Muslims in Rwanda

Interesting piece in the NY Times on the growth of Islam in Rwanda


After the 1994 massacres there, Marc Lacey reports, the number of mosques has doubled, and according to Muslim leaders, the number of Muslims has reached 1 million.

Here's some of the reason why?

Roman Catholicism has been the dominant faith in Rwanda for more than a
century. But many people, disgusted by the role that some priests and nuns
played in the killing frenzy, have shunned organized religion altogether,
and many more have turned to Islam.

"People died in my old church, and the pastor helped the killers," said
Yakobo Djuma Nzeyimana, 21, who became a Muslim in 1996. "I couldn't go
back and pray there. I had to find something else."

The piece is missing some information--most importantly, what has happened to the Christian churches in Rwanda--are the Catholic churches seeing a decline in numbers--what about the growth of other faith groups--Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Anglicans--or even "nones."

Islam is purported to be the fastest growing faith is Rwanda, but without some basic reporting on other faiths, how can we know?

Still, Lacey offers some powerful testimony to why people converted:


"Nobody died in a mosque," said Ramadhani Rugema, executive secretary of
the Muslim Association of Rwanda. "No Muslim wanted any other Muslim to
die. We stood up to the militias. And we helped many non-Muslims get
away."