Row over Imam Kah's appointment
By Lamin Dibba
Jun 16, 2004, 10:55



On Thursday, June 10, 94-year old Alhaji Abdoulie Jobe passed away after 21 years as imam ratib of Banjul. On
Sunday, June 13, Mr H O Jallow, acting secretary, issued a press release on behalf of the Committee of Banjul
Muslim Elders, announcing that Alhaji Muhammed Cherno Alieu Kah, the first deputy imam of the King Fahd
Central Mosque, had been appointed to succeed the late Imam Jobe with effect from that date, following a
meeting at the King Fahd Mosque.

But the news of Imam Kah's appointment has not been received with the tacit approval of certain Muslim elders
in the capital.

One of them, Imam Makumba Gaye, a senior member of the Banjul Muslim Elders' Committee, told the Daily
Observer on Monday, "We, [some of] the members [of the Muslim Elders Committee] who are the ones mandated to
select and appoint the imam ratib, were not informed about the new development and this is a big surprise to
us. We don't approve of the appointment and we are saying no to it. Not [just] anyone can appoint an imam; a
lot of things must be checked before you are appointed an imam ratib."

Another member of the Banjul Muslim Elders Committee, Alhaji Pa Badou Faal, commented, "Our committee was
never informed about the selection of Imam Kah as imam ratib of Banjul. It is totally out of context. I warned
the people of Banjul 20 years ago [about such an eventuality]. It was the late Imam Abdoulie Jobe who selected
Imam Kah as his first deputy and Imam Kah, I know, is the candidate of the Mosque Management Committee."

"We will petition this move and we want to draw the attention of the head of state and SoS for Religious
Affairs to this issue. This is a coup by the mosque management committee. The agenda of the meeting where Imam
Kah was appointed was about the nine million dalasi donation from Saudi Arabia to the King Fahd Mosque. How
can they turn that into selecting Imam Kah?" queried another disgruntled Muslim elder.

Meanwhile, as we were about to go to press yesterday, the Daily Observer obtained a copy of a letter written
by Alhaji Baboucar SO Jeng, chairman of the Banjul Committee of Muslim Elders addressed to the secretary of
state for Religious Affairs.

The letter reads: "Asalamu Alaika Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuhu. As Chairman, Banjul Muslim Elders Committee, I
write to inform you that the noise is too much about the appointment of the Imam Ratib of Banjul. As Chairman
of the Committee of Muslim Elders, I have not summoned, attended or approved any meeting purported for the
appointment of the Imam Ratib of Banjul following the demise of the late Imam Alhaji Abdoulie Jobe of blessed
memory. I have no knowledge of the meeting and appointment of anyone as Imam Ratib. I am not part of it and I
wish to inform you that any appointment made is unacceptable.

Whenever the matter is settled properly, you will be accordingly informed in the normal way. Thank you sir,
for cooperation in all religious activities particularly in the Islamic religion."

Some of the Muslim elders oppose Imam Kah's appointment because he was said to be a native of Medina Serign
Mass in Lower Niumi. They claim that a native of Banjul like second deputy imam Tafsir Gaye should be the
natural successor to Imam Jobe. In fact, the late imam himself openly expressed his preference for Imam Gaye
and during the later years of his sickness, delegated his imamate responsibilities to Imam Gaye.

However, both Cherno Kah and Tafsir Gaye declined to make any public statement on the issue up to press time.

The homes of the two men have been besieged by their respective supporters. But dignitaries among them, Mayor
Pa Sallah Jeng and former police chief, Ebou Njie, have been calling on the newly appointed Imam Kah to
express their felicitation and pledged their loyalty to him.

Meanwhile, Imam Kah remains the imam ratib of Banjul. the mosque management committee has urged Muslims to
rally behind him.

© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.703 / Virus Database: 459 - Release Date: 2004-06-10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~