Notes from 2006 Interfaith Consultation, Mombasa, Kenya

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Positive Perceptions of Muslims about Christians

• They have a strong quest for knowledge

• They have good organizational structures

• They have strong social development track record in charity

• They sacrifice in cash and kind and volunteer to the service of the community

• They are outspoken government critics

• They are tolerant and open to interaction

• They have unity of purpose

• They have reverence and obedience to church leadership

• They have genuine hunger for religion

• They are hard-working and self-dependent

• They involve women in their church activity

• They have initiative and access to funds for dialogue [Christians sponsored the event]

• They are proactive

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Positive Perceptions of Christians about Muslims

• They are devoted to their faith

• They publicly display their faith

• They are committed to fulfilling the requirements of their faith

• They have a simple lifestyle

• They have a strong sense of identity and global activity

• They protect family

• They are prayerful

• They are enterprising and good businessmen

• They are kind and honourable

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Most of these are moral ethics encouraged by both faiths. Most of the time people do not even know that they display these positive qualities for others to see.

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Negative Perceptions of Muslims about Christians

• They are hypocrites

• They are ignorant of their own religion and the religion of others

• They discriminate against others

• They are cunning and conniving

• They have a blind following of white missionaries

• They have [more] blind hatred for Islam and Muslims than for any other religion

• They are fanatics

• They are fronting for Western world

• They manipulate state resources for structures against Islam

• They easily succumb to secularism

• They have a long culture of distortion of Islam and Islamic history

• They demonize Muslims and Islam

• They are overbearing, insensitive and domineering

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Negative Perceptions of Christians about Muslims

• They are oppressive to women

• They allow honour killing

• They are deceptive to Christians

• They do not allow evangelization in their zones of influence

• They are selfish in offering other people opportunities e.g. employment

• They are potentially violent

• They have questionable personal hygiene

• They are racist

• They have polygamous tendencies

• They do not value the lives on non-Muslims

• They have a literal interpretation of the scriptures

• They force others to follow their way of life e.g. Shariah

• They give prominence to religious education over secular education

• They are dogmatic

• They use intimidation and threats

• Loud call to prayer

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To everyone’s surprise, most negative perceptions from each group cancelled each other out. A few were unique to one or the other group and were discussed in more detail by participants as follows.

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1. Christians have a long culture of distortion, that is, misinformation passed to the Christians.   Response from the Christians: Many writers of historical books were travelers from other cultures and they sometimes allowed their traditions to influence their writing. Africans should write their own history for posterity

2. Muslims do not value the lives of non-Muslims.   Response from the Muslims: It is unfortunate to have this perception. According to the source of Islam it is believed that to save one life is like saving the whole of humanity. Individual actions should not be mistaken for religious beliefs. Local facts should be considered and not international issues since there are cases where Christians kill other Christians. Issues of Jihad and terrorism should be given a little bit more time for discussion.

3. Christians easily succumb to secularism (usury, dressing, and homosexuality).   Response from the Christians: There are different levels of commitment among the Christians, and a lot of things come in and are identified as religious but are not. Some cultural beliefs are changed and attached to religion. Revisionists are looking into the Scriptures and bringing in things that should not be there. It is good to accept that there are problems that should be acknowledge and look for a way to sort them out.

4. Muslims give more prominence to religious education than to secular one Children spend so much time In Madrassa and little time in secular classes. The lowest scores in national examinations are generally from Muslim areas like the Coast and North Eastern Province.    Response from the Muslims:  Madrassa were intended to provide integrated education, and therefore the Muslims did not choose religious education over secular. Also, white missionaries preferred non-Muslims for their schools. Muslims did the same. Values are westernized and therefore Muslims felt the need to give their children more religious teaching. Educationists should meet together and discuss this issue. A more balanced education is needed to make Muslim children relevant in today’s society. There is need for balance even in religious pursuits. Muslims were open to secular education, but things changed. Muslim areas do not have the infrastructure to support conventional education as a result of unequal distribution of resources. We have the responsibility to take care of the children and collectively map up [our] direction for the future. Islam does not distinguish between secular and religious education, they are seen as one unit. 

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Other unique qualities that were not discussed because of shortage of time were:

• Muslims have a simple life

• Christians have initiative

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Before the inter-group discussions, Muslims had expressed their misgiving about the consultation. The misgivings stemmed from an article carried by one of the newspapers stating that the Consultation was intended to negotiate on the Kadhi’s courts* and other contentious issues in the rejected draft Constitution. This had led to the Muslim participants receiving a lot of telephone calls from their people criticizing them for attending the so-called negotiations without consulting them. The Muslims also claimed that some Muslims had been killed in Mombasa during the Referendum.

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The Muslims had threatened to walk out en-mass if the Kadhi’s courts, the contentious issues in the draft Constitution, or the Referendum were to be discussed in the Consultation.

Despite the initial tension, the inter-group discussion played a major role in eliminating this and other issues and creating confidence in the Consultation. By the end of the session there was a marked reduction of tension and mistrust that had been evident earlier, and the atmosphere was more convivial.

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*Weekly Review, The. 1999. ‘A Sure Formula for Strife: Alleged Suggestions for the Creation of a Muslim Jimbo [state] at the Coast Raises Tension Along Religious Lines’. 12 February. Archived at Hartford Web Publishing. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/265.html

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