BOKO HARAM ON JIHAD

BOKO HARAM AND JIHAD Guardian journalist Chris Irekemba interviewed Dr. Is-haq Akintola. The interview was published on page 41of the Guardian of Sunday 29th January, 2012. Enjoy it...  What is jihad? Literally, jihad means 'striving' or 'effort'. Etymologically, the word 'Jihad' was used in the early days of Islam to refer to battles waged by the followers of Prophet Muhammad to protect themselves from invasions from the unbelievers from Makkah who were bent on annihilating the Muslims. The latter were a minority at the time and under constant threat of elimination. As time goes on, the word took on a wider meaning. It was extended to puritanism, charity, social reform and self-appraisal when the prophet began using it in his well documented speeches to refer to the need for self-discipline. For example, the Prophet said in one of his speeches (hadith), "Khayr al-jihad, jihad an-nafs", meaning, "The  best form of jihad is self-discipline". Jihad from this perspective means self-control and high level of morality. The Glorious Qur'an also used the word 'jihad' to refer to charitable deeds.  Exempli gratia, Qur'an 9:41 exhorts Muslims to engage in jihad with their wealth as well as their persons (wa jahidu fi sabili Llahi bi amwalikum wa anfusikum), i.e. they should spend their money and property in support of Islam while they should also attend religious meetings, seminars, lectures, etc. When you consider these ramifications, you find that the word 'jihad' has social, moral and spiritual contexts. It is not necessarily about war or fighting. When a Muslim scholar goes out to deliver a lecture at an Islamic programme, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim abstains from drinking alcohol while others are reveling in it, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim customs man or policeman rejects bribe and insists that the law must take its due course, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim ignores the temptings of an erotic woman, it is jihad. For your information, it is not Muslims alone who have been engaging in jihad. Anybody who advocates reform is a jihadist. Anyone, no matter his or her religion who fights against corruption is a jihadist. The late Tai Solarin of blessed memory spent his whole life fighting the excesses of Nigerian rulers. He was a jihadist nulli secundus. Chief Gani Fawehinmi was an unrepentant social reformer and human rights activist. He was therefore a jihadist primus inter pareil. So are our living legends: Tunde Bakare, Festus Keyamo, Dr. Okei-Odumakin, Wale Okunniyi, Shettima Yerima, Balarabe Musa, etc.   Boko Haram sect claims that they are fighting jihad, as a means to cleanse the system of corruption. I cant fault that claim. I don't think anybody can. There is systemic decay in this country. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. Our leaders are simply recycled tyrants and oppressors. If they were Allah, they would not allow rain to fall on the roofs of the poor. Look at the criminal neglect in the power sector. Take a look at education. The only primary schools worth the salt are the private ones. Private universities are the only higher institutions where the students hold their heads with pride. WAEC and GCE certificates are no longer creditworthy. Parents pay mercenaries to sit for examinations for their children. Even our policemen are not properly equipped. A whole navy ship disappeared into thin air in Nigerian waters and nothing happened. Our air force has no single jet fighter that can fly. Successive Nigerian governments explored oil in the Niger Delta for decades without paying any attention to environmental factors. For hanging Ken Saro Wiwa extrajudicially, Nigeria should pay a heavy amount of money (like $1 billion) to his family. It is this type of decadence that causes revolution. Minus the bombing of churches and killing of Christians in the North, the Boko Haram phenomenon may therefore be a revolution of sorts… Between the early jihad of the Sokoto Caliphate and now, what is the difference? The difference lies in the Christian factor, otherwise there are similarities. Shaykh Uthman bin Fudi was forced to embark on jihad in self-defence after the authorities began persecuting him and his followers. The Boko Haram was a quiet and law-abiding group until the police took its headquarter by storm and killed its leader in a most criminal manner.       Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

