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NYANKOLE 581
dress, homes, food and behavior. The Nyakole converts tried to imitate them,
and Islam became associated with foreigners. To become a Muslim, so it seemed,
was to adopt Ganda manners and language and follow their social and cultural
life. This was not popular with the king and chiefs and Nyankole, who generally
were at odds with rival Buganda. On the other hand, the Christian missionaries
who arrived in Ankole at the turn of the century succeeded in converting the
king, his household and most of the chiefs; many Nyankole adopted the new
religion of their leaders. Besides, Christian missionaries, with their financial
resources, built schools and hospitals all over the district and attracted people
to their religion. The Muslims in Ankole lacked these facilities during most of
the colonial rule.
Since the 1950s, some improvements have been carried out in Muslim education.
Assistance has come from the East Africa Muslim Welfare Society,
established by the Ismailis in 1945. The society started to give the Muslims of
Ankole financial help, which enabled them to pay salaries to their teachers and
shaikhs, who up to that time were dependent on the good will of Muslims and
other voluntary contributions. The first Muslim secondary school was built in
Kabwoke in 1950. More and more walimu and shaikhs were local Nyankole
people who could teach in the indigenous tribal language.
During the regime of President Idi Amin (1971-1979) the Muslims of Ankole,
as in other areas, enjoyed a privileged position, but Christianity remained the
dominant religion in the district. It was Nyankole Christians who could organize
the biggest and the most efficient Uganda military force, which joined the Tanzanians
in the war which put an end to the Amin regime.
The Nyankole Muslims are mostly Sunnis of the Shafi school. The head of
the community is the chief shaikh, whose main tasks are the ordaining of new
shaikhs and supervising all Muslim affairs in the district. He keeps contact with
the main Muslim center in Kampala. To be nominated a shaikh one must have
some years of experience as a walima (teacher) and pass an examination in the
theory and practice of Islam. In recent years, a few shaikhs have graduated from
Al Azhar University of Cairo.
Because of the scarcity of shaikhs in Ankole, Islamic daily functions are
organized mainly by the walima. He is expected to know Arabic, to recite the
Quran, to lead the prayers on Fridays and to organize such ceremonies as births,
marriages and funerals. He also supervises the meat sold in markets to ensure
that it is halal (ritually slaughtered).
Conversion to Islam is usually conducted by the shaikhs, who instruct the
new converts and ensure that they are circumcised. As in other areas in Uganda,
conversion to Islam takes place, in many instances, during the Maulud festival
(the birthday of Prophet Muhammad) which is among the most popular Islamic
festivals.
The Sunni Muslims in Ankole, like their co-religionists in Buganda, are divided
into Juma and Juma-Zukuli factions pertaining to Friday prayers (see