Muslims have the right to protect themselves in Nigeria and cautions
against attacking Muslims anywhere in the country.
Reacting to the clarion call of the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) for Christians to defend themselves over the incessant attacks
on its faithful, the secretary of the Sharia Council, Malam AbdurRahman
Hassan, described the call as unfortunate, even as the Sultan of Sokoto,
Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, urged calm, pointing out that Muslims are not
supposed to force their religion on other faiths.
In a text message sent to our correspondent, the SCSN scribe noted, “It
is unbecoming of the so called clergy men to give such unguarded
instructions.’’ He noted that the CAN directive will not augur well for
anybody in the country, “not even the agitators.’’
Malam AbdurRahman maintained that, “Despite the fact that Islam is a
peaceful religion, should anyone attack any Muslim anywhere in Nigeria,
we have the right to protect ourselves.”
He reiterated that Islam is a peaceful religion and anyone who is a true
Muslim cannot attack anybody, if not in selfdefence. According to him, it
is wrong for CAN to assume that the attacks on Christians are being
perpetrated by Muslims because “we have many instances in the past
where a Christian dressed in Muslim attires and attacked his fellow
Christians, just to cause chaos and disharmony.”
The SCSN said that CAN should have been more diplomatic in its
approach to the issue instead of being confrontational. He noted that
“Nigeria needs peace and tranquillity to achieve meaningful
development.”
Speaking to Sunday Telegraph on telephone, the former Special Adviser
to Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State on Islamic Matters, Sheikh
Haliru Maraya, advised CAN to withdraw the directive because “It will
result in people taking the law into their hands whenever they are
aggrieved.’’ The Islamic cleric said that this will bring a major crisis in
the country, which will be greater than the problem which CAN sought
to solve by giving the directive in the first place, “because it will
unleash a chain of killings across the country.”
The former Special Adviser counselled Muslims and Christians to live
together in peace because they are all descendants of Adam and Eve,
adding that both Islam and Christianity preach peace and respect for
life. Sheikh Maraya pointed out that Islam forbids anyone from killing a
fellow human being no matter the offence.
“An aggrieved person is expected to report to constituted authority,
which is responsible for meting out the appropriate punishment,
including death, if the situation warrants it,” he said, adding that “self-
help has no place in Islam.’’
“In Islam, if you kill just one person, no matter his offence, without
following due process as prescribed by the religion, it is like you have
killed the whole of humanity, including those yet unborn,” he pointed
out. Maraya further said that it is wrong to visit another man’s offence
on someone who had nothing to do with it.
“For example, Islam does not allow you to kill a Christian in Kaduna, to
retaliate the murder of a Muslim in Port Harcourt or Enugu,” he
stressed. On his own part, the Director General of Interfaith of Kaduna
State government, Engr. Namadi Musa, asked CAN to provide solution
to the incessant killings bedevilling the country rather than asking
Christians to defend themselves.
“It is after the association has given several advices to government on
the way out and nothing is done that CAN should now have given that
kind of directive to its members,’’ he added.
According to the Director General, government can’t be everywhere
because even in advanced countries, which have adequate security
personnel and modern gadgets, “such things happen from time to
time.’’
Engr. Musa advised the public to volunteer information to security
agents in order to curb the incidence of unnecessary killings, adding
that: “This is how Boko Haram has been contained in areas where it
had been operating with impunity.’’ However, speaking in Ilorin on
Friday at the National Conference organised by Dawah Coun- cil of
Nigeria, the Sultan said, “Whoever wants to fight you, do not fight him,
leave him alone.
Be very patient. The only thing that will make me to act or ask you to
act is only if somebody or a group or some other nations decided to
stop us from performing our religious obligations. That is the only way
we can fight somebody. But if I am allowed to pursue my religious
obligations, say my prayers and pay my Zakat and so many other
things, I have no problem with anybody.
“We do not force anybody to join Islam. There is no compulsion in
Islam. But our good deeds, good actions and good interactions as
Muslims will give that very bright light to everybody what Islam is and
that is what brings people to join us”. Alhaji Saad Abubakar III also
pleaded for religious harmony in the country saying:, “Please continue
to live in peace and continue to observe your Islamic tenets, do not
take laws into your hands.
There are courts in this country and we believe courts will give us
justice whenever we take such matters to them because we believe we
are on the right path.
But do not expect the courts to give you justice when you are on the
wrong path, I will not even ask you to go to court when you are on the
wrong path.”
Also speaking at the same event, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfattah
Ahmed, charged Muslim clerics to strive for peace and condemned
attacks on churches.
“Islamic preachers must be advocates of peace and brotherliness at all
times. We must also condemn attacks on churches and other places of
worship by any group under any guise for this violate the rights of
others to freedom of worship. “As we all know, Islam preaches peaceful
coexistence between neighbours and with adherents of other faiths. We
must therefore treat each other with mutual respect in the spirit of
cooperation and peaceful co-existence in line with the tenets of Islam
as a religion of peace.”
Culled from: https://newtelegraphonline.com/muslims-will-retaliate-
attacked-supreme-council-sharia/
No comments:
Post a Comment