Boko Haram and Islam

Boko Haram and Islam
Disu Kamor

Since the criminal attacks of the dreaded cultist group (Boko Haram) on the nation started, certain salesmen of hate have been hawking their credo: Islam is violent; religion in general produces extremists; religion is dangerous, and so on, to the public. One of such persons is Leo Igwe, an ardent Islamophobe whose schizophrenic ranting was published in the Guardian newspaper of 29 January, 2012 under the title "Boko Haram and the Threat of Political Islam". Leo Igwe stated in his letter to the editor that "Nigerians must begin to acknowledge the jihadist agenda of Boko Haram and try to find out how the teachings of Islam particularly as contained in the Koran or the Hadith were propagated or twisted to breed this terrible monster." He further states that "Boko Haram is the Nigerian version of al Qaeda. The militants are not bombing police stations, UN building and churches for the sake of it. They are not agitating for sharia law for the fun of it. The Boko Haram militants are fighting a holy war. They are prosecuting a jihad for which they expect to be rewarded abundantly in the hereafter with some virgins. That is why the group has not run out of suicide bombers. That is why they have their operational base in the muslim majority states."

This is obviously a clever ploy to inject the poisonous myth of a blood-thirsty Islam that inspires its adherent to commit indiscriminate acts of violence into the hearts and minds of the reading public. Yet the author failed miserably to provide a single reference from the Quran or the Hadiths to support his absurd position. For clarity sake, God forbids the killing of ANY innocent person in the Qur'an, and to violently damage any building is wrong. That respected places of worship, faith and spirituality were attacked by Boko Haram during a time of religious festivity makes the crime even more heinous. Also Islam commands Muslims to revere Jesus Christ and his mother (AS). We believe in his miraculous birth, his miracles and the stories of and about Jesus Christ (AS) in the Islamic tradition are probably much larger than the entire New Testament. Also, an entire Quranic chapter is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ (AS), as God proclaims her to be the best woman amongst all humanity, whom He chose above all other women due to her piety and devotion (Qur'an 3:42-43), and an example to follow (Qur'an 66:12).  For the Muslims therefore, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are but three forms of one religion, which, in its original purity, was the religion of Abraham (AS).

It is simply easy to see that the author wrote in a bad taste not to expose our common threat, but to mischaracterize Islam in a way that de-humanizes Muslims. I readily accept that there are bad eggs within the Islamic community. In fact, it is possible to find them in almost all walks of life. Sadly, people who commit evil in the name of Islam, or as Muslims, engage in unethical and immoral actions, may be our neighbours or co-workers; but so are evil, unethical and immoral people present in every religion, nationality, race or ideology. Such people are on every street and all professions. It is therefore a human, rather than a religious thing. Anyone who disputes this has simply failed to take important lessons from history. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, who collectively killed well over fifty million people, and the movements they led were all atheists like Leo Igwe himself. Similarly, the intellectual foundations of fascist thought have very little to do with traditional religion, while owing much to secular or outright atheist philosophers. Mr Igwe's Panglossian summary of the Boko Haram saga and what he calls political Islam is therefore antithetical to the self-evident facts: that vast majority of Muslims live peacefully with their neighbours; they respect the law and make important contributions to our daily life and national security.

The sickening claim of the lure of an abundant reward of some virgins in the hereafter as the motivating factor, or one of the factors, of terrorist attacks runs in direct opposition to what the author himself states in the opening statement of his second paragraph where he writes "The Spokesperson of Boko Haram, Abdul Qaqa, told journalists that they carried out the attacks on the city because the authorities had refused to release their members arrested and detained by the police." If the group's spokesperson made such an unequivocal declaration of their motive, and unless the author knows more about the group than he admits, he should simply allow the group to speak for itself. When we look at the highest authority in Islam, the Quran, we find nothing in it endorsing rewards for indiscriminate killing or killing of innocent people. Instead we find the strongest condemnation with severe punishments for those who engage in such actions. When we look at Hadith, which after the Quran is second in authority in Islam, we find nothing endorsing terrorism either. Instead we find strong condemnation for it.  

