Latest Post
Showing posts with label entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entertainment. Show all posts
Christian Hegemony and the Rise of Muslim Militancy in Tanzania Mainland
Written By mahamoud on Wednesday, 25 December 2013 | 20:58
Baraza
Christian Hegemony and the Rise of Muslim Militancy in Tanzania Mainland
7th July 2011
Organised by
Zentrum Moderner Orient
Berlin
Speaker
Mohamed Said
Christian Hegemony and the Rise of Muslims Militancy in Tanzania Mainland
Introduction
In order to understand the Tanzanian political environment and to appreciate this study we first need to establish even in a nut shell the source of the problem. Why is the Church in Tanzania and particularly the Catholic Church in control of the government and all that it entails? Why are Muslims, fifty years after independence still backward, uneducated and form the lower strata of society? Is this by default or design? Having seen this we have to analyse and deeply explore the hopes and aspirations of Muslims in free Tanganyika as Tanzania was known then and ask, are Muslims satisfied with this unequal status? We also have to ask again did Muslims spearhead the struggle for independence so that the Church could replace the colonial government. Although for reasons which are to be deduced later, this historical fact is still in contention. No one can ignore the role of Islam and Muslims in resisting foreign domination beginning with German colonialism when in 1907 Muslims rose up in arms against Germans in Maji Maji War to free Tanganyika from bondage; to the period of British rule when Muslims formed the backbone of resistance against British rule.
Subsequently Muslims dominated both labour and nationalist politics. Tanzania Mainland celebrates fifty years of independence this year but the role of Muslims in resisting foreign rule and in liberating Tanganyika from colonialism has not been requited nor have the heroes of independence struggle been honoured.[1] We again have to pose a question why is this so? Is it that Tanzania is an ungrateful nation and therefore hates its heroes? Answers to all those questions will lead us closer to understanding the problem which Muslims in Tanzania face. Answers to these questions will make us reflect and uncover reasons which caused Muslim independence aspirations not to be realised. This is now the bone of contention between Muslims and the government. Muslims without mincing words are now pointing an accusing finger to the Church particularly the Catholic Church which in connivance with President Nyerere for being anti Islam and for frustrating the hopes and aspirations of Muslims in free Tanganyika, a country they liberated from colonialism in 1961.[2]
History in Revision
Muslims are now organising nationwide mass rallies which openly and in live broadcasts denounce the church, criticise the government and church agents within the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Parliament for oppressing Muslims. Seemingly derogatory words like “pandikizi” (singular) and “mapandikizi” (plural) meaning “turncoats;” or the new coined word “Mfumo Kristo” roughly meaning “Christian dominance” are now part of the Muslim and Swahili vocabulary. These analogies are used freely in the Muslim media and among Muslims in every day conversation. But what usually thrills Muslims and utterly significant showing that times have changed is when in the rallies and in normal discussion Muslims refer to Nyerere hitherto known respectfully as “Baba wa Taifa” as “Baba wa Kanisa,” meaning “Church Elder.”[3] The move by the Catholic Church to make him a saint has not helped matters. More so it proves all the allegations levelled against Nyerere that he never was a nationalist but a Catholic zealot. Respect and love which Muslims once had for Nyerere has been completely wiped out. The new generation of Muslims no longer believe in the official history of TANU and the propaganda that it was Nyerere who single handed defeated the British. Muslims instead are honouring the forgotten heroes of independence movement and in so doing invoking emotions particularly in the new generation to stand up against oppression as their forefathers had done against Germans and the British. Muslim heroes of the Maji Maji War like Suleiman Mamba, Ali Songea Mbano,[4] and Muslim nationalists like Abdulwahid [5] and Ally Sykes,[6] Dossa Aziz, Sheikh Hassan bin Amir,[7] Sheikh Suleiman Takadir, Sheikh Yusuf Badi, Bibi Titi Mohamed,[8] Bibi Tatu bint Mzee, Bilali Rehani Waikela,[9] Ali Migeyo[10] and others are now part of nationalist history which was suppressed for many years.[11]
Muslims are demanding the restoration of their history and honour as true liberators of Tanganyika. This is unprecedented. One can only speculate and wonder where this would lead to. Can we identify this phenomenon as corrective and revision of history or is it a lesson of anarchy in recording history?[12] The result of all this is that the Church has been made to stand naked. That the Church did not play any role during Maji Maji[13] or during the struggle against the British or that it has worked hand in hand with the government to sabotage Islam and Muslims is now common knowledge.
Professor Mujahid: Kighoma Abdallah Ali Malima
And the Christian Lobby
After the introduction of multi-parties in 1992 Muslims attempted clandestinely to form a political party, trying to invoke their past history but these efforts were thwarted by the government and other factors, the main one being the problem of organising what is to be an open political party in a clandestine fashion. The mainstay of this movement was the underground Muslim nationwide network which has always been there. The aim was to have a political party which Muslims could control although not in the style of the defunct All Muslim National Union of Tanganyika (AMNUT) founded in 1958 by a splinter Muslim group from TANU following the controversial tripartite voting which came to be known as “Kura Tatu.”[14] However Muslims managed to overcome all obstacles when Prof. Kighoma Ali Malima, a symbol of Muslim resistance to the status quo resigned from the ruling party CCM and joined a little known opposition party, National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA) founded by an obscure Muslim politician, one Abubakar Ulotu. Prof. Malima earned the wrath of the government and church when he pointed out the existence of long standing circle of Christian functionaries in the Ministry of Education which was sabotaging and discriminating Muslim youths barring them from higher education. Through a confidential letter to President Ali Hassan Mwinyi he exposed this faction and made suggestions to the government on how to put an end to that discrimination and elevate Muslims.[15] Prof. Malima for this he was labelled a “Muslim fundamentalist” and therefore a dangerous person out to endanger peace which has been observed since independence. To make a long story short Prof. Malima was hounded out of the ministry by the powerful Christian lobby in CCM and Mwinyi’s government. But Prof. Malima did not leave the ministry quietly. He told Muslims what he had found in the Ministry of Education. Prof Malima’s findings complimented an earlier study done by Warsha.[16]
After the resignation of Prof. Malima from CCM, Muslims perceived that act as a signal for the second liberation. Signs that the country was being divided into two hostile camps between Muslims in opposition and Christians in the ruling party were very much evident. Had Prof. Malima lived and with the charged political atmosphere which was there at that time, and stood for presidential election to oppose Benjamin William Mkapa, a Roman Catholic and a Nyerere protégé, one can only speculate the outcome. Although there were four presidential aspirants nationwide the battle would have narrowed down to only the two of them, which are Prof. Malima and Benjamin Mkapa. Retired President Julius Nyerere had seen the danger of such a confrontation and asked Prof. Malima not to resign from CCM. Nyerere knew for Prof. Malima to resign on a Muslim agenda that would make him a hero to his people and Muslims would rally behind him. The country would be split and polarised.
