Amadou,
You made a good point about religious diversity and religious tolerance.
The Gambia is NOT an Islamic State and all Gambians MUST respect other
peoples' rights to observe other religions.
I am for one very sadden by the treatment of Ahmadiyyans in The Gambia. I,
like many other people, went to Nusrat High School, studied Basis Arabic &
Islamic Religious Knowledge (was compulsary in Forms 1 & 2) but that never
made me an Ahmadiyyan. As a matter of fact, I used to attend Ahmadiyyan
meetings (at Pa Haq's house...for those of u who attended Nusrat) mainly
though to get free coca-cola. The Ahmadiyya's came to The Gambia and built
high schools and a hospital (a great hospital I may add!) when our own
government of the time was not interested in investing in education. Some
of you might disagree but Nusrat today is considered the BEST school in The
Gambia.
The Ahmadiyyans respect other peoples' rights to worship what they want.
One was not required to be an Ahmadiyyan as a condition for admission to
Nusrat. I remember how my uncles were REQUIRED to convert to Christianity
as a condition for admissions to Catholic Schools (St. Michael's Primary -
Njongon, to be specific) prior to the 60s. The Ahmadiyyas never did that!!!
All Gambians and The Gambian Government ought to take advantage of/support
all avenues of national development. The Ahmadiyyas have contributed
immensely in Gambian education and the health sector. Instead of kicking
them around and deciding what they are and what they are not, we should
THANK them and show them our appreciation for what they've done for The
Gambia. They should go back to The Gambia and carry on their fine work!!!
Again, I'm NOT an Ahmadiyyan but I do appreciate their fine work in The
Gambia. I'm very proud of being an Alumni of Nusrat High School, an
Ahmadiyyan institution!!!
Omar.
>From: Amadou Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Imam Fatty Condemns 'Fankanta'
>Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 11:40:22 +0200
>
>Jabou wrote among other things:
>
>". . . If this is the case, then let us cease to make any criticisms of
>colonialism, nor should we have
>fought for independence from the same since our colonizers built schools
>and
>hospitals. The real problem is that our so-called leaders are pitiful and
>have been so since independence, and this has resulted in poverty, lack of
>jobs and basic facilities that should have been our first priority all
>along. Consequently, we have developed this beggar mentality, such that
>anyone who comes along and builds these facilities that we should have
>provided for ourselves in the first place, is viewed as a saviour of some
>sort, no matter what the package comes with. . . ."
>
>
>Sister Jabou,
>
>With all due respect, I don't think you can juxtapose colonialism and the
>fight against it (with all the suffering, told and untold) with the
>Ahmadiyya Mission. Africans fought against colonialism because of all the
>evils that that system represented.
>
>The main object of colonialism was first and foremost to rob the African.
>Colonialism sought to dehumanise the African so as to justify his
>exploitation. Building schools and hospitals (from a meagre percentage of
>what was stolen from us) was just a part of the design. They needed
>"educated" Africans to carry out some of the administrative work. Remember
>they also built churches too to "save our Pagan Souls" as part of their
>grand design.
>
>The Ahmadiyya Mission is not out to commit armed robbery as was the case
>with the colonialist who not only stole material resources but kidnapped
>humans to trade in them.
>
>Imam Fatty is quoted as having said "Allah has promised in the Muslim holy
>book, Qur'an, to feed every mouth He created". Allah is definitely feeding
>the Imam's mouth through the hand of Yahya Jammeh but may have decided to
>feed some other more unfortunate mouths throuigh the work of the Ahmadiyya.
>
>Yes I think this question is quite a political one for Gambia is not
>inhabited by only Muslims. There are other faiths too and we cannot impose
>the teachings of the Quran on them.
>
>Regards.
>
>A. Kabir Njie.
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