Hi!
    This is the final part of my take on Dr. Jah's article.
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 Dr. Jah goes on to ask whether The Gambia can be a secular state, or to be more precise, whether the population aspect of The Gambian state can be secular given that it is 90% Muslim. He never answers this question. Instead, he proceeds by writing: " This question brings us to another question, which is: Can a Muslim be secular? The answer to which is absolutely NO." Whether this is an oversight or deliberate is not apparent. What is apparent is that he fails to answer one of the underlying thrusts of his article. In this light, what becomes clear is that he does not attempt to prove whether the Gambian population can be secular but whether the Muslim Gambian population can be secular. In taking this approach, he discounts the other members of the Gambian population by assuming that if the answer to his question is that no Muslim can be secular then the Gambian population cannot be secular. There is however a difference between the Gambian population in general and the Gambian Muslim population in particular. His justification for saying that a Muslim cannot be secular is that a Muslim recognises that Allah is the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient "who consciously understands that all his external and internal senses, perceptions, which constitute his rationality and thus his being are mere gifts from" Allah and "consciously demonstrates it in practice. A Muslim therefore, is not the one who only loves Allah but the one who truly demonstrates that love by practicing what that love really implies. In short a Muslim is that individual who is guided by the worldview of Islam." Recognising the greatness and oneness of Allah for Gambian Muslims is not that much of a problem. Where a large number of Gambian Muslims will flop is demonstrating what that love really implies and living by the rules of Islam and its worldview. Gambian society as it stands is corrupt to the core in many aspects and all the codes of conduct of the major religions have been compromised. Isn't it in The Gambia with over 90% Muslims that theft especially at the official level is glorified and honesty frowned upon as foolishness? Isn't it in The Gambia that backbiting, deceit, drinking, drug dealing and other vices have become an indelible part of our moral fabric for many people? Isn't it in The Gambia that parents will gladly take the pilgrimage to Mecca with money they know has been stolen or acquired through other vices? Do these and the other numerous transgressions conform to the worldview or teachings of Islam? To argue therefore that the country by virtue of its 90% Muslim population should not be ruled by a secular system of government is fallacious. How many of the 90% Muslims are truly Muslims? Before getting preoccupied with justifications for introducing a system of governance that would find a large chunk of the population guilty, maybe Gambians and those propagating a system of governance based on religious principles need to help the Muslim Gambians to take another look at their value systems, try to live by the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah and make it known that Islam transcends praying and showing off how religious one is in public and engaging in the worst of vices when no one is looking.
 Dr. Jah further argues that secularism has never been a matter of fact in The Gambia when one takes the context of his definition. Whether that definition is objective is truly questionable given the attempts to ignore its everyday meaning and delve into its historical evolution. However, when one takes the everyday meaning of the word, which means, "having no religious aspects", one can argue that the system of government can be based on the fact of the separation of religion and state. The government system has not been based on any religious mode of government but has to a large extent tried to function outside religious stipulations. 
 On the contention that the doctrine separation of state of state and religion decomposes religion as it denies God some of His powers, my opinion is that it does not do that. The basic guidance for rulers from God includes compassion, consideration, justice, fairness etc. towards those ruled. Such principles can be applied to any system of governance. What the separation of religion and state does is that it among other things takes away the pretext for some using cultural and other interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah to oppress their citizens as in the case of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Even in The Gambia where we are supposed to be Sunni Muslims, so many aspects of Shi'ite and Suffi influence are mixed to the extent that what we practice becomes a hotch potch brand of Islam. 
 Dr. Jah then goes on to make the case that non-Muslims are treated rather well in Muslim communities and that even some non-Muslims from Spain migrated to North Africa to be ruled by Muslims rather than non-Muslims because of the good way they were treated by the Muslims. That might be true but in those same North African and Middle Eastern countries, Muslim minorities such as Shi'ites and Suffis are persecuted and in many instances massacred. Take Iraq for example. 
 On the issue of the Constitution, Dr. Jah makes several issues. First, he tries to nonchalantly dismiss its importance and place in the governance scheme of things. He challenges the Constitution's authority to pronounce a Muslim secular. To put things in their proper, practical perspective, the Constitution is the basic law of the land. This is the basic document that defines the governance principles for ALL Gambians be they Christian, Muslim or whatever, on principles that do not have religious aspects. It does not pronounce any individual secular or not. What it does is that it creates the atmosphere to make it possible to govern ALL Gambians irrespective of religion on a religion-free basis so that Christians would not say that the country should be governed based on Christian religious law codes just as Muslims and other religious groups would not be able to say that the country should be governed based on their religious law codes.
 Second, he challenges the legality of the Constitution and borders on incitement. By urging Muslims to reject the Constitution or refuse to accept it where it disagrees with the fundamentals of their faith, a recipe for disaster is in the making. If this is the case, what is to stop animist or Christian Gambians from urging a rejection of the Constitution where it contradicts the fundamentals of their faith? Who is to say that they do not have the right to want to have their religious codes as the system of governance?
 The Gambia, as opposed to Dr. Jah's conclusion, does not need to redefine itself. It is a state based on secular principles of governance, i.e., its system of governance on the national level is not based on religious doctrines or does not conform to religious codes. As it is the duty of every Muslim to try to act according to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, what we should do whether in the office or at home is to try to let these principles guide us and let Allah reward those deemed worthy of being true Muslims. As for the system of governance, it should be based on principles free from religious doctrine and interference. Thanks.
                                                                                                Buharry.

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