Muslims won’t march with PAC
Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM), a founding member of the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), has urged its followers not to attend PAC’s peaceful demonstrations this Wednesday.
MAM Board of Trustees, its executive, regional and district committees told the media yesterday in Blantyre that they will not attend the march because doing so will be going against their doctrine of peace, contact and dialogue.
The association’s publicity secretary Sheikh Dinala Chabulika said while MAM is not against the tabling of the Electoral Reforms Bills, they believe that there is need for mass sensitisation for the public to understand the Bills better before they can be tabled in Parliament.
Chabulika, who further emphasized that government should not be pressured to table the Bills, said there is a sign of commitment from government as it has already circulated three Bills to be tabled; hence, MAM is confident that the other Bills will also be tabled.
Said Chabulika: “As MAM, we would like to make it clear to the whole nation that we don’t have any problem with the Electoral Reforms Bills. MAM is for that provided people are civic-educated so that they should understand them. Again, as MAM we would like to appeal to all Muslims from Nsanje to Chitipa not to participate in the demonstrations and give dialogue a chance.”
Taking his turn, one of MAM’s trustees, Paramount Chief Kawinga, wondered what will be the benefit of holding the march across the country when previous marches have turned ugly and yielded nothing in particular.
He said: “If they do not agree on the Electoral Reforms Bills, are we going to march every day?”
MAM national chairperson Sheikh Idrissah Muhammad quashed suspicions that they might have been ‘bought’, saying they are satisfied with their way of living.
“We are not poor people, we are not madobadoba [beggars]. We cannot be bought, as a matter of fact, we are the ones who can buy others,” he said.
But in a separate interview, PAC executive director Robert Phiri, while insisting that they respect the decision by MAM, said the scenario does not mean there is conflict within PAC as MAM’s decision is based on the Muslim doctrine.
He said: “I think as PAC, we are not trying to compel every Jim and Jack to join the march. Constitutionally, everyone has a right and we respect the position of MAM.”
In an interview yesterday, Chancellor College political science lecturer Ernest Thindwa said the development exposes a weak link between PAC and its affiliates, which allows external forces to creep into its internal affairs.
He said: “Beyond that, it also constitutes politics within PAC. Remember that these religious groups have their own individual interests.”
In the wake of the decision by PAC to hold the demonstrations, more faith groups have also drummed up support for PAC, rallying their congregants to engage in the demonstrations that aim to protest against government’s failure to table the Electoral Reforms Bills in the current parliamentary meeting as promised.
The Electoral Reforms Bills include an amendment of Section 80 (2) of the Constitution and Section 96 (5) of the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act proposing a 50 percent plus 1 percent majority in presidential election and an amendment of Section 81 (3) of the Constitution for the swearing in of the President and Vice-President to be done after 30 days.
PAC marched to Parliament last month to deliver a petition to President Peter Mutharika and the Speaker of the National Assembly Richard Msowoya.
In their petition, PAC gave the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government until November 29 to have the set of six Bills tabled, failing which PAC would schedule a peaceful demonstration in the country’s major cities.
MAM, an umbrella body of the Muslim community in Malawi which also sits on the quasi-religious grouping governance body, says such demonstrations contravene the teaching of the Holy Quran–the central religious text of Islam, and the teaching of their Prophet Muhammad.
I used to be a muslIm myself and I have known Mr Chabulika for a very long time……that’s how he makes his money from the powers that be……………..that’s all I can say…… Thanks you.
Expressing solidarity and support for oppressed people in any part of the world is a noble act, more so if the oppressed happen to be Muslims. Allah is Just and He has made oppression Haraam for Himself, so how would He ever allow it for another?
Islam imbues Muslims with a keen sense of love for justice and hatred for injustice. The Muslim therefore instinctively identifies with the suffering of an oppressed people or nation. The Qur’an and Hadith is replete with injunctions on this subject.
In today’s world, the mode of expressing indignation and outrage against oppression assumes many forms. Among these is the practice of holding demonstrations, protest marches, rallies, vigils and so forth. Some of the primary objectives of adopting these modes of protest is:
•to convey to the oppressed people one’s solidarity with them
•to draw the attention of the world towards their suffering
•to embarrass the oppressor and to swing international public opinion against them.
In a world that keenly tracks news events, the international media gives extensive coverage to events of this nature and thus, maximum exposure is gained to the strategic advantage of the oppressed.
For a Muslim to express detestation for injustice and solidarity with the oppressed in the form of protest marches, etc. is allowed. Hazrat Thanwi (R) has deemed these to be mubah (permitted) acts – refer “Hakimul-Ummat ke Siyasi Afkaar” by Mufti Taqi Usmani p.60. In a recent ruling, the eminent scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahib has also intimated that if the demonstration was not for any impermissible cause then it is permissible.
However, all mubah (permitted) matters are governed by certain provisions or regulations of Shari’ah (Islamic Law). So long as these regulations are adhered to, there is no issue. If these regulations are ignored, then a mubah (permissible) act will be rendered impermissible and may in fact, itself become an act of transgression and sin, akin to oppression. A Muslim is always motivated by the desire to seek Allah’s pleasure in all that he does and will not transgress or violate His orders in the process of attempting to perform a mubah (permissible) deed.
Among some of the matters that need to be considered by the organisers and participants of these activities is the following:
1.They shall not be accompanied by any Haraam activity such as violence, disrupting the peace, vandalism, coercion of unwilling people to participate by threats of violence, damage to persons or property, music, dancing, vulgarity, rowdy and uncouth behaviour, hindering the safe movement of non-participants or any other act that is un-Islamic in nature. All of the above acts are incorrect. In all of the above cases, support is being shown to others who are oppressed, but by the above acts, the protestor is ‘oppressing’ his own soul in the process. The protestor’s activity should not become a manifestation of “Rabbana zalamna anfusana – O Allah, we have indeed oppressed ourselves.” The organisers of these protest events have a greater responsibility to take the necessary measures that none of the above things take place, by arranging marshals and so on.
2.It shall not lead to the neglect of one’s primary responsibilities such as proper fulfillment of Salaah on its time, or a student neglecting his studies, or an employee neglecting his work duty unless permission is sought from the employer.
3.The act of expressing protest must not be considered as the end-all and be-all of a Muslim’s responsibility towards the oppressed. Such an attitude needs revision. Rather, it should be regarded as a means for greater involvement in the struggle against oppression. Muslims should never allow themselves to get ensnared in the deceptive thinking that by merely joining a protest event or two, they have truly fulfilled their duty towards the oppressed.
4.On the point of burning flags and effigies, caution must be exercised in not allowing the main issues from becoming obscured or covered. For example, at certain protest events, flags (and effigies) of countries that are friendly towards an oppressive regime are also burnt. From a strategic point of view, this may not be the ideal form of protest. Citizens of those nations, who may not fully understand the rationale behind this, will not take kindly to watching their country’s flag being burnt. Driven by a spirit of patriotism, they may in turn develop negative attitudes towards the oppressed people. This is counter-productive to the purpose of the protest, which was supposed to have influenced public opinion and not the other way around. The focus must therefore be kept primarily on the oppressor and must not shift away from the actual villains towards their supporters and sympathisers. It is observed that some protest events unwittingly fall into this trap.
The purpose of this response is simply to set out the Shari’ah considerations in the matter of protest methods and does not deal with the issue of the advantages or disadvantages, the pros and cons, of different protest modes. That is a separate matter altogether. There are some who argue in its favour, whilst others are opposed to it, regarding it a sheer waste of energy, time and resources. Different situations and conditions will beg different viewpoints.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best