(JollofNews) – The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in the Gambia is coming under increased persecution by the country’s predominant Sunni Muslim sect.
The small community of several thousands consider themselves Muslims, but that is a view rejected by mainstream Islamic sects.
The Gambia’s main Muslim body, Supreme Islamic Council, responsible for the general activities of all Islamic affairs in the country has classed Ahmadis as non-Muslims, who only used the Muslim declaration of faith (Kalimah) to confuse other Muslim sects.
The council has issued a fatwa in 2015 forbidding the burial of Ahmadis in Muslim cemeteries.
“It is forbidden by Shari’ah to bury a non-Muslim at a Muslim cemetery. It is authenticated by Shari’ah law that Ahmadiyya are a non-Muslim community. Therefore it is totally forbidden [for them] to bury their dead at a Muslim cemetery,” the Muslim council said.
Since the fatwa was issued, Ahmadis in the Gambia are finding it difficult to bury their relatives.
Last Saturday, a tension erupted in Tallinding, Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) between Sunni Muslims and Ahmadis over the burial of a 70-year-old Ahmadi man at the town’s cemetery.
Youths from the village blocked the funeral procession of the unnamed Ahmadi claiming that he was non-Muslim.
The youths later relented following hours of negotiations with the police.
This is the second time youths in the town have clashed with Ahmadis over the burial of an Ahmadi at the village’s cemetery.
In August 2015, youths in the village threatened to exhume the body of an Ahmadi who was buried at the village’s cemetery.
The youths claimed that the Ahmadi was buried at the cemetery without the knowledge of the imam and community heads.
The dispute was resolved by the police who prohibited the youths from exhuming the decomposed body in the interest of peace.
While this latest stand-off may have been resolved, the Supreme Islamic Council is yet to rescind its fatwa.
Speaking in September 2015, Imam Alhaji Momodou Lamin Touray, president of the Supreme Islamic Council said: “The council is advising the Ahmadiyya Jama’at to obtain their own cemetery in order to prevent violence and fitnah and turmoil within the society.
“The council is appealing to the entire Muslim ummah to strictly monitor their cemeteries in order to know who will be buried at these cemeteries.
“If we (Supreme Islamic Council) receive reports that Ahmadis have buried their dead at any Muslim cemetery and the people are not happy about it, we will ask them to exhume it and bury it elsewhere.”
Religious division will not be allowed in gambia, everyone equal under the rule of law.
“Majority Sunni?” What Sunni? Please, we are Muslims, period. And that SIC should leave the Ahmadis alone. Those youths should concentrate on their Deen and leave the Ahmadis to bury their dead in the Muslim Cemetry and worship the way want to worship.
The Police should not negotiate with anyone who wants to disturb the peace. A stupid “fatwa” is not law and it shouldn’t affect anyone. Let these people worry about their own practice Islam and leave Ahmadis to worry about theirs.
Bax asked, ‘what Sunni’? And I say; predominantly juju and superstitious Muslims.
If I where Ahmadi, I would suggest to the government to allocate burial lands to us.
Gambians must fight hunger and poverty and desist from flaming religious tensions. It is important that the youth are employed somehow, otherwise energy in them tends to waste for the evilous cause. Gambians are not worried about the conditions of their road, the skyrocketing price of basic food commodities, education, innovation, agriculture or healthcare but yeah, worried about exactly where a speechless dead body gets buried. Don’t they know that Allah(swt) can’t be hoaxed or corrupted?
The Sunnah is the only way to follow the prophet Muhammad ,you can not be a Muslim at same time against the prophet Muhammad S.A so ahmadis and Shia are just fake people
That what we are talking about. Many Muslims in the Gambia pretend to be Sunni when indeed they are not. Many of them are superstitious and wicked hearted deconstructionists of the holy Quran, against the will of the holy prophet Muhammad PBUH.
Some of the most cruel and contemptible human beings you can come across are in the Gambia, guised as some specific type of Muslim.
You =peace# is as deadly as cobra with its head cocked up ready to spew venom.
The “Sunnah”, you may know, has become so contaminated with Arab culture, a lot of which predates Islam, that it is unsafe to be relied upon, as the path of the Holy Prophet.
