EDITORIAL
14-12-2020 by Freddie del Curatolo
Today's Song of Kenya, Monday 14 December, is the song of a muezzin. But it is not the usual prayer modulated with arabesque harmonies where words such as "Allahù Akbar" or the chant "la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah" resound, very familiar to those who frequent the coast especially.
Here, however, we are in the area of Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, and the chant is something pleasantly and curiously unusual, because the Islamic community not only names Jesus son of Mary, but also writes it in Arabic characters on a sign. And what is truly unique is that that sign is the sign of a mosque. It is the muezzin himself, Abdul Rashid, who has explained why the Kaloleni Mosque is named after Jesus Christ Son of Mary.
There was a legal battle between the Muslim community and the Seventh-day Adventist Church over ownership of the land on which a religious temple was to be built.
The Muslims won, but in order to apologise and show their goodwill and that there were no religious supremacist interests behind it, they decided to call it that.
"We are fine with this name, we are not enemies of Christians," said Rashid.
Obviously, the mosque's sign is already making the rounds on the web, arousing applause and provoking the usual criticism and invective of social idiots, but also attracting the attention of curious locals who are already making the pilgrimage. It doesn't take much... and since every song calls for a counter-song, we are waiting for a Catholic Church of the Prophet Mohammed.
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