Mashallah, it is nice to see an imam  who teaches what Islam says about truth
and justice.
Those who try to follow the letter of the laws in Islam can never be on the
side of injustice and lies because the tenets of Islam are based on enjoining
and practicing truth and justice, and refraining from, abhoring and
condemning injustice wherever and wheever we see it.

No one who calls themselves an Imam and yet closes their eyes to the truth,
and pays lip service to those who practice injustice, have any business
calling themselves an Imam. Likewise, no muslim can be on the side of
injustice, lies and treachery because the Qur'an tells us that that is not
consistent with the charater of a muhmin (a believer).

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 5/2/2001 10:37:49 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:



 COURTESY OF THE INDEPENDENT

 A local imam has been the first religious leader to speak out against the
 recently passed indemnity bill, saying it is against the concept of justice
 in Islam. The Imam of the Kanifing East mosque Baba Lee condemned the bill
 passed by the National Assembly, describing it as "unjust and against the
 principles and teachings of Islam". Speaking during his Hutba last Friday,
 Imam Lee minced no words as he criticised the idea of indemnifying those
 among the security forces who opened fire and killed demonstrating students
 as they took to the streets last year.

 In a particularly fierce sermon Imam Lee accused members of the National
 Assembly who voted in the bill of going against the principles of justice
 and fair play as known to Islam especially as it was meant to indemnify
 those who as he put it committed crimes against humanity. Therefore he
 argued that the National Assembly members should never have subscribed to
 the idea of passing an act, which he considers notorious and anti-Islam.

 "They are supposed to represent the interests of the people rather than
 their own personal interests or follow the dictates of an individual to do
 anything that goes against the interest of the country" he charged. He said
 the principles of Islam, which forbade the protection of criminals from
 punishment, are quite incompatible with the intent of the bill and therefore
 unacceptable to a majority of Gambians. Quoting the Hadiths, Imam Lee said,
 "anyone who protects those who commit crimes will not be spared from the
 punishment reserved for criminals".

 "According to the Hadiths, loving one's country is a religious obligation
 whilst doing anything bad against one's country tantamount to going against
 the teachings of Islam," he said. He added that as religious leaders, imams
 also have a stake in every aspect of life including politics. "While the
 National Assembly members have immunity in the National Assembly to say
 anything they want, we the imams also have immunity in our mosques to say
 anything that the Almighty Allah commands us to say," he remarked. Imam Lee
 went on, "those who committed crimes against the people could only be
 indemnified by those against whom they committed those crimes but not by a
 bill or anyone else".

 Therefore he said those people should know that no matter how long it takes,
 they would still get punished for those crimes. He gave an example of the
 former Chadian leader Hissene Habre who he said was recently expelled from
 Senegal because of crimes he allegedly committed against his people while in
 power several years ago. He believes that as a result of his allegedly
 brutal rule no country he said is willing to accept the former Chadian
 leader. "Therefore, you can run but you can never escape punishment for the
 crimes you committed against the people," he warned, adding that no
 indemnity bill would be able to protect those who committed crimes against
 the Gambian people.
  >>

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