The rise of Islam goes hand in hand with the rise of dictatorship in Africa. Just like Nigeria, Tanzania and Ivory Coast, the Ugandans are now having to deal with political Islam and its attendant consequence of limiting of civic space in the country.
🇺🇬 Two teenage sisters, Amina and Shamila, in western Uganda narrowly escaped their burning home after their Muslim father, Muhamud, doused the building with fuel and set it ablaze while they slept, less than two weeks after they converted from Islam to Christianity.
Muhamud had previously told his daughters he would act “to fulfill Islamic law since they had rejected Islam” by becoming Christians. The girls said they awoke surrounded by flames and realized their lives were in immediate danger.
With the normal exit inaccessible, the sisters said they removed bricks from a wall, created a hole, and escaped through it. The fire destroyed almost everything they owned, including their mattresses, clothes, and other belongings. Christian neighbors subsequently came to their aid and alerted local leaders.
“The fire consumed our shelter but did not consume our faith and hope in Jesus Christ,” Amina said afterward.