23 October 2009
Nairobi — Muslims have been ordered to withdraw their children from Catholic-run schools in protest at the church's Hijab ban.
Sheikh Mohammed Dor said the church's action was provocative and could spark Muslim anger in the country.
"From Monday, I would like all Muslims to withdraw their children from Catholic schools and take them elsewhere," he declared.
Addressing the faithful after Friday prayers in Mombasa, the cleric also urged parents to reject public schools, including non-Catholic ones, that prevented their children from wearing the Hijab.
He warned that Muslims would rise against those opposing their religion's fundamental principles if the government did not intervene quickly.
Sheikh Dor said Muslim clerics will soon meet and discuss the matter before declaring a Fatwa (Islamic edict).
"We shall not be intimidated any more and the government should stop acting as a referee between us and the Catholics who are pushing us to the wall," he said.
Sheikh Dor, who is also a nominated MP, warned that interference with fundamental Islamic principles was sowing seeds of hatred.
The MP accused some Western governments of plotting to ban the Hijab in Kenyan schools in a bid to plunge the country into religious turmoil.
Two months ago, Education PS Prof Karega Mutahi issued a circular to heads of public schools warning against punishing students wearing the Hijab.Prof Mutahi said the law does not allow children to be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.
The Catholic Church protested against the directive, saying it was not consulted and said it will not allow the Hijab.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Catholics were never considered Christians.. They were called Catholics.. Nowadays the religious affiliation is considered Christian because they denounced the killing of millions of Christians in the 'dark ages as atrocious and have sought forgiveness from the Protestants christians). . A christian is not someone who is Protestant.. but some one who is Christlike in all ways.. (If u do what Christ says and follow his commandments (Love to Man and Love to God ) that's what makes u a Christian.. Is wearing a Hijad a moral offense?? Where does the Christian Bible say it's wrong.. It's definitely not the CHRISTIAN thing to do..
Catholics are christians , they are called catholics to distinguish them from protestants and others - the word catholic actually means universal and whether aperson likes it or not the bible has been passed to to the whole christian world from the catholics - do a reading of the church history . Your argurement suffers from an error called anachronism , the middle ages were the middle ages and people behaved as they thought at that time which according to todays standards may seem bababric but to them was the right thing to do , for example , spanking a child in kenya was very much OK untill 5 years ago , but this act now will land you in JAIL , DOES IT MEAN OUR PARENTS WERE BABARIANS? the popes apology should be seen in this light. In the same light you asked where the bible prohibits the wearing of Hijab, please show where the bible asks as to wear the Hijab . please see this argurement in the context of culture- does the bible tell you to go to school to get western education? no it does not but the culture we live in dictates that we must do this . Catholics have there culture which must be respected by those who partake of their generosity and attend there schools which by the way are the best performing in Kenya , if the muslim student wish to wear the hijab am sure a transfer from this schools will be welcome -remember the story of the Arab who gave permission to his camel to only shelter its legs in the tent from the cold and the camel ended up pushing him out to the cold? soon it will be no hijab or islamic education in catholics schools then a call for Jihad aganist catholics from shiek Dor and his ilk what a shame!
I am feedup with the Muslim thinking that everything must be done their way and if not then they threaten dire consequences , here , the schools are catholic and just as islamic schools are ran according to islamic principles and culture , catholics have a right to enforce there principals and culture on however attends there school , if a person cant live by them then do the needful and get a transfer out of this schools instead of shouting and declaring useless fatwas , i have a right to do what i want in my house! period
Perhaps the wearing of the Hijab makes those children susceptible to hate and ridicule from other students but none the less those who may be stirring trouble should be the ones disciplined. This stupid action by the Kenyan Catholics could cause a further rift between Christians and Muslims. Generally, what on earth is wrong with the head-cover? Did Mary the mother of Jesus and all other women not wear a similar head- cover? If the wearing of the Hijab is not an endangerment to those Muslim children then the Kenyan Catholics need to get a life.