Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji’oon

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the murder of Sheikh Dactoo Abdu Kadir Muwaya of Uganda.

Sheikh Muwaya was the director of the Mayuge-based Ahlul Bait Islamic Foundation (ABIF) through which he initiated the construction of over 24 mosques, 20 primary schools and helped educate thousands of children at all levels who have since gone on to assume high positions in government.

The foundation also helped to secure funding for the extension of electricity to Mayuge, digging more than 40 boreholes in the district and providing free medical care, running water, ICT training as well as providing more than 300 people with direct and indirect employment.

Born in an impoverished family of 14 children in Kavule village, Imanhyiro Sub-county in Mayuge District in the 1950s, Sheikh started his education in the early 1960s in Namakoko Islamic Primary School in Namutumba District and proceeded to Machakos Islamic High School, Bilal Muslim Mission in Mombasa, before joining the city of the Hawza of the Iranian City of Qom where he studied Islamic Philosophy.

He later joined the prestigious Imam Khomeini International University for his Masters and eventually earned his Doctorate in 1985.  In the course of the post graduate studies, he worked with the Iranian Embassy in Kenya and with the Iranian ministry of culture and Islamic guidance where he helped translate some of the speeches and literary works of the then president and spiritual leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

Sheikh Muwaya was always keen on taking the community forward and the first development project he initiated was Tawheed Primary School which was began in 1979 when he was still a student.  The school aimed to provide free education and meals for its students.

This desire for constructive change coupled with his tours of Iran inspired him to initiate plans to cause change in Mayuge, which was then still a county under Iganga and develop it into the thriving region it is today.

The President of the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Muslim Communities, Dr. Moledina, sent this message of condolence:

“We at The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Muslim Communities are shocked at this great tragedy that has befallen the community. Sheikh Dactoor Abdu Kadir Muwaya was a man of peace and served Ugandans and others without any fear or favour. His selfless service over the past years is well known to the leaders and people in Uganda. He transformed the whole village and district into a community of educated and intelligent people, worked in providing education, better health facilities, water, electricity, orphanages and many other social amenities to the people of his area and wider Uganda. He worked tirelessly for the people with sincerity and dedication. We pray to Allah (SWT) to grant Marhum Sheikh Daktoor Abdu Kadir a place among the proximity of our fourteen Pure Masumeens (a.s.) and may Allah (SWT.) grant him Jannat Firdous. Ameen.”