{UAH} SHEIKH RAJABU, YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANT HIDE
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Sheikh Haruna Jjemba at Kibuli mosque early last week
According to the Qur'an, Umrah is a mini-pilgrimage that can be performed at any time of the year.
"The people who come to perform Hajj or Umrah are the guests of Allah because they visit His house on His call, therefore, Allah grants them what they ask for," Jjemba told The Observer last week, shortly before he left the country.
He said he would pray for Uganda, particularly for all Muslims, to stop the wrangling blamed for the recent spate of murders.
"I have not yet known the exact people behind the killings of sheikhs but the extremists might use the grievances we have as Muslims in different sects to kill us," Jjemba said.
Jjemba, the leader of the Umah Muslim Community or Jamiyat Daawa Salafiyya (JDS), had arranged the Umrah trip a month earlier to thank God for helping him overcome last year's hurdles. But the shooting incident made it more urgent, as he seeks to thank God for His mercy.
Narrow escape
At around 3am on Saturday January 3, Jjemba was jolted awake by gunfire at his home. The attackers exchanged fire with a security guard deployed at his home by police chief Kale Kayihura. The guard was deployed after police said Jjemba and other Muslim clerics were being targeted by hitherto unnamed assassins.
"At first, I had resisted having guards at home until when the IGP insisted that we must have armed escorts and security guards at home. Last Wednesday he deployed one guard and others at my colleagues' places and then they attacked me on Saturday. I thank Kayihura for that deployment of Very Important Persons Protection Unit," he said.
He said when he heard the gunfire, he knew he was under attack since his name had appeared on leaflets listing likely targets –distributed in Kampala by suspected assassins.
"These leaflets have been distributed in different mosques in the country like Nakasero mosque, Masjid Noor on William Street in Kampala and in some places in Masaka saying that we deserve to die, for Muslims to have peace in the country," Jjemba said.
He added that his elder son peeped through the window and saw their guard crawling on the ground and firing back at the attackers. Neighbours told the family they had seen three attackers but one was doing the shooting. The attackers reportedly moved on foot unlike the killers of sheikhs Abdul Muwaya and Mustafa Bahiga, who used bodabodas.
The attackers are reported to have fled when police arrived from Matugga police station after three hours of gunfire exchange.
"As they disappeared, they continued to shoot in the air to scare all the neighbours who could have come to our rescue," Jjemba narrated.
Police reportedly recovered 25 bullet shells at the scene.
"Luckily enough, no one was injured although we are tortured psychologically and we are living in fear," Jjemba said.
Jjemba's neighbours who declined to be named said the attackers were in plain clothes and were shooting at the gate to break into the compound.
Jjemba urged his attackers to respect the sacredness of life and desist from such criminal acts.
"We want peace in the Muslim community," said, Jjemba, also a lecturer in Makerere University's department of Religion and Peace Studies.
Last month, leading Muslim clerics Muwaya and Mustapha Bahiga were murdered in one week at their homes in Mayuge district and Bwebajja in Kampala. Bahiga was the leader of Nakasero Tabliq mosque and Muwaya was the leader of the Shia Muslim faction. Police have so far arrested 21 suspects over both incidents.
Targeted sheikhs
Jjemba said they are six sheikhs on the assassins' hit list. They include Sheikh Hassan Ibrahim Kirya, the spokesperson of the Kibuli Muslim sect; Sheikh Mahamood Kibaati, the social affairs deputy supreme mufti; and Sheikh Sudiki Umaru, the head of Sheikhs department at JDS. Others are Sheikh Najibu Sonko, the imam of William Street mosque and the late Mustafa Bahiga, a former imam, Kampala district JDS.
zurah@observer.ug
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