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Africa North | ||||
Northern Mali braces for Ramadan under strict Islamic rule | ||||
2012-07-20 | ||||
Normally a joyous time of fasting and prayer, the looming Muslim month of Ramadan has raised fears of stricter rule by the jihadists occupying the north Malian town of Gao.
"I am afraid that the Islamists will take advantage of the Ramadan period to toughen the rules with, for example, a ban on smoking and watching television," said a teacher in the Sahel town, which borders Niger.
But the normally moderate Muslims in northern Mali are wary after having the strict Islamic law known as sharia thrust upon them by hardline Islamist groups who have seized the cities of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal. "We will spend Ramadan under very peculiar conditions," said Al Hadj Bany Maiga, member of a mosque managing committee, referring to the presence of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) in Gao. MUJAO has been more relaxed in its approach to sharia than the group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) in Timbuktu, who have whipped unmarried couples, smokers and drinkers and destroyed ancient shrines seen as idolatrous. "We are not docile like the residents of Timbuktu," said Alpha Maiga, a member of a youth organisation in Gao. "One can't force us to do anything."
MUJAO eased up after a series of violent anti-Islamist protests in May and June which left one dead and many injured. But as allies of Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), who want a strict sharia state, it is not clear how long MUJAO's comparative tolerance will last. The town imams have held a meeting on Gao's "doctrinal organisation" during Ramadan. "There will be no inflammatory sermons. Preachers will be Malian. Foreigners will not come here to deliver sermons," a Muslim leader told AFP, on an exclusive trip under MUJAO protection to a town which has been off-limits to western news organisations for over three months. Many foreign jihadists are reportedly present in the town. MUJAO also sought to allay fears about Ramadan, and Abdoul Hakim, the group's "emir" for Gao, said he will "allow people to pray as they are used to doing. We will give sugar and food to all the mosques in Gao." A local journalist told AFP: "The Islamists are keeping in mind the last uprising of the population. They are doing everything" to avoid a repeat. The gruelling month of fasting will be made harder by recurring power cuts in the desert town, whose residents are also facing a stiff rise in food prices at a time when they need to cough up for lavish feasts to break the fast each day. "Really, it is difficult, Ramadan in July. Suburbs are stuck without lights for two days. It is so hot and you can't find ice," complained a local radio presenter.
"To do Ramadan well you need a lot of supplies. But with the current situation there is no money," said local official Hamadi Maiga. | ||||
Posted by:Steve White |