(JollofNews) – Gambia’s Ahmaddiya Muslim Jama’at have called on the regime of President Adama Barrow to monitor and avert Muslim extremism for the peace, security and stability of the Gambia.
Alhaji Ebrahima Mbowe, deputy Amir III of the Jama’at said extremism has destroyed the fabrics of some countries and Gambian authorities must take strong measures to safeguard peace and religious freedoms in the country.
The Jama’at is is coming under increased persecution by the country’s predominant Sunni Muslim sect who have rejected them as non-Muslims and have tried in recent times to ban them from burying their followers in Muslim cemeteries.
Last Saturday, a standoff erupted in Tallinding village, Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) between Sunni Muslims and Ahmadis over the burial of a 70-year-old member of the Ahmaddiya Muslim Jama’at, Kebba Sanneh of Tallinding Sicap, at the town’s cemetery.
The standoff was resolved following an intervention by the police.
Commenting on the incident, deputy Amir Mbowe said: “This was simply a situation where Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at had bereavement and wanted to bury their loved one in a community Muslim graveyard in a place where the deceased lived, worked and paid taxes for over three decades. However, a group of Tallinding Markazi youths did not want the deceased to be buried in the graveyard and they were backed by the Tallinding Police.”
He added: “Brother Kebba Sanneh of Tallinding Sicap, a very sincere Ahmadi Muslim, passed away in the early hours of Saturday 4th May 2017 and was scheduled to be buried at 2pm the same day. At around 10am on the same day a group of young men were dispatched by the Jama’at to go to the graveyard to dig the grave. The young men went to the Kabila Alkalo to get the key and they did and after digging returned the key to the same person.
“Around mid-day of the same day, the Jama’at received a telephone call from a watchman at the residence of the deceased to say that there is a problem for he was told by the Imam of the area that burial cannot be done in that graveyard because the deceased Kebba was an Ahmadi.
“The Amir dispatched a team of six Jama’at elders to go to the area to investigate what was going on. The team started at the Kabila Imam’s residence where they met the Imam, Alhaji Bakary Ceesay, and asked what the issue was surrounding the burial of Brother Kebba Sanneh. The Imam said he got word that Brother Kebba should not be buried in the graveyard but does not know much so he directed the team to the Village Alkalo, Ebou Badjie.
“The team then went to the Village Alkalo and made the same enquiry but he was found to be sick. He referred the team to the ‘Kabila’ Alkalo, Ebrima Badjie. Upon arrival at the Kabila Alkalo’s place, he was very receptive. When the team narrated what they have been through the Kabila Alkalo responded that a group of young men came to him and said that they needed a paper from him to say that this corpse should not be buried in the cemetery. He told them that he did not have authority to do so, let them go to his boss, the Village Alkalo. If he, the Alkalo, writes, appends his signature and affixes the stamp, then he will carry out the orders. According to the Kabila Alkalo they left and never returned. He told the team that the cemetery key was with him and whenever they are ready for the burial let them come for the key and he will give them. The team then left but also made it clear to the Kabila Alkalo that burial will take place as scheduled.
“When the team left the Kabila Alkalo’s place they decided to go to the police to seek protection from any eventuality. When the team reached the station, there were about three ‘Markazi young Muslims’ who were at the station for the same purpose giving their own version of the story. The team narrated what they were there for and the female Sargent who was there immediately responded that the burial will have to wait let them consult their superiors for instructions. The team asked what instructions? There is a corpse to be buried the time is near. In the meantime the female sergeant called one of her bosses who in turn called one of the members of the team to tell us to wait for instructions from above. The officer who called the team member was O.C. Superintendent Samba Jawo who instructed that burial should not take place until he gives orders.
” In the meantime there was commotion in the station each one wanted to talk at the same time and be heard. The team decided to leave and give report to the Amir and then proceed with the burial rites. At that point the police officers there expressed the wish to go to the cemetery to keep peace but lamented that they had no transport. One of the team members used his vehicle to transport them to the cemetery.
