Go slow on issuing Fatwas on DNA – Mubaje warns Sheikhs

The Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje has revealed that he is making extensive consultations on the Islamic view on Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and he will soon issue a fatwa (ruling) over it.

Mubaje said while a number of sheikhs have been in their individual capacity issuing rulings on the permissibility of DNA in Islam, most of their rulings may not be appropriate to follow.

“I have noted that the issue of DNA is a serious matter for us. However, I don’t always rush into issues and I am making extensive consultations over it so that I issue an appropriate fatwa (on it) because a fatwa which is appropriate in Saudi Arabia may not be necessarily applicable in Uganda given that we have different cultures and practices,” Mubaje said.

This comes in the wake of increased demand for DNA tests, especially on parentage by Ugandans.

Mubaje said he is going to summon all the sheikhs who have been issuing rulings on DNA to defend their decisions.

“The problem we have in the country is that everyone who knows something about Islam wants to make rulings on every issue which is not a good practice. Issuing a fatwa is not a simple thing and requires extensive research because it is not enough for one to depend on a single source and make a ruling,” he noted.

Mubaje made the remarks last Friday while launching a book authored by Sheikh Imran Ssali containing 100 Friday sermons which the cleric has been giving at Gaddafi National Mosque based at old Kampala since his appointment in 2014.

He commended Ssali for compiling his sermons into a single booklet, noting it will act as a guide to the young sheikhs.

“It is not easy for one to deliver a sermon at the Gaddafi national mosque and while I am the chief imam here, I have never delivered any sermon (in the mosque). This explains why it is not simple for any sheikhs to preach at the national mosque,” Mubaje said.

He commended Imams at the national mosque for maintaining the sanctity of the pulpit and keeping away from irresponsible and reckless statements that inculcate hate and sow discord among the faithful.

“We have told our Imams never to use the pulpits to deliver emotional sermons that have the potential of inciting hate or violence. I am glad that the Imams have maintained this principle,” he said.

Ssali, also the secretary for religious affairs at Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) said he conceived the idea of compiling his sermons during the COVID-19 lockdown when places of worship had been closed to mitigate the pandemic.

“My intention originally was only limited to delivering well researched and documented sermons, which I often did in small note books. However, during the COVID-19 lockdown I got an idea to compile the sermons in one book using the 15 note books I had filled up,” he said.

Ssali explained that compiling the sermons wasn’t an easy task, which he took on with grace and thanked several individuals including his family, his elder brother Sheikh Swalleh Kiggundu and Dr Ziyad Lubanga, Sheikh Uthuman Kibuuka and Umar Weswala among others for the support rendered to him during the compilation of the book.

Ssali said while a copy of the book goes for sh30,000, his intention is not to sell the book and called upon well-wishers with financial means to sponsor printing of more copies for distribution. 

The second deputy mufti Sheikh Muhamamd Ali Waiswa encouraged sheikhs to always write their sermons to avoid making controversial statements.