Debate over Islamic courts fuels religious tension in Tanzania

Tanzania’s outgoing president has warned rising religious tension in his country could derail an upcoming constitutional referendum on April 30 and elections in October. The country’s Christians are especially worried about a proposal to “accommodate” Islamic courts.

“The threat to peace is high,” President Jakaya Kikwete recently told a group of religious leaders, according to Reuters. “You don’t need to be a master of astrology to know that the current situation, if left unchecked, could plunge our country into a major conflict between Christians and Muslims,” Kikwete added.

The population of officially secular Tanzania is divided, with Christians carrying an overall majority but Muslims dominating the island of Zanzibar.

Although the groups coexisted peacefully for many years, violence erupted in May 2013, when police arrested four Saudi nationals and four Tanzanians following the bombing of a Catholic church in Tanzania, according to the BBC. In Zanzibar, attackers doused priests with acid multiple times. Some Islamic militants in Zanzibar have agitated for autonomy from Tanzania and attempted to drive Christians out.

Since 2008, Christians in Tanzania have opposed the introduction of Islamic Kadhi courts, warning it would cause religious tension and go against the constitution, the BBC reported. But since 2012, Tanzanian Muslims have been operating such courts, according to the Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda.

Kadhi courts are used within Sharia law, according to International Christian Concern’s (ICC) Troy Augustine. The “Kadhi”enforces the decision of an Islamic court, Augustine said. Tanzania’s Parliament recently debated a bill to “accommodate” Kadhi courts, according to The Citizen. The proposal is so contentious, members of Parliament nearly got into a fistfight during a recent seminar discussing the proposal, according to The Citizen.

Outrage over the bill could impact the constitutional referendum, with Kikwete suggesting critics of Kadhi courts might retaliate by opposing the proposed constitution.

In early March, Pinda claimed people were being misled regarding the courts, adding the government was only trying to decide how to “recognize” Islamic court decisions, Daily News reported.

“The Kadhi Court has already been established by Muslims and it is operational since 2012,”Pinda said. “But it is run by Muslims themselves. As a government, we now need to see how to recognize all the decisions reached by these courts.” He also insisted the courts only handle family matters, not criminal cases.

According to Reuters, Kikmete made similar statements, saying Kadhi courts would not be set up or funded by the government and secular courts would remain superior.

“I do not see any reason whatsoever for religious leaders to instruct their worshippers to vote against the proposed constitution,”Kikmete said.

But Christian leaders remained skeptical and urged the president to withdraw the bill from Parliament, The Citizen reported. They warned, in a joint statement, the issue could “end up tearing apart the nation.”Representatives from the Christian Council of Tanzania, Tanzania Episcopal Conference, and the Council of Pentecostal Churches of Tanzania all signed the appeal.

“We are asking ourselves whether President Kikwete’s remarks when he met the so-called religious leaders were genuine because Parliament is continuing to discuss something that the government won’t get engaged with or financing it,”the statement said.

Although the debate in Tanzania is currently political, it was “absolutely reasonable”for Christians to be concerned about the implementation of Sharia law and how it could impact them in the future, Augustine said. ICC has seen Sharia law expand and radicalize in other countries once it gained a foothold.