Sheikh Ali Kennedy says he has a lot to offer to the Malawian Muslim community if he will be given an opportunity to lead Muslim Association of Malawi in the next five years.
On speaking to Malawimuslim.com in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Sheikh Kennedy appealed Muslims in the Country for their support saying even if he wins he can not do anything on his own.
“I have a lot of things for Malawian Muslims. I will look into education and health sector as well as looking at the welfare of orphans, elders, widows and youth.
I will make sure that we have technical schools, where these youths will be going to learn different skills, but I can not do it on my own, because I would have done it already, that is why I will need my fellow Muslims’ support,” he said.
The diploma holder in Dawah and Leadership also expressed worries with the way dawah is conducted and the treatment of new converts, saying that is also another sector he would like to look into.
“We have a lot of Dawah groups right now and I will make sure that the new system is introduced. We will try to organize workshops for dawah people and provide materials to conduct such dawah effectively, he said.
“I will try also to make sure that welfare of the converts is considered, because they are just converting to Islam and abandoned without telling them what to do. We will try to have Islamic centre in both regions, where they will be trained from one, two to three months. After that, then empower them so that they should be doing their own things,” he assured.
Born in the landlocked country of Malawi where people depend on farming, Sheikh Kennedy do not forget farmers and he promised them that they will get fertilizer, water pumps and other farm equipments.
He also assured Malawians that they will have all devastated mosques maintained and build new ones where there will be a need.
“I will maintain devastated mosques and build new ones where there is a need in both districts including Muslims girls’ secondary schools in the north and the centre.
“I will also encourage people to pay Zakaat, because this thing is not emphasized right now. We will try to have civic education in order to tell people the importance of paying zakaah. We have around four million Muslims here in Malawi, not 1.8 million as government census put us and if everybody can contribute MK5.00 every Friday we can end up having MK20, 000,000 per week,” said the journalist.
“Regional committees are also just been elected without telling them what to do. Therefore, I will try to make sure they have access to the whole MAM constitution and know what constitutes them to be there,” he added.
If that is not enough, Sheikh Ali Kennedy is not forgetting our true old Sheikhs, who have made Islam in the Country to be where it is now.
“We have old Sheikhs who are just starving and yet they have contributed a lot to the Muslim community in the Country. I will make sure to look after them but not as Ali Kennedy but through cooperation among us all Muslims,” he concluded.
Commenting on the issue where people are castigating each other, Sheikh Kennedy advised his fellow contenders to follow the example of the prophet (SAW).
“It is just unfortunate scenario to see some people castigating each other. This is leadership and we have to take example of the prophet (SAW). When he died, automatically Abubakir came in without doing what we are doing now. However, you have also to know that some people are doing that on personal grounds. We have to tell people what we will do because leadership is about vision,” he said.
