IINA - 02

Uganda: Mufti speaks on problems facing Muslims

Kampala, Rabi Thani 10/June 31 (IINA) - The Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Sha’aban Ramadhan, has outlined some of the problems facing the Muslims here, and told IINA that there are six million Muslims out of Uganda’s population of 21 million. He said there are 6,700 mosques, and in practically every mosques there is a Qur’an Study Circle, plus there is one Islamic University, and it comes under the aegis of the of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

As for Christian missionary activity, the Mufti said that while there are 60 missionary radio stations in the country for calling people to Christianity, there was only one Islamic radio station, known as the Bilal Station, which is supported by Saudi Arabia and by the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL).

As for Islamic action to counter Christian activities, Sheikh Ramadhan said that such countries as Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have their Daawa activists in the country, but that these were not adequate to the task. He said that at the moment there are 60 Ugandan students studying at the Azhar, and at Saudi Islamic universities there are at present 100 Ugandans studying on scholarships from the MWL. He said that this year there were 25 student Daawa activists who graduated from the Azhar, whose expenses were paid for by the Azhar and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Egypt.

The Mufti, however, appealed to Muslim states to increase their help to Uganda’s Muslims.

HI/OB/IINA

IINA – 01

Uganda Muslims continue their march toward progress

Kampala, Muharram 7/Apr 1 (IINA) - The Muslims of Uganda continue to pursue their path toward progress in all fields of human endeavor, so as to build their human capacities and protect their rights, discharge their duties, and continue their peaceful co-existence with their non-Muslim compatriots.

Uganda’s Muslim population has grown to 30 percent of the total population, and in order to meet the demand for more facilities they have started to build new modern schools, and to improve the old ones. By 1994, the Muslims had 1,015 primary schools, 101 secondary schools, two colleges, and a university.

According to 1991 statistics, literacy among Ugandan Muslims was 59 percent, the number of graduates increased from it was in 1964 (only two graduates), while today the number of doctorate holders and other university graduates is 200.

Uganda’s Muslims have also set up a number of health centers, whose services are not just confined to Muslim patients, but encompass patients from all religious denominations in the country.

Furthermore, Uganda’s Muslims youths have become more conformist to their faith than even their Christian counterparts in the country.

HI/OB/IINA

IINA – 03

Uganda: Islamic University

Kampala, Dhul Hijja 3/Feb 15,2002 (IINA) – The Islamic University of Uganda was founded in 1988, and is situated in the east of the country, in a city called Mbale, where the Muslim population is quite substantial. The university has five faculties, namely the faculties of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language, Education, Business and Public Administration, Science, Art, Sociology. The university issues undergraduate and postgraduate degrees to the students who pass its exams.

There are now 1,137 students enrolled at the university, boys as well as girls.

The initial funding for the university came from the Islamic Solidarity Fund and in the form of donations from governments and Islamic organizations, as well as from individual philanthropists.

Last year the Islamic University of Uganda was faced with financial problems, and was not able to adequately service its debts. Therefore the Islamic Solidarity Fund had to intervene and bailed it out to the tune of US$600,000, and at the same time the Fund asked the Islamic Development (IDB) to grant the university a loan that would enable it to pay its debts. But this request has yet to be met.

But the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has come up with a rescue plan, under which a commercial center, to be known as the King Fahd Plaza, is to be built in the heart of the Ugandan capital, and toward which the kingdom has paid US$5,000,000. The center, which would be in the name of the Islamic Solidarity Fund, is expected to generate income to the tune of US$1.5 million per annum, all of which would go toward supplementing the university’s budget.