Debunking myths surrounding Islam and Muslim, Ugandan Muslim lawyers have started a new law center to advocate issues that affect the Muslim community and correct misconception wrongly associated with their faith.
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“Christians fear to employ Muslims because they think they are a security threat, terrorists and extremists,” Jaffer Senganda, the founder and President of Muslim Centre for Justice and Law in Uganda, told OnIslam.net.
“These stereotypes need to be watered down because we now emphasize the good side of Muslims and Islam through dialogue.”
Senganda is one of the lawyers who started the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law along with other Muslim lawyers and human rights activities to advocate for issues that affect members of the Muslim community.
This includes legal aid representation for Muslims without money and Muslim women.
While Muslims grow up thinking that when one touches a bible they run mad, Senganda says, “Christians thinks that the reason Muslims prepare delicious meals is because they cook using water used to wash dead bodies, they are not educated, exploit and don’t respect women.”
He adds some of the ridiculous myths surrounding the Muslim community in Uganda are that, “Muslim men have high sexual libido and do not mind about family planning, they are not intelligent and do not have friends unless you are Muslim.
“But surprisingly nothing much is being done to correct this myth our religious societies have against each other.”
Along with emphasizing the importance of interfaith dialogue, the organization also handles domestic violence prevention and mitigates cases of domestic violence.
“We train Sheikhs, Imams, students and community leaders on peace building, interfaith work and the dangers of domestic violence,” Senganda said.
Through the interfaith and intercultural work, the organization has been mobilizing youth especially in schools to mitigate the different stereo types they have heard about Islam and Christian faiths.
Sheikhs are taken to different schools, “To talk about the basics of Islam, for example;why we pray five times a day, why we bury in pieces of clothes and not in caskets as Christians do and why we fast the holy month among other things,” he added.
But to balance the equation through the interfaith dialogue, the Muslim Centre for Justice and Law also takes Chaplains and Priests to Muslim schools.
“The reason is to break the barriers and the different half-truths and trust we have against different faiths,” Senganda said.
“You find people getting surprised that Islam is a very peaceful religion and that there are many Islamic teachings and Hadith that tell Muslims to respect members of other faith.”
Uganda has the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda that brings together religious leaders from all faiths.
But Senganda says this relation is not reflected in the grassroots structure.
“We need to begin from bottom up, hold interfaith dialogue, allow Christians to visit mosques and Muslims visit churches,” he said.
The President of the Uganda Muslim Centre for Justice and Law historically stresses that, “It’s not Muslims that were behind World War 1, or killed Jews, these were Christians.” He argues that Muslims need to be supported to overcome misconceptions and discrimination in their societies instead of being turned into Christian enemies.
With the same vein he calls on Muslims to come out and condemn acts of violence committed in the name of Islam. “We should not let others misuse Islam to kill and batter others, we are missing the point if we allow that to happen.” Senganda stresses.
The Muslim Non-Governmental Organization led by Senganda has just won the prestigious 2015 Intercultural Achievement Award (IAA).
The award was launched in 2014 and honors successful, innovative projects in the field of the intercultural and interfaith dialogue on a global scale.
It is awarded by the Europe Integration Foreign Affairs, Federal Ministry of the Republic of Austria.