President Nyerere sent emissaries to Prof. Malima pleading with him not to resign from CCM. Prof. Malima was to receive thinly veiled threats from other quarters as to what could happen to the country was he to resign from CCM on a Muslim agenda. What Prof. Malima endured in the hands of the powerful Christian lobby, his party the CCM and his eventual death, is a drama worth documenting.[17] This situation was averted when Prof. Malima died mysteriously in London soon after taking the leadership of NRA and announcing his candidacy for 1995 presidential elections in a well attended public rally in Tabora. Muslims gave Prof. Malima a funeral which has never been seen before. Prof. Malima had crossed the Rubicon. It was only his death which prevented Muslims from moving towards a head on collision with the government. In Prof. Malima’s death the movement was robbed of its leader and as a result the religious euphoria which was at fever pitch as the country was preparing to enter into second multiparty election waned away. It took a decade to bring the Muslim movement back on track and the irony for that was, it was not CCM the old enemy which was responsible for that but an opposition party, Chama Cha Maendeleo na Demokrasia (CHADEMA) seemingly under the tutelage of Catholic Church out to oust a Muslim president, Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete, which broke the camel’s back. The Catholic Church prior to election issued an Election Manifesto and a document of guidance on how Christians should vote. The presidential candidate for CHADEMA was a former Roman Catholic priest. That said it all. Muslims mobilised for the general election in a manner never seen before to oppose CHADEMA and the Church. Muslims irrespective of their political affiliations campaigned for the return to office of a Muslim president.
Religious Distribution in Tanzania
In order to appreciate the impending danger we need to agree that Muslims are a majority[18] in Tanzania and in any civil upheaval large numbers carry psychological advantages. The government has over the years been making deliberate efforts to conceal this fact and to portray to the world that Muslim-Christian religious distribution is more or less the same and at times to give an impression that Tanzania is a Christian nation and Muslims are a minority.[19]The government to say the least has been very evasive on this question.[20] When the government went into its first census after independence the government did not envisage that the results would show Muslims as a majority. In the 1957 census Muslims outnumbered Christians at a ratio of three to two. Ten years after in 1967, in the post independence census Muslims were 30%, Christians 32% and local belief 37%. Reasons were not given for this sudden decrease of Muslims or the growth of pagans. It is on record that the 1967 statistics were doctored to show that Muslims were trailing behind Christians in numerical strength.[21]D.B. Barret gives statistics which show Muslims as a minority: Muslims 26%, Christians 45% and local belief 28%. Tanzania National Demographic Survey figures for 1973 have Muslims at 40%, Christians 38.9% and local belief 28%. Africa South of the Sahara shows that Muslims are a majority in Tanzania at 60% this figure has remained constant in all its subsequent publications since 1991.[22]
The Christian Lobby in Tanzania’s Political System (Mfumokristo)
The Catholic Church is in control of the government by proxy. Through unseen hands it manipulates the political system in such a way its influence permeates every sector of society from the mass media to selection of students to join secondary schools and other institutions of higher learning, securing scholarship, employment, promotion, for political office etc. etc. In short the Church is in control of the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature.[23] This is the reason the political system has been able to manipulate the law with impunity as far as it affects Muslim interests. The government has been able to ignore serious petitions submitted to the President, Prime Minster, and the Parliament by Muslims. The government with the support of the Christian dominated press has been able to control and shape public opinion against Islam and Muslims. The Church perceive Islam as an enemy it therefore has in operation strategies to ounter its development.[24]Evidence to this fact has been uncovered by Muslim as well as Christian scholars.[25]
Through research and many years of observations it is now possible to know a little how the unseen hand of the Church functions. It works like a secret society and yet it is not one at least from outside. It works in a two prong fashion. It has agents in all important institutions of the civil society who co-ordinates their activities when the need arise forming what could be identified as the Christian lobby. This is a multi-denomination power house. Interesting is the fact that this alliance has been able to even recruit Muslims and alleviated them to important positions in the government and the media. The main function of these Muslims is to soften blows against Muslims interests and give a pleasant perception in the eyes of the public in issues where the government has to confront Muslims. The dirty work for example, to order force to be used against Muslims or to undermine a Muslim in an important position who it is to the interest of the Church that he be sorted out, such tasks will always be apportioned to these Muslims in the Christian lobby.[26] These Muslims can be found in the media, in echelon of the CCM, the government, the police etc. etc. These Muslims are well rewarded and are a government into themselves. Unique in these Muslim personalities is that they endure the political system. They are the show piece to display to the Muslim majority that the government does not discriminate. This system has perfected itself and is now self - propelling. It can work independent of whoever is in command, as seen in the ten year period (1985-1995) when a Muslim president, Ali Hassan Mwinyi was in power and now that another Muslim holds the reigns.
