Thank you very much for your clear-headedness. It seems you understand what
it's all about!
Regards.
A. Kabir Njie.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 20. august 1999 17:07
Subject: Re: Imam Fatty Condemns
'Fankanta'
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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