The Chairman of Islamic Commission for Justice and Freedom (ICJF) Shaibu Ajassie says Muslims in the country can no longer watch when their rights are violated.
Ajassie made the remarks in reaction to removal of a billboard advertising the Holy Qur’an in Blantyre last night.
According to Ajassie, it is wrong for Christians to remove a billboard which had no any offensive language.
“Enough is enough . Muslims in the country can’t just sit down and watch such things happening. Malawi Muslims should rise up and speak their voices,”
“Recently, we were arguing on wearing hijaab in schools and now we are talking of a billboard. There are some Christians who do not want to see Islam but the religion is going nowhere,” Ajassie says.
Ajassie has called upon all Muslim organisations in the country to unite to defend the religion of God.
Meanwhile, a prominent Christian “Onjezani Kenani” says it was not wrong for Islamic Information Bureau (IIB) to erect a billboard advertising Holy Qur’an in the city.
Evangelical Association of Malawi was arguing that the words on the billboard would incite violence
But writing on his Facebook page, Kenani says a billboard was harmless.
“To me this billboard was entirely harmless. I have read the Holy Quran, have memorized the surah al-fatihah, surah al-ikhlas and others. I found no harm at all reading the book,”
“In any case, this billboard was just an advert. No one was being forced to actually read the Quran. Going as far as forcing the billboard’s removal is an overreaction, and smacks of religious intolerance,” Kenani says.
He says Muslims also read and study the Bible but that never made them Christians.
“I have many Muslim friends who studied Bible Knowledge with us, back in secondary school days. This did not convert them to Christianity, just in the same way as my reading the Holy Quran and memorising some surahs did not convert me to Islam,” he says.
Muslims in the country say it is wrong for the billboard for be removed in the city because Malawi is not a Christian country.