By RAMADHAN RAJAB

Inaugural Shuura Council chairman Sheikh AbdullahiAbdi spoke to Star reporter Ramadhan Rajab on thecouncil’s role, problems facing Muslims and counterterrorismmeasures. Abdi is also the chairman of theNational Muslim Leaders’ Forum.

Towards the end of last year, you were elected Shuura Council chairman, making you the inaugural chair of the organization. How was the idea for creation of the Council conceived and what is this organisation all about?

The needs of Muslims in the country keeps changing, thus they are confronted by many new challenges ranging from economic, social and spiritual matters. In line with those circumstances, Muslims try to address the issues by designing mechanisms that can be used to tackle them. In October 2015, Muslim leaders drawn from all sectors across 47 counties, convened at Jamia Mosque in Nairobi for a two day’s convention where various recommendations to help address various issues were made. One of the recommendations was the creation of a consultative body and hence the Shuura Council was conceived to provide cohesive leadership. The Council includes organisations like the Jamia Mosque Committee, Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, National Muslim Leaders Forum, Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, Umma Foundation, The National Council of Muslim Scholars (Majlis Ulaama-Kenya), Maahad Daawa Organisation, Muslim Education Council among others.

To streamline its operations, eight sectoral committees were set up. These are education, Dawah (teaching on Islam), media, youth, women, human rights and conflict resolution and health. They are mandated to prepare and submit bi-annual reports on the state of Muslims in particular, and the general state of the nation for discussions at the Annual Shuura Council convention. Eighteen members drawn from the organisations, will serve a two-year term as members of the Council.

Already we have a number of Muslim organisations working in various sectors and dealing with issues you mentioned above. Why have a Shuura Council ?

It is true that there are many Muslim organisations in the country, both at the national and grassroots level. While they are in overall, doing a commendable job, it was realized that each institution was operating in isolation. The Shuura Council will synergise all these efforts, and avoid the confusion and duplication that has existed in the past, due to disjointed efforts. The Council will also bring together stakeholders whose responsibility will be to provide a united stand on leadership regarding various issue facing the Muslim community.

So far, what do you consider as the main issues facing Muslims in Kenya today?

The issues are many, particularly historical ones. Marginalization can never be avoided. Despite various efforts to highlight and get redress for these injustices, little seems to be achieved especially in the field of human rights. There is rampant discrimination – where Muslims are not treated equally under the law as other Kenyans. Their right to opportunities like jobs, education, travel and even access to government offices, is curtailed due to denial of documents such as identification cards and passports. Despite calls by President Uhuru Kenyatta to issue these documents to all Kenyans without discrimination, it appears these instructions are deliberately ignored and never followed through.

Of bigger concern, however, is the denial of Muslims to the due processes of law and the right to life. It is on record by local, constitutional bodies and international reputable rights bodies such as Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Independent Medico Legal Unit, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, that extensive arbitrarily arrest, torture, extra-judicial killings, and enforced disappearances has been meted on Muslim individuals under the guise of fighting terrorisms, contrary to constitutional doctrines.

Another issue is the disparity in division of the national cake. Kenya is 52 years old post independence, but there is glaring disparity in terms of educational or social services development between Muslim majority areas and other areas. If you look at infrastructure development which is a major contributor to socio-economic growth of any region, North Eastern and Coast regions lead as the most neglected, Is this a coincidence or by design?

With entry of Shuura Council, how do you intend to reverse these trend?

The Council will engage Muslim leadership at all levels including scholars, political and religious leaders, businessmen and other stakeholders. We will also dialogue with the various leaders in government to address all issues of inequalities affecting Kenyans and Muslims in particular. The Council sees itself as a bridgehead between the Muslim Ummah, their compatriots of other faiths and the government. We also hope that some of the questions of disparities especially in sharing of national revenue will be addressed through fully harnessing the benefits of devolution.

There has been unease among some Muslims organizations, with fears that the formation of the Shuura Council will usurp their powers rendering them irrelevant. What do you make of this ?

The Council was not created to replace or compete with any Muslim organization nor interfere with the leadership of existing institutions. It was formed to strengthen and complement efforts of existing institutions, through coordination to enhance the overall response to challenges facing Muslims.

What is your observation on terrorism and counter terrorism efforts in the region and is the country on the right track?

Terrorism is a global phenomena of the 21st century. It is not particular to Kenya and needs to be addressed holistically from a position of knowledge not through knee-jerk reaction or through use of heavy handedness as sometimes witnessed here. Muslims in Kenya and globally, do not support violence in any manner. We will be on the front-line to fight any individuals or institutions that will want to portray Islam as the promoter of terrorism.Through the Mimbar (pulpit) in our Masaajid (mosques) and Madrassa, our religious leaders and scholars have been preaching against violence and calling on Muslims to lead a peaceful and harmonious life with their fellow human beings as taught in the Quran. We are keenly instilling in our youth, Islamic values by teaching them tolerance, kindness, sharing, liberty, humanity, understanding and good neighborliness so they don’t fall prey to any misguidance or rogue interpretation.

We also want to assure the government and its agencies that we are always ready to cooperate in resolving issues that affect Kenyans in general and Muslims in particular.

In October 2015 during the leadership convention, delegates resolved to petition the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, to come and help investigate alleged extra-judicial killings perpetrated against Muslims. How far have you reached in realising this resolution?

Islam stands for justice and during the convention, a resolution was passed that for the victims of the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture, the culprits must be brought to book through due process of the law. While we have enough data, more is being collected and this matter will be brought to the attention of the Kenyan criminal justice system, with a view of seeking justice and deterring future abuses.

Failure to achieve these objective at the local courts, won’t be the end to the pursuit of justice. We will try lodging the case at the international courts too, before we can bring in the UN as a last resort.

What can be done to deal with radicalization?

Socialization to violence must stop. This will begin when security agencies do away with brutality as the only means of law enforcement. There is need to adopt soft-means too. But we need to acknowledge, that the decline of extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations after the October convention, is a move in the right direction. We call upon the government to treat all Kenyans equally with dignity and justice this will contribute in the fight against terrorism in a large way. The government also needs to avoid unilateral policy decision making and increase consultation among affected communities as per the constitution of Kenya.

Lastly we need to address all grievances among communities as well close political social exclusion gaps that exist.

On our part, we are reaching out to the youth and through existing Muslims institutions, we are deeply engaging in interfaith dialogue to promote understanding that we are all Kenyans and members of one human race. This is to deflect religious tensions that might be existing so as to build a unified and harmonious society.

There is a growing stereotypes that Madrassa are breeding grounds for extremists. Can this perception be changed?

This perception is misplaced. The madrassa institutions have been in existence for over 1400 years and can never be blamed for a 21st century phenomena. However to address emerging concerns, through the Muslim Education Council, we have developed new curriculum for the madrassa that will help streamline and present unified Islamic studies. Thus, any gaps that might be exploited to radicalize youths are closed. This will also help the government and any other interested parties, know and appreciate exactly what is taught in the madrassas to avoid misconceptions.

When you speak about Shuura Council, one might hope that the conflicting issues on moon sighting and when to break or start fasting will be solved. Will this be the case?

The council is a consultative body that will address key issues concerning the Ummah. Moon sighting to mark Eid, though given a lot of publicity, it is not a major divisive issue amongst Muslims hence will not require much attention.

Source: The Star