Should Women become Kadhis?

This question is causing friction between two prominent Muslim organizations in the country. The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, a conservative leaning group, is opposed to the move while Muslims for Human Rights, a liberal minded body, is advocating for the appointment of female kadhis.

So is the exclusion of women from judgeship positions a culturally constructed phenomenon or a religiously fixed edict?
Shouldn't Muslims, the beneficiaries of a special treatment by a secular constitution, recognize the importance of gender diversity in all aspects of society? What makes it impossible for learned women to adjudicate in matters relating to family disputes and marriage- their area of natural expertise?

Or is this radical feminism disguised as affirmative action?

What are your thoughts on this?

Hijab, latest pawn in Culture War

  Apparently Kenya High has barred its Muslim students from wearing hijabs to foster a sense of equality and uniformity in its dress code. Forgive the logical inconsistency in the previous sentence but does this mean in the spirit of separation of State and Church, the school will stop teaching CRE, ban the wearing of crosses, bibles, christian literature and all forms of  outward expression of faith? My guess is no. This is purely intolerance masquerading as secularism. Hopefully the courts will strike down this blatant interference with students' freedom.

Here is an excerpt of The Daily Nation's report:

Muslim students should not be allowed to wear hijab (head scarf) to school for the sake of equality, a court has been told.

A school, which has been sued by Muslim parents for stopping students from wearing head scarves, defended its decision saying it did not, in any way, discriminate against the rights of the students.Kenya High School said school uniforms were critical in promoting discipline in the student community.“If the court allows the Muslim students to wear head scarves, this will open a can of worms for all manner of demands for wearing of ‘religious’ regalia such as turbans, buibui, ornaments and dreadlocks,” the school said in an affidavit sworn by the board of governors secretary Rosemary Saina.The school’s response arose out of a case filed against it by Mrs Anisa Bashir. She sued the school on behalf of her daughter and 11 others over the decision by the institution to stop the students from wearing hijabs.
The students and their parents want the court to quash the school’s decision.Also sought is an order to bar the school from interfering with the rights of Muslim students to wear hijab as a form of expression and manifestation of their rights.They argued the school’s admission policy was also unlawful as it directly discriminated against them on religious and cultural grounds.The school responded that it had done everything within its powers to ensure Muslim students were catered for.The school said it had done this by ensuring its washrooms were equipped with water bottles for the convenience of Muslims.It also said it had provided prayer rooms for Muslims and arranged for an Islamic preacher to attend to their spiritual needs once a week.On Tuesday, High Court judge Daniel Musinga directed the parties in the matter to go for mention on July 4. 

Imams & Madrassa Teachers To Be Vetted

This is the perfect tabloid story. It has a depressing sexual scandal, irrational citizenry and a fair bit of ludicrousness. Yes, they are actually calling for the vetting of Imams and Madrassa teachers.

Does anyone remember Bamatraf?

Of Sh. Mustafa, The Deficit of Leadership, Misplaced Priorities & The Makhraj (Solution)

 Two weeks ago I wrote a piece for the blog on Clerics that went down well with majority of the readers but drew the ire of a few of those who trade in cheap "holier- than-thou' monologues. Basically I elucidated my opinion that within the sparkly bubble that is our so called guardians (read clerics) reside individuals of questionable moral and intellectual capacity.  Their pontifications should be subject to rigorous questioning and cynicism. To get the best results out of our leadership, secular or religious, we should not never rely purely on their human good will. Also to succeed as a society we should never suppress debate and the free exchange of high brow opinions. I have no desire to tread in carefully scripted socially correct platitudes . I also don't wish to be popular since I don't fancy selling my soul. My hope is to illicit a strong reaction from my readers so that we can all begin to question the fundamentals our society is based on.

 Among the respondents to my earlier post was an individual who called my Opining "Kufr and blasphemous." This Bifwoli-esque individual also insisted that I "delete the post since it was abusing our Lord!" Capital letters and all. Unfortunately this sort of the cuff verbal hemorrhage is pervasive in our society anytime controversial issues such as clanism, bad leadership and the role of clerics in the perennial failure of Garissa to catch up with other kenyan cities come up. If we are to see any tangible difference in our lives Post 2012, such misplaced sensitivities have to replaced with visionary thinking that will free us from the doldrums of the status quo. This will boil down to the sort of leadership we chose. But the question of who is a good leader is an inherently difficult one to answer. How much of a leaders decisions should be informed by pragmatism and how much should be swayed by religious puritanism? These sort of questions will be integral to the debate once power is devolved to ethnically and religiously homogeneous counties. There will be jostling for power between religious leaders and those we elect (our clansmen). I have no answer to these questions but luckily for us, Sh. Mustafa, (may Allah bless him) has. In a very enlightened lecture, he goes where none of todays (somali) sheikhs have ever gone and by the way, I follow the lectures of almost all the famous somali ulamaa regularly so I'm not making that statement lightly.

Please listen to it if you have the time it will be 90 minutes spent well.
                                                                                                                                         -A. Ainy

Clerics Vs Young Guns: The Battle for the Soul of Garissa

We all know the importance of Ulamaa and religion in safeguarding morality in society. The usefulness of youthful zest and energy in bringing about change with vigor and exuberance is undeniable too. And when the these two important pillars of society clash, the fallout can turn out to be intractable and damaging in the long term. So I was quite apprehensive when news of a dust up between  the "shyukh" and a group of youth who had organized an eid related event at the Government Guest House with the goal of bringing together young Garissians to sensitize them about drug abuse, Khat addiction, educational tutorials,  and group discussions on politics and clanism reached me.

The event organized by YM Media in conjunction with G-Youth was supposed to highlight the talents of our youngsters with performance of short skits, drama, comedy etc. They obtained a written permit from the Government Guest House Caretaker and were promised security by the police.

I am not sure how the Sheikhs got wind of the event but they swiftly issued a fatwa terming the event contrary to Islam and moved to threaten the caretaker with unspecified consequences if he did not revoke the permit.

Now, I do not wish to make a judgement but I'm sure you realize where my sympathies lie in this David Vs Goliath battle.

I'll summarize by saying this, the Sheikhs  need to careful not to be used by pseudo-ulamaa only interested in turning them into mere inert resources for their diabolical schemes. Lets hope that while mouthing their sanctimonious platitudes such as "Power belongs to God," they'll realise the philosophy of Do-or-Die cannot guarantee who does and who dies. They must stop playing the all knowing God and stop trying to control every facet of our lives. If they really want to fight evil, their guns better be directed at clanism and its evils for its that which will truly determine the success of Garissa County in 2012 and beyond.