12th
April, 2021
PRESS RELEASE :
HIJAB : CAN HAS SINISTER
MOTIVES - MURIC
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused
the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of nursing bad intention towards
Muslims over the hijab saga. The Muslim rights advocacy group was reacting to
CAN’s latest statement in which it said Muslim female soldiers were free to
wear hijab on military uniform if that would deflect bullets (http://saharareporters.com/2021/04/09/muslim-military-women-free-wear-hijab-if-will-protect-them-bullets-%E2%80%94can?fbclid=IwAR3shJ6-fG8rvs9eZsr-5bijdNykxvPDh1GU0i0Z0zQRI3qWzmoXpf4jOkY).
MURIC’s allegation came through a statement issued
on Monday, 12th April, 2021 by its director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola.
“CAN has come again. It
never wishes its neighbour well. It is never Christ-like. Statements from CAN are,
more often than not, ungodly and diabolical. Imagine CAN supporting the use of
hijab by female Muslim soldiers ‘if it would deflect bullets’. That shows bad
intention. Why the reference to bullets except for death wish for female Muslim
soldiers? The only Muslim CAN loves is the dead Muslim. The only Muslim CAN
will accommodate is the ‘liberal’, ignorant, half-baked and lilly-livered
Muslim who has no mind of his own.
“CAN is beating about the bush. The question is,
does CAN support the use of hijab by female Muslim soldiers or not? Nobody is
talking about bullets here. Every soldier knows the implications of joining the
army. Bullets are working tools for soldiers. They are very familiar with it.
So who is CAN trying to scare?
“This is a
poor outing for CAN. We expect a robust and intellectual interface in which CAN
will expatiate reasons for objecting to the use of hijab by female military
soldiers. But what do we get instead? CAN is asking if hijab will deflect
bullets for those who wear it? That is pedestrian, infantile and jejune. This
shows CAN could not come up with any good excuse against the use of hijab by
female Muslim soldiers who wish to do so once it is approved.
“The old song of ‘no Muslim can wear
hijab in our school’ does not apply here. The Nigerian Army belongs to all
Nigerians, Christians and Muslims. It is the people’s army. Let it reflect the
variety of the people’s culture. Army uniform should not be synonymous with
Christian uniform. Nigeria will not run a Christian army or a Muslim army.
“We must ask CAN in turn : does the army
uniform itself deflect bullets? If it doesn’t, why do soldiers still wear it? If
our soldiers still wear their uniform despite the fact that the latter has no
capacity to protect them from bullets, there is no reason under the sun to stop
female Muslim soldiers from using hijab simply because the latter cannot
protect them from bullets. We assure CAN that female Muslim soldiers who so desire
will embrace the hijab without fear of flying bullets even if CAN is the one
pulling the trigger.
“CAN’s reference to only Afghanistan as a country
where hijab is used by female soldiers is mischievous. CAN’s intention is to
mislead Nigerians into believing that Afghanistan is the only country in the
world where female Muslim soldiers use hijab. But this is far from being true.
CAN is being economical with the truth. The examples below will expose CAN’s deception.
“Female Muslim soldiers and police are now
found in Britain, Ireland, Scotland,
US, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, Australia, etc. In
November 2018, a High Court judge in Trinidad ruled that Muslim women police
officers are to be allowed to wear their hijabs while on duty. So what is
Nigeria waiting for if countries that are more than 80% Christians allow Muslim
women soldiers and police to use hijab? Even the population of Muslims in South
Africa is just 1.9% and hijab has already been approved there also.
“The United States Army approved hijab in
2017 following a memorandum issued by the Secretary of the US Army in
Washington on 3rd January 2017 under the subject-matter Army
Directive 2017-03 (Policy for Brigade-Level Approval of Certain Requests for
Religious Accomodation).
“It is not in MURIC’s character to make lousy,
unverifiable claims. The links below confirm our claims:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43758999
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/09/british-police-force-says-it-may-allow-female-officers-to-wear-f/
https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/check-new-uniform-female-muslim-police-officers-uk
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2008754/canadas-mounties-allow-women-officers-wear-hijab
http://shiawaves.com/english/islam/7309-ireland-allows-muslim-police-officers-to-wear-hijab
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-37166422
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-diversity-policy-hijab-1.3733829
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2016/08/25/Scotland-allows-women-police-officers-to-wear-hijab-following-Canada-s-Mounties.html
https://www.islamicfinder.org/news/ireland-permits-muslim-police-officers-to-wear-hijab/
“Nigeria cannot afford to be the only country denying Muslim women their
Allah-given fundamental human rights. Hijab is the right of every female Muslim
whether she is a soldier or a police woman. For us, that is non-negotiable. We
stand to be corrected, but the army and police can dig into their records to
confirm that majority of female soldiers and police women are Christians. That
gives undue advantage to the followers of one religion and this hijab advocacy
is designed to create a level playing field for both Christians and Muslims. It
is just too bad if CAN has a problem with that.
“Military,
para-military and police jobs are avenues for reducing unemployment and it is
the right of female Muslims to get those jobs. This
is exactly where CAN is going but it will never say so. The intention of CAN is
to reserve all jobs in the country for its members.
“As
we speak, thousands of young, agile, willing, patriotic and
qualified female Muslims are deprived of employment opportunities, particularly
in the army and the police. They are reluctant to enroll because they know they
will have to abandon their hijab. No pious Muslim woman is ready to do that. This
situation impoverishes Muslims generally and impacts negatively on Muslim
children in particular. As a result, a most vulnerable portion of the Nigerian
population is sentenced to a life of abject penury.
“By the way, Nigeria stands to benefit
immensely if hijab is approved for female Muslim soldiers and police women. It
has economic, political and
security implications. Economically, hundreds of female Muslim job seekers will
be taken off the streets if they join the army and the police once they are
sure that they can use the hijab with their uniforms.
“As for the political implication, a liberal policy which allows
female Muslim officers to wear hijab will inject a huge dose of confidence in
the Muslim population and give them greater sense of belonging.
Concerning security, the current security challenges facing the
country has shown that this is the time Nigeria needs female Muslim women using
hijab in the army and the police. The employment of women in hijab will enhance
intelligence gathering, strengthen investigative power and widen the horizon of
information supply.
“Criminologists agree that women in communities are sine qua non
to the provision of information to the police at grassroot level. This is why
women are known to have contributed immensely to community policing in places
like Britain and Ireland because of their naturally keen interest in their
communities.
“By simple inference, Muslim women in Muslim
communities in Nigeria will find it more convenient to relate and confide in
Muslim police women who use hijab. The phenomenon of female suicide bombers can
be more easily and effectively curtailed by female Muslim soldiers in hijab.
“Finally, we refer Nigerians, particularly
our lawmakers, to MURIC’s full page advertorials in the Daily
Trust of Tuesday, September 24th, 2019, page 19 and The
Nation newspaper of Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019, page 35.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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