Subtle oppression and propaganda unleashed on any people for many years is bound to have negative effect in their psychology. Majority of Muslims are poor due to impediments unleashed on their path towards upward mobility and will continue to suffer if deliberate efforts are not carried out to reverse the situation. On the other hand the Church has also suffered in its own peculiar way as it now lives in fear and there are few Christians who have seen the danger of Christianity as a doctrinaire being turned into a government within a government and these “sympathizers” have crossed over to the sprouting Pentecostal churches. Tanzania has in place self-generating mammoth machinery, blind and uncontrollable. It cannot think and therefore it is failing to see the danger even when it knocks on its door, the danger which will not only destroy the Church but also the country. The Church machinery now in motion for more than a century and like a true machine it would not wake up. It would only stop when the fuel and grease which propels and oils its parts is exhausted. By then it would be too late. The Church has failed to wake up to the realities that it cannot operate as it did, first under colonialism and later under two Catholic presidents, Nyerere and Mkapa. It cannot always be business as usual. This is proven in the way the government has failed to approach the stagnating Muslim problem and the now new Muslim movement which has gained momentum since the last general election of 2010 in which religious sentiments were out in the open. If the status endures signs are that Muslims will confront the Catholic Church as they had confronted Germany and British colonialism.
Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to show the dangerous path which Tanzania is currently heading to. It is a fact that there is a struggle currently taking place between two contending forces both at institutional and individual levels. It is my belief that this study has provided information which would help decision makers, and those Muslims and Christians who in their apathy, innocence and at times ignorance are oblivious of the problem to realize that Tanzania is not different from Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya or any other African countries torn apart by civil strife as a result of one ethnic group or religion monopolizing all the privileges and resources of the country. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Church and Government is a good example of this. [27]It is high time the government stopped to pretend that all is well and to approach the Muslim plight objectively, seriously and with a sober mind. It is my belief that this will also help well wishers from outside to give good advice to the government. It is also my belief that this topic will receive further research from students of African politics and conflict resolution. To my countrymen the message is that it is only through talking about these problems in the open that we can uncover and expose the unseen hand which if left unchecked would plunge Tanzania into abyss and darkness.
“There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.”
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.”
Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224
Berlin.
7thJuly 2011
[1] On 27 th April, 1985, Julius Nyerere, before stepping down from power, in a colourful ceremony at the State House grounds, conferred a total of 3,979 medals to Tanzanians who had contributed to the development of the nation. None of the Muslim patriots who spearheaded the independence struggle was in that list. The names of those honoured make very interesting reading.
[2] Catholics form 76% of all members of Parliament the remaining 24% seats are divided between Christians of other dominations and Muslims. Muslims control a mere 6% of the seats. Most areas which are under developed in Tanzania mainland are areas with Muslim majority like Kigoma, Tabora, Kilwa, Mtwara, Lindi etc. These areas are now re-examining themselves and are gradually turning into local factions of radical Muslim politics reminiscence of the era of nationalist politics of the 1950s. This could be a source of civil unrest in the very near future. Signs of this have begun to show in the recurrent violent conflicts between Muslims and the government. Tanzania has experienced the Buzuruga Muslim-Sungusungu Conflict (1983), Pork Riots (1993) and Mwembechai Upheaval (1998). For more information See Hamza Mustafa Njozi, Mwembechai Killings and Political Future of Tanzania, Globalink Communications Ottawa, 2000. (The book is banned by the government). In all these conflicts, Muslim blood has been shed. In between these conflicts Muslims have sent several petitions to the government requesting it to look into these problems but all of them have been ignored. As a result of this Muslims from all regions of Tanzania met in Dar es Salaam at Masjid Tungi in 1990 and issued the Tungi Declaration which among other things stated that Muslim should prepare to defend their rights by all means even if it means by force of arms.
[3] The late Prof. Haroub Othman after reading Sheikh Ali Muhsin’s book Conflict and Harmony in Zanzibar and the writer’s book TheLife and Times of Abdulwahid Sykes 1924 -1968 The Untold Story of the Muslim Struggle Against British Colonialism in Tanganyika, Minerva Press, London 1998 and having come across hitherto unknown information on Nyerere was devastated because he was a great admirer of Nyerere as a patriot and a nationalist. The two books had painted him differently. Prof. Haroub confronted Nyerere and told him that the allegations in those two works have tarnished his image and he advised him to respond to them. Nyerere never did. Christian lecturers at Dar es Salaam University are discouraging students from making references to those two books. Dr. Harith Ghassany’s book Kwaheri Ukoloni Kwaheri Uhuru, has also come up with more information on Nyerere hitherto unknown in the Zanzibar Revolution and the bloodbath which followed.
[4] In all historical references to Maji Maji War hero and Chief of Wangoni Ali Songea Mbano, his Muslim name “Ali” would be omitted and he would be referred to as Songea Mbano.
[5] Mohamed Said, The Life and Times of Abdulwahid Sykes (1924 –1968), The Untold Story of the Muslim Struggle Against British Colonialism in Tanganyika Minerva Publishers, London, 1998.
[6] Mohamed Said, Broken Dreams, The Life of Ally Kleist Sykes, Phoenix Publishers, Nairobi 2011 (Forthcoming).
[7] Issa Ziddy, Sheikh Hassan bin Ameir (1880-1979). Also See Mohamed Said, “Sheikh Hassan bin Ameir - The Moving Spirit of Muslim Emancipation in Tanganyika (1950 – 1968)” (Paper presented at Youth Camp Organised by Zanzibar University, World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and Tanzania Muslim Students Association (TAMSA) 27thFebruary – 4th March 2004.
[8] Bibi Titi was recruited into TANU by Schneider Abdillah Plantan and began to mobilize people particularly women to join the party even before he came to know Nyerere.