“At 2pm, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at left the Ahmadiyya Muslim Hospital at Tallinding with the body for burial. Upon arrival at the gate of the cemetery, there were the police men and a woman at the gate together with few of the “Markazi” young men.
“The Police had already collected the key from the Kabila Alkalo and refused to open the gate. After the Janaza the Jama’at headed to the gate to go in but were stopped by the police who were at the locked gate telling us to be patient and wait for instructions. That wait took well over an hour with both the corpse and sympathizers under the hot burning sun. As the wait got longer tempers grew hotter and patience almost ran out.
“At every point the Amir was just admonishing the Jama’at to be calm and exercise patience. This same Tallinding Police Station was behind the first burial issue between the Jama’at and the younger brother of Alkalo of Tallinding in August 2015. They have repeated it again. Is the Tallinding Police doing the same thing to other religious sects’ dead bodies?
“The team member that O.C. Jawo spoke to called the Police Commissioner of Administration and explained the situation to him. Commissioner Admin then dispatched Officer King Colley of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) to come to the scene and correct the situation.
“Upon King Colley’s arrival and seeing the situation, he asked for the key, open the door and allowed the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at to carry on with the burial rites in peace. Had the Tallinding Police not collaborated with those Markazi youths but opened the gate just when the corpse arrived, the situation would not have reached the level it did. The Tallinding Police created the commotion and we are holding them responsible for it.
“At this point in time we are not welling into who is a Muslim or who is not. We have dealt with that in October/November 2014, January 2015 and September of 2015. We are not seeking any stamp of approval from any individual or group to confirm that we are Muslims. It is our fundamental human rights as Muslims to bury our dead bodies in Muslim cemeteries. It is the duty of the police to protect our fundamental rights instead of endangering them, and should be neutral and impartial when intervening in situations like this.
“The authorities must watch and avert extremism in this country covertly or overtly for the peace security and stability of the country because extremism has destroyed the fabrics of some countries. This is why the Holy founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) asked his followers to take moderate path in their actions. We pray to Allah Almighty to enable the entire country to cherish and enjoy existing peace and to safeguard the fundamental rights of every citizen so that we live in harmony.”
My humble advice to the government is, “WATCH THE MARKAZI”. Also, very closely monitor these “graduates” and “students” from Saudi Wahhabi Institutions and their affiliates throughout the Muslim World. Their hateful and hate filled ideology is shaytanic and far removed from the beautiful Islam that the noble Prophet (SAW) was sent to deliver. And they have had centuries to interweave their poison into Islam and spread it around the world.
The discovery of oil and the wealth it came with, only hastened the process in recent years. These clerics at SIC would have easily crowned Yaya Jammeh King, if they had the influence and power within the Muslim population to do so. Thanks to the Grace and Mercy of Allah (SWT), nobody takes them seriously because we have seen through them a long time ago. I hope Gambians continue to place them where they belong, as they constantly struggle for relevance.
Bax, thanks for the genuine concerns expressed above over this cancer called Islamic fundamentalism that has been spreading all over the world in the past two decades. You have rightly pinpointed one of the principal causes above – the so-called Markazi and the like that have been spreading rapidly in our country during the same time period.
However, I am far from convinced that that is the only reason behind the rise of the phenomenon in our beloved country lately. Far from it. I’d argue that the biggest threat to the long-term security of The Gambia in this regard is “mass illiteracy” and ignorance.
Hence, any serious attempt at dealing with the problem must involve ways and means of tackling this mass illiteracy first. A good way forward should involve incorporating such schools as annexes to existing “secular schools” in the areas of the country where they exist in combination with laws that force them to teach secular subjects in addition to religious subjects. Thereby giving the ministry of education supervisory duties over the school curricula.
Secondly, the history of the downfall of the last of the three great west African empires, Songhai, should remind us that “so-called “true Muslims” of the Middle-East and North Africa shall never be satisfied with any black African nation’s interpretation of Islam. Unless we tooth and nail adopt their cultural interpretation of Islam. A sure root to relegating our African culture, christian brothers and sisters to second class status/citizenship. This is what North Africans, Somalis and Sudanese have done. Has it promoted tolerance towards religious and other minorities in these countries? No, on the contrary: They are “Hells” on Earth” for religious minorities in these countries.
