AHMEDNASIR: How to stop radicalisation of Muslim youths

The events surrounding the riots and police action on Masjid Musa in Mombasa a fortnight ago have puzzled and bewildered many Kenyans. Both the real causes and the true culprits of that event remain contested by the State and a number of Muslim groups.

However, it is the prognosis and the spin put on events by the players that should most concern Kenyans. We have heard of the radicalisation of Muslim youth theory from the State and the police to explain the saga.

Then we have the employment, neglect and the uneducated and disillusioned theory as an explanation of the problem.

Both theories fail to pinpoint the true cause of the riot or provide a rational explanation why Muslim youths are in a state of constant confrontation with the government.

A number of reasons underline the true causes of this never-ending insurgency by Muslim youths.

First, the Muslim community in Kenya has been a victim of the most successful State infiltration and penetration of any organisations by the Kenyan intelligence service.

Every Muslim organisation in the country has been taken over by a State security agency. Unlike other religions, the State, through the Office of the President and security organs, has taken over both grassroots and national Muslim organisations and calls the shots through puppet imams and chairmen of these bodies.

One will not have failed to notice that during the electioneering cycles, Muslim organisations are the only religious bodies that explicitly endorse pro-government candidates.

The Council of Imams and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims are a pale shadow of their glorious past. Many Muslims in Kenya have lost faith in Muslim organisations as they believe the State security organs and the Office of the President make the policy decisions for Muslim organisations in the country on a day-to-day basis.

The capture of Muslim organisations by the State and its security organs had two consequences.

First it created a schism between the nominal leaders of these organisations whose loyalty lies with the State and the general Muslim populace who want the State to keep off their religious organisations.

This disconnect means that the Muslim followers no longer have religious leaders in the mosques and organisations that are independent of the State and its organs.

They have lost respect for their imams and leaders and see them as government puppets and spies.

INFILTRATION

Second, the absence of religious leaders leaves room for younger members and the youth to assume a leadership role as was the case in Masjid Musa in Mombasa.

The government, because it doesn’t want to lose its puppet imams and informers, will not allow the overthrow of the status quo. So at this level, the confrontation is one in which the government fights for the retention of certain imams and leaders as they provide the link for State infiltration and dominance of religious discourse within the community.

The Kenyan government has an unofficial policy to extra-judicially kill Muslim leaders. In the past two years, more than 20 prominent Muslim leaders have been killed by State security agents.

In fact a special unit is in charge of these killings. The victims are identified, debated within the security and policy apparatus, and then a decision made by the political and security leaders to kill.

The killings of Muslim leaders fuel the rebellion and agitation within the Muslim community. Imagine a scenario where the security agents had a policy to kill Catholic clergy in the country? A bloodbath would have resulted

The agitation at the Coast has a simple solution. The government must withdraw from mosques and madrasas. It must stop determining for Muslims who will lead prayers in their local mosques and who will be the imam.

The State should stop its policy to infiltrate Muslim organisations. It must stop extra-judicial killings of Muslims.

Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi is the publisher, Nairobi Law Monthly; [email protected]