My in-law, it is tragic that we have this evil brought about by Yahya Jammeh’s desperation for funds from the Qataris and the Saudis affecting community relations in peaceful Gambia today. It was the Saudi-trained Imam Fatty of Jammeh’s State House Mosque and the Supreme Islamic Council (SIC) that started this evil just to get more money and expensive cars from Yahya Jammeh.
The new government must act to stop it … and CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GAMBIAN POLICE.
Declaration of Faith
The Shahada or Testimony of Faith
The First Pillar of Islam
The word “Muslim” means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Becoming a Muslim is a simple and easy process that requires no pre-requisites. One may convert alone in privacy, or he/she may do so in the presence of others. If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion of God, then, all one needs to do is pronounce the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, without further delay. The “Shahada” is the first and most important of the five pillars of Islam. With the pronunciation of this testimony, with sincere belief and conviction, one enters the fold of Islam.
The Ahmadis and the Shias are Muslims once they pronounce the Shahada – the rest is politics.
My in law, if I was Barrow’s adviser, I will not advise him to close these “Marakasses”, because I believe in freedom of worship and association, but I will advise that we keep a close eye on them.
The case of the first known Gambian Youth to join the munafiq and criminally deadly cult group, ISIS, is a warning sign that shouldn’t be taken lightly, and since he is reported to have been frequenting a Marakas, that’s an indication of where the danger of radicalisation may lie.
It is nothing but arrogance and ignorance to call people who profess belief in Allah (SWT), in Prophet Muhammad (saw), all the Prophets from Allah (SWT) and what has been Revealed to them, as “Kaffirs”. This attitude completely contradicts the Qur’an.
God of his mercy. So, a Gambian youth has joined the Isis?
Many of them are drugged and disco dancers sons and daughters of Muslims living in West. You can hear them in the savage videos saying, ‘over here, over here!, over there, over there!’ or ‘ la bas la bas!’ as they go shooting at innocent lives. Who says Gambian doesn’t need a modernised army of educated people.
In Tunis, a young man with beards passing a lot of time in the mosques will surely one day be arrested by Tunisian police intelligence and I think they have a good reason to do so. If youth are passing all their time in the mosques, then where is the food that they eat coming from? It is not falling for them from the sky!
…and plus some of our own cultures too that are imcompatible to Sunnah. Muslims of the Arab don’t go about with deconstructed verses of the Quran upholstered in goat skin though they have horrible cultural mindsets adverse to Sunnah.
Let Gambians just stop faking up the real issues facing the nation with religion.
=peace#
What an ugly ignorant proclamation from this beast who called him/herself peace. Call yourself stupid for uttering such nonsensical classifications of human beings as fake. Why don’t you go back to your book and study it,understand it before making such irresponsible declarations.
Can you make your point without being abusive?
Do you know who will go to Jahannama and who won’t?
You and your sponsored takfiri munafiq ideology will have no place in our beautiful country. Insha-Allah.
You have given yourself the all mighty right to determine who is Muslim and who isn’t, and call Ahmadis “Kaffir”. Makes me wonder if you know the meaning of the word.
MUFTIS OF INTERNET, Yes you claim that ahmadis and shias are Muslims. You also said that if one believes in the SHAHADAH, final he is a Muslim. Don’t you know that there are things that nullify that SHAHADAH?
Scholars have written books about the issue of making takfir, and have chapters in their books of fiqh called BAABUL MURTAD(Which means APOSTATE ). So why this, if it’s as you believe. For the one asking me whether I have the mandate to say who’s a Muslim or not,. Yes based on what ALLAH revealed to his prophet. Islamic scholars unanimously agreed that who believe that MUHAMMAD is not the final messenger is a KAAFIR.
So I ask you now what’s the creed of the AHMADIYA? For the one calling me a takfiri munafiq, it’s not offensive to me because ALLAH said to his prophet FORGIVE AND TURN AWAY FROM THE IGNORANTS. I believe you are one of them.
I hate TAKFIRISM and also LAXISM. The prophet SAW said, if you make TAKFIR of a Muslim wrongly then it will turn to you. But also LAXISM, for example celebrating Christmas, going church atimes and call that tolerance, this is real hypocrisy!
