FENZA CONFERENCE …. FENZA CONFERENCE
Saturday, 22nd June 2013
Venue: Faith and Encounter Centre (FENZA),
Leopards Hill Road, Bauleni (near Mathia Mulumba Catholic Church or Yatsani Radio)
Time: 14:00 to 17:00 hours
Theme: Challenges of implementing Shariah Law in Modern Times
We have invited experts in Secular Law and Islamic Law (Dr Pamela Towela Nsambo, UNZA; Dr Sheick Twaha O. Chiwala, Imam; Fr. Felix Phiri, Scholar of Islamic Studies) to trigger off the discussion.
Governing the whole of Muslim life, in all places and at all times, is the God given law, the Shariah. In today’s globalized world, Muslims have to co-exist with the awareness that there are other inhabitants of the earth who are governed by laws different from theirs. Its all-encompassing nature and some manifestations of some of its laws – generally perceived by non-Muslims as extreme and incompatible with modernity – have widely generated prejudiced fear and suspicion not only among non-Muslims but also among some liberal Muslims.
In view of helping to understand the key issues preoccupying both sides of the divide, and in line with its goals – empowering Christians in Zambia to face the challenges of contemporary and traditional cultures with openness and to encounter people of different Christian denominations, contemporary religious movements and religions – FENZA will be organizing a Conference / Discussion on the 22nd of June, from 14.00hrs to 17.00hrs.
The theme of the conference will be: Challenges of Implementing Shariah Law in Modern Times.
It will be a threefold presentation: the first presentation by Dr Pamela Towela Nsambo, a full-time lecturer in the school of law at UNZA, will provide the general framework within which laws are generally understood in modern secular societies.
To provide a summary of the Muslim self-understanding of Shariah law will be Dr Sheikh Twaha O. Chiwala, an Islamic scholar of Shariah law, a Mufti and currently Imam of Taqwa and other mosques in Lusaka.
Finally, Fr. Felix J. Phiri, member of the FENZA team and scholar of Islamic studies, will highlight a number of ways in which the implementation of Shariah law is effectively a challenge to modern Society. The three presentations will be followed by the opening of the discussion to the audience, through questions, answers and personal contributions to the debate.
In line with its programmed series of conferences for the year 2013, FENZA organized its second conference on Saturday 22 June. The topic of the conference was: Challenges of Implementing Shari’ah Law in Modern Times. To present the theme were Dr Pamela Towela Sambo, Lecturer at UNZA in the Faculty of law, whose well-appreciated talk provided the general framework for understanding law in secular modern times. To present the Muslim self-understanding of Shari’ah law were Sheikh Twaha O. Chiwala and Sheikh Derrick Musa Zemba, Zambian graduate scholars of Medina University in Saudi Arabia, specialized in Shari’ah law and Prophetic Traditions (Hadiths), respectively. Finally, Fr. Felix J. Phiri, a scholar in Islamic studies and a former Lecturer of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, made a synthesis of the two preceding presentations, highlighting the challenges underlying the efforts of implementing Shari’ah law in modern times. The talks will soon be rendered available on the FENZA website, www.fenza.org .
The conference started at 14.30hrs and ended at 17.00hrs. After the three presentations, the audience, relatively smaller than usual, about 30 people, joined into the debate opened and moderated by Fr. Romaric Bationo, the new director of FENZA. The presence of Muslims in the audience was noticed and highly appreciated by the Christian participants. The debate had to be cut short due to time limit, leaving some participants still thirsty for more discussion. This conference may have opened the door for more encounters with Moslems around Lusaka
The next conference will be on Modern Slavery at a date to be later determined.