About the "72 virgins", searching what Muslims refer to as Gharib Hadith (weak or strange Hadiths) we do find something about 72 wives but not virgins. Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2562 says: The Prophet Muhammad was heard saying: "The smallest reward for the people of Paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana'a [Yemen]"

According to the opinion of Muslim experts on the science of Hadith, this is a weak Hadith that has no line or sequence of narration. Although listed in an authoritative collection, this particular Hadith has technical weaknesses in its chain of transmitters and is therefore not considered impeccable. There are many Hadiths so declared and by the collective opinion of our jurists, such Hadiths must not be used to formulate binding legal judgments. As a result, Muslims are not required to believe in it. Even if the Hadith was true, there is nothing about it that says if someone commits acts of violence or terrorism "they expect to be rewarded abundantly in the hereafter with some virgins" when clearly the Qur'an and hadiths condemn such sinful actions.

Muslims know that the description of paradise or heaven in Hadiths and Quran is allegorical. If not, then Allah would have allowed us to take our bodies with us when we die. But the vehicle by which we could enjoy the physical things (especially 72 virgins ) mentioned as being in heaven, is left behind here in this world to rot and decay away. So we know for a fact that for heavenly rewards, physical things of this world are used to describe things totally non-physical. The Quran and authentic Hadiths let us know that anyone that makes it to paradise will be given palaces to live in, and clothing fit for royalty, with luxurious couches, thrones for everyone amongst other grandiose things. There will be rivers of the purest water, milk, wine, and honey, all of which are better than any you will find on earth. However, those who get to the highest part of Paradise, Jannah al-Firdaus, will also be able to see Allah with their own eyes. This greatest reward, rather than the promise of a sensual pleasure in the hereafter- to be in the presence of our Lord and to see His Face is the prayer of all Muslims.

Islam is more than 1400 years old and historians, Muslims and others have recorded the great achievements of Muslims over the centuries and the hope that Islam eternally represents for humanity due to the sublime virtues the religion calls to. The murder of an innocent human being anywhere is condemnable and inexcusable, regardless of that individual's race, religion, national origin, gender or social class. This is not a lesson that must be reiterated only by the Imams but also by the Church, the secularists, the atheists, everyone. The start point for this is to accept that the evil activities of the Boko Haram group affect all Nigerians equally and particularly as Muslims, we feel ashamed of their actions. Muslims are horrified at the image of a group from amongst them, organized as the wolf-pack, inflamed by the spirit of anarchy and destruction, killing, maiming the innocent and forcing ordinary Nigerians to live in fear of dear life. This is because Islam being a highly ethical religion rejects such anarchy and mischief. Islam commands Muslims to have a deep respect for all human life and to ensure peaceful-co-existence. This is why Islam was able to co-exist peacefully with Christianity in the Middle East since the time of prophet Muhammad (AS), a fact that becomes evident when one considers the fact that the Middle Eastern Christian community is a historical community, rather than a community of converts. The presence of this community since the time of Jesus Christ (AS) and its thriving under many Islamic rulers bear eloquent testimony to how important Islam considers freedom of worship and peaceful co-existence.

In Nigeria, Muslim and Christians have lived for decades in relative peace and will continue to do so after the current tragedy is ended. Of course there had been tensed times and mutual violence directed against both communities, but the judgmental flaw of the author and people like him who cherry-picks events to promote Islamophobic agenda will only make them a laughing stock before those who have studied divine scriptures and history. This is because adhering to the elementary requirement of objective evaluation of historical facts is what separates honest critics from ordinary rag-heads. Mr Igwe's letter and other caricatures like it only shows that serious discourse on critical national issues must not be left in the hands of mere shenanigans.

Finally it is most important to acknowledge that many Christian and Muslim leaders have spoken and acted courageously during this moment of intense pressure and crisis. Their words and actions are renewed sources of inspiration and encouragement to those of us who believe in harmony, peaceful co-existence and shared destiny. It is worth reiterating that the entire Nigerian Muslim community stands full square with the Nigerian Christians in revulsion and horror at attacks directed against them and their places of worship. We sincerely feel your pains and share the sorrow of the victims of those attacks. We will continue to stand with you to repel the evil of sectarianism and extremism which are blights on divine religions. This is a difficult time for all Nigerians and only divine religions are capable of sustaining our collective strength as we confront and defeat the ills we face together.

