29th
May, 2021
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC TO PFN : MIND YOUR
OWN BUSINESS
Islamic human
rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has warned the Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to mind its own business. This followed a warning
issued by the PFN on Thursday, 27th May, 2021 against any move
by any group to introduce Sharia law to the South-West zone of the country
through the ongoing constitutional review being carried out by the Senate.
MURIC’s reaction
came via a statement issued by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Saturday,
29th May 2021.
According to
MURIC, “Our Christian neighbours have come again. They are always the ones who
fire the first shot. They are always heating up the polity. The Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) warned on Thursday, 27th May, 2021 against any move
by any group to introduce Shariah law to the South-West zone of the country
through the ongoing constitutional review being carried out by the Senate.
“This is a
well-known pattern. Our Christian neighbours know very well that Shariah is the
Allah-given fundamental human right of Muslims. But they are determined to
deprive us of it using unorthodox methods. They believe they are at war with
Muslims and to them, everything is fair in war. They are using both fair and
foul means to achieve their objective
“It is the
gospel according to Niccolo Machiavelli : the end justifies the means, no
matter what they do to achieve it. Like the German Otto Von Bismarck, they do
not just wait to strike when the iron is hot, our Christian neighbours believe
in striking to make the cold iron hot. This is why they heat up the polity all
year round.
“PFN and other Christian groups are fully aware that Shariah was in the
South West decades before the arrival of Christianity in 1842. Shariah was practiced in Ede under Oba
Abibu Olagunju (Habeeb, a Muslim name) and the Ede Shariah Court operated up
till 1913 at Agbeni area of the town. It was moved to Agbongbon area in 1914.
Shariah was applied in Iwo under Oba Momodu Lamuye (Muhammad Lamuye) who died
in 1906. Even the seventh Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Aliyu Oyewole (died 1912),
instituted Shariah in Ikirun in 1910. These are just examples of the existence
and spread of Shariah in Yorubaland and the Christian leaders are not oblivious of the fact that it was the British Christian
colonialists who stopped Shariah in Yorubaland and imposed Christian common
law.
“However, they
are equally aware of the rising tide of Islamic awareness in the same South
West. They have seen the hitherto passive Muslim community being transformed
into an active, articulate and politically conscious populace. They are afraid
that the sleeping giant is waking up to take back what belongs to it.
“We call on Nigerians to understand the siege mentality of our Christian
neighbours. Like all aggressors, they believe that attack is the best form of
defence. As the benefactors and inheritors of colonial rampage that lasted more
than a century, they are determined to keep all the loot which their principal bequeathed
to them. They are determined to keep the Muslims in a concentration camp into
which the colonial masters drove them.
“They have
forgotten that the only thing that is constant in life is change. We
are worried about the voyeuristic disorder which has again manifested in the
PFN. It is a Peeping Tom syndrome that propels our Christian neighbours to
crane their necks in order to see what is in the pot of soup of the Muslims. It
is called ‘giraffing’ in examination hall parlance.
“The Constitution
Review Panel asked Nigerians to forward their views regarding what they want in
the constitution. Each group is supposed to submit its needs. But instead of
telling the panel what the Christians want, PFN has gone ahead to say what they
do not want Muslims to ask for. It is an attempt to gag Muslims in the South
West and it will not work.
“The issue is
what do the Christians want? It is clear that they have been overpampered by
the colonial master who handed over our common patrimony to them on a platter
of gold. So now they want nothing because they already have all they need. But
they want to sustain the status quo because it favours them.
“Decorum, courtesy
and protocol demand that Christians should ask for what they lack and what they
want. But instead of doing that they are asking the committee not to tolerate
the demands of Muslims. Yet Christians already have their own common law and
the shariah has nothing to do with them. It is Muslims who need Shariah.
“This attitude can be compared to that of the dog in the manger whose
master gave it its own meat and bone. The dog ate and was filled up. But when
the master gave hay to the horse, the dog came barking ferociously in order to
prevent the horse from accessing the grass. But do dogs eat grass? How
uncharitable can our neighbours be?
“MURIC warns the
PFN and its co-travellers to steer clear of the path of Muslims in the South
West. The demand for Shariah is a civil rights matter. It is a demand for
change, a demand for the status quo ante. Britain compelled the whole
South West to don the toga of Christian ways of life and agents of
neo-imperialism are pushing this diabolical scheme. It will not work. We say capital
‘NO’ to neo-colonialism, neo-imperialism and modern slavery.
“We are being deceived daily by those who claim that there is religious
tolerance in the South West. Why is the Muslim girl child in hijab always targeted
for persecution if it is true that there is religious tolerance in the South
West? Why are Muslims always marginalised in political appointments if there is
tolerance in Yorubaland? Why is the South West civil service totally dominated
by Christians? Why is the ministry of education in particular and the teaching
service authorities in the hands of Christians in all Yoruba states? The claim
of religious tolerance is a sham, a phantom. It is a mantra designed to keep
Yoruba Muslims in perpetual slavery.
“Muslims in the
region are waking up and asking for freedom. We demand a halt to the forceful
use of Christian school uniform, Christian education, Christian law, etc. We
demand civil Shariah, not criminal Shariah that involves the cutting of hands
but civil Shariah to regulate Muslim marriages, inheritance, family affairs,
etc. It has nothing to do with Christians. We will use every peaceful and constitutional
means available to attain this objective. We declare a caveat emptor in
Shariah-related matters. PFN should mind its own business. No retreat, no
surrender.
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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