[9] Bilali Rehani Waikela one of the TANU founder members in Western Province in 1955 and Regional Secretary of the East African Muslim Welfare Society (EAMWS) was detained by Nyerere in 1964 for “mixing religion and politics.” His personal papers were of great help in understanding the EAMWS crisis of 1968 and the reasons why Nyerere detained prominent sheikhs banned and the society in 1968. A documentary of his political life has been made and although not officially recognized as a patriot Muslims now consider him as one of the heroes of the independence movement. For more information see Mohamed Said, “In Praise of Ancestors,” Africa Events (London) March/April 1977.
[10] G. Mutahaba, Portrait of a Nationalist: The Life of Ali Migeyo, East African Publishing House, 1969.
[11] Maji Maji Museum in Songea which has been greatly desecrated removing all signs of Muslim symbols during the Maji Maji War with Germans. The Maji Maji Museum at Peramiho under the Catholic Church has closed its doors to young Muslims for fear of criticism for distorting history. All Muslim symbols in Maji Maji War against Germans have been obliterated in the Maji Maji Museum.
[12] A children’s book authored by the current writer, Torch on Kilimanjaro, Oxford University Press, Nairobi, 2007 has been blacklisted and cannot be included as a reader in schools because it contravenes the official history.
[13] Yusuf Halimoja, Historia ya Masasi, East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi, 1977 pp 163 175 gives a narration how Christians fought alongside Gerrmans during Maji Maji. Also see P. Gerold Rupper, OSB, Pugu Hadi Peramiho: Miaka 100 wa Wamishionari Wabenediktini Katika Tanzania,Benedictine Publications, Ndanda Peramiho, 1980, pp 31- 42.
[14] It is believed that it was when TANU voted to take part in the Tripartite Election in 1958 under discriminatory conditions which caused Muslims to lose the political dominance they had enjoyed for many years. Trying to regain their power AMNUT was formed. See Mohamed Said, Uamuzi wa Busara, Abantu Publications, Dar es Salaam, 2009.
[15] Prof. Malima who was the first Muslim to head the Ministry of Education found out that the population of Muslim students in primary school was more than 50% but they were few in secondary schools. He realised something must be seriously wrong in the ministry and he therefore directed that examinations numbers should be used in marking examinations instead of names. After these change the number of Muslims students admitted to secondary schools increased by 40%. Prof. Malima's letter was leaked to the press. It is said that among those who received the report was the Church hierarchy, Nyerere, former Vice-President and Prime Minister Joseph Warioba. Warioba had an axe to grind with Mwinyi because in a government reshuffle Mwinyi dropped him from premiership replacing him with Samwel John Malecela. The Church, Nyerere and Warioba were outraged by the letter and tried to have him sacked from the government and party. Muslims were following closely Prof. Malima’s fight against the Christian bastion with great interest.
[16]In 1991 Warsha, an unregistered Muslim youth organisation commissioned its educationists to write a research paper to show why Muslim students were lagging behind in education. For the first time it was revealed that there was a system in the Ministry of Education supported by Christian functionaries which was discriminatory towards Muslim youths, purposely barring them from institutions of higher learning. The paper was circulated to all Muslims in Tanzania.
[17] Mohamed Said, Professor Muhajid: Kighoma Abdallah Ali Malima (1938 - 1995) And the Christian Lobby (mimeo).
[18] As if sensing danger the Catholic Church has in place a committee responsible for armed forces. This was revealed in a report to the Pope when he visited Tanzania in 1990. Muslims have requested the government to make a statement on Catholic Church Committee on Armed Forces but so far the government has not responded.
[19]There has never been in history minorities in ethnicity or religion in any country to wage a major war on a foreign power on behalf of majority or to mobilize people for independence. Tanzania’s experience will be an exception to the rule if it is proven that as minority Muslims mobilized against Germany and also provided leadership in the struggle for independence.
[20] Religious distribution in Tanzania is among the three topics made “sensitive” by Julius Nyerere and were as a result out of bounds for discussion for almost a quarter of a century. The other two are the role of Muslims in the struggle for independence and that the struggle for independence began before Julius Nyerere came to lead Tanganyika African Association in 1953.
[21] It is worthwhile to quote in full a letter by one Amiri Mchomvu which appeared in the Family Mirror Family Mirror about the 1967 census: Last month I chanced to come across Africa Information Newsletter, (September 26, 1994 issue) in which there was an article on Tanzania titled: Islamic fundamentalism worries the government. I found the article by a renewed Tanzanian journalist, Lawrence Kilimwiko to be very anti-Islam. Besides, Mr. Kilimwiko says that about 40% of Tanzanians are Christians and 30% Muslims. I think that is a statistical error.During the 1967 Population Census, the first census since independence, I was one of the census enumerators in Tabora Region. It is believed that this was the only successful of the population census conducted since independence (i.e. 1967, 1978 and 1988) as it was wholly conducted by the form V students. Corruption, embezzlement, etc. of census funds and other administrative vices that plagued the last two census (1978 and 1988) were things unknown at that time. It was the only census which had probed Tanzanians’ religious adherence. I clearly remember the bulky questionnaire form, one question of which asked the persons’ religion, whether he was Christian, Muslim, Other (e.g. Hindu, Budhist etc.) or traditional, e.g. pagan. I also remember the census results; published by the then Tanganyika Standard late that year 1967 (I have forgotten the date of the issue) in which it was shown that Muslim constituted 63% of the population. Now whoever thinks that such verdict is not correct I challenge him/her to substantiate otherwise with official results of the 1967 Census if they at all can get hold of them. It is believed that in early 1970s the Statistical Department was ordered to destroy all the 1967 census result simply because they showed the Muslim in Tanzania to be in majority.
