Shutdown of Islamic Centre at Kisarawe:
An Ongoing Campaign Against Islam

News:

On 11/07/2024 Kisarawe District Commissioner Petro Magoti shut down an Islamic teaching centre at the Masjid Salaf Mosque located in Kiluvya, Kisarawe, Coast region, giving its leadership 24 hours to return the children to their homes.

Reasons behind such closure of the Islamic centre that has more than 90 children from various regions include: unsafe environment, operating without state registration, as well as some students deprived of secular education.

Comment:

Not only do we strongly condemn this hostile decision against Islam and Muslims going in line with global campaign against Islam, but also the reasons behind this move are weak and repetitive pretexts being used to close down various Islamic teaching centres. The latest one is Al Habash Madrasa of Dodoma that closed down in February 2024.

Regarding students’ congestion and unsafe environment of the centre, it is known that the government’s own school are squalid and the most congested. For instance, in Tambukareli Primary School in Nyamagana, Mwanza region, 300 pupils are using a single classroom (Jambo FM. 27 October 2023), in Njiwa Primary School which is found in Malinyi, Morogoro region, 172 pupils are using one classroom (Jembe FM. 9 May 2023), In Mlonwena Secondary School in Lushoto, Tanga region, there was dormitory shortage to the extent that three students were using one bed (ITV, 22/04/2019). The current students-teacher ratio is up to 100 students per 1 teacher in government schools, students-classroom ratio is up to 81 students per 1 classroom (Mwananchi 11, 2023).

This is the reality of government schools, with all this congestion, why didn’t the government close down all these schools as it has done to our Islamic teaching centre? Where did the same government get morals to speak out on congestion in Muslim teaching centres? If not hatred for Islam, what else?

In terms of the so-called poor hygiene such as accessibility and availability of clean water and toilets, obviously mosques in most cases including this Salaf Mosque have toilets and water facilities, while the government public schools are worse than this. For instance, in Morogoro regional municipality there are not enough toilets in its schools with only 892 available holes, out of required 2574 holes (Mtanzania 21/07/2023).

Regarding the centre operating without registration, this also does not make sense since the centre has started to deliver its teaching services since 2022. Furthermore, it conducts its teaching inside mosque, whereby in Islam a mosque not only is a place of worship, but also enjoys a role of disseminating Islamic knowledge. How would Muslims be able to better perform their act of worship in a mosque if they are ignorant of Islam?

It is also an open double standard to close down this centre because children are deprived secular education. In Tanzania there are about 4,383, street children, 3,508 boys if the government needs to offer education, why doesn’t it collect all the children and send them to school instead?

It is also high time for the government to act in a fair manner and disengage itself from the capitalist global anti-Islam campaign that only blemish state relationships with Muslims. These traditional Islamic centres are historically known and have offered incredible contributions to the development and welfare of society and would do more once the Khilafah (Caliphate) State is re-established in the Muslim world InshaAllah.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Said Bitomwa
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania