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RELIGION-KENYA: Christians Fear Shariah Will Undermine Tolerance
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, Jun 18, 2003 (IPS) - Muslim leaders in Kenya are demanding shariah, or
Islamic laws, which Christians fear could plunge the East African nation
into a religious war like in Sudan and Nigeria.
Muslims make up about six percent of Kenya's 30 million people.
The demand for shariah heightened during the National Constitutional
Conference, which adjourned in Nairobi on Jun. 6. The month-long conference
was deliberating on a draft constitution released last year by the Kenya
Constitution Review Commission.
During the talks, sharp differences emerged over the local Islamic - or
Kadhi's - court, with Christian delegates opposed to a clause seeking to
upgrade it. Muslims maintained that they would accept nothing less than the
entrenchment of the courts in the constitution.
The shariah courts have been in existence but at local level. This time,
Muslims are demanding that the courts be elevated to national level, with
similar powers and privileges enjoyed by secular courts.
Currently Muslim judges deal with only personal laws relating to divorce,
inheritance and marriage. But the draft constitution seeks to allow them to
preside over commercial and civil disputes, as well.
Christians fear that shariah would split Kenya, which for a long time has
been regarded as an oasis of tranquillity in the troubled region, along
religious lines.
Religion is an emotive issue in Africa.
In neighbouring Sudan, Christians and Muslims have been fighting, on and
off, since 1955. Sudan's conflict, between its majority Arab Muslim
northerners and black Christian southerners, is rooted in religion.
More than two million people, mostly non-combatants in the south, have
been killed since the latest war erupted in 1983. It was ignited by former
President Gaafar Nimeiri when he imposed the shariah in Africa's largest
country.
Efforts to end the conflict have bogged down over the status of the
capital, Khartoum, with Muslims seeking to retain the laws, and Christians
demanding a shariah-free capital.
Shariah is also threatening to tear Nigeria - Africa's most populous
nation - apart. The law has been adopted by 12 of the 36 states of Nigeria
over the last two years. Nigeria is split 50/50 between Christians and
Muslims.
The United Nations predicts that by 2010 Africa's population will reach
one billion. Of that number, they project that about 48 percent will be
Christian, 40 percent Muslim, and around 10 percent followers of traditional
African religions.
The Gospel Communications International, a Christian group based in the
United States, believes that Africa is one of the last frontiers where major
religions are clashing. "Over the centuries Islam has spread from the Middle
East to North Africa. Muslims represent 41.3 percent of the population in
Africa, growing at a rate of 2.5 percent per year (mainly as a result of
having large families). Christians represent 48.4 percent of Africa's
population," it says.
But Fr. Joachim Omolo, of the Nairobi-based People for Peace in Africa,
rules out religious war in Kenya. "Religious war cannot erupt in Kenya
because the Muslim population is small here," he says.
"What we need right now is redefine Kadhi's courts, and our Muslim
brothers have agreed to the idea," he says.
Abdul Latif, vice-chairperson of Kenya Council of Imams and Scholars,
says "Muslims feel that the pressure to reject kadhi's court is coming from
the West".
He says Christians are misinterpreting Kadhi's court to mean that Muslims
are pushing for shariah in the constitution. "That is not true," he claims.
Mugambi Kiai, a human rights campaigner, based in Nairobi, says Muslims
do need a constitution to protect themselves.
"This was a fair demand by Muslims. When it comes to human rights, it is
in order for minorities to demand protection," he states.
Rev. Arnold Temple of the All Africa Conference of Churches says
"religious animosity" is not so much the making of ordinary Christians or
Muslims. "It is the desire of politicians to use religion as a tool for
politicking," he observes.
In a book, titled Christianity and Peoples of Other Faith, Arnold states,
"In many parts of Africa, the politicians take pleasure in playing one
religion against the other."
"Together we should resist politicians using our religion to benefit
politically," he urges.
Religious leaders contend that the two religions have lived in harmony
for years, except three years ago, when a clash between Muslims and
Catholics in Nairobi, resulted in the burning down of a mosque and two
churches. An Anglican primate, former Archbishop David Gitari, was injured
in the fracas.
The fighting was described as the height of religious fundamentalism in
Kenya.
Fr. Omolo, whose organisation is involved in pro-peace and conflict
management activities, says they are constantly in touch with their Muslim
counterparts.
"We started dialoguing with our Muslim brothers in 2001, long before the
Draft Constitution came into being, and what we learnt about them is totally
different from what Christians are crying foul of," he says. "The Muslims
are good and human if you understand them."(END/IPS/AF/EA/CR/JM/MN/03)
(END)
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