[22] Africa South of the Sahara, Europa Publication, London, No. 20 1991, p. 1027.
[23] The following are few names of Muslims who were over the years punished by the Christian Lobby for contravening church interests: Mufti; Sheikh Hassan bin Amir, Tewa Said Tewa, Bilal Rehani Waikela, Prof. Kighoma Ali Amlima, Abubakar Mwilima, Aboud Jumbe, Kitwana Selemani Kondo, Manju Msambya, etc.
[24] In 1968 the government banned the East African Muslim Welfare Society. In 1980s the government refused to allow Organisation of Islamic Conference (IOC) to build a university in Tanzania instead IOC built it in Mbale, Uganda. In 1990s Darul Iman from Saudi Arabia wanted to build a school but was made to understand it was not wanted when it received negative press and harassment and as a result it closed its office in Dar es Salaam. In 2002 the Parliament passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2002 which targeted Muslims. See Mohamed Said, “Terrorism” in East Africa the Tanzanian Experience,”2006, paper presented at a conference organised by Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
[25] Jan P van Bergen, Religion and Development in Tanzania, (Madras, 1981), John C. Sivalon, Kanisa Katoliki na Siasa ya Tanzania Bara 1953 Hadi 1985, (Ndanda, 1992). K. Mayanja Kiwanuka, The Politics of Islam in Bukoba District (1973), B.A. Thesis, University of Dar es Salaam.
[26] Christian lobby with the help of senior officials in the ministry stoop as low as to steal the 1994 Ministry of Finance Budget speech before it was presented to the Parliament by the minister Prof. Malima. The day before the budget speech the conspirators locked themselves in a hotel room in the city centre coaching each other on how to tackle Prof. Malima the following day. Reflecting on the stolen budget speech Prof. Malima said that the moment the lobby began commenting on his speech he had a vision of marking a paper of dumb students who had cheated an examination. The head of these conspirators was a Muslim. There was also inside the House an organised group of about 60 to 80 Christian MPs who would jeer at Prof. Malima every time he spoke inside or outside Parliament buildings or during debating of bills that he was supposed to defend. The anti-Malima committee had journalists in its payroll who would in their papers portray Prof. Malima negatively. Among those papers was the Roman Catholic paper Kiongozi.See Kiongozi March 1-15, 1994.
[27] This agreement was prepared by Dr. Costa Mahalu, Dar Es Salaam University Faculty of Law and was signed by Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office and First Vice-President, Edward Lowassa. The main purpose of the agreement was to turn over education, health and social services to Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) and Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC). These social services were to be run jointly between the government and the Church. This agreement, that is, the Memorandum of Understanding was prepared and signed without even consulting or informing Muslims. In order for the memorandum to take effect the government had to amend article 30 of the Education Act No. 25 of 1978. In 2011 the government provided 91 billion shillings to the Church for its development activities. Mahalu was later appointed Ambassador to Italy. He was later to face corruption charges in court and Lowassa was to resign as Prime Minister on similar charges.
Muslim Bible Scholars of Tanzania The Legacy of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat (1918 -2005)
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ISLAMIC CIVILISATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Organised by
The Organisation of Islamic Conference Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA)
The National Awaqaf Foundation of South Africa (AWQAF SA)
University of Johannesburg
Venue
University of Johannesburg
1 – 3 September 2006
Muslim Bible Scholars of Tanzania
The Legacy of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat
(1918 -2005)
Speaker:
Mohamed Said
Muslim Bible Scholars of Tanzania
The Legacy of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat (1918 -2005)
Introduction
Colonialism and Christianity
When colonialists and missionaries set foot in the East African coast their main aim was to wipe out Islam. Christianity was introduced in the region with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. In 1567 the Augustinian order was established to counter the influence of Islam so that Christianity becomes the religion of the whole world. Cardinal Lavigirie founded The White Fathers the Catholic institution whose purpose was and still is to counter Islam.[1]About the same time period Church Missionary Society (CMS) imposed upon itself the duty to deliver the world from Islam, ignorance and darkness.[2] The White Fathers are in Tanzania and other countries in Africa and are still involved in the work which brought them to the continent more than a hundred years ago. This thrust against Islam came to be part of implementing Article IV of the Berlin Conference of 1884 which stated that Christianity should be safeguarded and given special preference over Islam. In compliance with that article Imperial British East Africa Company used political and military force to prop up Christianity in East Africa at the expense of Islam.[3] Even after many years of independence the government in Tanzania has not shied away from using the para-military against Islam.[4] Christianity is still a religion safeguarded by the government. Notwithstanding the end of colonialism Islam in Tanzania is still looked upon as an ‘alien’ religion brought into the country by Arabs.
Missionaries had a free hand to conduct door to door preaching trying to convince Muslims to accept Jesus and be ‘saved.’ Muslims were not intimidated by these campaigns. On the contrary they took that kind of preaching as amusing. This campaign became more serious in 1960s after independence. The thrust and vision of the Church was to turn Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika into Catholic states through the control of indigenous governments.[5] The ‘Islam in Africa Project’ with its headquarters in Kenya was formed with the specific aim of converting Muslims to Christianity. This project was under Rev. James Ritchie advisor to the National Christian Council of Kenya (NCCK). The evangelisation campaign went well and by 1965 there were 9171 Muslims converted to Christianity in East Africa while Christian converts to Islam were a mere 3151.[6]
The Church campaign was a success because it was concentrated in rural areas where a majority of the people live avoiding urban centres where Muslims are predominant. The Daystar University in Kenya allocated 56 m. Sterling pounds to counter the spread of Islam in East Africa. This money was used as small hand-out to Muslims, who have converted to Christianity, provide scholarships to their children; build schools and clinics in Muslim majority areas.[7] Other strategy to subvert Islam was through an organisation known as ‘Life Challenge’ which has its headquarters in Nairobi under the tutelage of Padre Gerhad Hehls. Padre Hehls was given the task of preparing a book, Our Challenge, Our Chance which is a manual on how to convert Muslims to Christianity.[8] It is important to end this introduction by stating the fact that all the above strategies by the Church to undermine Islam Muslim never had any plans overt or covert to subvert Christianity. This was the situation facing Islam and Muslims in East Africa when Sheikh Deedat visited Tanzania in 1981.