There were scholars who did not go to Saudi Arabia and well before jammeh`s era who declared AHMADIS as KAAFIRS, the likes Shaikh ALIEU FAYE of BUSHURAH VILLAGE, SHAIKH MUHAMMAD FAADIL FADERA, and lately the well known GAMBIAN SCHOLAR OMAR BUN JENG. Tell me u Internet MUFTIS, are these all TAKFIRIS or SAUDI NURTURED PEOPLE?
LEARN ISLAM FROM THE PRIMARY SOURCES AND NOT FROM INTERNET OR VIDEOS OR JUST AUDIOS, AND ALL OTHER KNOWLEDGES ALSO.
NO TAKFIRISM, AND NO LAXISM MODERATE BETWEEN THE TWO.
My brother (Alhagie Drammeh), you don’t have to go to Saudi to be influenced by Sunni Wahabism, that has taken a strangle hold of Islam and the Islamic World. Islamic Scholars, particularly the Gambians you mentioned, are a great resource to Islam, but they are not infallible and are not above falling victims to misguidance.
Moreover, knowledge is imparted by teachers and understanding can be influenced by teachers and the environment. These Scholars were taught by teachers, who were taught by teachers, who were also taught by teachers, all of whom may have been influenced by their environment.
In fact, thanks to the “MUFTIS OF THE INTERNET”, we can now trace this chain of education, interpretation and corruption back to its origins, when religion became the vehicle to consolidate political power and legitimise, as Islamic, the creation of ruling dynasties.
What has Christmas and worshipping in Church got to do with Ahmedis being allowed to worship and bury their dead, as they wish ? How come you can forgive a living person, but has no space in your heart for a dead, harmless body?
And when you nullify the sahada of a person, can you tell us what the prescribed punishment should be?
Bax my in-law I wouldn’t waste time with these religious fanatics. Let our police and government enforce the SECULAR law – including the Ahmads right to believe as they wish.
Allah said in surah al maida those who don’t rule with what I revealed are KAAFIRS. scholars explained it well. WOE TO SECULARISM! WOE TO PACIFISM.
I think Gambia is the wrong country for you; Boko Haram is in Nigeria! Gambia’s Constitution IS SECULAR … and Gambia IS PEACEFUL ( = PACIFIC).
You don’t need the scholars to explain that verse in Surah Al Maida for you to understand if you reason, because Allah (SWT) said, He made the Qur’an easy to understand for those who reason.
The very basis for the concept of SECULARISM is established by the Qur’anic Verse, “There is no compulsion in religion”. The Christian deputation that met Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Medina, were hosted in his mosque, where they also prayed until the end of their visit.
That is the true spirit of Islam; not the hateful and head chopping interpretation of your “scholars”.
My brother bax, understand what I mean by forgiving, is to forgive someone who does something offensive or harmful to you. This is different from dealing with a group for what they do.
Ahmadis don’t pray behind our Imams, they don’t perform muslim feast together with us, they (if they do) don’t give their zakat to our poor and they don’t trust our imams to perform funeral prayers for their dead persons. So as they have their own mosques, why can’t they have their own cemeteries and avoid violence.
Yes no scholar is infallible, but scholars from the GAMBIA, Mauritania, india, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan and etc all refute these Ahmadis as KAAFIRS, and most these people have devoted their entire life to study Islam alone and understand it, so you mean that all these were misled and they are misleading and we should forsake their savings for yours. My brother if you are an ahmadi am sorry but find the truth from its sources and stop following blindly.
To remind you the prophet their will be up to 30 impostors after me, and they will all claim to be a prophet but there’s none after me. He also said that there will come people who will talk with our tongue but they are not part of us. So not any one who says he is muslim is a Muslim.
The same “scholars” that legislate death penalty for apostasy, paedophilia, slavery, fornication, lying and deceit as all Islamic. You want to rely on those “scholars” for true guidance?
Why do you think Muhammed Atta and his 9/11 colleagues frequented bars? Who told them it was right to deceive the “infidels” for the purpose of Jihad?
