists when religious fanatics
come to power.
It is possible, if we start with the assumption that in order to remain DEMOCRATIC,
the Kenyan state must of NECESSITY be a SECULAR state that neither favours
Christianity or Islam. It should be made clear to the Muslim community that
they are seen as an integral and important component of Kenyan society whose
faith is PROTECTED by laws enshrined in our constitution that allows all
Muslims to freely practice their religion and observe all important functions.
Muslim workers for instance, should be able to take paid leave for functions
like Maulidi, Idd-Ul Haj- even when these days are not recognized as national
holidays. The same by the way, goes for Hindus and Diwali, Jews and Hannukah
and so on and so forth. One way out of the Sharia Law impasse would be to
have a clause in the constitution which states something like:
"Sharia Law will be observed and implemented where such provisions do not
conflict with other fundamental democratic and human rights and where these
laws are not inconsistent with the true teachings of Islam rather than sectarian
interpretations of said teachings."
One consequence of this would be to enforce precepts like equality before
the law and legal safeguards from being subjected to degrading and cruel
punishments.
Onyango Oloo
Montreal
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RECOMMENDED READING:
Women Living Under Muslim
Laws Women Living
Under Muslim Laws (PDF)
A sort of contrary outlook:
Women & Islam – The Gender
Struggle in South Africa: The Ideological Struggle
Two heads are better
then one
And something different from the above:
The New Religious Politics
and Women Worldwide: A Comparative Study
Ayesha Imam, a dynamic
Nigerian comrade:
How the South Africans
approached the issue of Muslim Personal Status Law:
Gender
Equality And Religious Family Laws In South Africa (pdf)
Muslim Personal
Law And The Constitution
A
perspective from Sudan:
Published by Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance
(KSDA)
email: harakatips@hotmail.com
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