Sheikh Ahmed Deedat’s Visit to Tanzania - 1981
It is believed that the study of comparative religion emerged in 1930s when the Ahmadiyya published the first Swahili translation of the Qur’an. In that translation the Bible was extensively quoted to substantiate arguments in the Qur’an and vice versa. This created new interest in the study of the Bible. This knowledge remained confined to scholars and few Muslims for almost half a century until 1980s when it was taught to ordinary Muslims to be used as a weapon in the armory of Muslims to counter Christianity through dialogue. It was the South African Indian, the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat who for the first time brought this powerful knowledge to the attention of Muslims.
In 1981 Sheikh Deedat was invited in Zanzibar to participate in a seminar organised by Muslim Students Association of the University of Dar es Salaam (MSAUD). After the seminar Sheikh Deedat came to Dar es Salaam to deliver public lectures on the unity of the message of Allah to mankind. Sheikh Deedat delivered two lectures - one at the Adult Education Centre and the other at the prestigious Diamond Jubilee Hall. In these two lectures Deedat lectured on Islam in the Bible. In the lectures Sheikh Deedat dwelt on the Christian belief of ‘Trinity,’ ‘Crucifixion’ and ‘Eternal Sin.’ These are the basic foundation of Christianity. Following the first lecture at the Adult Education Centre in which Sheikh Deedat impressed his audience with his command of English language and knowledge of the Bible and Qur’an, one Christian a journalist Boniface Kyaloechi reverted back to Islam and given a new name, Bilali Mustafa. Other Christians in the audience who were not yet convinced went back to their churches with very pertinent questions demanding answers to them which unfortunately the Church theologians could not provide convincing responses.
Over night Deedat’s presence in Dar es Salaam was felt and his name and arguments on ‘sanctity’ of the Bible spread like bush fire. This caused concern to the Church particularly when it was learnt that some Christians had embraced Islam on the spot although at that time those were mere rumours. The Church held an impromptu meeting and several options on how to deal with Sheikh Deedat were discussed. The first option was to deport Sheikh Deedat as a prohibited immigrant (at that time during apartheid South Africans were not allowed into Tanzania). If that is not possible the second option was to allow Sheikh Deedat to continue with his public lectures but the lectures should be confined to mosques. If that is not possible the third option was to allow Sheikh Deedat to deliver public lectures but should be restrained from discussing the Bible and should be requested to confine his lectures to Islam.
The Church appeal was delivered to the organisers of Sheikh Deedat‘s lectures but was ignored on the grounds that Sheikh Deedat was not in the country to strengthen Christianity and whoever has contrary views to Sheikh Deedat’s lectures was free to air them. That evening Sheikh Deedat addressed a capacity crowd at the Diamond Jubilee Hall and without mercy Sheikh Deedat took his audience through a lecture showing glaring inconsistencies in the Bible. He appealed to Christians to use their common sense and see the universality of the message of Islam which did not begin with Muhammad SAW but with Adam AS and was passed down through prophets among them Jesus Christ. The Church theologians in the audience were astounded none of them could respond to the challenge. Before his departure back to South Africa Sheikh Deedat appealed to Muslims in Tanzania to carry on the dialogue with Christians where he had left. Sheikh Deedat emphasised that it was the duty of Muslims to deliver Allah’s message to those still living in darkness. In 1880s CMS objective in Tanganyika was to deliver Africans from Islam, ignorance and darkness. A hundred years later Sheikh Deedat was appealing to Muslims to deliver Christians in Tanzania from darkness through their own book. This was the irony of history in the making. Sheikh Deedat had dented the confidence of the Church which for many years had been safe under the tutelage of first colonialism and later in post independence Tanzania – the government which was dominated by Church trained African Christians.
The Emergence of Muslim Bible Scholars of Tanzania
The introduction of comparative religion as field of inquiry to Tanzania was fully manipulated by Muslims as a tool to invite Christians to Islam through the Bible. Study groups began to spring up in urban centres as well as rural areas producing Muslim Bible experts. Notable among them was Ngariba Mussa Fundi and Mohamed Ali Kawemba who wrote Uislam katika Biblia, which was translated from Kiswahili into English as Islam in the Bible.[9]The reader who is familiar with the lectures of Sheikh Deedat will not fail to observe the style and the building of arguments characteristic of and expounded by Sheikh Deedat. Muslim Bible scholars began inviting Christians to Islam through dialogue in open air preaching popularly known in Kiswahili as mihadhara. In these open air preaching by Muslim Bible Scholars, Sheikh Deedat’s books, audio and video cassettes were at times used as references. Sheikh Deedat’s cassettes and books became popular and were distributed far and wide throughout Tanzania and the whole of East Africa. Fate would have it that this wave coincided with the recession of the Church in Europe accompanied with the emergence of the fad by Christian theologians and scholars doubting the authenticity of the Bible.
At first the clergy from the Church thought it could hold dialogue with Muslim Bible Scholars and hence provide rejoinders after all most of the Muslim Bible scholars were mere lower primary leavers and they were Ph Ds in Divinity but when the clergy attempted to confront Bible preachers on their own ground they soon realised that as Muslims were arguing, there were a lot of inconsistencies in the Bible which they had not been aware of despite of their high qualifications. Muslim Bible Scholars pointed out to Christians that God Almighty can not err. Errors are human traits. The Church theologians could not sustain the dialogue for lack of plausible arguments. The Church therefore had to retreat and seek other ways to respond to Muslim arguments and protect not only the Bible but Christianity and the flock as well. This innovation of Muslim Bible scholars preaching Islam through the Bible inevitably became a thorn in the flesh of the Church as Christians became restless demanding answers to questions which the Church had no convincing answers and which hitherto were not an issue. Sheikh Deedat’s video cassettes in which he was debating prominent Christian theologians all over the world penetrated many middle class Christian homes.