Why do we still have slavery in Mauritania? Is it not the “scholars” that say it is ok? Why are 50+ year olds marrying 12 year olds? Isn’t it your scholars that say its ok?
I am not an Ahmadi, but I have benefitted immensely from the medical service they provide at the Ahmadiyya Hospital in Tallingding. It was the best until Imam Fatty selfishly stoked religious hatred against them, leading to the flight of their Pakistani sect members, who formed the medical team. I bet you have benefitted too, and certainly, many of the youths persecuting them in Tallingding today.
But most importantly, I respect their rights to claim to be Muslims and to practice as they wish and I am not bothered whether they pray/celebrate with us or not, and neither should you or anyone. That’s between them and the one they worship.
I actually agree with you that the state should allocate a special cemetery to them, but until then, they should bury their dead in the Muslim cemetery without hindrance. They are Gambians and tax paying residents of Tallingding. The Police should not compromise with vagabonds who want to disturb the peace.
Natty if I’m stupid you are more than stupid , really Muslim knows that Shia and ahmadiya are fake Muslims like or not
I learned many wise things from my Father. Religion wasn’t one of them.
I learned that by myself.
To be a good Muslim is to follow the prophet Muhammad otherwise you are not Muslim , you can find this at any Muslim book !!!
Muslim and Buhari are too far
You think your online idiocy will convince us your are follower of prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah. You are the type of hypocrite whose first faith lies in the Western bread, and your second faith is, guising yourself as a devoted Sunni. Devotion to Allah lies more in the hearts than mere propaganda and tongues. Before you put your shoulder to the wheel of Islam, make sure you learn about the grace of Allah swt.
I’m talking to you rotten =peace#
Bax has said it all in the statement:
“My brother (Alhagie Drammeh), you don’t have to go to Saudi to be influenced by Sunni Wahabism, that has taken a strangle hold of Islam and the Islamic World. Islamic Scholars, particularly the Gambians you mentioned, are a great resource to Islam, but they are not infallible and are not above falling victims to misguidance.
Moreover, knowledge is imparted by teachers and understanding can be influenced by teachers and the environment. These Scholars were taught by teachers, who were taught by teachers, who were also taught by teachers, all of whom may have been influenced by their environment”.
Most religious fanatics of the Markazz kind are supported by ill-gotten Arab and Pakistani wealth. They hold the mistaken belief that they do not have to break a sweat at work but only live by the notion that they must dedicate their lives to the furtherance of misplaced and short-sighted Islamic preaching. I have listened to one of their kind say that accepting a salary for a 9 to 5 job amounts to Ribaa! How preposterous!
I recall my encounter with a Pakistani colleague, Jalal Ud Dinn, in college who asked whether we do have Ahmadis in The Gambia. When I responded yes, he went on a tirade on why we shouldn’t tolerate Ahmadiyya in The Gambia and that they must not be allowed to exist in The Gambia. I shook my head in bewilderment and added that in our Gambia, all faiths coexist amicably.
Certainly Bax, a poverty culture, misplaced priorities plus the influence of the environment, of all forms, will work to mold the thinking, disposition and overall perspective of individuals that tend not to see beyond their noses!!
There’s the need to remember that the individual (animals too) is molded by its genetic makeup, the environment that she/he lives in and the interaction of the environment and genetic makeup.
The misguided doctrines of Arabia and the Far East should not and must not alter who we are as a people!
Thanks for the apt commentary Bax.
My brother Andrew, who you’re shouldn’t be changed by others if you are correct. However as a Muslim you must follow the Quran and the prophetic traditions, I want you to prove me wrong or prove your points by using those two. Environment has effects, that’s right but these are established facts from these two sources. That’s why even if they have different origins or nations they possess the same believe if they both follow the sources correctly. Ahmadis were first refuted by the indigenous scholars at the first time of their advent. Just that they didn’t have the power to expel them., if not they would have done the same thing that happened in Pakistan or more. For your information I am a Muslim not marakass. But u preaching harmonious co existence, have now excluded marakasses. Where’s tolerance that you call for.
