Author
By Umaru Fofana
First things first: I am a Muslim. A Muslim not just because I was born into the faith. A Muslim because I was and still am convinced about it being the route to salvation. But that is not the thrust of this piece as I do not like getting involved in religious arguments or postulations. Among other reasons for that is that I believe in people's right to practice the faith of their choosing.
My wife, whose late mother was a staunch Catholic even if she had been born a Muslim, was surprised that I decided to accept my wife to continue with her Christian faith after our secular wedding. It is in this regard that I believe that if Muslims want the West to allow them to wear their dress code as they wish to do in Europe and America, they (Muslims) should also allow others to dress as they deem fit in the Muslim world and not force non-Muslim women, for example, to wear the Hijjab. But again that is not the core of my piece.
This is a piece in response to the ongoing mediation to bring together the two protagonists in the wake of the November polls in Sierra Leone. Surprise at the preface eh? Anyway... Those efforts must be lauded and supported by any well-meaning Sierra Leonean. It is said to be led by The Body Of Christ which is comprised of the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone, the Pentecostal Churches of Sierra Leone, the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone. They have been operating in the shadows, working wonders which culminated in the meeting yesterday of the two main contenders of the presidency, Ernest Bai Koroma and Julius Maada Bio
You may want to ask yourself where the Muslim community is in all of these efforts. The answer is NO WHERE. Usually the Inter Religious Council would be in the lead in such owing to the bi-faith nature of our ways of doing things in Sierra Leone. But not this time. And you do not need any guessing as to why this is, or is not, this time around.
Sierra Leone's Muslim leaders have become too partisan to be involved in anything that requires partisan neutrality or impartiality. Much to the dismay of even the people they lead. May 2006: National Stadium in Freetown. Over one year to the 2007 presidential and legislative elections. Leaders of different Muslim organisations converged at the stadium after a whirlwind parade across the city. From east they marched, from west they held banners. Chanting in support and endorsement of the then SLPP government. They assembled to probably serve their new faith – political sycophancy. Muslim leader after Muslim leader sought to present the then Vice President and ruling SLPP presidential candidate, Solomon Berewa as the best thing to have ever happened to this country. They went further to say that they and their followers would vote massively to make him win. I rubbed my eyes and the rest of my head in utter disbelief. But very few people around me noticed anything strange in that farcical façade and sycophancy which Islam preaches against very vehemently.
At some point in the run up to the 2007 elections I stopped praying in certain mosques because the Imams had become campaign managers for especially incumbent candidates. Not conscientious preachings. And nothing changed in the run up to the 2012 elections. If anything it got worse.
Somehow the Eid Ul Adha feast this year coincided with an earlier planned meeting in Makeni. The office could not cancel it. At the Wusum grounds, in stead of praying and then the usual following sermon on the need to give sacrifice, it became a political platform. Campaigning for one candidate and bad-mouthing the other, preceded and ensued the prayer – by politicians and Muslim religious leaders alike. Lead Muslim figures stood up and unequivocally and in sometimes despicable language asked the congregation not to vote for the opposition leader. They made the incumbent president Ernest Bai Koroma appear to appear to be a messianic figure. That is not Islamic. That faith that I was born and grew up in teaches fairness and right to reply/response.
The other day newspapers quoted a senior imam as saying that President Koroma was Muslim in his blood. The imam never came out to deny the reports so one takes it to be true that he did say so. Tell me how can any of those be involved in mediating a political disagreement emanating from that election or even any other national issue without being deemed to belong to one side.
I am not saying that all the Christian churches were neutral or impartial on the November elections. Some pastors clearly took sides and openly too. But the Council of Churches or the EFSL or any other of the bodies in The Body of Christ did not come out to side with either candidate. That is what gives them the moral authority to save the nation as they have been doing while some of our Muslim leaders have only been saving their pockets. The Council of Imams, among a string of Muslim organisations came out, openly, to endorse the incumbent. What moral high ground have they now to help in any mediation in the country's political situation.
One of the possible reasons could be the over-politicisation of the hajj – pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Mecca. Imams are expected to ask for the source of money when it is given to them. Not here. The hajj scholarship is a state resource. Some of them know but they tend to ignore it today as they did years back and as they likely will do in the future. In the case of some others it is cash.
What happens when religious leaders throw the holy book to speak out for the masses and become apologists for the leaders? The rest of society will die in penury. Unlike others, religious leaders, in my view, should be the ones with the strongest moral fibre when it comes to speaking the truth and doing so to power in the interest of the masses. This should not be shacked because the leader is of your faith while he is doing wrong, nor should it be excused because of some self-seeking reasons.
Our Muslim leaders should be called to order to act in the interest of all those they represent or claim to represent. I emphasise on them because the politicians will always stretch their hands out to compromise them. Like yesterday like today. They must be the conscience of society – not sycophants.
© Politico 05/12/2012
