Thursday, April 3, 2014

MUSLIM LEADERS HYPOCRITICAL ON MATTERS OF TERRORISM

I have been listening to speeches and watching body languages of some Muslim leaders and I am perplexed and ruffled.

A few Sundays ago six people were killed in a hail of bullets as they prayed in a Church at Likoni, South of Mombasa. Several others including baby Satrine Osinya who took a bullet in his brain were seriously injured. I have no doubt that the perpetrators were Muslim fanatics linked to the killer Al Shabaab terror group domiciled in Somalia with cell links in Kenya.

On the first day of April, six other people were killed and 20 injured when another terrorist bomb exploded in a cafe at Eastleigh, Nairobi. Again, Muslim Somali jihadists are believed to have been involved.

I am perplexed and ruffled because Muslim leaders did not condemn those attacks as ferociously as they did when a well-known Muslim jihadist cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Shariff aka as Makaburi, was felled by bullets outside Shanzu Courts on the Mombasa/Malindi road on Tuesday.

All over a sudden, Muslim leaders, whose voices were not heard during the Likoni raid, came out of the wood works spitting fire and issuing all manner of ultimatums to the Government.

After the bloody Likoni raid, I did not hear one voice call for the formation of a task force  to investigate the killings, nor did I hear any one of them claim Christians were being targeted by terrorists.

But with the killing of Makaburi, some Muslim political leaders have even gone to the extent of alleging the Government was involved in the roadside murder. They claim Muslims are being targeted, and they talk of "systematic profiling of members of the Muslim community."

I see this as double standard.

My question is: Is the life of one Muslim cleric more precious than the life of six Churchgoers and six innocent customers in a cafe?

If our Muslim leaders are serious about fighting terrorism they should not mix religion with evil acts. We are always told that Islam is a religion of peace. I agree, because I lived with Muslims at Majengo King'orani in Mombasa, for a good part of my growing up and never once did I experience any form of religious animosity between Muslims and Christians.

We shared the joys of Chrismas together as much as we shared the merriment of Idd il Fitr. We rejoiced together at weddings just as much as we banded together during times of bereavement and sorrow. We played and ate together. We joined hands during Maulid celebrations and celebrated Christian festivities as one.

That is why I am convinced Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. But I am perplexed and ruffled because Muslim leaders only see evil when a Muslim is killed but see NO evil when a Christian is murdered.

Christian youths have never engaged in street rampages even when their own have been mauled down by killer bullets. But when the same happens to a Muslim, Mombasa becomes a no-go zone; shops are closed in fear of looting and destruction; and the whole security apparatus goes on full alert to handle rowdy youths.

As I have said here before, Muslim leaders bear the biggest responsibility of calming and controlling their vociferous youths. They also bear the highest responsibility in stopping their youths from joining terror groups of any kind. By merely condemning the Government and issuing ultimatums, Muslim leaders are only being impetuous, hypocritical and unreasonable.

We cherish the cordial co-existence between Christians and Muslims but this can only be sustained if Muslim leaders take the kind of taciturn and responsible posture that Church leaders display during crises.

And that is my say.

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