Thirdly, we should always remember that Arabs are no less imperialistic in terms of their policies towards Africa than Europeans – far from it. Hence, the overwhelming risk that they routinely “politicize” their interpretation of Islam in my part of the world with a view to achieving their imperialistic goals. Sudan, again is a case in point: Arabs and the Brits had been joint imperialist powers here. It has since Independence had one of the worst human rights records on the continent. The same can be said of Somalia.
Saikou M.D.Manneh, good shout, “Arabs and the Brits had been joint imperialist powers here.” We Africans, our biggest achievement is survival. Dem ah go tired fe se we face, but dem can’t get we out of the race.
Been a secure country where people of different faiths have right to practice what he or she believes .I hope common sense prevails and resolution be soon forthcoming to this religious stand off. Progress,peace and prosperity for Our Mama Land The Gambia.
Religious freedom peace and love but remember to be a Muslim you have to follow Rasul Muhammad otherwise you are not Muslim that’s clear ,Islam is the Sunnah only . Others are Shia , ahmadis Christianity etc etc Ahmadis and Shia are not following the prophet Muhammad so they are just Kaffir
Be careful who you call KAAFIR. Only Allah (SWT) the All Knowing, All Seeing Lord knows what’s in the heart of men/women.
Ahmedis believe in the Prophethood of Muhammad (saw) and also believe that he is the last LAW bearing prophet. They do believe, for some reason, that prophets will continue to be sent, but within Islam, to revive the religion, from time to time. And just like the main stream quote Hadith to substantiate their position, the Ahmadis also do too.
I, and many Muslims across the world, differ with them on this issue, but that’s their right and it is only they who will be held to account, if they have erred.
Our role and duty, as fellow Muslims, families, friends, neighbours, etc, is to argue our case, in the most beautiful, intellectual and respectful manner, to bring them to the main fold. If they persist in their way, Allah (SWT) will be our witness that we have fulfilled our duty towards them.
No body has a right to lift a finger against others just for what they believed, once Allah (SWT ) made His last prophet to declare that He has completed His favours on us and chosen Islam for us, as a complete way of worship.
Bax, Jalang, thanks for the reflective and nuanced analysis of the insulting word, kaafir.
Indeed it displays the fact that you do master the essence of Islam but at the same time willing to have a pragmatic view of the teachings of the prophet (SAW) so as to make it tally with the realities on the ground today, due not least to your secular training as well. The latter enables you and I (among others) to look at such teachings in a much broader perspective than so-called Islamic scholars who do not have “an iota of secular education”. Not least because these religious texts were written at a time when the world situation was very different from the world we live in today. Hence, it contains a lot of verses that should by no means be taken at face value, not least because they inter alias contain a lot of Arab cultural war rhetoric and Arab prejudice against Jews, Christians and other minorities.
Jews and Arabs are by the way first cousins (kids of Abraham) who have been fighting each other for thousands of years. Hence, it makes no sense for African Muslims to hate Jews just because some prejudiced Arab Muslim scholars in due course inserted such hateful rhetoric in the Holy texts.
The same thing can be said of the many kill, kill, kill rhetoric against so-called kaafirs etc.: It should be obvious to any enlightened reader of such texts that they in fact belong to a very different epoch in global history. The Middle East was at the time full of inter-clan wars among Arabs. Hence they should by no means be taken seriously in any country governed by the “rule of law”, not to mention any enlightened person of our day and age.
In conclusion, let us either close down indoctrination centres called markazis or bring them under the supervision of the education authorities in one way or another – preferably by forcing them to teach secular subjects as well.
Kaffir mean everybody are against the prophet Muhammad is Kaffir .
Kaffir is all those who do not agree or are against prophet Muhammad,,,, Shia and ahmadis are not with him !!!!