Kadhi Courts

Introduction:

The Kadhi court is the issue. The Kadhi works only with Muslim parties. These parties have to be Muslims and they have to agree with the Kadhi courts, if they don’t then the Kadhi courts is not included. The Kadhi court is mainly for Muslims and it follows the Islam’s laws and traditions. The Kadhi courts only focus on Muslim cases about inheritance, marriage and divorce. It doesn’t go to any other case apart from cases with those topics. This is a problem because Kenya Christians say that the government’s constitution is favoring Muslims and putting them in a higher status by giving them their own courts with their own laws and they are also saying that by the government doing this, this might lead to the whole country being taken over by the Islamic “Sheria” which means laws. This is not true because the Kadhi courts work ONLY if the two parties arguing agree with it and it only solves Islamic cases and not other cases.

What has been said about the Kadhi Courts

Supporters’ side:
11 April 2010
Muslim leaders on Saturday urged Kenyans to vote for the draft constitution in the upcoming referendum. The draft keeps the Islamic courts for Muslim litigants that a strong Christian opposition had wished to abolish. The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) Secretary General Adan Wachu said on Saturday that while it was not perfect, the draft constitution reflected the views of a majority of Kenyans. He called upon both religious and political leaders to come together and vote YES in the upcoming referendum in June. "We Muslim leaders are prepared to support and will vote YES to ensure that the proposed constitution of Kenya succeeds," Mr. Wachu said. The Chairman of the Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council, Sheikh Juma Ngao, also defended the draft constitution. He said the constitution has many good attributes and should not be let to go to waste. Muslims also threatened that if the Kadhi Courts is removed, then CRE (Christian religious education) the subject that students in the 844 system schools learn will also have to be removed.
Opposers’ side:


Kadhi's Courts Dispute The Church in Kenya is opposed to the Kadhi’s' courts which provided for in the proposed Constitution under Article 169 and 170. These courts are limited in authority to disputes over personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance, where all the parties are Muslims and agree to take the case to a Kadhi. The church had hoped the new constitution would abolish Muslim courts altogether. The Muslim leaders said that they bore no hard feelings against their Christian counterparts who were opposed to the issue of the Kadhi's courts. Christians had repeatedly threatened to scuttle the constitutional process unless Islamic courts were removed from the draft. National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF) chairman Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi pointed out that it is within their democratic right to have their own opinion. He however urged them to widen their scope of vision since the advantages of the Constitution far outweigh its shortcomings. "We do not have any hatred or bitterness towards the section of the clergy that stood very strongly against the Kadhi's courts. It is their rights as Kenyans to express their views," he stated. "Probably, they would have done so in a polite manner befitting religious leaders but we just have to forgive them and live with them as citizens of this country," he added.

My Opinion:

I personally think that Kadhi courts should be included in the Kenyan Constitution. I think it’s very helpful because it allows Muslims to practice their faith without going against the constitution of the country. I also think that Muslims deserve this court because as a minority in the country their rights need to be protected especially if it doesn’t affect the rest of the population. What are your opinions about it??????????

Bibliography:

• http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-233-3575.htm
• http://www.wikipedia.com/
• http://wikianswers.com/
• http://africanpress.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/kenya-parliament-and-the-constitution-bills.jpg
• http://www.nfdonline.net/kadhi%20courts.jpg
• http://www.abeingo.org/images_news/constitution2009.jpg
  
  Links about Kadhi Courts: (check them out if you are more interested!)
  
  
• http://allafrica.com/stories/201005250576.html
• http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/kenyans-want-the-constitution-but-the-church-leaders-may-delay-it/http://jamaapoa.blogspot.com/2010/03/kenya-christian-leaders-forum-no.htmlhttp://jamaapoa.blogspot.com/2010/03/kenya-christian-leaders-forum-no.html
• http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000010315&cid=159&story=Muslim%20clerics%20dismiss%20ruling%20on%20Kadhi%20courts
• http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120126451/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
• http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000010177&cid=4&story=Kadhi%20courts%20firestorm
• http://www.coekenya.go.ke/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=6&id=134&limit=6&limitstart=24