Via Friday Bulletin

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) has weighed in on the suggestion to have women Kadhis.

In a letter addressed to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and copied to the chairman National Assembly departmental committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, the Attorney-General and the Chief Kadhi, Imams and Islamic preachers body urged JSC not to interfere with the religious matters and to disregard the calls for the appointment of Women Kadhis as it is against Islamic teachings.

“We are requesting the judicial Service Commission not to interfere with the matters of religious nature as appointing women as Kadhis is to go against the teaching of Islam,’’ read the letter to JSC Chairperson.

The CIPK national chairman Sheikh Abdalla Ateka said that having women working in the secular courts as secretaries, clerks, judges, or magistrates cannot be compared to the Kadhi courts as its jurisdiction is guided by Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him.

Sheikh Ateka further elaborated that Kadhi courts though part of the judicial but as provided for under article 170 of the constitution are a special courts headed by Muslim Judicial officer with certain specific qualifications who applies shariah laws for persons who profess the Islamic faith.

The CIPK chair in the letter pointed out that the argument that there are female Judges and Magistrates does not hold water as this is comparing the incomparable.

He added that the appointment of Muslim women as judges in Arab countries does not legalize the appointment of women as Kadhis in Kenya.

Last month, the Jamia Mosque Committee chairman Sheikh Muhammad Osman Warfa urged the Judicial Service Commission to disregard the calls for the appointment of female Kadhis saying that the matter does not have a strong basis in Islamic law.

“In a meeting of our own scholars (Majlis Ulamaa) held on 7th August 2021, it was concluded that based on the weight of evidence from Islamic sources the jamhuur (majority) position is that it is not permissible for females to be appointed Kadhis or Chief Kadhi for that matter,” the chairman said in a letter addressed to the Judicial Service Commission chairperson,” he said in a letter addressed to Chief Justice Martha Koome who is the JSC chairperson