Mufti Menk confirms visit to Uganda
Coming. Sheikh Menk, the grand mufti of Zimbabwe. net pHOTO
What you need to know:
- Objective. The grand mufti of Zimbabwe is expected to grace celebrations to mark 175 years of Islam in Uganda.
KAMPALA. Renowned Muslim scholar and motivational speaker Sheikh Ismail Ibn Musa Menk, 43, largely known as Mufti Menk, is expected to visit Uganda this April .
Sheikh Menk, who is also the grand mufti of Zimbabwe, is expected to be among the keynote speakers during celebrations to mark 175 years of Islam in Uganda.
According to Hajj Abdul Karim Karisa, one of the organisers, they invited Sheik Menk through the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and he accepted to come. “Mufti Menk is a big international figure and fixing you in his programme means toiling, but I want to thank the team, which manoeuvred and convinced him to come,” Hajj Karisa said in a telephone interview yesterday.
In a recorded video sent on social media early this week, Sheikh Menk confirmed his maiden visit to Kampala.
“Asalaam aleikum [Peace be upon you] my brothers and sisters in Uganda. Insha Allah, I will be there on April 27 at Lugogo Cricket Oval, celebrating 175 years of Islam in Uganda with building bridges tour. I am excited to be coming for the first time and I hope you are equally excited… ,” he said.
Hajj Karisa said for the two days Sheikh Menk will spend in Uganda, he will expound on the theme “Building Bridges” and make Muslims contemplate on unity.
Choice of Menk
“He [Sheikh Menk] is a man who is not connected to any local Muslim factions and would really be the right person to see us united as we mark these years,” he said.
Usually, Hajj Karisa said the organisers have been holding such celebrations in a mosque, and choosing Lugogo Cricket Oval as venue was motivated by the fact that Mufti Menk has huge number of adherent followers who may not all be accommodated in a mosque.
“Hosting him in a mosque may deny many other Ugandans a chance to see him and that is the reason we zeroed in on a bigger stadium,” he said.
Mufti Menk has more than three million followers on Twitter.
In 2014 and 2017, Mufti Menk was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
