Muslims commemorate Martyrs Day

Muslims, through the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), will today gather at Masgid Noor Shuhadau, which is a Muslim Martyrs mosque in Namugongo, Wakiso District, to pray for more than 100 Muslim faithful who were martyred for their religion by Kabaka Muteesa I in 1876.

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The national chairperson of the Muslim Martyrs Committee, Prof Badru Kateregga, said Muslims will hold special prayers at the Muslim martyrs mosque today in memory of the Muslims who were killed by the then Kabaka (king) of Buganda for defying his orders on account of their Islamic beliefs.

Prof Kateregga added that remembering the martyrs is a sign that Muslims should stand firm to their Islamic beliefs as per the teachings of the holy Quran.

“Tomorrow (today), Muslim believers will gather at Masgid Noor Shuhadau in Namugongo to commemorate 147 years of Muslim martyrs in Uganda. It is important to note that Muslims don’t pray through these martyrs nor do they intercede for us in any way, but we always remember them because they fell for their religion and strengthened Islam in the country,” Prof Kateregga said while addressing journalists in Kampala yesterday.

The coordinator of Muslim Martyrs in Uganda, Mr Sulaiman Kawanguzi, said whereas some Muslims look at the martyrs as people who went against the Quran teachings by disobeying their leaders, it is also against the Islamic holy teachings to judge a fellow human being before God.

“Since 2012, when we joined our Christian counterparts in commemoration of the religious martyrs, we have not organised a big ceremony for this event because we are still compiling and teaching fellow believers about the Muslim martyrs,” Mr Kawanguzi said.
“This is because some people were judging these martyrs differently and many concluded that they should not be remembered, but we all agree that God has all the powers to judge, so it is important for us to remember them for their religious contribution,” he added.

Background

Islam was the first foreign religion to be introduced in Uganda, particularly in the Buganda Kingdom in 1844, by Muslim Arab traders from Zanzibar. They were received by Kabaka Suuna II and they entered Buganda via Mulungu Munyonyo. After the death of Kabaka Suuna, his son, Muteesa I, took over in 1856.

Kabaka Muteesa I also warmly welcomed Islam just like his predecessor, however, between 1874-1876 he turned against it, butchering more than 100 Muslims at Namugongo and other places for disobeying him because of being uncircumcised.