The evil actions of the Boko Haram group affect all Nigerians and their false claim to piety and self-righteousness are ordinary veneer for their evil ambitions and actions. Anyone aspiring to establish a "Shariah state" must start by establishing a "Shariah state of mind". Muslims have been victims of their terrorist attacks as anyone else; as terrorist attacks are indiscriminate. In the same edition of the Guardian newspaper, the spokesman of Boko Haram is reported to have threatened His Eminence, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and the Governor of Sokoto State. All those mentioned in this latest threat are Muslims, and so are majority of those killed in the Kano attacks. Muslims suffer directly from the terrorist group when they attack as well as reprisal attacks due to their evil actions. Yet, in all of these we have risen up in one single voice of total condemnation because our God, as taught to us in the Qur'an and through the examples of prophet Muhammad (AS) commands us to respect the sanctity of ALL human lives (Qur'an 4:29, 6:151, 17:33) and that He, God Almighty, is the "King of mankind, God of mankind" (Qur'an 114: 2-3). The Boko Haram group does not speak or act for Islam or the Muslims. We reject their rhetoric, we oppose their violent methodology, we pray that the wind of time blows them away as quickly as other extremist groups before them, and we remain very proud of the religion which God has blessed us with.

WITHDRAW SOLDIERS FROM THE STREETS

16th January, 2012 PRESS RELEASE: MURIC CONDEMNS CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTERS   The epicentres of the anti-subsidy protests were unceremoniously invaded by soldiers today (Monday 12th January, 2012). Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and some other cities where the protest against the fuel price hike are most palpable witnessed heavy presence of soldiers on the streets as well as the protest grounds. In an attempt to frustrate protesters from attending anti-subsidy rallies, fierce-looking and heavily armed police and soldiers mounted roadblocks and disallowed protesters from passing through. Soldiers also reportedly fired live ammunition at protesters in some places although reports of casualties are still unconfirmed.   The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) denounces this naked show of power. Drafting armed soldiers to confront civilians who are merely expressing their displeasure is, to say the least, symptomatic of a dictatorial regime. Protest is a legitimate weapon freely employed in democratic dispensations. Drafting the army out on the streets exposes the ideological poverty of the Jonathan regime. Resorting to the use of brute force against unarmed and peaceful protesters is a bad omen. It moves the Nigerian president close to the pedestal of erstwhile Russian dictator Joseph Stalin to whom "one death is a tragedy, one million a statistic". Whoever drafts out armed soldiers knowing fully well the past atrocities of the Nigerian military is not different from the Sha of Iran, Augustino Pinochet of Chile, Benito Musolini in Italy and, of course, Adolf Hitler of Germany.   MURIC demands the immediate withdrawal of soldiers from the streets. In particular, the military must withdraw from the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos. The occupation of such a monumental place shows how desperate the Jonathan regime has become. This is an assault on the collective freedom of the Nigerian people and wanton display of contempt for the memory of the late human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi, whom the present president is reaping from the fruits of his struggles.   Dr. Is-haq Akintola, Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) 234-818-211-9714 234-803-346-4974   Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

MUSLIMS PAY SOLIDARITY VISIT TO LAGOS CHURCH

Salaam All Sequel to an invitation from a Lagos-based church, Members of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) numbering about fourteen, under the leadership of Dr. Is-haq Akintola, paid a solidarity visit to Evangelist Elishama's God Bless Nigeria Church on Plot 3, Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, by Guardian newspaper, yesterday Sunday 15th January, 2011.  Evangelist Elishama invited Dr. Akintola to the podium to address the congregation after which they both addressed a press conference. The crux of the speeches was the rejection of the removal of oil subsidy and the need for Christians and Muslims to move closer in the interest of peace in Nigeria.  Among the visitors were the Chairman of MURIC Lagos Chapter, Ustadh Shafiu Ayorinde, the Chief Imam of the Ansarud-Deen College of Education, Isolo, Imam Ahmad Akapo and the Imam of the Jamaatu Islamiyyah, Oshodi, Imam Abdul Ghaniy Abbass. MURIC intends to continue the pursuance of this line of action. We believe that religion must promote love. It must give life, not death. It must build, not destroy. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace

