Clerics must unite against ‘gospel’ of death

The Standard on Saturday

The time has come for Kenya to stop burying its proverbial head in the sand regarding the potential risk posed by sporadic inter-faith tensions.

According to religious leaders, the tide turned for the worse around 2006 when suspected religious extremists attacked a Christian FM station, Hope FM, in Mombasa.

The attackers claimed the FM erred by airing testimonies of Muslims who had converted to Christianity.

Seeds of religious intolerance were sowed. In recent months, dozens of Muslim and Christians have been killed simply for professing their faith.

This is unacceptable in a nation that boasts freedom of worship and religious diversity. Still, sanctity of life must be central in all religions.

All Kenyan religious leaders owe the nation their unequivocal condemnation of any form of violence.

They must all rise above partisan interests to protect Kenyans against extremism. 

All is not well when radicalised youths take on each other based on their faith. That would be the beginning of dismembering that which we call the Republic of Kenya.

We have witnessed the destruction brought on Nigeria and other countries due to religious conflicts.

It must not be allowed to happen here and all stakeholders are called upon to nip this problem in the bud.

Urgent and honest dialogue among Christian and Muslim leaders should be initiated to stem fatal conflicts.

Any exhortations to kill members of others on the basis only of religion must not be entertained. And that is where the government comes in.

The police and other security agencies must be alert to any threats posed by religious radicals. It is unfortunate that Kenya National Muslim Advisory Council Chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao claims that in 2005, they warned the government that some radical clerics were brainwashing the local youths by planting seeds of hatred against Christians, but nothing was done.

He now says Kenyan youths recruited to fight in Somalia, are now back and they have been taught that Christians are enemies who must be eliminated. They believe they should be involved in a Jihad against non-Muslims in Kenya.

This is distorted teaching.

Two years ago, authorities deported Jamaican born Sheikh Abdullar el-Faisal believed to be on a mission to radicalise Kenyan Muslim youths. Canadian Sheikh Bilal Philips was also denied entry for his mission to ‘poison the youths’.

This means their teachings and even ‘local backers’ could still be among us. Intelligence gathering agencies must come in and defuse any such dangerous elements.

It is disheartening to learn that CDs preaching religious hatred are readily on sale and not much has been done to stop this ‘gospel’ of hate.

As a neutral arbiter and for maintenance of law and order, the government must put its foot down to avert deaths and destruction of property.

The religious-related killings in Wajir, Garissa, Mombasa and Nairobi have the potential of enveloping the whole country and putting all faiths at a dissonance.

Houses of worship are oasis of calm during turbulence and they should remain so. More respect among all faiths is paramount.

Indeed, it has emerged that some inter-faith conflict is fueled by non-religious factors.

In Mombasa County, for example, a church official claimed Christians had been isolated from the management of the county.

He also claimed they were routinely denied business permits or even permission to put up churches by local authorities.

These are claims that the county government must get to the bottom of in the interest of harmony.

There are also reports that criminals could be hiding behind the religious cover to conduct their activities.

That is why Muslim and Christian leaders must honestly come out in the open and denounce those committing atrocities in the name of religion.

Ultimately, Kenya is a civilised nation and arming pastors will not be a panacea to the rising inter-religious conflicts.

Only dialogue will ensure peace.