KAMPALA The former Supreme Mufti of Uganda’s Kibuli-based Muslim administration Sheikh Silman Kasule Ndirangwa , has passed away.
His son Anwar Ndirangwa confirmed the sad news on Friday evening , saying burial preparations were underway .
“It is true Sheikh has died .We are going to bury in Kinoni ,Lwengo District tomorrow [Saturday ]at 4pm ,” he said
In January romours circulated on social media claiming that Sheikh Ndirangwa,62 had passed on which information was false .
This was the time Sheikh Ndirangwa was receiving treatment in the US over unknown illness .
These baseless allegations caused unnecessary confusion and distress among the Muslim community and the general public.
Sheikh Ndirangwa resigned from his position as Supreme Mufti in April 2021, citing internal disagreements within the Kibuli Muslim administration .
It was not immediately clear why Sheikh Ndirangwa resigned ,but in his resignation statement, which was circulated to the media, he provided a glimpse into what seems to be boiling beneath the surface.
Sheikh Ndirangwa said: “I would like to inform you, brothers and sisters, that I have effective today resigned from being the leader of Muslims. I have made this decision for the sake of the Islamic religion and to protect it because I as Silman Ndirangwa, I am just a very small component of the Islamic religion.
Islam is broad. For the sake of Islam I cannot be engaged in friction with my bosses… that’s why I have decided to resign.”
He said his resignation will give an opportunity for others to take the Islamic religion forward.
In his resignation statement, Sheikh Ndirangwa thanked President Museveni for the support he has rendered to the Muslim community, saying the President recently donated vehicles to district Khadis across the country.
Sources said then that President Museveni’s car donations caused a stir at Kibuli Hill, with some influential figures demanding that the vehicles be returned to State House .
Since his resignation, he has largely kept a low profile, focusing on personal and community matters. His successor, Sheikh Muhammad Galabuzi, was appointed in November 2021.
Sheikh Ndirangwa assumed the position following the abrupt death of his predecessor Sheikh Zubair Kayongo in April 2015.
He was the second to assume the title of Supreme Mufti of the Kibuli faction, which in 2009 broke ranks with the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) leadership at Old Kampala amid accusations of illegal sale of Muslim properties.
Who is Sheikh Ndirangwa
Silman Ndirangwa was born on October 9, 1962, to the late Hajji Muhammad Kasule and Hajjat Ajiri Nakawungu of Kirayangoma, Kisekka sub-county, in present-day Lwengo district.
Ndiragwa went to Madarasat Noor Kirayangoma Primary School and then joined Sseke Primary School near Kinoni township in Lwengo District where he sat for his Primary Leaving Examinations.
In 1974, he joined Bilal Islamic Institute for his O-levels and graduated with an Idaad certificate with which he enrolled at Dar-al-hadith Makkiyah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for his equivalent of the A-Level.
In 1985, Ndirangwa enrolled at the Faculty of Da’awah studies at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, graduating with a degree in Da’awah (propagation of Islam) in 1989.
In 1992, he was appointed the Imaam of Kibuli mosque, a position that cast him in the limelight.
During 2000 election which were held at Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), Sheikh Ndirangwa passed unopposed to become a representative of the Kibuli Twaale (County) to the Kampala Muslim District Council.
He was appointed as Kampala District Khadi , in 2000 until he became a Supreme Mufti.
He is the director of Swafah & Mar’wa Hijja & Umrah travel services, an agency that takes Muslims for the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.