Ramadan Mixes With Polls in Zanzibar

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania, October 5, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The holy fasting month of Ramadan started Wednesday, October 5, coinciding with a divisive election for the first time in living memory of most of the 99-percent Muslim population of one million, semi-autonomous Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.

The advent of the holy month saw calls for calm amid a heated and violent election campaign on the overwhelmingly Muslim island.

With fears of widespread unrest mounting before the October 30 polls, the ruling party, opposition and religious leaders urged restraint on Zanzibar, which has been wracked by deadly political violence in the past, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The narrow streets of the capital Stone Town steeped in the exotic history of the spice and slave trade and filled with Western tourists eager for idyllic beach holidays appeared quiet and unperturbed.

Ramadan Blessing

As the crescent moon marking the start of the month of prayer and fasting appeared in the northwest sky late Tuesday, crowds of faithful along the city's waterfront, erupted in praise to Allah, according to AFP.

"There it is, there it is," cried many after catching a glimpse of the lunar sliver over others' outstretched arms, hovering above Stone Town's famed, glistening outdoor grills of beef-, chicken-, octopus-, and vegetable-kebobs.

"Al-hamdullillah, keshon nafunga," they said with a combination of Arabic and Swahili phrases meaning "Thanks be to God, tomorrow (Wednesday) I will fast."

But after months of clashes between supporters of the main political rivals -- the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM-Revolutionary Party) and the opposition group, the Civic United Front (CUF) -- Zanzibar's leaders were less sanguine.

"Peace and stability must prevail this month despite the fact that we are in an election period," Zanzibari President Amani Abeid Karume said in a Ramadan address broadcast island-wide late Tuesday on state radio and television.

"We must abide by our religious teachings," he said in the 30-minute address laced with references to and quotations from the Noble Qur'an.

"We must unite to keep the peace and the only weapon to use during this time is your vote.

"If one attacks you verbally, just respond by saying: 'I'm fasting' and leave everything to Allah."

Appeal for Calm

His call for a peaceful campaign during Ramadan came after a similar appeal from the CUF's presidential candidate on Zanzibar, Seif Shariff Hamad, who has complained bitterly about alleged CCM misrule and malfeasance.

Zanzibar, part of a union with the former Tanganyika formed in 1964, will elect its own president and legislature in the polls, Tanzania's third since multi-party politics were restored in 1992.

While the CCM enjoys broad support on the mainland, Zanzibar is a CUF stronghold where its losses in previous elections have sparked cries of fraud and violence in which dozens were killed after the last polls in 2000.

In the run-up to this election, nearly 200 people have been wounded in clashes between supporters of the rival camps, which each accuse the other of violating a pact aimed at preventing a repeat of the violence five years ago.

As the two sides joust, Zanzibar's influential Muslim scholars also joined in the calls for calm, saying any sin, particularly during Ramadan will be punished.

"Muslims, I need you to remember that if you do anything that has been forbidden in the Koran {Noble Qur'an}... then you must know that your fasting will not be recognized by God," Imam Hamad Masud said in a Ramadan service Tuesday, according to AFP.

"You must love your neighbor," he told the faithful at Stone Town's historic central Ruta Mosque.