My brother Andrew, who you’re shouldn’t be changed by others if you are correct. However as a Muslim you must follow the Quran and the prophetic traditions, I want you to prove me wrong or prove your points by using those two. Environment has effects, that’s right but these are established facts from these two sources. That’s why even if they have different origins or nations they possess the same believe if they both follow the sources correctly. Ahmadis were first refuted by the indigenous scholars at the first time of their advent. Just that they didn’t have the power to expel them., if not they would have done the same thing that happened in Pakistan or more. For your information I am a Muslim not marakass. But u preaching harmonious co existence, have now excluded marakasses. Where’s tolerance that you call for.
Yes, we agree YOU are a Muslim, just like the Ahmadis and anyone else who professes to be one (without wanting to kill those who are “less Muslim”!!). Now just CHILL, thow good Muslim brother! (Andrew may not be a Muslim, but he is possible a Christian Brother (not a “Kaffir”!).
I refute boko haraam and I have different ideas with them so as isis, but I also want shariah. There’s no verse in the quran which support secularism. You can’t use one verse and neglect the other. The quran says if you don’t know ask the people of knowledge. That’s why I refer you to their explanation of the verse. Tribulations didn’t come to the Muslims until people like you sit and interpret the Quran in their own lustrous ways and they call it reasoning. YESTERDAY IT WAS DICTATORSHIP, TODAY SECULARISM AND TOMMOROW INSHA ALLAH ISLAMIC RULING, LIKE IT OR NOT. If you believe that Islam encompasses all aspects of life, why not politics? I was born in the GAMBIA, educating in the GAMBIA and still leaving here as Allah decreed it.
May be, you should relocate to the Takfiri, Zionist Kingdom of the Al-Sauds. You want shariah; they have it Mr Drammeh.
It is your medieval scholars who brought “tribulations” to the Muslims, since they were the ones interpreting the Quran and teaching the “Prophetic Traditions.” Me, I haven’t interpreted the Quran to anyone, except myself and believe me, I haven’t harmed a fly yet, never mind chop heads off.
Dida, in addition to your commentary, I will boldly add that I am an agnostic that studied both the Quran and the Bilble in The Gambia and abroad!
I do neither accept wholesale Islamic teachings nor do I agree with scholars that preach that Islam is a way of life or that every word of the Bible is God’s word and thus irrefutable!!
The problem that I have with scholars is that a good number, including Imam Abdoulie Fatty, are not decent human beings or closer to God in any way and only see and interpret their readings of the holy books through their own narrow prisms.
I will rest my case in this discussion as I do not believe in what amounts to flogging a dead horse. So you have lost me Alhagie Lamin Drammeh!
“Flogging a dead horse”!! Damn, you make me laugh Andrew!
Hey Dida, great job on Sambagate!!
I reached out.
Islam is Sunnah you can not be a Muslim without Sunnah that’s clear , anyone going against the prophet Muhammad is a Kaffir like or not .Or you follow the prophet Muhammad or you are not Muslim that’s all so Shia and ahmadis are just Kaffir not Muslims
Kaffir, according to Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafir
Andrew, I don’t also believe in what amounts to flogging a dead horse. You should know that my statement about the marakaz wasn’t for you but for bax. The one for your slander is coming.
First of all, what is sunni wahabism? Don’t use terminologies that you don’t know their reality.
You said that the marakasses don’t like to sweat in work. I have many teachers and lecturers who are what you call marakaz. Is this not working? Also in our hospitals we have several marakasses working there, so why that misleading statement for the one who doesn’t know the reality?
Furthermore taking 5_9 jobs for which you can’t give it what it requires, I don’t know whether it’s ribaa or not but a total greed and dishonest. It’s also one of the most apparent ways of corruption, for which whosoever is affected hates.
I think is better for you to rest your case in this discussion, because you’re coming with baseless arguments, I don’t know whether this is the way that agnostics do debate.
For bax he’s skeptical of the scholars, whatever teaching of Islam doesn’t march his own prejudice, he’ll blame it on scholars. If you don’t believe in the scholars do your own research and you challenge them with proofs, but you can’t just sit and say that they are the ones causing all religious misunderstandings.
