18th
February, 2025
PRESS
RELEASE:
RAMADAN:
ON SULTAN’S MANDATE WE SHALL STAND - MURIC
The
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has dismissed fears of division among Nigerian
Muslims over the issue of Ramadan. In a statement circulated on both social and
conventional media on Tuesday, 18th February, 2025, the Islamic
human rights group described those who recently fixed the date of the commencement
of this year’s Ramadan as Islamic scholars engaging in sheer academic exercise.
The
statement which was signed by MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola, went on to explain that the Islamic scholars merely partook in
calculating the movement of celestial objects as done in astronomy to determine
the date of the appearance of the crescent.
He
said:
“The
attention of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has been drawn to a notification
for the commencement of Ramadan on 1st March, 2025 given by the
League of Alfas and Imams in Yorubaland.
“The
notification which was given media hype was also portrayed as a sign of
division among Nigerian Muslims as well as a challenge to the authority of the
Sultan of Sokoto (https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/252110/yorubaland-starts-ramadan-on-march-1-dumps-sultans-tradition).
“We affirm
that it is not unusual to find academics coming together to rub minds on issues
of scientific, economic or social matters. They are trained to agitate minds
and agree to disagree. This is exactly what those who announced the date of the
commencement of this year’s Ramadan have done.
“They
came together as Islamic scholars engaging in sheer academic exercise. They merely
partook in calculating the movement of celestial objects as done in astronomy
to determine the date of the appearance of the crescent. It should be made
clear that academic exercise and scientific experimentation is allowed in
Islam.
“What
is noteworthy is that those who made the announcement did not claim to be doing
so as leaders of Nigerian Muslims but as Islamic scholars of a particular
region. It is scholarship. It is intellectual engagement.
“It
should also be noted that this is not a new development. They do it every year.
Exempli gratia, the same League of Imams fixed the date of Ramadan for
April 25 in the year 2020. (https://thenationonlineng.net/ramadan-begins-april-25-says-league-of-imams-and-alfas/).
They mean no harm but the press just elected to sensationalise it.
“Even
the League of Imams and Alfas has dismissed unsinuations that the organization announced
the date to confront the Sultan (https://punchng.com/declaring-ramadan-fast-not-to-tackle-sultan-yoruba-league-of-imams/).
“We therefore assert clearly,
emphatically and unequivocally that the Sultan of Sokoto and President General
of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad
Abubakar III, is fully in charge not only of matters relating to the
commencement and termination of Ramadan but all matters affecting Muslims in
Nigeria as a whole.
“Let it be known from the
West to the East and from the North to the South that when the come comes to
become, when the time comes to announce the beginning of Ramadan, we are going
to wait until we hear from the Amiirul-Mu’miniin (the Commander of the
Faithful), the Sultan of Sokoto, even if he announces another date different by
one or more days from March 1, 2025. On the Sultan’s mandate we shall stand.
“Any
suggestion that there are rumblings in the camp of Nigerian Muslims is therefore
laughable, divisive and provocative. We are all united under the able, visionary
and exemplary leadership of the Sultan. Muslims have always been known for
their discipline.
“However, we are constrained
to disown an individual who has been claiming to be the chief Imam of
Yorubaland. It is only towns and Islamic organisations that have chief Imams. Any
so-called office of the chief Imam of Yorubaland exists only in the figment of
imagination of the author and his promoters.
“It is
like somebody calling himself the Bishop of Yorubaland. That office does not
exist. It is a sham. It is fraudulent. We urge the press to stop encouraging
perfidy. Anyone parading himself as the Chief Imam of Yorubaland is therefore a
joker, a clown and a court jester. He should be ignored.”
#Ramadan
#Sultan
#OnSultanMandateWeStand
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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