By Charles Mkoka, IOl Correspondent

LILONGWE, Malawi, March 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – After almost two years of failure to hammer out an amicable solution to a controversial dispute involving Muslims and Gule Wamkulu cult, a leading Muslim scholar decided to champion the mediation efforts.

“It is sad to note that the conflicts are arising from religion and cultural issues when in actual sense these people are supposed to work in unison,” Sheikh Yusuf Kanyamula, chairperson of the Moslem Association of Malawi (MAM), told IslamOnline.net.

He said that he will be traveling to Lilongwe shortly to invite the two rival’s parties and the others concerned to iron out a solution to this long standing issue.

A clash erupted in November 2003 between the Gule Wamkulu cult, a cultural dance that mimic wild animals by members of the Chewa tribe that dominate the central region of Malawi, and local Muslims.

The cult accuses Muslims in Chinsapo, a western suburb about 30 kilometers from downtown Lilongwe, of demolishing a tombstone of one of its followers in violation of the Chewa traditional values.

However, Muslims in the area have denied the allegations, accusing some parties of deliberately demolished the tombstone to fuel the rift between the two sides.

Mediations talks initiated by the Centre for Social Concern (CSC) a Malawian non-governmental organization based in the administrative capital, failed to reach an solution leading to the signing of a memorandum of understanding last Saturday.

Coexistence

Kanyamaula, who reverted to Islam years ago, stressed that Muslims “believe in coexistence, peace love and respect for your neighbor even though we have dissenting views on different issues”.

“We must not quarrel each other on simple issues like these. We need to change our altitude and work together despite our religion cultural and political affiliations,” he said.

The Muslim leader exhorted all parties to cooperate and integrate with one another.

“Malawi is a small and poor country and we must try as much as we can to reduce incidences of violence because they will take us nowhere.”

The soft speaking Kanyamula said he is saddened with the misconception that people have about Islam.

“Islam is not about violence, it is a religion that preaches love and we can not sit idle and watch such incidents of misunderstanding taking root amidst ourselves.”

Tombstone Dispute

The Gule Wamkulu cult accuses members of the Muslim community in the Chinsapo suburb of pulling down the tombstone in retaliation to the detention of a Sheikh who had allegedly trespass in the cult camp, a no go area for people who have not gone through cult norms.

However, Muslims in the area have denied the allegations, accusing some parties of deliberately demolished the tombstone to fuel the rift between the two sides.

“We did not destroy the tombstone but other people might have done this to fuel the rift between us and other brothers,” said Sheikh Ishmael Ayub.

“It is time that as a people we concentrate on development, rather than the mere conflicts of this nature.”

The Gule Wamkulu cult mostly comprised of the Chewa, a tribe that dominate the nine districts that make the central region of Malawi.

“Gule Wamkulu is not a religion as some people would like to believe, but rather it is a cultural practice. Therefore it is my wish that the two parties should continue living peacefully and in harmony because their differences could spill to other parts of the country which is not good for development and the country as a whole,” said traditional Malili, a senior Chewa chief in the area who was present during the mediation talks.

Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964.

After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution, which came into full effect the following year.

Malawi, which has a population of about 12 million, has a majority of its citizens as Christians belonging to three major denominations the Roman Catholic Church, the church of Central African presbytery and the Anglican Church.

According to the CIA Facts Book, Christians make up some 75 percent of the population while Muslims are estimated at 20 percent.

However, the MAM says that there are some 4.8 million Muslims in the African country.

Islam which was originally associated with the lake districts of Mangochi, Machinga, Zomba and other southern region districts of Malawi has of late been spreading to almost all the regions of the country.