A prominent Gambian scholar and former imam of State House mosque has called on his followers to enroll for martial arts in the face of ‘imminent violent conflict’ with the minority Islamic religious group, the Ahmadis. 

Imam Abdullah Fatty has described the group as liars, violent, and non-believers and threatens to attack them if granted equal freedom with mainstream Muslims. His comments constitute hate speech as flagged in this article. 

Context 

Imam Fatty was addressing a gathering of mainstream Muslim scholars who convened a special meeting in Tallinding last week. It was in response to the recommendations made in the report of Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). 

It could be recalled that the transitional justice mechanism dedicated a special public hearing on violations of religious freedoms as part of inquiry into allegations of human rights violations that occurred under the previous regime. 

The TRRC recommends for the promotion of religious tolerance and greater guarantees for the protection of the rights of religious minorities.  The government has accepted the recommendation of the Commission. 

Since the publication of the White Paper, scores of Sunni scholars have gathered to dismiss the such recommendation as they defiantly preached that they are non-believers – ‘kafir.’ In the video in which the Imam was speaking in Mandinka language, the Imam also called the Ahmadis ‘liars.’

What exactly did Imam Fatty say?

“Ahmadis are troublesome people. People become rude when they accept this religion and that is why all of you should prepare for them because only Allah knows what comes next. You should train yourselves in Kung Fu and judo skills and many different other skills because only God knows how this will end. All the imams should learn these skills and I am ready to take the challenge.

“People are always praising Ahmadis for their efforts, but MRC has been rendering far better health services to Gambians than them at no cost. They have treated uncountable numbers of people from Keneba, Fajara to Farafenni. But you’d never hear the government officials praising the MRC. Why are they praising these liars? It is because they educated them. Most of the top position holders passed through their school systems and they have that emotional attachment to them, and this is why they were granted radio and television licenses and they can acquire anything they want in this country.”

“The government and all its employees should jealously guard this religion because if this religion is tampered with, the peace and stability of this nation will be at stake. If that happens, no matter what reinforcement the state brings in terms of military support, the people will still attack one another here which will compromise the country’s entire security setup.”

Why the comment is flagged as hate speech 

History of attack on the group: Imam Fatty is not new to allegations of attacks on religious minorities. In general, he is prone to making hate speech. The Ahmadis bear the brunt of his derogatory and hateful comments. In the past, while he was imam of State House, he has called for Ahmadis to be banned in the country.  

Incitement to violence: Imam Fatty’s comment constitute incitement to violence and advocacy for hatred and discrimination. These are some of the constitutive elements of hate speech. 

His Status: Imam Fatty is one of them the most influential Muslim scholars in the country. He has a significant following. Therefore, telling followers to arm themselves with fighting skills against Ahmadis can be taken as a direct instruction by some of those followers to wage attacks on them just because of differences in beliefs.

Persecuted minority: The Ahmadis are already a persecuted minority religious group. Several reports, including that of the TRRC documented a pattern of attack against the group. The attacks are mostly verbal, but sometimes physical and violent. There were calls for them to be killed. They suffer discrimination based on their religion. 

Transcribed by Momodou Janneh