Re: [muslimrights] Court: Oklahoma can't enforce Sharia law ban

Bro. Taofeek,

Thank you for this information which should make every muslim happy. By this information, you have made me to start the on a positive note. May Allah reward the judges for not being bias. 

From: TAOFEEK SALAKO <taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "muslimrights.bbtobm@blogger.com" <muslimrights.bbtobm@blogger.com>; Muric Ishaq <muslimrights@yahoogroups.com>; "mpac@yahoogroups.com" <mpac@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "badriaturay@yahoo.com" <badriaturay@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 22:24
Subject: [muslimrights] Court: Oklahoma can't enforce Sharia law ban

 

Court: Oklahoma can't enforce Sharia law ban

By Robert Boczkiewicz | Reuters –  15 hrs ago

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DENVER (Reuters) - A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against a voter-approved ban on Islamic law in Oklahoma on Tuesday, saying it likely violated the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.

A three-member panel of the Denver-based U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the rights of plaintiff Muneer Awad, a Muslim man living in Oklahoma City, likely would be violated if the ban on Sharia law takes effect.

The decision upholds the ruling of a lower federal court.

"While the public has an interest in the will of the voters being carried out ... the public has a more profound and long-term interest in upholding an individual's constitutional rights," the appeals court said in a 37-page written decision.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the ruling, calling it "a victory for the Constitution and for the right of all Americans to freely practice their faith."

Oklahoma's "Save Our State Amendment," which was approved by 70 percent of state voters in 2010, bars Oklahoma state courts from considering or using Sharia law.

The lawsuit challenging the measure was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Awad, who is director of the Oklahoma chapter of CAIR.

A federal judge in Oklahoma City issued a court order in November 2010 barring the measure from taking effect while the case is under review, finding a substantial likelihood that Awad would prevail on the merits.

The Council said the Oklahoma amendment is among 20 similar proposed laws introduced in state legislatures nationwide.

Defenders of the amendment say they want to prevent foreign laws in general, and Islamic Sharia law in particular, from overriding state or U.S. laws.

But foes of the Oklahoma measure, also called State Question 755, have argued that it stigmatizes Islam and its adherents and violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition against the government favoring one religion over another.

State Senator Anthony Sykes, one of the measure's sponsors, called the decision an attempt "to silence the voice of 70 percent of Oklahoma voters. At some point we have to decide whether this is a country of, by and for the judges, or of, by and for the people."

Opponents also say it could nullify wills or legal contracts between Muslims because they incorporate by reference specific elements of Islamic prophetic traditions.

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Court: Oklahoma can't enforce Sharia law ban

By Robert Boczkiewicz | Reuters – 15 hrs ago

• Email
• Share8
• Print

DENVER (Reuters) - A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against a voter-approved ban on Islamic law in Oklahoma on Tuesday, saying it likely violated the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.

A three-member panel of the Denver-based U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the rights of plaintiff Muneer Awad, a Muslim man living in Oklahoma City, likely would be violated if the ban on Sharia law takes effect.

The decision upholds the ruling of a lower federal court.

"While the public has an interest in the will of the voters being carried out ... the public has a more profound and long-term interest in upholding an individual's constitutional rights," the appeals court said in a 37-page written decision.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the ruling, calling it "a victory for the Constitution and for the right of all Americans to freely practice their faith."

Oklahoma's "Save Our State Amendment," which was approved by 70 percent of state voters in 2010, bars Oklahoma state courts from considering or using Sharia law.

