The crux of my argument was the invalidity of your juxtaposition of
colonialism's tokenism with the genuine efforts by the Ahmadiyya Mission to
contribute towards alleviating the misery of the suffering poor in the Gambia. A
point which you opted to overlook!
I am quite aware that Islam is a very tolerant religion and I hope
that purported Muslim begin to manifest this tolerance in their dealings, both
with each other and with non-Muslims. It is this tolerance in Islam that drives
me to manifest respect for other peoples' believes.
Imam Fatty has demonstrated time and again his intolerance not just toward
people with divergent faiths, but also towards people with divergent views.
He is reputed to have gone on national TV demanding to know if Dr. Samba's
mother has been circumcised!- just because Samba view (a surgeon, looking at FMG
from a medical point of view) was not in line with the Imam's rantings. I
believe people like him are doing a disservice to Islam!
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 20. august 1999 15:30
Subject: Re: Imam Fatty Condemns
'Fankanta'
Amadou,
With all due respect, l don't see how Imam
Faty's speaking out against
innovation in Islam translates to denying that
Gambia is inhabited by people
of other faiths. The two have absolutely
nothing to do with each other. As a
matter of fact, Islam advocates
tolerance because everyone is free to choose
what they believe in. The
point here is that, the same excellence we are
seeking in the political
arena, is the same one that we are also seeking in
the religious one. This
is an issue of pointing out to muslims what is pure,
and what is
innovation, and l do not understand why it raises the ire of so
many
people. There is no compulsion in religion, but please let those of us
who
want to learn all we can about this religion, as well as those who
realize
that it is their duty to put forth what is fact and what is fiction
in it,
do just that.
l think it is very simple, and is intended for those who want
to make use of
it.
Jabou Joh
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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