Ssenkabirwa M. Ali
2 February 2004
Old Kampala — Several Muslim leaders in Uganda celebrated the Idd Adha holiday yesterday vowing to disobey a proposed new family law.
Several speakers here - at the headquarters of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council - opposed the Domestic Relations Bill, which proposes, among others, to outlaw polygamy.
Muslim leaders said the proposal violates the Muslim holy book, the Koran, which allows Muslim men to marry up to four women.
One of the speakers, acting Mufti Sheikh Rajab Kakooza, who is also the director of Sharia law, said the DRB contradicts the Koran.
"In Islam we are taught to obey our leaders, but when they are diverting us from the Koran, we have to oppose them and obey Allah," he said.
Kakooza asked politicians to always consult religious leaders over spiritual matters before making laws that could spark off chaos in the country.
Both the Mufti, Sheikh Ramathan Mubajje, and his deputy, Sheikh Twaib Mukuye, are in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage and did not attend the prayers.
Energy minister Syda Bbumba represented government and asked Muslims to pray for peace in Acholi and Lango.
She also reassured the Muslim community about the DRB. "Hajat Janat Mukwaya, who is in charge, is a devoted Muslim and can't sell anything that contradicts Islam," she said.
Mukwaya is the Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister.
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