By Kabs Kanu
The masjid is not a political theatre or political battleground and those imams in Sierra Leone allowing their mosques to be used for political campaigns by politicians , some of whom do not respect God or human rights , are violating their calling and should be chased out of the masjids before they anger God and force him to leave .
THIS IS A TABOO IN ISLAM. FIRST LADY FATIMA BIO USING THE MOSQUE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES
The masjid is a holy place of worship. It is not a political campaign podium and those Muslim leaders allowing politicians like Maada Bio and Fatima Bio to use their pulpits to campaign for a second term are compromising the faith and destroying the sacred and holy pillars on which Islam is built.
MAADA BIO –FIFTH FROM RIGHT–STANDING CLUELESS IN A MOSQUE. OTHERS ARE PRAYING, HE IS GAZING LISTLESSLY IN THE AIR.
Politicians can visit the mosque and they should not be discriminated against if they want to go there to worship , but they should enter the masjid only to worship God, not to mount the pulpit to campaign for power . But recently we even saw the wife of the President, Fatima Bio, being allowed to mount the altar of the mosque and defiantly using it to address muslim leaders and faithful members seated on the floor, though women are actually not allowed to do that.
The religious house is a place of worship and prayers to God. It is not a political rostrum.
I was one of President Ernest Koroma leading diplomats at the UN for 9 years and I loved and respected him but if he had visited my church when he came for the UN General Assembly, he would not have been allowed to stand in the pulpit to preach politics. If , being a noted Weslyan and the son of a one-time lay preacher , Ernest Koroma had wanted to admonish Christians we would not have stopped him, but we would have cautioned him to preach only Jesus Christ . No politics.
At the peak of his power as Chief of Staff at State House when we were in power, my beloved cousin, Dr. Richard Konteh, visited our church during the 2012 campaign period, but he himself did not insist to use our pulpit to talk nor was he made to even stand before the altar. He went to worship, not to showcase himself as a politician or the APC . When he wanted to address APC faithfuls who had stormed the church when they knew he was visiting that Sunday, we took him to the cafeteria section, away from the church where he attended to the party followers. It would have been wrong to have allowed him to use our pulpit to address our APC members. We adhere to the principles of separation of the church and politics. Our members would have even protested if we had done so.
The Imams in Sierra Leone are compromising their faith and Muslim followers must register their protests about them. The masjid is not a political dais . These imams are dishonoring Allah and his faithful messenger Mohamed ( Peace be on him ) by allowing their mosques to become political battlegrounds for the SLPP and the APC .
There are many people in the mosques struggling to survive in life. Many cannot afford even one square meal a day . Suffering has spread throughout the land. When has any politician ever gone to the mosque for the expressed purpose of identifying with suffering Muslims and providing them vital financial assistance to help them feed their starving families ? They spend millions to send girlfriends abroad to shop in fancy cities like Paris, London, New York or Dubai. They buy flashy cars for their girlfriends and build vanity mansions. But none will set aside funds to help suffering Muslims . If they ever make donations, it is for political purposes , to try and garner votes from Muslims. God is not happy with the desecration of religion in our country .
Some of our masjids are virtually crumbling . The buildings are dilapidated for want of care or renovation. How many politicians have taken up the task to help rebuild the masjids ?
It is a shame that today’s Muslim leaders are watering down the edicts, traditions ,beliefs and yeachings of Islam to please politicians.
It is a shame that muslim leaders are now putting men above God . They would rather obey and kowtow to politicians than follow God.
These mullahs must go back to the fundamental teachings of the Quoran to salvage the sanctity of the muslim faith. Not to do that is to court the wrath of Allah and make him withdraw himself from their shambolic worship.
