Angola first Country to Ban Islam, Destroy Mosques (Theonomy Applied)

"This is the final end of Islamic influence in our
country." -- President Jose Eduardo dos Santos

Angola, an African country somewhat influenced by Christianity, is the world's first country to ban Islam and to close down – or even destroy – mosques. 

According to a 1998 CIA World Factbook estimate, 47% of Angolans hold to indigenous beliefs, 38% are Roman Catholic, and 15% are Protestant. According to AFRICAN GLOBE,

A quarter [of Angola's population] belongs to Protestant churches founded during the colonial period, including congregational evangelical church.

The following is an excerpt from OnIslam, a pro-Islamic news site, which reports the following about Angola's Islam ban:

LUANDA – According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country.

“The process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice,” Rosa Cruz e Silva, the Angolan Minister of Culture, was quoted by Agence Ecofin on Friday, November 22. 

Silva comments were given during her visit last Tuesday to the 6th Commission of the National Assembly.  

She asserted that the decision was the latest is a series of efforts to ban ‘illegal’ religious sects. 

The minister added, in her answer to questions raised by the MPs of the 6th Commission of National Assembly, that the action will oblige the revision of law 2/04 of May 21, related to freedom of religious assembly, Angolan official news agency, Agencia Angola Press, reported.  

The Angolan government would also be obliged to update the current national context as a way of fighting the rise of new religious congregation whose religious assemblies are contrary to “habits and customs to Angolan culture,” Silva added.  

Same as Islam, Silva announced that there are at least 194 religious sects that were not authorized to have their activities.  

“All sects on the list published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in the Angolan newspaper ‘Jornal de Angola’ are prohibited to conduct worship, so they should keep their doors closed," she was quoted by Cameroon Voice‏.  

"In addition, we also have a long list of more than a thousand legalization applications,” she added.  

Recurrent  

The anti-Islam comments were not the first by Angolan officials.  

“This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country,” President José Eduardo dos Santos was quoted by Osun Defender newspaper on Sunday, November 24.  

Last October, Muslims from the urban municipality of Viana, Luanda, attended the destruction of the minaret of their mosque Zengo.  

The provincial governor of Luanda, Bento Bento, has also said on the airwaves of a local radio that "radical Muslims are not welcome in Angola and the Angolan government is not ready for the legalization of mosques."  

He added that Muslims were not welcome in Angola and that the government would not legalize the presence of mosques in the country.

According to Jihad Watch, "[C]learly this is a national security issue, with Islamic supremacists and jihadists wreaking havoc in Nigeria and spreading elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa."

According to AFRICAN GLOBE, 

On September 1, 2008, a Muslim mob attacked non-Muslims in the community of Andulo. The school-age daughter of a deacon at one of the churches was decapitated. Forty Christians were assaulted or tortured. The mob burned three church buildings. They also went to non-Muslim houses to intimidate them or destroyed items of property. Stones were thrown at the headquarters of a local Christian project, causing some damage. An Angolan Christian leader said that the local police were unable to stop the attack and fled the scene.

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photo credits:President José Eduardo dos Santos

© Author: Ricardo Stuckert/PR/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 BR)

Location: Angola

© Author: Rei-artur / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)