Myanmar News Links: OIC probes facts about Angola Muslims

by OnIslam News Agencies

Source: onislam.net/

OIC Probes Facts About Angola Muslims

By: OnIslam News Agencies

Source: http://www.onislam.net/

With all eyes fixed on Angolan Muslims, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed dismay and shock about the reports of the Angolan Government's decision to ban Islam and demolish mosques, voicing similar concerns for Burma and Philippine Muslims.

"We have clearly expressed our opinion that we cannot accept this [decision]," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told Al-Jazeera satellite channel in an interview aired on Wednesday, November 27.

"After denials from Angolan officials, we are working on dispatching a fact finding team to get an internationally accepted report," he added.

"We have also launched a diplomatic campaign to ask the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to take a firm position against any proposed ban."

Reports about Angola Islam ban emerged on Sunday after African and Angolan agencies and newspapers published an article quoting the Angolan minister of culture, Rosa Cruz, as saying "the process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice."

The minister reportedly said the decision was the latest in a series of efforts to ban "illegal" religious sects.

The reports sparked huge reactions from several Muslim organizations including Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, who asked for dispatching a fact finding team to Angola to investigate the conditions of the Muslim minority.

The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has also called on Angola to withdraw its decision, urging moves at the UN, African Union to condemn the unprecedented decision.

The reports were denied later by the Angolan officials, including Manuel Fernando, the director of the National Institute for Religious Affairs.

However, David Ja, the president of the Muslim Council of Angola, confirmed in an AFP interview that all of Angola's 60 mosques were closed at present, eight mosques have been dismantled in the past two years.

The Muslim leader added that Muslim women are not allowed to wear a veil in public.

Ja emphasized that the action against Islamic institutions had been taken under Angolan law, rather than as a result of random religious persecution.

Anyone who practiced the Islamic faith ran the risk of being found guilty of "qualified disobedience" of Angola's penal code, he added.

Burma Philippine too

Thousands of miles away from Africa's Angola, the OIC head regretted the persecution of Burma's Rohnigya Muslims.

"We saw an unprecedented of hatred for Islam and Muslims in Arakan state," Ihsanoglu told Aljazeera, referring to a recent visit by the OIC to Burma.

"Even government officials were reluctant, or even afraid of, the use of the term Rohingya, because of the huge political pressures exerted by extremist Buddhists who prefer the term Bengalis to refer to the Muslim minority."

More than 200 people were killed and thousands of Muslims were displaced from their homes after attacks against Muslims in western Burma last year.

More than 42 people were also killed in a new bout of violence against Muslims in central Burma in April.

Monks were blamed for inciting hatred against Muslims by preaching a so-called "969 movement" which represents a radical form of anti-Islamic nationalism that urges Buddhists to boycott Muslim-run shops and services.

The September United Nations humanitarian bulletin reports that 180,000 people in camps and segregated communities in Rakhine state need life-saving assistance — nearly all are Muslim, and a majority, about 103,000, are children.

Yet humanitarian agencies increasingly are obstructed from reaching those in need.

As attacks were reported in dozens of locations across Burma, the anti-Rohingya violence has since affected other Muslims in Burma.

In September, a Buddhist mob rampaged through a Muslim neighborhood of Kamein ethnicity in Thandwe, a town in Rakhine state. Among those killed was a 94-year-old grandmother.

Mindanao Muslims were not any way better, being targeted due to its reach natural and economic resources, Ihsanoglu said.