Ginny,

Formally, hijab was relatively a rare headress in Gambia. It was used by
women in prayer, or by even older women on ceremonial occasions. But as
I pointed out, that is no longer the case. There are numerous schools
that encourage it, and even amongst the wider public muslim women use it
increasingly.
Interestingly, this is not confined to women in Gambia alone, but rather
within Gambian communities overseas as well. 
There were two notable cases of women who were attacked by a mob because
they were believed to have been inappropriately dressed. But a case you
might remember had to do with the much publicised showdown between a
school head and sections of muslim students who insisted on using a
headdress at school. That debate lasted long on the L.
These days, young girls advise their tailors to sew short skirts
labelled "Imam Fatty" - of all people - as a way of protest. 

The question of disturbance relates to muslims, who experience
difficulties in concentrating in prayers because of loud music coming
from a nearby church simultaneously. I understand that there were
unreported cases of confrontations between people from the two faiths
where muslims demanded that church services be stopped until when they
are done with the Ramadan evening prayer.

No, I no longer believe that President Jammeh is using Islam
opportunistically for political gains. In any case, not to the degree he
did formally. His anti-western radicalism of former times was a
convenient instrument that pushed him into the embrace of arab leaders
with homeless money, such as Ghadaffi. 

Cheers,
Momodou


-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] För Ginny Quick
Skickat: den 15 augusti 2005 15:02
Till: [log in to unmask]
Ämne: Re: SV: Kanilai Cocktail - II

Hello, Momodou, you said:

Many thanks for your kind comments. And yes, the erosion of religious
tolerance is something to really worry about. [Just yesterday, at a
grill party here in Stockholm, many sisters recounted their own
experiences of how dress codes are becoming sources of friction in many
families. I also learnt that incidents of local, petty conflicts between
muslims and catholics on the issue of disturbance especially during
Ramadan - when muslims do "nafila" at night - is more widespread than I
thought].



     Could you please elaborate further?  How is the dress code
changing?
What do you mean by disturbances?  How and why is religious tolerance
eroding in The Gambia?  If this is the case, I find it very sad,
really...

     I just found your comments interesting.  Could it be that Jammeh is
using religion as a divisive mechanism as he seems to be using
triblaims?
How sad really.  It's like the guy can't win, obviously, with the
Gambian
economy in shambles, and his government a mess.  So the only way he can
win
is to divide the people.  Or am I misunderstanding something?

Ginny

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