Islamic Group Demands For The Establishment of Sharia Courts in South -West
The Islamic
rights group Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC) has asked that the Federal Government of Nigeria to implement certain
reliefs for Muslims in the country along with restructuring. This was made known in a statement by the MURIC president Ishaq Akintola released to Premium Times, He asked that Friday be declared a work free day, and should “assume parity
with the Christians’ Sunday.”
The group also asked that uniformed groups in
Nigeria be allowed to wear Islamic garbs like the hijab and that there should be Sharia courts
in the South-West.
Read the full statement below:
RESTRUCTURING
NIGERIA: MUSLIMS SEEK SIX RELIEFS
The Federal Government appears set
for restructuring particularly with the setting up of a committee on this
crucial matter by the ruling party, the All Peoples’ Congress (APC).
Restructuring became popular after the South East, South South and a section of
the South West complained about marginalization. Several politicians from both
the opposition and the ruling party have since spoken in support of this
clamour.
However, we of the Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC) dissociate ourselves from all agitations for secession. We
condemn all irredentist movements rearing their ugly heads in Southern Nigeria,
particularly the agitation for the creation of Oduduwa Republic. We affirm
clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally, that Muslim leaders in Yorubaland
were not carried along before those demands were tabled. Nonetheless, just as
some ethnic groups have complained of disaffections, we contend that Nigerian
Muslims also nurse serious grudges bordering on marginalization against the
Nigerian state.
We must start from the lanes of
history because today was born from the wombs of yesterday. Islam has been in
Nigeria since the 11th century and the British met Islam on ground when they
arrived in the 19th century (800 years later). The British did not deem it fit
to observe the rules of natural justice when they colonized the country as all
Islamic landmarks were eliminated and supplanted with a wholly Christian
system.
This injustice may have been at the
root of frequent religious crisis in Nigeria because successive governments
after independence refused to listen to the agitations of Muslims for a review
of the status quo. The issues being raised by Muslims are listed in the
following paragraphs so that the authorities may address them when
restructuring eventually begins.
One: Nigerians enjoy a total of
eight (8) public holidays in a year. These are Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New
Year Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Id al-Kabir, Id al-Fitr and Maulud
an-Nabiyy. Five (5) of the eight holidays belong to Christians (Christmas Day,
Boxing Day, 1st January, i.e, New Year Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday).
Only three (3) holidays belong to Muslims, viz, Id al-Kabir, Id al-Fitr and
Maulud an-Nabiyy.
Restructuring should give Muslims
1st Muharram. This will bring the total number of Muslim holidays to four while
Christian holidays remain five.
Two: Christian marriages contracted
inside churches or registries are held sacrosanct everywhere in Nigeria whereas
Muslim marriages (nikah) are not recognized for any official purpose. Muslim
couples find themselves in a cul de sac each time they presented their Islamic
marriage certificates for official purposes. It is paradoxical that in a
democracy, one marriage conducted by a religious group is acceptable while the
other is not. What kind of constitution is Nigeria using?
Islamic marriages should be
recognized in all official circles where Christian marriages are recognized.
The Nigerian Marriage Act (1990) should therefore be revisited.
Three: Nigeria has a two-day
weekend, viz, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a half day during the colonial
era and Sunday was the only full day at the weekend. However, Saturday was made
a full day to favour the Seventh Day Adventists, a Christian denomination
during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon, a Christian military ruler. It is
very clear, therefore, that the two weekend days recognized in Nigeria belong
to Christians while Muslims have none since Friday, the Muslim day of worship,
remains a working day.
It is pertinent to note that Friday
was a work-free day until the British brought Christianity and stopped Muslims
from enjoying their Allah-given fundamental human right. The relief we are
seeking through restructuring is that Friday should be declared free to assume
parity with the Christians’ Sunday. While we are not seeking anarchy, we are
confident that the Federal Government (FG) has all the paraphernalia of
administration to work out the modalities.
Four: Immigration officials engage
in regular stereotyping of Muslims who apply for international passports. They
intimidate Muslims particularly at the point of taking pictures. Muslim males
are ordered to remove their caps; Imams are coerced into removing their
turbans; bearded Muslims are compelled to shave or trim their beards;
hijab-wearing Muslim women are made to remove their hijabs or ordered to draw
their hijab backwards to reveal their ears. The same scenario plays itself out
in driving licence, national identity card offices and during registration for
elections.
In the process, thousands of Muslims
have been denied international passports, driving licences and national
identity cards while millions have been disenfranchised during elections. The
authorities must find a way of stopping the persecution and profiling of
Muslims.
Five: Uniformed groups in Nigeria,
including the army, police, uniformed voluntary groups, nurses, the National
Youth Service Corps (NYSC), students of primary and secondary schools, etc, use
uniforms designed by the Christian colonialists. These uniforms should have
been reviewed after independence because they only suit the Christians. Some of
them constitute breaches to Islamic dress code and offend the sensibility of
Muslims who are compelled to wear the uniforms regardless of their inner
feeling of resentment.
In view of the fact that Western
countries like Britain, Canada and the United States have designed uniforms
with hijab for their female Muslim police, soldiers, students, etc, Nigeria’s
restructuring authorities should borrow a leaf from those countries.
Six: There is no single Shari’ah
court in South Western Nigeria where Muslims constitute the majority. This is
contrary to what obtained in Yorubaland before the advent of the British. There
were Shariah courts in Ede, Iwo, Ikirun, Ibadan, etc. Yoruba Muslims are now
compelled to take their civil matters like inheritance, marriage, etc to
Christo-Western courts. This is preposterous and unacceptable.
We demand the establishment of
Shariah courts in all South Western states including Edo State where there is a
significant percentage of Muslims.
We call the attention of FG and the
restructuring committee of the APC to the above six reliefs. Muslims are in
bondage in this country and we believe that restructuring should emancipate
people in captivity. APC promised change. This change can only be meaningful to
us if it breaks the shackles around our necks. We have begged enough for the
restoration of our Allah-given and fundamental human rights. We are tired of
begging. Restructuring is about reapportioning the dividends of democracy such
that it goes round and it is not restricted to one section.
Colonial administration was grossly
unfair to Muslims. Nigeria was Christianised by Britain and Muslims bore the
brunt. We suffered forceful conversion, denial of rightful employment and even
worse forms of persecution. But what is most disappointing is the policy of
exclusion adopted by post-independence governments.
On a final note, we demand full
integration and full recognition as bona fide citizens of Nigeria, not second
or third class citizens. We are the aggrieved party. The British most brutally
and most unjustly took all we had from us, giving us nothing in return and
offering no relief. It has continued to give us a feeling of rejection,
marginalization, denial of the dividends of democracy and lack of a sense of
belonging. The time for redress is now and our six-point relief is here for all
to digest.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
President,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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