About two billion Muslims Friday began the holy month of Ramadhan, one of the five pillars of Islam that calls for a month of fasting during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is meant to renew their awareness and show gratitude for God’s grace.

This year, Ramadhan, just like the Christian religious rites, will be held differently. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic means that the traditional breaking of the fast, usually held between family and friends, will be completely private. The mosques will remain closed and the colourful food bazaars closed.

For long, Islam struggled to get a firm footing in Rwanda due to the predominant hold over the church by Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, which ran most schools and health centres, and the government. Muslims found themselves sidelined and the few who managed to go to school did so using Christian names.

Unlike in many countries where a new brand of Islamic fundamentalism has taken hold, Rwanda, thankfully, has been spared. Muslim leaders have been proactive in fighting radicalization and have also been instrumental in rallying their faithful to support government policies.

Heeding the government’s call to build a nation devoid of any kind of segregation has not been difficult for the Muslim community as they could see whole avenues of opportunities opening before them.

First, they were caught in the eye of the 1994 storm when the government of the day orchestrated the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Few in the Muslim community were married to the cause, and the few who did so were some young people who sought acceptance in a society that had neglected them for decades and possibly climb up the social ladder.

Today there is an all-inclusive governance system devoid of any religious, social or any other segregationist policies, and that is why we wish all Muslims a Ramadhan Kareem.