Best Wishes to 2012 Ijtmah Committee But…

Firstly, I would like to convey my goodwill wishes for the 2012 Ijtimah that is about to commence insha-Allah tomorrow at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. My prayer is that Allah should be with the brothers who will be attending this auspicious function from the moment they leave their homes to the moment they will return to their families. May He protect them from the dangers that come with travelling on our roads. May He be with them throughout the function at the stadium and most important of all, may He make us all benefit from this gathering.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate the organising committee for a job well done. Masha Allah they have done a great job despite the numerous challenges they faced, from financial to logistics. May Allah grant them their due rewards both here and in the akhirat.

Finally, with due respect, I was listening to Radio Islam Malawi this morning and I was shocked and saddened to hear that the closing Guest of Honour will be the Vice President (VP), Right Hon. Khumbo Kachali. I have great respect for him personally as a man and a VP. But this issue shocked me because as a Malawian Muslim, I don’t understand why the VP should be the guest of honour at this religious function, himself not being a Muslim.

Hon. Cassim Chilumpha was once a VP, but throughout his tenure, he was never invited to grace a non-Islamic religious function, rather, he was victimized to the highest order. And can anyone ever imagine a Muslim VP being invited to grace an occasion of the preacher such as Reinnhard Bonkke or TB Joshua when they come to Malawi?

And not only that, what is it that we are trying to achieve by having him at the function? What does he bring to the Malawi Muslim equation apart from that he is a VP for al lMalawi? Has he or his party ever sympathised with the plight of our community? has our situation changed, both economically and socially since he came to power 6 months ago? How many of us have accessed government jobs and/or business contracts or our students been offered University of Malawi (Unima) places? Or is this just a ploy to garner Muslim votes for his party come 2014?

The question I still don’t get an answer to date is why do we Malawian Muslims like to sell our selves short to politicians? Is it that we are suffering from inferiority complex? We have burning issues in our community, the current one being the insignificant percentage of our youth entering into UNIMA. Subsequent governments haven’t done anything about that. In addition, our brothers coming from Kenya or Tanzania for this Ijtimah have reportedly been refused entry in other borders, has the government assisted on that?

I am sure if those who decided to invite Hon Khumbo Kachali asked the majority of the Muslims in the villages for their opinion, they would have rejected the idea. I could be wrong.

 If it is not too late, please reconsider this and let’s stop embarrassing and selling ourselves short.

 I respect the VP and the government, but I don’t think this is the forum for him to be addressing us as Muslims.

 Views expressed in this article are solely for the author and does not necessaliry represent those of this website.