Fr. Gabriel Dolan has penned a great article on religion as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
“There shall be no state religion,” Article 8 of Constitution of Kenya states. This is very simple and straight forward.
That notwithstanding, there are Kadhi Courts which apply Islamic Law to issues of inheritance, marriage and divorce.
Article 170 clearly enshrines Kadhi Courts in our Constitution. It provides for the position of a Chief Kadhi and other Kadhis. For you to hold this office, you must profess to be a Muslim. Further, you must have knowledge of Islamic Law.
The parties in cases which appear in a Kadhi Courts must both be Muslims and “submit to the jurisdiction of the Kadhi Court.”
According to Fr. Dolan, the Kadhi court have expanded since the promulgation of Constitution of Kenya 2010 considering that there were 15 Kadhi Courts in 2010 which have now grown to 50 in number.
“Including Kadhi Courts in CoK 2010 went a long way in assisting the Muslims to feel at home in a Country where they only represent 11% if the population (Census 2009).”
On education and religion, Fr. Dolan says, “Schools that welcome students of different faiths should respect the religious culture of all their students….the hijab, Sikh turban, jewish skullcap and Christian Cross are all explicit symbols, but they do not represent a threat to others.”
Finally, the bold priest and defender of human rights concludes that, “religions must accept that they are not above the law.”
