۱۰ فروردین ۱۴۰۳ |۱۹ رمضان ۱۴۴۵ | Mar 29, 2024
News ID: 357259
5 April 2019 - 14:27
 From the ashes of genocide, Islam rises in Rwanda

A handful of Muslims took a stand during the hundred days of slaughter. Their stance inspired thousands of Rwandans to become Muslim in what was once called Africa’s most Catholic country.

Hawzah News Agency (Kigali, Rwanda) - When the genocide in Rwanda began in 1994, the 49-year-old, suffered a crisis of faith watching the churches, in which he preached peace and unity became slaughterhouses. 

“Christians were killing people in the church,” Ibrahim said.

“The [victims] went to churches thinking they will find peace but instead, they were killed,” he continued.

“Meanwhile, I saw Muslims take people inside the mosque.” 

Since the advent of European colonialism in the country in 1884, Roman Catholicism has been the dominant religion in Rwanda. 

But in the last 25 years, Islam has become an alternative for thousands of Rwandans who lost their faith in Christianity during the genocide. 

Muslims made up one percent of the population before the genocide. Although no census has been conducted, today  “12 percent to 15 percent of the total population is Muslim”, according to Salim Habimana, a former Mufti of the country.

No sanctuary

The 1994 genocide began after a decade-long systematic dehumanisation campaign against the Tutsis turned into full ethnic cleansing. The hatred was so deeply implanted in ordinary society that neighbour turned on neighbour, friend against friend, as people joined the slaughter of those closest to them. 

Many went to churches as a last resort to seek refuge but death eventually found them, even in what they hoped were houses of God.

Thousands were killed inside churches across the country, including Rwanda’s largest Catholic church, Saint Famille. 

More than 2,000 people who sought shelter were killed after Pastor Wenceslas Munyeshyaka collaborated with the attackers instead of protecting those in need. 

However, when churches became slaughterhouses, the country’s tiny Muslim minority opened its doors.

‘They decided to help’

A couple from the next table sprang to attention when Sulaiman raised his voice, describing the Muslims’ refusal to take part in the genocide and their efforts to protect innocent civilians. 

“Muslims were very few in number and had no capacity and power… but they decided to help others who were being killed,” Sulaiman said. 

Now, Sulaiman shares the stage with Christian pastors, getting into heated discussions about religious issues in front of audiences of hundreds. He goes travelling from village to village, preaching Islam.   

Next to Sulaiman, sits Ndagijimana Ibrahim. At 14, he lost most of his family members, including his father, when the militias attacked his home. 

He managed to escape and got back on his feet after the genocide. He now has three masters degrees with a PhD pending in governance. 

He backed up Sulaiman’s accounts of how Muslims behaved during the genocide. 

He told TRT World that when the killings began in April 1994, the Mufti of Rwanda prohibited Muslims from involvement in the killings, arguing that killing civilians is forbidden in Islam. 

There is no shortage of such accounts.

Mbarushimana Hussain was four years old when he and his parents took shelter in a mosque for a month. 

Hussain said: “Ten years after genocide, I became Muslim along with my mother and father.

“We couldn't forget the kindness of Muslims.”

Muslims in post-1994 Rwanda 

Habimana argues that for the Muslim community it’s not just about the numbers but also presenting Islam as a solution for the problems of Rwandan society. 

As a well-integrated minority group, Muslims actively contribute to Rwandan society and they are seen as a respectable community. 

Habimana says this is because “when Muslims are assigned to any work or job, they work double not just as Rwandan but as Muslim as well, to show that they can do it”. 

“The good behaviour of Rwandan Muslims in times of crisis, inspired thousands of Christians to become Muslim,” Sulaiman said. 

 

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