Mombasa businessman Mbarak Bashatir at the Masjid Arrahma in Mshomoroni on Friday / BRIAN OTIENO
Mbarak Bashatir said the university will help Muslim children continue with religious education beyond madrassa and high school.
This will deepen their understanding of Islam and help maintain good moral values.
Bashatir said the move will also help reduce crime, drug abuse and other vices.
Bashatir said there are many Muslim youths who desire to further their Islamic education but are forced to drop their ambitions because of lack of funds to travel abroad to Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Egypt.
“Why don’t we, as Muslim leaders, come together and think along these lines and have our own Islamic university in Kisauni, where there is land already?” he asked.
He said Mwakirunge has huge tracts of idle land that are being turned into dumpsites.
A university will ensure the dumpsites are properly managed.
The businessman said he has already approached local and international friends, who are supportive of the idea.
The institution will not only benefit Muslims but also Christians, who will be able to study other courses.
“An Islamic university does not mean it will only have Islamic teachings, no. It will be a university that will have Islamic inclination but have other courses for everyone,” Bashatir said.
Religion, he said, is a matter that can unite people if there is understanding of what they teach.
Bashatir said Kisauni encompasses all religions and his desire is to see them living in peace and harmony.
“Today, the youth attend madrassa when they are young but the moral and religious values instilled in them fade away slowly as they grow up because they are not properly guided,” he said.
The thought that they cannot follow a religious path after madrassa because of lack of religious institutions turns some of them into criminals.
“These are the youth who end up picking machetes and slashing people, taking up bugizi and other drugs and become a nuisance to the community,” Bashatir said.
He said President William Ruto has donated millions of shillings for the establishment of mosques and can help with the establishment of an Islamic university.
“We can even involve the President in this matter because he is somebody who is religious and likes helping religious institutions. We have seen him push for establishment of churches through even his own personal donations. I am sure if we approach him with this idea he will be able to help, the businessman said.
Instant Analysis:
There are only two Islamic universities in Kenya. They include the Islamic University of Kenya based Kisaju, Kajiado county but with learning centres in Nairobi and Mombasa counties, and the Umma University, also based in Kajiado county but with a campus in Thika, and learning centres in Garissa and Mombasa.
