ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA ON THE INAUGURATION OF THE UGANDA MUSLIM SUPREME COUNCIL, AT THE UGANDA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE ON THURSDAY, 1ST JUNE, 1972, AT 4:00 p.m. Your Eminence the Chief Kadhi of Uganda, Distinguished Religious Leaders, Your Excellencies, Members of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like, first of all, to extend a most hearty welcome to our distinguished guests from Egypt, Mecca, Lybia, Pakistan, and Sudan, who have graced this occasion with their presence. Their presence here, exclusively to join their brothers and sisters in witnessing the inauguration of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, and the installation of the first Chief Kadhi of Uganda, is an expression of a new and most cherished relationship between Uganda and the countries and organisations they represent. I am confident that this new relationship will be seen to grow from strength to strength. To-day I am filled with that kind of joy that can only be felt rather than adequately expressed. For today we are witnessing a re-kindling of the Islamic light in this country. That light, which was first lit in Uganda more than 100 years ago, has been in danger of facing ultimate extinguishment. For whereas the Muslim faith was the first of the modern religions to be introduced in this land, its growth has been by far the slowest, and its impact, by comparison with other religions, quite unimpressive. The reasons for this draw back are not far to seek. They can be found in the fragmentation of our religion, with various sects and factions, each one of the others. Such sects and factions have had only the Koran in common. They have had separate leaders, separate Mosques, and separate programmes. In the process, too many Sheikhs have been created, since there has been no central authority establishment in accordance with the teachings of Islam to control their creation. Worse still, a category of Moslems have been barred from holding prayers in certain Mosques. The various sects and fractions have even had disputes over such matters as the date on which the Idd-El_ Fitri is due. The decline of our religion has further been evidenced by Moslems fighting in Mosques. Such fights have, on one or two occasions, resulted in loss of lives. The most puzzling aspect of such disputes is that they have not been sparked off by any differences in the interpretation of the Koran or the featherings of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W). The hard truth is that a number of so-called leaders have sought to use our religion for the promotion of their own personal, political, tribal, or sectional ends, to the exclusion of the welfare of the Muslim faith as a whole in this country. This has led to the absences of a central organization to provide facilities for the Muslim faith in Uganda, to generally and methodically administer Muslim affairs, and to control and distribute finances for the benefit of all Moslems in Uganda. For the First time in the history of Islam in this country, Moslems of various sects are joined together in a single organization that will ensure the advancement of Moslems in Uganda. Let no one under-estimate the importance of the role that will be played by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council. For the first time, and hopefully for all time, there will be a channel through which important Islamic matters will be processed for the benefit of the followers of our Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W). Disputes and other mis-understandings will be settled through this central authority. Various national programmes intended to be of benefit largely to Moslems will be undertaken through the Supreme Council. Pilgrimages to the Holy land will be organised through the Supreme Council. Previously, such pilgrimages have been organised in a most unsatisfactory manner. Various sects and factions have been separately dealing with airlines or travel agents; but pilgrims undertaking the journey have paid different fares. Some pilgrims have been cheated in the process. Because of the absence of a central body to organise such pilgrimages, a most unfortunate incident involving a Uganda lady happened in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. That lady arrived in Jeddah only to find that the leader of the faction that organised her pilgrimage had missed the plane. She had money. The leader of another Uganda faction who had arrived in Jeddah with her on the same plane brutally turned her away from his group, leaving her to starve. She became destitute. Being illiterate, she could not speak any language that could be understood by anyone. After a number of weeks she was presumed dead. Her relatives and friends in Uganda were told of her demise. It is only by the grace of God the Almighty that in such circumstances she survived it all and was escorted back to Uganda after she had spent a night- mare of more than two months. It is only a miracle that this lady is still alive and safely back home. She could have died, like so many Ugandans have died over the years while fulfilling this important tenet in our faith. I cannot but conclude that the lives of at least some of the pilgrims who have died could have been saved had we an organisation, such as the Supreme Council, to look after the interests of Moslems undertaking the pilgrimage. Now that the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council has been established, those