The Christian Mass Conversions of 1980s and the Churches’ Strategy of Containment
The open air debates became popular to common Christians and were well attended by both Muslims and Christians. Muslim Bible scholars’ call for dialogue between Muslims and Christians became a thorn in the flesh of Christianity. Christians began to convert to Islam. In Sumbawanga and Kagera regions which are predominant Catholic areas a total of 5000 Christians converted to Islam. In Kagera one Yusuf Makaka a pastor from the Lutheran Church reverted to Islam, and was able single handed, to convert 3000 Christians and mobilised his flock, the new Muslims to build a mosque.[10] After having quite a sizeable number of Christians who had converted to Islam these converts formed their own association (Tanzania Reverts Association).
The Church had to retreat and appeal to the government for protection in the face of Christian conversions. In Tanzania the Church is synonymous to the government. The government obeys what the Church commands. The Church as last line of defence accused Muslims of ‘defamatory preaching’ and demanded that open air preaching by Muslim Bible scholars be outlawed as they were a danger to peace and harmony. The Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) issued a statement warning the government that it would find itself faced with a much bigger problem if it does not restrain Muslim Bible scholars from preaching. The CCT statement accused Muslim Bible scholars of being financially supported by a foreign Muslim country (meaning Iran) to undermine Christianity. The statement claimed that Muslims have been given USD 6 m to support their activities.[11]Cardinal Otunga of the Catholic Church in Kenya warned that Christianity was on the verge of dying a natural death on the face of onslaught from the Muslim Bible preachers. [12]
The Prime Minister in one of his speeches in winding up government business and adjourning the Parliament issued a strong statement banning Muslim Bible scholars. Emphasising to the Speaker that he was speaking as an Anglican Christian, he issued an order banning open air preaching by Muslims confining them to mosques. [13] Muslims ignored the ban challenging it as unconstitutional. The Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) issued a statement warning that there would be bloodshed if Muslim Bible preachers do not stop their preaching. The state-radio, the government and party daily [14] gave statements by the Church wide publicity. These party and government controlled media overnight became propaganda tools of the Church.
The government had no legal ground to interfere on matters of religion short of breaching the constitution. In 1994 attempts by the Minister of Judiciary and Constitution Affairs to pass a law which would ban Muslim Bible preachers failed. Muslim sent a petition to the parliament warning of the consequences of passing such a bad law. Muslims argued that the law which is intended would prevent Muslims from propagating their religion. To pass that kind of law Muslims warned, was unconstitutional as the government which is secular would be directly indulging in religious affairs safeguarding the teachings of Christianity to the detriment of Islam. [15]
In his untiring efforts to resolve the stand off between Muslim Bible scholars and the Church President Ali Hassan Mwinyi convened a meeting at the State House between church leaders and sheikhs to discuss the problem of Muslim Bible scholars and their open air preaching. Muslim Bible scholars set a powerful delegation to the meeting to argue its case. Church leaders were asked what they found offensive in the Muslim preaching. Church leaders could not pin point exactly what they found unpalatable in Muslim arguments about Christianity. Muslims argued that the teachings of the two faiths were diametrically opposed to each other in all aspects. While it is the basic foundation in Christianity to believe in that Jesus Christ is God Almighty or he is the son of God and that he died on the cross; to a Muslim that is blasphemy.
The Church leaders called for a postponement of the meeting to a later date to enable them prepare their case. The church leaders did not have stomach for another face to face meeting with Muslim Bible scholars and therefore did not return to the round table meeting. The Church changed tactics and withdrew from the thrust of the media campaign to restrain Muslims from Bible preaching to insisting the government to use force to curb Muslim Bible scholars. There were arrests and intimidation of Muslim preachers here and there but the pace of the movement remained unabated and conversions still continued. As a result of this intimidation Muslims in Tanzania woke up and they saw behind the ‘secular government’ façade. The government was not truly secular as it proclaimed but a Christian government hostile to Islam. Having realised this Muslims began to organise themselves in whatever manner possible to safeguard their religion.[16]
In desperation the Christian lobby in Tanzania played its last card. As the quagmire of Bible scholars remained in stalemate, the unthinkable happened. While Muslims as well as Christians were assembled at ‘Picha ya Uwanja wa Ndege’ mosque in Morogoro to listen to the Bible preachers Al Malidfrom Dar es Salaam, riot police in five Land Rovers and two small cars surrounded the place and attacked the mosque with tear gas bombs and firing bullets into the air. As people ran into the mosque to seek refuge riot police in hot pursuit followed them into the mosque and beat them up desecrating the mosque. To ensure that maximum damage was inflicted to the Bible scholars, the expensive public address equipment which they used in their meetings was completely wrecked. Muslim Bible scholars were arrested including some of the people in the audience. Two Muslims died as a result of the beatings.[17] More than sixty canisters were exploded. Some canisters failed to explode and were tendered in court as exhibit of police brutality towards Muslims.