The lawsuit challenging the measure was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Awad, who is director of the Oklahoma chapter of CAIR.

A federal judge in Oklahoma City issued a court order in November 2010 barring the measure from taking effect while the case is under review, finding a substantial likelihood that Awad would prevail on the merits.

The Council said the Oklahoma amendment is among 20 similar proposed laws introduced in state legislatures nationwide.

Defenders of the amendment say they want to prevent foreign laws in general, and Islamic Sharia law in particular, from overriding state or U.S. laws.

But foes of the Oklahoma measure, also called State Question 755, have argued that it stigmatizes Islam and its adherents and violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition against the government favoring one religion over another.

State Senator Anthony Sykes, one of the measure's sponsors, called the decision an attempt "to silence the voice of 70 percent of Oklahoma voters. At some point we have to decide whether this is a country of, by and for the judges, or of, by and for the people."

Opponents also say it could nullify wills or legal contracts between Muslims because they incorporate by reference specific elements of Islamic prophetic traditions.

KILLING OF MUSLIMS IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA

10th January, 2012 PRESS RELEASE:  KILLING OF MUSLIMS AND BURNING OF MOSQUES IN THE SOUTH Reports reaching the headquarters of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) affirm that many Muslims have been killed in the past few days in Edo and Delta States. Some have been burned to ashes, others have been maimed. Just yesterday, Monday 9th January 2012, three Muslims were reported killed during the attack on Benin Central Mosque alone and the mosque itself was allegedly burned down. Reports say two mosques have been bombed in Sapele alone. Thousands have embarked on an exodus to their states of origin in the face of threats and ultimatums issued by groups in Southern Nigeria against Northerners and Muslims. MURIC is deeply disturbed by this ugly development. In the same manner that we denounce the barbarism of Boko Haram, we condemn the perpetrators of animosities against Muslims and Northerners and warn that the carnage must stop. We are perturbed that men of Edo police command failed to stop the burning of Benin Central Mosque and the killing of Muslims in the same mosque in the hands of anti-subsidy protesters when the police are supposed to be monitoring the movements of protesters.  The Muslim Rights Concern does not issue threats. Neither does it engage in violence. Our avowed motto is 'Dialogue, Not Violence'. Unless people are out for mischief, the whole world knows that Muslims and Northerners resident in the South are neither members of Boko Haram nor are they sympathetic to the dissident group. They have also never been known to engage in any act of violence. It is an open fact that Muslims are equally not safe in the hands of Boko Haram and the latter has killed several Muslim clerics.  Therefore any attack targeted at Northerners or Muslims resident in the South is not only misplaced but it is a miscarriage of justice. Revenge is a square peg. Justice is a round hole. They are parallel lines that can never meet. We therefore demand immediate and unconditional halt of hostilities against Northerners and Muslims in the South. We fear that unless the police and other security agencies are alive to their responsibilities, Southern Nigeria may be plunged into a crisis of unimaginable proportion.  We demand effective protection for all non-Southerners resident in the South. Equal protection must also be given to all non-Northerners resident in the North. We charge religious leaders on both divides to caution their followers and to preach lessons capable of healing wounds. Mutual forgiveness is the way forward. The role of the press is central at this critical stage. MURIC urges the Fourth Estate of the realm to discharge its duties fairly and responsibly. Finally, we urge Christians and Muslims in the South West to maintain their traditional neighbourliness, to love and to forgive, to tolerate and share in order to put agents of destruction to eternal shame. The attention of the international community, particularly the United Nations, is being called to the killing of Muslims and the bombing and burning of mosques in Southern Nigeria. Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D), Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), 234-818-211-9714 E-mail: muslimrightsconcern@yahoo.co.uk              muslimrights@gmail.com Website: www.muric.net Yahoo Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/muslimrights Blog:       muslimrightsmuric.blogspot.com Twitter:   twitter.com/muslimconcern           Be just Justice is the soul of peace No one can deny one and have the other Neither can violence or naked force bring lasting peace