On the
night of 24th march 2014 sleep was an alien vocabulary for me. This
was after watching a very disturbing feature on TV. A church in Likoni had been
invaded and the death toll was at four and rapidly rising. As if that was not
enough here was an article with some Muslim clerics justifying the death of the
faithful’s in the church as if they were sheep for slaughter. In fact one SHEIKH Abubakar Sharif alias Makaburi,
had the guts to say that a siege where more than seventy people had been killed
(the worst of its kind in the country since another terror attack in 1998) was
justified.
If
I did not know better I would directly pay for his check up in Mathare hospital
or better still do a harambee for Makaburi to go to a psychiatrist hospital.
Why do I say this? All religious books have teachings or in the Muslim context
Hadith’s that refer to aggression in terms of attack. "Put your sword back
in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will
die by the sword. Mathew 26:52. In the same way, “The religion of Islam doesn't teach Muslims to
take revenge from anyone. Yes, Islam does command the Muslims to repel evil
with good and to forgive and forget.”
'A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend?' (Holy Qur'an 41:34)
'A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend?' (Holy Qur'an 41:34)
I can quote as many verses as anyone
may want me to but the basic fact still remains. The killing of innocent
civilians is unjustifiable. If the reason posed for attacking churches and
malls in Kenya is the KDF being in Somalia, then let them put their money where
their mouth is and try attacking a military barracks. Then and only then we
will know that they are not cowards.
My second appeal is to the government
of Kenya and his Excellency the president of the republic. Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta.
Mr. President I will go straight to the point, INNOCENT Kenyans are dying and
if this trend continues we are brewing a religious war that will throw the
country into shambles. My kinsmen have always said that you can never put a
finger in a leopard anus, as that would make it angry. The majority of Kenyans
are burning inside and the trend is now worse. Even the musicians are singing
it, after all is said and done a lot is said but nothing will be done.
To cup it all I think it is a
scenario of post-humors debasement when the cabinet secretary for security was
in Mombasa on Saturday and heftily addressed the insecurity and terrorism
situation; and I quote "Terrorism continues to grow in shape, color and behavior
and when it assumes the phase of radicalization ... it will be met (with) full
force,” then on the following day a Sunday a church is attacked. If this is not
mockery someone needs to give me a better term.
All
the religious books have quoted some minor clauses on revenge but the same
books have also dictated the right way of doing things and the unconventional
way. The attacks in the coast have been castigated by malicious radicals who
would rather read half the Quran and justify their actions, than read the whole
of it and live in harmony. No one should be killed because of their religious
affiliations. That would be taking this
country backwards and professing the blindness of the Dodo.
BY
Kenneth Kibiru