It’s funny that you were asking me the punishment for an apostate while you have the solution with you. Is it that you want to so many arguments irrelevant of the topic, as you blamed me when I just gave you the examples of laxists ‘ behaviours.
For the luntango yes, your name is very apt here, it shows that you’re a luntango and not a jaatiyo. The word KAAFIR, I don’t know why you perceive it harsh. This is language, in Arabic disbelief is called KUFR and the subject is KAAFIR. Even in the quran Allah used this for Muslims, where he said whosoever disbelieve the idols and believe in Allah, has hold on a strong rope. The verse before the one quoted by bax so what’s wrong with it, doesn’t it means that i have to change my language just because you perceive it harsh and you can’t speak it.
Salam, Brother Al-Hagie, Dont bother waste your time arguing with these people. You have clearly presented evidence from an islamic standpoint based upon the Quran and Sunnah and what past scholars have said on this issue of the Ahmadiyya.
The reality is if any sincere Muslim actually looked at the creed of the Ahmadiiya it is clearly obvious that they do not follow the prophet Muhhamad (SAW) and are out of the fold of Islam that is a clear fact that cannot be denied, yet you are supposly a fanatic for adhering to the truth Subhan-allah. What these indivuals don’t realise is that Islam is not based upon feeling or emotion rather its based upon evidence, and these indivudals don’t have any evidence to support what they are saying.
Not becuase one lives in a secular state does that mean that a Ahmadiyya or a non muslim or vice versa therfore
Has the right to be buried in a grave yard allocated to a specific group of people wheter that be a muslim being buried in a Christian graveyard or a non muslim or Christian being buried in a gray yard allocated for Muslims.
But i guess nowadays you have people like these indivudals talking about matters of the Relgion yet many of them don’t even know what Tawheed is. Reminds me of the Hadeeth.
They will come years of deceptions upon the people, And you will have the Rweibda talking. It was said and O Messenger of God what is Rweibda? .. He said: The Foolish man speaks in public.
Alhagie Drammeh, I’m not sceptical of all scholars, but only those who advance interpretations that contradict the spirit of Islam, and traditions that whose objectives are to entrench dictatorships, and others that also portray our Holy Prophet (SAW) in ways that question his personality and mission. And it’s not just me that is sceptical, but many Muslims are too, including contemporary scholars.
Don’t play with words. You know why you called Ahmadis KAAFIR. I am convinced that there is no punishment for apostates, except with Allah (SWT). I want to know what you think and belief, with regards to that. Come on, tell us. What’s the punishment?
BAARAKALLAHU FIIKA ABU SUMAYYA, my brother bax, it’ll be difficult for me to convince you, since you’re a REJECTIONIST OF THE SUNNAH, and you call it a contaminated matter. I think before arguing with you with what the sunnah points out, we should argue first about its authenticity.
Allah Swt made it clear in the quran that it’s obligatory to follow the sunnah and not following it is totally a misguidance. Allah Swt said in the quran whoever obeys the messenger has obeyed Allah. Means obeying his sunnah. He also said say to them if you love Allah, then follow me (Muhammad). He also said WE HAVE REVEALED TO THE ZIKR(QURAN) AND HIKMAH(SUNNAH). If you don’t agree with hikmah in this verse as sun nah, then bring your proofs. He further said that follow Allah and the messenger in other for you to gain triumph.
Furthermore your claim that the sunnah was contaminated with Arabic culture, please bring your evidences. The cannot was protected by people who were not Arabs. For example sahih bukhari and sahih muslim’s authors weren’t arrabs and these are the most authentic books in Islam after the quran. Also the sunnah was memorised and transmitted in that way not as culture, taking it from parents. Why do scholars refute Arabs who misinterpret sunnah if it’s mixed up with their culture.
On addition to that, scholars of sunnah used to sit and narrate sunnah from their memorisation, and check each chain of narration whether correct or not. Some of them, if know that this person fools an animal, they won’t narrate from that person.
For you not accepting punishments, bring your proofs as I do now, not I think or Mr X thinks. I know for any Islamic punishment, it’s to prevent what’s more dangerous than that. May Allah guide us, it’s Nasiha and da wah.