FAITH NEWS

Presidents Kikwete and Museveni attended prayers for Mwalimu Nyerere’s proposed beatification in Kampala on June 1. President Kikwete thanked Ugandans for ‘owning’ the process of beatification, a vital stage towards canonisation or his proclamation as a saint by the Catholic Church. Kikwete said that by doing so, the Catholics in Uganda had “in actual fact owned a process that was essentially Tanzanian”.

President Museveni said that Tanzania was the only peaceful country in the whole of East Africa, thanks to the good foundations laid by Mwalimu Nyerere. He pointed out that good people would always be judged by their deeds and not words, giving as an example a reference to the injured person who was helped by a Good Samaritan after a priest and a Pharisee passed him without offering any help.

The Association of Imams in Zanzibar (JUMAZA), with 18 other Muslim organisations, called upon people to vote ‘yes’ in the Zanzibar referendum on a government of national unity. It was the only way in which the people of the Isles could get rid of the political animosity that had been dogging the islands for decades – Nipashe.

Following news that a conference organised by the American Political Science Association (APSA) might be held at Dar es Salaam University, and that gay people would be attending, several Muslim clerics were quoted as saying that this would be tantamount to provoking disorder. They said that the people would not sit quiet while their country was turned into a ‘centre of debauchery’. “If this protest is ignored we shall stop them physically” they said – An-Nuur.

The Association of Imams in Zanzibar (JUMAZA) has called upon Muslims to protest at the Child Act 2010, as it contradicts the Islamic Sheria. JUMAZA Secretary General Maalim Zubeir issued a statement saying that the Act would not be applicable as it was contrary to the ‘customs and traditions’ of Muslims in the Isles. For example, he said, “The Act criminalises corporal punishment while in Islam it is allowed as long as it doesn’t cause physical injury to the child. Caning a child is allowed when he/she refuses to pray” – An-Nuur.

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