Establishing an Islamic social, financial system

On March 10, the office of the supreme Mufti launched the Directorate of Sharia Law and Legal Affairs, the first of its kind in Uganda since the inception of Islam in Uganda 178 years ago. 

The mandate of the directorate is guided by Islamic law that requires that in a bid to fulfill their faith, judgment in all disputes between them should be according to the Islamic law and that Muslims should not be resistant to decisions reached in accordance to this law but should accept them with the fullest conviction.

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The directorate is, therefore, the platform for referring all Islamic matters for a balanced and reliable verdict based on critical study, research and consideration of customs, traditions as well as the changing times with professionalism, highest quality standards and commitment to the Muslim community in Uganda and the whole region.

The Directorate of Sharia Law and Legal Affairs provides a wide spectrum of activities which include but are not limited to; pre-marital counselling and guidance, marriage and divorce registration, Islamic wills and testaments services, calculation and distribution of estate, research and consultancy, zakat calculation, issuing Islamic fatwas, and dispute resolution, among others.

However, it should be noted that there is still an uphill task for this directorate to be able to offer a comprehensive service towards providing a platform for the offering justice to the Muslim community.

Uganda being a secular State embraces several religions including Islam. Article 7 of the Constitution clearly states that Uganda shall not have a State religion. Article 129 stipulates to the effect that judicial power of Uganda shall be exercised by the courts of judicature which shall consist in sub article (d) such subordinate courts as Parliament may by law establish including Qadhi courts for marriage, divorce, inheritance of property guardianship as may be prescribed by Parliament.

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The law shows that there is a firm foundation and provision of Qadhi courts if Parliament promulgates a law for the establishment of these courts, their jurisdiction and the procedures that these courts shall follow in exercising their judicial power.

Since the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution, there has been no Bill in Parliament that has been moved for the purpose of enactment of a law for the formation of Qadhi courts. This is a big hindrance towards the realisation of the complete formation and realisation of the Islamic justice system. 

On January 19, 2016, President Museveni accented to a Bill that was passed into law as an amendment to the the Financial Institutions Act of 2016 and this provided for Islamic banking. To date, the progress of Islamic banking operations in Uganda have been curtailed by the absence of a Statutory Instrument to regulate the operationalisation of the law that was passed.

It should be noted that world over, finance has expanded through the Middle East, Indonesia, United Kingdom, North America, and more recently in some sub-saharan African countries.

It provides on the whole for the provision of a financial product that can co-exist along side the conventional financial system to pave way for financial inclusion of a population underserved that is now estimated at 10-15 percent of the entire Ugandan populace.

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With the formation of the Directorate of Sharia Law and Legal Affairs, people passionate about the establishment of a justice system for the Muslim community should utilise this platform to ensure that advocacy for the formation and realisation of properly regulated Qadhi courts as well as Islamic finance are realised to allow for justice and financial inclusion.

Ms Sophia Kigozi is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda.