A Kenyan government plan to close two mosques in Mombasa following the much criticized raid on a city mosque earlier this month has stirred condemnations from both Muslim and Christian leaders, warning that such a move would fuel radicalization in the city.
“That is an unacceptable move,” Nairobi Jamia Mosque committee member Ibrahim Lethome told Sabahi website on Monday, February 11.
“It can only exacerbate the situation by annoying the youths more and cementing the feelings among them that the government is against them, pushing them more to radicalization,” he added.
Jamia was commenting on threats by Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa to shut down two mosques; Masjid Mussa and Masjid Sakina, in the city after last week raid.
The attack dates back February 2 when hundreds of heavily-armed police officers laid siege on Masjid Musa in Mombasa for several hours, seeking to break up a one-day seminar organized by youths in the mosque allegedly to discuss the Islamic rulings on Jihad.
At the end of the unfortunate incident, a number of people were killed, including one police officer, while several others injured.
“The mosques we suspect are not only acting as a training ground but also recruitment ground for al-Shabaab terrorists, and the only way we can deal with them is to shut them down,” Marwa told Sabahi, although he did not specify the exact date of the potential closure.
Lethome warned that shutting down the mosques would violate Muslims’ freedom of worship and would be seen as issuing blanket punishment on the entire Muslim community.
The government’s plan will “make Muslims view the whole war against terrorism as unfairly targeting Muslims which will deter co-operation between the community and the government”, he said.
Masjid Musa has attracted attention of Kenya’s security forces for several years now for allegedly recruiting youths in Kenya to join Somalia’s Al Shabaab group which claims to be fighting to establish the rule of Shariah in Somalia.
In August 2012, the mosque’s preacher Sheikh Aboud Rogo was killed in a drive-by shooting by people believed to be from the Kenya police, allegedly claiming that his sermons were exhorting youths in Kenya to join Al Shabaab.
Again in October 2013, Rogo’s successor Sheikh Ibrahim Omar, was also shot dead in similar circumstances.
Christians Too
Christian religious leaders also opposed shutting down Mombasa two mosques.
“That is a hasty move which is ill-advised and can easily be counterproductive by inflaming religious emotions which will complicate the situation,” Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Mombasa Julius Robert Katoi Kalu said.
Catholic Archdiocese vicar-general Willybard Lagho agreed, condemning the police’s use of force and the way they stormed the mosque while wearing their shoes, saying it was disrespectful to a place of worship.
“The government approach is wrong,” Lagho said.
“Use of excessive force when responding to these radicalization incidences by police as one witnessed during the raid on Sunday, is itself radicalization. The government should embrace dialogue and community engagement, [which] we are sure can reverse the situation.”
It is estimated that there are at least 10 million Muslims in Kenya out of the total 40 million, most of whom live in the coastal and North Eastern parts of the country.
Kenya Muslims have been sensing eradication of their rights following Wetgate mall attack in which more than 60 people were killed which was claimed by Somalia’s militant al Shabaab group.
The mall attack was immediately condemned by the Supreme council of Kenya Muslims, which confirmed its support to the security and government organs during the difficult time that Kenya faces.
Kenya Muslims have also organized a campaign to donate blood in solidarity with victims of Al-Shabaab rampage in the Westgate mall.
Lining to give blood, Muslims confirmed that those “barbaric acts” have nothing to do with the teachings of Islam and the noble Qur’an.
Yet, American and Kenyan human rights groups have released a report last November accusing Kenyan counter-terrorism officers of carrying out extra-judicial killings, abuses and torture for Muslims in the east African country under allegations of being members of al-Shabaab group.
Source: OnIslam
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