Muslims and Christians are two dominant religions in Goma. But, if we notice a peaceful cohabitation, they do not agree when it comes to the Gospel and the Quran. The Bible and the Quran argument story comes once again to confirm these allegations. So during a public preaching delivered by a pastor as it’s a common scene in Congo, people were gathered in big numbers in circular form to listen to the pastor. Books among them bibles, a Quran and other stuff were displayed on the ground and used as didactic materials by the evangelist. But people didn’t pay much attention to the manner in which the pastor had displayed the bible and Quran. He could not tolerate that the Bible should be put on top of the Holy Quran. And so he tried his best to swap the position of those two books. The pastor could not tolerate as he replied to the young Muslim , saying that he is the one who did so because the Bible is the only Word of God that the World has while the Quran has no place in this world. For the young man, that was no sense because, while the Bible keeps many sources in it, only the Quran remains Allah’s word revealed to His servant Muhamad (pbh). So the Bookisaboveany other book.
When the discussion between both actors became intense, we tried to intervene by proposing a win – win solution to which they both agreed. The solution was to display separately the Quran and the Bible instead of having one on top of the other. But we noticed that the evangelist did it on purpose knowing that the area was dominated by Muslims and opposite the gathering was the IBB Mosque, one of the famous Mosques in Goma. So, the young Muslim challenged him with his all conscious according to what he is taught about the Holly book. He explained to me;’ this was provocative attitude that could lead even to violence
However, the lesson I pull off from this incident is that, holly books are not provocative or challenging each other. It is only users who explore and act in the way to oppose religious groups. Although, the conflict did not escalate into violence, as a mediator, this was a huge success. What is relevant to note is that; such attitudes are not common in the city as both communities keep a positive attitude towards one another. They are living peacefully despite their differences. Narrated by Nixon Kasimu Yuma of Central Africa Conflict Prevention Association (CACOPA) during the CC country visits in 2016
