4th February, 2020
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC HAS NOTHING AGAINST ANY TRIBE
The Islamic human rights organization,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has clarified its position vis-à-vis the Yoruba
ethnic group. This is coming on the heels of the allegation made by a former
minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who called the leader of MURIC a
traitor. According to the group, its membership cuts across all states of the
federation and all ethnicities, as a result of which it must work for the interest
of all without fear or favour and it cannot afford to lean towards any
particular tribe.
MURIC’s statement was circulated by its
director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Tuesday, 4th February, 2020.
The statement reads:
“The impression is being bandied in certain quarters that we are anti-Yoruba
simply because we objected to religious and ethnic bias in the new security
initiative. There is an urgent need to clarify our position particularly because
of our Yoruba members. We must not give a red carpet reception to a regional
initiative which does not guarantee the safety of people from other regions. Our
membership cuts across all states and ethnicities, as a result of which we must work for the
interest of all without fear or favour. Therefore, we cannot afford to lean towards
any particular tribe. Neither must we manifest hostility to any ethnic group,
state or region. The whole country is our constituency.
“True to the teaching of our faith, we
must not discriminate between the Igbo, Itsekiri, Yoruba, Hausa or Fulani. We
must treat all equally. The Glorious Qur’an chapter 49 verse 13 lays emphasis
on the need to treat all tribes and nationalities equally. In the same vein,
the hadith cherishes the unity of mankind of all colours and races and forbids
tribal jingoism. In fact, it is sinful for a Muslim to fight for his tribe
alone at the expense of other ethnic groups.
“We have given this background for Nigerians, particularly the Yoruba
people, to understand the position of MURIC on current issues. We must stand by
the teachings of Islam no matter the situation because that is the divine truth
and divine truth must eventually overwhelm social truth and human dispositions.
MURIC may be a human rights association but it should be understood that it is not
only a non-governmental organization (NGO), it is also a faith-based organization
(FBO). It should therefore be guided by the tenets of the Islamic faith.
“This is why the allegation of treachery leveled against the leadership
of MURIC by the former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, is unnecessary,
baseless and unfounded. The author of the allegation simply does not understand
the basic tenets of Islam because he is not a Muslim and has not deemed it
necessary to investigate.
“The loyalty of a Muslim is, first and foremost,
to Allah, his Creator, not to any group or tribe. A Muslim does not fight
blindly for his tribe. But that does not mean that he has worked against his
tribe. It is natural for every human being to have sympathy for his people but he
must suppress the emotion to swing in favour of his tribe. That sentiment must
never at any time override the need to be fair to all other tribes and to the
rest of humanity.
“Islam sees the whole of mankind as one. People in a community must be
one and those in a city must be united. Cities within every state must form a
synergy and this must transform into national unity when all states will come
together as one. This is what we lack in Nigeria but it is what Islam teaches. It
doesn’t stop there. Countries of the world must come together in unity. This is
the essence of the oneness of Allah.
“We therefore call on Muslims in Yorubaland to appreciate the beauty and
wisdom in the message of Islam and to stand firm with their faith. Allah will
not ask us about our tribes on Yawm al-Qiyamah (the Day of Resurrection). Rather
he will ask us about our relationship with the whole of mankind and how well we
worshipped Him.
“Ours is a larger brotherhood in the oneness
of Allah. Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, particularly that of Femi
Fani-Kayode who called the leader of MURIC a slave of the Fulani, there is no
slave-master relationship in Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘You
are all equal like the teeth of a comb. There is no difference between the Arab
and the non-Arab except in the level of piety of each individual.’ That is why the
Igbo Muslim, the Ijaw Muslim, the Yoruba Muslim and the Fulani Muslim stand
shoulder to shoulder in prayer (Salat) and no special place is reserved for any
Muslim worshipper.
“Our stand on the controversial security network in the South West should
therefore be properly understood. No sane Nigerian will oppose initiatives
aimed at boosting security but religious and ethnic tinges must be removed.
There must also be transparency in the recruitment and management of such security
outfit. We reiterate our stand with firm commitment. No retreat, no surrender,
no U-turn.
