Inter-Faith condolence prayer took place for the victims of the July 11th 2010 twin bombimg of Kampala. The prayes was held at Baps Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple 18th July.
On the night of Sunday 11th July 2010, a tragedy fell in Kampala when soccer fans watching the world cup finals at Lugogo Rugby club and Ethiopian village Restaurant in Kabalagala suburbs were bombed by suspected suicide terrorists. In this twin bombing, lives of over 70 innocent persons were lost with very many sustaining serious injuries. As a religious community, we noticed that various faiths lost their followers in this cowardly attack.
Spear headed by the IFAPA Uganda chapter, religious leaders and followers of various faiths came together in a joint prayer in the spirit of condolence to the bomb victims and condemning this anti faith and inhuman act of terrorism.
The following is a sample of some of the condolence prayers and statements that came from various religious leaders and personalities IFAPA Uganda Chapter / Youth Desk coordinator
Sheikh Byamugenzi Hamid (Youth Desk Coordinator) addressed an inter-faith Congregation “Greetings of Peace to you your respective capacity. On behalf of the Islamic Faith and my own behalf, I join the nation in mourning the death of innocent human beings that occurred on the night of the world cup finals both at Kabalagala and Kyadondo Rugby club in Kampala. Whereas the suspected terrorists are said to be Muslims of the Al-Shabab of Somalia, the truth of the matter is that: Islam as a creed is a peaceful, merciful, non violent, human respecting and tolerant religion. Ideologically, Muslims have a right of self determination through Jihad if is attacked. However, Jihad has principals and procedures that
Now, what happened on Sunday is completely out of this context.
If anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder or to spread mischief in the land it would be as if he killed all man kind, and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of all man kind” Quran Chapter 5:Verse32
Finally we extend our condolences to the believed families and pray that the Almighty Allah protects us from such human acts. We also pray for real peace to prevail in northern Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Guinea and everywhere in the
Let there be peace today and tomorrow”
After the condolence prayer, The Youth Desk/Chapter Coordinator took off some time for a media/press Question and answer briefing. This was crucial because there was an increasing perception among the general public that since the suspected terrorists were Al-Shaban from Somalia, It was a deliberate Jihad from the Muslim community especially from Somalia against Ugandans.
The Coordinator who also has a strong Islamic background was surrounded by journalists for an explanation. He provided a deeper explanation and repeated the highlighted text as seen in his statement and prayer in the above quotation.
IFAPA Uganda Chapter Chairperson: Canon. B.A.S Nima, The IFAPA Uganda Chapter Chairperson with grief preceding prayers and statements from Bishop Ochora (Rt Bishop of Northern Uganda), Sister Mary Gorreti Kisaakye, Dr. George Olinga, Mr. Gamal Hassan and Head of the BAPS temple, had the following to:
“It is really sad that 84 innocent lives were lost and over 50 wounded in a war of terror. From our Christian Religious teachings such actions of mass killings are highly castigated. Human life is sacred and should never be taken away.
In my special capacity as the Chairperson of IFAPA Uganda Chapter, Head of Ecumenism and Peace building department at Uganda joint Christian council and on behalf of the Continental wide Interfaith Network I convey our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the bloody Sunday, to the President, Vice President, all Ugandans, Africans and humanity at large.
We have lost very many people in these horrendous actions. We call up on every individual to pray for the dead and the wounded. All faith traditions do offer great respect and honour to human life. Violence and use of force never solve problems. It is the negotiations, persuasions dialogue and reconciliation among others that lead to long lasting peace. We appeal to the perpetuators of these attacks to stop and repent. God is always merciful and ready to accept back his weak hearted people.
The entire continent and all peace loving men and women are considered. As people of faith we use this plat form of the joint prayers to demand that justice is done. All measures should be undertaken by the authorities to addresses the causes of these attacks and also identify the real solutions holistically.
May the Good Almighty protect and save our nation and the entire world from acts of violence and human suffering”.
From the Bahai Temple/ Community: Dr. George Olinga and Mr. Hassan Gamal:
A delegation from the Bahai temple which is also the first and oldest Bahai temple in Africa joined other religious dignitaries in this historic event with a prayer and a statement of condolence from the Bahai community prayer. In a prayer led by Dr. George Olinga, he called on the Almighty God to be with his people this very challenging situation, and strengthen all the bomb victims and their families. He also cried to the Creator to provide wisdom and knowledge to the authorities taking on the investigations. “I call upon every one to be careful during this period and remain faithful to God the master of creation” he said.
While in a statement read by Mr. Hassan Gamal, the Bahai community condemned the act of terrorism that claimed lives of innocent persons regardless of age, sex, tribe, faith, colour, political affiliation or any other difference.
The statement also thanked the continent wide constituency of religious leaders (IFAPA) for thinking it wise to often bring together the various faiths for a joint voice.
Though not present, special tribute was given to Dr. Ishmael Noko the IFAPA President and his staff, the IFAPA Uganda chapter and the Youth Desk.
Recalling from history, the statement reminded the congregation that most of the mass killings (terrorisms) in earlier history had largely an economic or political/ human rights background. However recently, religion has been linked. This is a wrong twist of events because all religions teach generosity, tolerance, forgiveness, repentance, respect and protection of especially humanity. The people who have continuously used religion
to promote their evil acts such as terrorism are only selfish, greedy and only should always only expect condemnation from all faiths. Acts such like this are not only unfair to humanity but are a sin in the face of the almighty creator of the universe.
From the Hindu Community the Bahai Temple: The Hindu community hosted and lead the prayers from the start with a prayers and music from the Hindu youth group and closed the occasion with a statement from the head of the Hindu temple (BAPS shree Swaminarayan Mandir).
In the statement the Hindu community borrowing from the wisdom of Ghandi, prayed for unity, tolerance and security consciousness among all Ugandans.
The representative of the temple also thanked the IFAPA Constituency for coming together for a common voice. “As religious
institutions, it is through gatherings such as this one that we can surely express our unity and Religion is a fulcrum of any society and grows from strength to strength when it starts to
respond to concerns of humanity. Our religious communities continue to experience new faces of inhuman acts of terrorism and other community problems such as; insecurity, poverty, xenophobia, unemployment, famine, insufficient water and electricity, child sacrifice, trafficking and madder, disease, bad governance, conflict and war. This is an increasing challenge
for religious leaders and institutions as they ensure harmony amongst their followers and communities at large.
Through inter-faith engagements and gatherings, IFAPA opens gates for a common voice where lessons, challenges and opportunities can be shared amongst the various
faiths. This is borrowed from a background that community problems do not segregate.
