Muslim women happy to get representation to UMSC

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | After receiving their first ever representation in the General Assembly, the main decision making body of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, on Saturday, the female Muslims were filled with delight.

According Sheikhat Radhiyyah Namakula, who has been leading the charge in Uganda to raise the voices of Muslim women, this accomplishment was no small thing to achieve. She says that this will permanently change how women are perceived in the Muslim society.

The subject of women and leadership has over the years generated heated discussions and arguments. UMSC was founded in 1972, but due to its founders’ patriarchal perspective of Muslim society, no leadership positions were considered open to females.

Recently, a number of women as well as several men have been contending that it is past time they took active steps to include women in the decision-making processes in things pertaining to their faith by assigning them into senior positions in all management organs.

When constitution review process was put in place, this came as a blessing. Those in support of this narrative from different concerns of Uganda rose and forwarded the idea during the consultations on the then proposed amendment.

At the end, the voices were heard and so it was decided to include interest groups of the youth and women in leadership positions. The revised constitution went ahead to create positions for the women right from the lowest level- mosque- and creation of Muslim Women Council as their top board. The constitution further allowed women to be part of the general assembly allocating them ten slots, one for each Muslim region.

Namakula, the only female who has been having a position of authority in the entire UMSC being the Secretary of Women Affairs for the body, says 10 is fair enough to start with. She further argues that if solely, she has been able to make an impact that resulted into having more ten females, the numbers will certainly multiply as time goes by.

Aisha bint Abdu, a female representatives from Lango sub-region could not contain her happiness as she sat in the general assembly’s conference room, which was previously exclusively occupied by men.

“It was a dream. Even though we had just recently been elected, it was still surreal to witness us swearing in with alongside males in the General Assembly,” she said

With success staring them in the face, Bint Abdu says they could not resist dreaming big. She says that now that they have the ten spots, they are aiming for equal representation, just like the males. She continues by saying that, if at all possible, women should be permitted to compete directly for some posts alongside their male counterparts in the future.

Shamira Umutesi, an official from Mbarara equally applause the UMSC and general muslim community that participated in the Constitutional Reviw which has seen the women join the Join Assembly for the first time in decades.

Umutesi says that women are key in the development of Islam and hence should be engaged and utilised to share their knowledge and expertise for the growth of the Muslim Ummah.

According to the Busoga Regional Khadi, Dr. Hussein Muhammad Bowa, it is a good idea to include women in decision-making roles because they are frequently active in activities that have a positive influence on children and society at large. Dr. Bowa says that this development will highlight their viewpoint on several subjects, which may be crucial.

Besides the general assembly representation, the new constitution has also ring fenced some positions of authority to women. For instance, article 8 which establishes the directorate of Sharia specifies that the Director of Sharia will have two deputies one of which must be a female.

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URN