"Mtikila stated that the Kadhi Court was an instrument of the Islamic religion in the Holy Q’uran (sic). Its establishment, therefore, should not involve the government and parliament as Tanzania was a [secular] state. "
Exactly. "Mtikila petitions against Kadhi court," from Daily News-TSN:
Full Salvation Church’s Rev. Christopher Mtikila has petitioned the High Court in Dar es Salaam challenging the move to establish Kadhi Court for Islamic Sharia law in Tanzania.
A "kadhi," also spelled qadi, is a judge who rules according to Sharia law.
Rev Mtikila has asked the court to declare unconstitutional the involvement in any way whatsoever of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Law Reform Commission and the Parliament in issues involving the Kadhi Court.
The High Court, according to the petitioner, should also declare unconstitutional the establishment of the Kadhi Court or separate legal systems for separate or other groups of citizens of the country.
Rev Mtikila, who is also the chairman of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), also said he had decided to seek the court’s intervention so as to protect the constitution and laws of the land against moves seeking to establish the Kadhi Court in extreme violation of the constitution.
The requests comes only a few days after the National Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata) renewed its appeal for the establishment of the Kadhi Court on Tanzania Mainland during the Eid Baraza last Saturday.
Mtikila stated that the Kadhi Court was an instrument of the Islamic religion in the Holy Q’uran [sic - it's Qur'an]. Its establishment, therefore, should not involve the government and parliament as Tanzania was a [secular] state.
Article 26 (1) of the constitution requires every person, including members of parliament, the president and the judiciary to observe and abide by the constitution, which they swore to defend.
According to the petitioner, establishment of the Kadhi Court, a separate legal system for Muslims in the country, tramples the constitution as opposed to Articles 12 and 3, which promugate human equality before the law.
May the true and living God (who is NOT allah) bless and protect Rev Mtikila and grant him success in his campaign against the imposition of Shariah. At present Tanzania is, officially, a state with religious freedom.
If all the Tanzanian Christians - and other Tanzanian non-Muslims - can stick together and encourage their government and judiciary to resist the inevitable barrage of Muslim bullying, bribes, and trickery, they could end up setting a very important precedent for the rest of the non-Muslim world.
Is there any way by which Rev Mtikila can be sent letters of support?
And, too, perhaps, a copy of "Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is, and Islam Isn't"? English is Tanzania's official language, as well as Swahili. He might also find Mark Durie's little book "Revelation?" helpful in instructing his flock, and his fellow Christians in Tanzania, as to how it is that Islam differs from Christianity, and why the Muslim claim that they 'respect' Jesus means exactly nothing.
Note to all my fellow Christians in wealthier countries - we need to be equipping our brethren in Africa - Francophone, Anglophone - with materials that will help them 'see through' Islam. How can we ensure that every African bishop and every African seminary and Bible School or Bible College gets a 'mini-library', containing, at the very least, the works of Robert Spencer? Mark Durie is an Anglican - it would not, I think, be impossible to arrange for translation into Swahili of his useful little book comparing what it is that Christianity, on the one hand, and Islam, on the other, say about 'God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit'. (For all I know, Bishop Sookhdeo and the Barnabas Fund people may already be on the job).
According to my (Christian) sourcebook, Tanzania is around 51 % Christian and 31% Muslim - and the Christians are growing faster than the Muslims. There are 8000 Anglican congregations in Tanzania - they are the largest single Christian group, followed closely by the Evangelical Lutherans. 15 % of Tanzanians are animists. Most of the Muslims are concentrated on the island of Zanzibar, which used to be one of the most horrible hellholes of the Arab Muslim slave trade in coastal East Africa.
By the way, quite a few Muslims in Tanzania have been converting to Christianity. A formal governmental recognition of Shariah would make life very, very hard for those Tanzanian Muslims who have been apostasising, whether to Christianity or to anything else.
"According to the petitioner, establishment of the Kadhi Court, a separate legal system for Muslims in the country, tramples the constitution ...."
....the establishment of or the allowance of the Kadhi Court or of Shar'ia Law inside the borders of any free country is a death sentence (ultimately) for that countries established constitution and (ultimately) for its inhabitants...
...it should never be allowed to happen....Ban Muslim Immigration..
Interestingly, there is a Wiki entry on this Reverend . . .complete with bias in favor of members of the perpetually aggrieved - despite all the evidence presented in the Tanzanian constitution . . .
Rev. Christopher Mtikila was born in southern Tanzania in 1950. He studied abroad and became active in the human rights organization of the Full Salvation Church known as the Liberty Desk. He is described as a "dangerous opportunist" and a highly polemic individual. Others view him as a champion of ordinary people in a struggle against **Gabocholis (a derogatory term used to describe Tanzanians of Asian origin). (Indian Ocean Newsletter 13 Feb. 1993) Toward the end of 1995, a growing sense of Tanganyikan nationalism was taking hold and there was an increase of separatist sentiment on the mainland. DP leader, Rev. Mtikila, one of the most extreme advocates of separatism, launched verbal attacks against Islam, the religion adhered to by the majority of Zanzibaris.
** the term "Gabocholis" is highlighted for Hugh - IIRC, he expressed an interest in such terms several months ago.