Moslems who intend to undertake the holy pilgrimage can look forward to it with hope and confidence. During my travel abroad, I have been in contact with various Muslim organisations. Many of them have expressed the desire to assist their Muslim brothers in Uganda through scholarships and in other ways. As we have had no central body to deal with such matters, we have been unable to benefit from such generous offers. With the establishment of the Supreme Council, we shall now be able to take advantage of them. This will inevitably lead to a strengthening of our relationships with our Muslim brothers throughout the world. We must also admit the fact that, generally speaking, the Muslim community in Uganda are lagging behind other religious communities in matters of secular education. The reason for this can also be traced back to the absence of a central organisation charged with the responsibility to plan and implement programmes for upliftment of the educational standards of Moslems. I expect the Supreme Council to devote much of its effort in not only co-coordinating the activities of the existing Muslim organisations in Uganda in this regard, but also in working out schemes that will augment existing facilities in order to accelerate the rate of the education advancement of Moslems in Uganda. Perhaps one of the most serious aspects of the confusion in the Islamic movement in Uganda has been the existence of different schools of thought in the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W), which has made Moslems to be divided by power seekers. This has been the result of unqualified or semi-qualified people being entrusted with the task of teaching the Koran. It is for this reason that I welcome a suggestion which was made at the religious conference last year to the effect that an Institute of Islamic studies should be established. Such an institute will put right a lot of thing that have gone wrong, since I expect that they will probe all institutions in which Islamic studies are undertaken with a view to their improvement. I am aware that a number of people are not entirely satisfied with the manner in which the present Supreme Council has been established. Others are not satisfied with the composition of the Council. I would like to recall that one of the recommendations that were made by the committee on Muslim affairs at the Conference of Religious leaders last year was that the Supreme Council should be composed of three persons from each District, including the Sheikh Kadhi of that District. When I was closing the conference of religious leaders, I pledged Government support and assistance in the establishment of the Council. Arrangements were made for elections to be held throughout the country in accordance with the recommendations I have referred to above; but unfortunately a number of so-called Muslim leaders took it upon themselves to campaign so as to have their own supporters elected to the Council. Not only were such so-called leaders re-introducing politics in Uganda, but also they were trying to make it impossible for the entire cross-section of the Muslim community in Uganda to be represented at the council. I was left with no alternative, but to cancel the elections, and I made an announcement to that effect. I also realized that, at least in the initial period of its existence, the supreme council would not be adequately represented by only three people from District. Moslems are scattered all over the country, throughout all Districts and countries. It would be unrealistic to expect three persons to be adequately aware of the views and requirements of all Moslems in their respective Districts. I considered it necessary to ensure that Moslems in each county should have a representative, through whom they would draw the attention of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council to their problems. I therefore arranged for each District to have eleven representatives, bearing in mind that the supreme council itself may, in accordance with the recommendation submitted at the religious conference, vary the numbers of its own members as it sees fit. Just before you came to this Council meeting, I called upon you to submit a list of the names of some ten well- educated Moslems from your various districts. I did this with a view to assimilating some of those educated Moslems into the council. The response to my call has been very encouraging. You have yourselves removed many of the persons who were originally selected, and replaced them with younger and educated Moslems. It is encouraging to note that some of the ‘wazeyi’ have voluntarily given way to younger blood. The council membership is now a blend of leading Sheikhs with masses of useful experience in Muslim affairs, and relatively young and educated Moslems with a modern outlook. But I am also aware that there are a number of people who, having been left out of the council, think that they had any claims to represent Moslems in their Districts. Such people must know that the Government will not tolerate any-one who tries to frustrate the work of the Supreme Council. If the Government becomes aware of their activities against the supreme council, it will be forced to take drastic measures to ensure that the supreme council is not disturbed in any way. READ THE FULL SPEECH AT: um-bs/2014/11/17/amins-speech-on-umsc-in-1972/
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 17:04:13 +0000
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