When it came to be known that those arrested included Christians and after seeing their statement which stated that they did not find the preaching offensive and that is why they always went to those gathering, they were released without charges opened against them. Muslims were charged for unlawful assembly. A month before the police attack the Bible scholars had challenged the police to come to their meetings to learn the truth but the offer was ignored.[18] The attack on the mosque was not spontaneous. It was a calculated move organised and planned well in advance with the help of BAKWATA leadership in Morogoro. A few days before the fateful day, a meeting between the government and BAKWATA was held. In attendance was the MP for Morogoro, Shamim Khan. This meeting was preceded by one between BAKWATA and CCT. This meting was also attended by the Ambassador of Denmark in Tanzania. In this meeting the Chairman of BAKWATA castigated Muslim Bible Scholars and called upon the police to arrest them as people who endanger peace.[19]
Muslims throughout Tanzania were horrified by the act of the riot police to invade and smoke-bomb a mosque under the pretext of breaking an unlawful assembly. Muslims where relieved of the prospect of the case going before a court of law. Muslims thought that was their chance to pit their belief against Christian teachings. Muslims believed that if Christian believed that Jesus was Man - God and they were allowed to proclaim that belief Muslims likewise have the right to proclaim that Jesus was a prophet. Muslims thought the court would provide this opportunity to them. This was not to be. The ever unseen hand of the Christian lobby came to realise the futility of the case in their hand. If the case gets a hearing a lot of groundwork which had gone into preparing the attack would be revealed in the court. Muslims had done their home work and had lot information which in a court of law would prove the fact that the attack was preordained as part of conspiracy against Islam and the Bible scholars. The case was blocked from proceeding and all the accused were set free.
Meanwhile at international level the Church wanted the world to believe that the problem was not Islam but ‘Muslim fundamentalists.’ While visiting Tanzania the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. George Leonard Carey warned the country of ‘Muslim fundamentalists’ as a danger to peace. Likewise in a special synod held in Rome on Islam, the Catholic Church singled out ‘Muslim fundamentalism’ as its greatest challenge.[20] The government in Tanzania has not been able to resolve the issue of Muslim – Christian dialogue and Muslims are continuing to invite Christians to Islam through the Bible as bequeathed by the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat. May Allah SW reward him.
Epilogue
In June 2000 I came to Durban to visit Sheikh Deedat. At that time he was confined to bed and his speech was impaired. I told him about the legacy which he had left behind in Tanzania. Sheikh Deedat looked at me and tried to speak but only unintelligible sound came from him. Sheikh Hafidh who had escorted me told me that my words about Christians reverting back to Islam had touched his heart and that Sheikh Deedat was crying with happiness. This is the memory of Sheikh Deedat which I will always carry with me.
When the news of his death reached us in Tanzania many mosques in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and other places prayed salat janaiz for Sheikh Deedat. In deep anguish and as remembrance of Sheikh Deedat, his obituary was published in one of the leading Muslim paper in Tanzania – Al Huda.
Sheikh Deedat’s contribution to Islam in the world is immense and as away to honour his memory and keep alive his work it is important that research be conducted on his influence on delivering the message of Islam to non Muslims. Research has also to be done on Sheikh Deedat’s contribution to comparative religion as a field of inquiry. This research should be carried far and wide in all the countries in which Sheikh Deedat lectured and in those which he never visited but his books and video cassettes found their way into the country. The research should not only attempt to show Sheikh Deedat’s influence on non Muslims alone but should also show to what extent his work strengthened Islam in majority Muslim countries as well as in those countries where they are a minority. This should go hand in hand with establishing of ‘Sheikh Ahmed Deedat Institute of Compilation and Publication.’
[1] C.D. Kittler, The White Fathers, London 1959, pp. 22-23 also R. Clarke (ed) Cardinal Lavigerie and Slavery in Africa p. 302.
[3] H.B Hansen, Mission, Church and State in Colonial Setting: Uganda 1890-1925, London 1984, p. 26, Also see Ali M. Kirunda, ‘Uganda Muslims and their problems,’ The Monitor June 4-June 8, 1993.
[4]Hamza Mustafa Njozi, Mwembechai Killings and the Political Future of Tanzania, Globalink Communications, Ottawa Canada, 2000.
[5] Reporter, 20 June 1963 p. 18 quoted by Sheikh Hassan bin Amir in Daawat Islamiyya, 26 August, 1963.
[9] Ngariba Mussa Fundi na Kawemba Mohammed Ali, Uislam katika Biblia, Al Khayria Press 1987, Zanzibar translated into English by Sheikh Abdu Said Baalawy as Islam in the Bible.
[11] Lengo (Nairobi), Toleo la Kwanza No.198,July 1989. Also see Warsha ya Waandishi wa Kiislam, ‘Kanisa na Utulivu wa Dini Tanzania?’ 22 August, 1989.
[16] When Muslim Bible scholars visited Mombasa for a series of lectures their reputation had superseded them. The Church in Kenya was aware of the force of the Bible scholars. It did not therefore even attempt to confront them with counter arguments. It asked the government to withdraw the permit it had issued which allowed them to preach in Kenya. The Bible scholars were rounded up and escorted to the border under heavy guard just as they were preparing to hold a meeting. When Muslims were informed that the permit for the meeting was withdrawn by the Provincial Commissioner of Coast Region, they marched to his office to demand explanation. The crowd rioted and there were arrests and loss of property. In Kenya as it had been in Tanzania, wherever Muslims Bible preachers visited to call people to Islam, when they left, they usually leave Christianity shaken and Islam firm.
[17] Kamati ya Kupigania Haki za Waislam, ‘Kesi za Waislam,’ 17 October, 1994 and ‘Taarifa ya Kifo’ (undated). Also see Majira, 18 July, 1994.
[18] Almarkazul- Islamy L’Itanbih L’ Ghaflina Fidin (Almallaid) to Inspekta Jenerali wa Polisi, 1 June, 1994.
[19]Islamic Action Front, ‘Waislam Tunajifunza Nini Kutokana na Msikiti Kupigwa Mabomu-Morogoro Mnamo Usiku wa Tarehe 15 July, 1994.’ Also Al-Jihad, ‘Uvamizi wa Msikiti Morogoro,’ 22 July, 1993.