A Country Reborn with Islam: Rwanda

Some of you may have watched the movie ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ depicting the conflict and genocide between the Tutsis and Hutus in the Kigali region. The film’s main character stands out for helping the persecuted Tutsis. In this news, we will talk about the Muslims who helped the people of Rwanda but were not mentioned in the film. Their actions have contributed to the region’s rebirth with Islam.
During the Rwandan genocide, Muslims who opened the doors of their mosques to people fleeing persecution and protected thousands in the mosques changed the perspective of the local people towards Islam and became a means for them to embrace Islam. In 1994, during the genocide, churches where peace and unity sermons were preached turned into places where atrocities were observed. Matabaro Sulaiman, speaking to TRT World, says that before the genocide, he was a priest and that Christians killed people in churches.
“The victims sought refuge in churches with the hope of finding peace, but what they found was the taking of their lives. On the other hand, Muslims were gathering people in mosques to protect them.”

More than two thousand people looking for a tent to take refuge were in need of protection, but they were killed as a result of the collaboration of Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka with the attackers. Nyamata Church, located outside of South Kigali, became a grave for about fifty thousand people rather than a safe place as people thought. In this period when churches turned into slaughterhouses, a handful of Muslims, a minority in the country, opened their doors to the people.
The Rise of Islam in Rwanda
Rwanda’s encounter with Islam occurred when Muslim traders, whose primary goal after colonialism was not to spread Islam, came to the region. After the onset of European colonial activities in 1884, the Catholic sect became the dominant religion in Rwanda. With the spread of the Catholic sect, Muslims in the region remained a minority, and during the colonial period that lasted until the end of the 19th century, the Catholic Church had the widest influence in the country.

By 1994, while the Muslim population constituted only 1% of the Rwandan population, according to the former mufti of the country, Salim Habimana, this number increased to 15%. According to most Rwandans who converted to Islam later, Catholic and Protestant leaders played a role in their decision due to the role they played in the genocide. According to Matabaro Sulaiman, very few Muslims who did not have the capacity and power decided to help people who were about to be killed. Sulaiman expresses what they experienced at that time with tears in his eyes and choked words:
“However, I saw how few Muslims made extraordinary efforts to help people. When I saw the efforts of Muslims in such a dangerous time, I said to myself: Perhaps this is the real Islam, the Islam spoken of. And I decided to become a Muslim.”