Will the Mufti unite muslims?

Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje has the big task of uniting the various factions By Gawaya Tegulle Uganda's new Mufti Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje is a man few will envy. He has just taken over a glamorous office with a problem list probably longer than his own arm. Uncertainty and optimistic anticipation are mixing freely as the Muslims look to Mufti Mubajje to forge unity amongst a community for many years bitterly divided. By the time of the Mufti's election last week, there were four major factions. There was the Tabliq sect who parade the unmistakable shaggy beards and short trousers. These have two factions: the one at Market street, led by Abdulla-Hakim Sekimpi and the one at Nakasero led by Sulaiman Kakeeto. Then there was the Kibuli faction led by Ahmed Mukasa. The third is the Bukoto-Natete faction led by Obeid Kamulegeya, which however, has had close links with Kibuli and is dominated by stalwarts who failed to gain laudable foothold in Kibuli. The fourth is the one in Old Kampala, recognised by government and led by Sheikh Muhammad Ssemakula. This, however, had a splinter group - the Banakyewa who congregate on Rubaga road, with no recognisable leader. The Banakyewa however have stood behind the new Mufti and are now regarded as having re-united with Old Kampala. If Mubajje successfully unites the factions, he will have made history as having cut short a long story of bitter divisions that have been a hallmark of Islam since the 1870's. Islam may be a minority religion in Uganda, but it came in the 1850's - two or so decades before Christianity. Islamic evangelism was a two-pronged process. First, the coastal traders who peddled firearms and clothing brought a liberal version of Islam to Buganda. Kabaka Mutesa I assisted this evangelisation by making Islamic observance compulsory throughout Buganda for sometime. Islam took root in Buganda because of its association with technical superiority of the coastal traders, the support from Mutesa I and the promise of heaven that many Baganda, feeling the weight of Mutesa's tyranny, found appealing. But a more radical form of Islamic observance was introduced in the 1870s by Sudanese teachers from Khartoum. This was the beginning of splits in the Muslim community, as the new arrivals criticised certain aspects of the liberal Islam, especially mosques built facing westwards. This relative fundamentalism demanded commitment from its followers and Mutesa's aides embraced it and developed loyalty towards their Muslim teachers. Feeling threatened, Mutesa got furious and slaughtered dozens of them in the mid-1870's. Problems increased when in 1877 Protestant Missionaries arrived in Buganda, followed closely by the Catholic ones in 1879. Christianity impressed many, and some Muslim converts defected, while fresh souls were won to the Christian faith. The religious wars in the 1880's and 1890's that the Muslims lost to the Christians worked furthermore against the Muslims. And as colonialism took root, the British, high priests of Protestantism, promoted Protestants at the expense of their competitors. The British confessed Muslims were "proverbially difficult to manage" and they only tolerated them "because they were here before us". The factionalisation within Muslims continued and on the eve of independence there were four major Muslim factions: Uganda Muslim Community (UMC) led by Prince Badru Kakungulu, African Muslim Community (Bukoto-Natete-Juma sect) led by Mugenyi Asooka, Jammiat Islam sect Kawempe, led by Swaibu Ssemakula and Juma Zhukli led by Ahmed Mivule. They had differences over doctrine but they recognised Kakungulu as their patron. Muslims had become too numerically weak to make any political impact. In the run up to independence, they allied with the Protestant-dominated Uganda Peoples Congress UPC, and Kabaka Yekka, KY for survivaly. In doing so they managed a few gains, but made themselves vulnerable to manipulation. UPC and KY used them to beat the Democratic Party decisively in the 1962 elections. The good news was that many Muslims were elected to Parliament and appointed cabinet ministers. These included Adoko Nekyon, Shaban Nkutu, Ali Kisekka, Ntege-Lubwama and Abbas Balinda. In 1965, following a Muslim World Conference in Saudi Arabia, Ugandan Muslims determined the need for unity. They formed the National Association for the Advancement of Muslims (NAAM) with Adoko Nekyon as President and Sheikh Obeid Kamulegeya as Vice President, on August 1, 1965. This move, however, rubbed Kakungulu the wrong way as he thought it a challenge to his leadership. The two factions rivaled fiercely and the conflict took on political overtones. By the time Idi Amin took power in January 1971, he was for the UMC, and NAAM loyals scampered for dear life. In 1972 Amin banned all factions and forcefully united them under the umbrella of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, UMSC. But this was a case of forcing a horse to the well, but remaining unable to make it drink. The factionalism lay low for a time but later burst out in Obote II regime - people went back to their old factions. By this time, the Tabliq ideology that showed up in the 1970's but had never gained root, started blossoming. It came full swing in the Museveni era and begged notice when the Tabliq killed four policemen at the Old Kampala mosque in 1991. Since then, the factionalism has been embarrassingly pronounced, at times getting violent. Controversy and rebellion have been part and parcel of the various Muslim administrations. Rebellion against established authority on the basis of age; doctrinal differences and economic interests have combined to enshrine controversy in the Muslim community for long and bred more factions. The divisions may have satiated the appetites of the different factions, but they have been detrimental to the broader Muslim cause. Some donors have had their enthusiasm dampened by the divisions, not knowing who of the lot is the most deserving. Various stalled projects that should have been completed long ago are testimony to this. Government, courts of law and the Muslim donor community have all been called upon time and again to arbitrate as old wrangles turned a new corner and fresh ones sprouted. Mubajje was seen as a compromise candidate because he didn't belong to any faction. Although he served as Mbale District Khadi (for the Old Kampala faction) the latter disassociated themselves from him and fielded their own candidate. Presently, all factions are represented on the UMSC and will be allowed to retain their seats as NGOs. Kibuli was reluctant to join, but eventually accepted the Mufti and sent him congratulatory regards. A joint session of the executive committee of the UMSC and the College of Sheikhs is expected to sit after Ramadhan and appoint officers to team up with the new Mufti. "This is a new era in the Muslim community," says Sheikh Haruna Jjemba, Kampala district chairman for UMSC. "We have new blood, new brains and new people, all educated. Before we had a Mufti at the top, but with a team of uneducated people. But now all are well trained in both Islamic and secular education. We should give these people a go-ahead to effect change, not for the sake of change, but for total transformation. Mufti Mubajje is a great cause for optimism. Unlike many of his predecessors, he balances both secular and Islamic education and he is fluent in English. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sharia from Imam Mohammed University of Riyadh in 1995, a Masters in Religious Studies from Makerere University (1996) and a Post-graduate diploma in education from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Mbale (1998) where he is still a Ph.D. student. After his Ph.D. he will be the most educated Mufti ever. But that will mean nothing unless he accomplishes the needful, unity. "The major challenge of the Mufti now is to unite all the factions," says Jjemba. "We should also use this so-called broadbased system of government. I think this will curb the sentiments going round and precipitating differences. He can't work without solving these problems. "We should make the old Sheikhs accept reality that there should be changes in the Muslim leadership; they should give chance to new blood to exercise the energies they have. The Mufti agrees and promises: "We shall try to unite the factions, forgive each other and work with everybody." Ends