“The death threats, blackmail, abuses and insults that have been hurled
at us cannot shake us from our conviction because we know we are standing on
the truth. Nobody can kill the truth. It will always resurrect. Not even media
blackout will stop us from speaking the truth because social media has offered
a better alternative. We encourage the organisers to go ahead with recruitment
bearing our observations in mind.
“The recent hostility from a section of
the Yoruba public towards MURIC and its leadership arose from its lack of
understanding of the teachings of Islam. They expected MURIC to support
anything introduced by the Yoruba because the leader of MURIC happens to be a
Yoruba person. That was exactly what Femi Fani-Kayode referred to when he
called MURIC’s director a ‘traitor’.
“But on the contrary MURIC’s director cannot be a traitor because
neither him nor any other Muslim leader in the region was carried along in the
process leading to the emergence of a security outfit. Fani-Kayode felt
disappointed that a Yoruba man refuses to accept a Yoruba initiative. But the
fact is that the issue goes beyond that narrow perspective. A Muslim must not
consider his family, tribe, or friends alone. He must be thinking of all the
people in the country, nay, the whole of humanity resident in the Yoruba
region.
“Allah commands in the Glorious Qur’an 4:135. ‘Oh you who believe, stand
out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even if it is against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it is against a rich or
poor man, because Allah can best protect all. Follow not your lusts lest you
swerve (from the path of truth). And if you distort justice or refuse to do
justice, verily indeed Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do.’
“This is the rich heritage of Islam and it has informed our actions and
comments on the issues at stake. No true Muslim in the region will refuse to abide
by it because it is in our Qur’an. MURIC did not concoct it. What we expect
non-Muslims in the region to do is to respect our faith just as we respect
their own. Let us discuss the little differences we have on this security
issue. Dialogue will work, but not this death threat, blackmail, intimidation
and coercion. It will not work, not on MURIC at least.
“Our differences can be easily
identified. One: prospective recruits into the new security initiative have
been asked to collect birth certificates from churches and letters of reference
from pastors. That is a no-go-area. We reject those two conditions totally,
categorically and emphatically. It will not happen. No true Muslim in the
region will join the security outfit with those myopic, obnoxious and parochial
conditions. However, we will encourage Muslims to enroll in the system if you
withdraw both prerequisites.
“Two: we alleged that the name of the
security outfit was picked from the bible, of course that is very obvious. We
have requested that you should pick a neutral name that will give nobody any
complex or suspicion. If you change it you will get hundred percent support
from Muslims in the region. If you insist on using the name, that will not stop
Muslims from joining it but it will put the scheme under our radar. We will put
you under our x-ray machine watching every action of yours from now on. We are
not enemies and we believe that we must be able to reach across to one another
on condition of mutual respect. This is our position, afterall you did not
carry us along ab initio.
“We assure all and sundry that we have good intention towards all tribes
and faiths. Therefore, no tribe will enjoy any special sentimentalities or be
given any preferential treatment by us. Neither shall we exhibit animosity
towards any tribe. We are all equal, like the teeth of a comb.
“MURIC is not for any particular tribe. Our vision of Nigeria is that of an egalitarian community where
people live together in peace and harmony, a nation in which no one is
oppressed, where every citizen enjoys Allah-given fundamental human rights
regardless of class, creed, or ethnicity. We are
middle-roaders and socio-intellectual jihadists fighting corruption and
extravagance, seeking freedom of worship for all, emancipation for the oppressed,
justice for the persecuted, jobs for the jobless, food for the hungry, healing
for the sick, clothing apparels for the naked and shelter for the homeless. All
these are part of principles of Islamic liberation theology.
“As we round off, we call the attention of all men of good faith to our
offer of dialogue to the South West security initiative. We reject all forms of
intimidation, blackmail and death threat. They are inconsequential as far as we
are concerned. We reject any form of religious bias in the security system
being planned and insist on mulling ethnic prejudice and tribal particularism. We
seek the understanding of people who thought our group should have supported a
Yoruba security initiative simply because its leader is a Yoruba man. MURIC
insists on pursuing the ideals of nationalism and humanity propagated in the
tenets of Islam as opposed to the narrow confines of ethnic segregation and tribal
jingoism.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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