Establish Sharia courts in states, MURIC urges Buhari
Nasir Sambo
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By Ezekiel Kayode The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to establish Sharia courts in states having a significant number of Muslims. This demand is one of six changes desired by MURIC and mentioned by its director, Ishaq Akintola in his New Year message. These demands include: recognise the Hijrah holiday; recognise Islamic marriages; Friday holiday question; acceptance of caps, turban, hijab and beards for identity cards, driving licences and international travelling passports; establishment of Sharia courts in states with significant number of Muslims. MURIC also demanded that uniformed organization—security forces and the NYSC—accept the use of hijabs and decision of Muslims to keep beards. These demands, Ishaq said, were listed in its 2020 request to the Federal government, but none of them were attended to by Buhari’s government. On terror inflicted by Boko Haram in 2020, Ishaq said the Federal government would do well to dialogue with Muslim groups in the country. It is MURIC’s position that “deradicalisation will remain a farce until all Allah-given fundamental human rights are willingly rendered to Nigerian Muslims.” Ishaq explained that the protracted insurgency in the North East is being aggravated by “situation whereby Muslims continue to suffer excruciating pain every day without any hope in sight.” “The perception of insurgents seeking the forceful establishment of an Islamic caliphate is that Nigeria is being run along Christian line and all Islamic landmarks have been eliminated. FG owes it a duty to correct this erroneous and dangerous perception,” Ishaq added. Ishaq noted that the government’s refusal to declare the first day of the Hijrah calendar a national holiday gives the “impression that Nigeria only recognises Christianity at the national level but Islam is non grata.” This, according to Ishaq, was gross injustice to all Muslims. States, not the Federal government, should be allowed to make their decision on what day is the first of the year, Ishaq explained. Ishaq added that the government could not achieve true deradicalisation of extremist religious groups until it addressed the grievances of Nigerian Muslims.  ReplyReply allForward |
