“For the government, their position is a trust reposed in them by the citizens to safeguard their lives and property. That is the main essence of government. If the government is not capable of discharging this all-important responsibility, the essence of such office is defeated.”
DAYS after the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), headed by the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, spoke strongly against the spate of attacks and killings across the country, some prominent Islamic scholars and Imams have also declared that condoning insecurity of any kind is against the tenets of Islam.
The scholars and imams, in separate interviews with Saturday Tribune, looked at the link between leadership and the obligation of securing the property and dignity of a people in relation to the position of Islam.
The respondents include Professor Taofiq Azeez, a lecturer in the Department of English, University of Abuja and the Chief Imam of the university; Professor Afis Oladosu of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan; the chairman of the Muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS), Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni; and Alhaji Sirajudeen Bakrin, Chief Imam, Fountain University, Osogbo. Others are the director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola; the Imam, The Muslim Congress (TMC), Abuja, Alhaji Zakariyah Mas’ud; and the Imam, Shamsiyah Mosque, Kubwa, Abuja, Sulaimon Adesina. Below are their responses:
Professor Taofiq Azeez
The JNI’s position is politically correct. Islam requires leadership to do justice so as to guarantee security. The highest form of justice is the entrenchment of pure faith without polytheism, major sins and wrong doing (injustice). The Qur’an blames the mixture of faith with injustice for insecurity as follows:
They who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice – those will have security, and they are [rightly] guided. (Al-An’am 6:82)
Justice can be minor and major. Minor form of justice is provision of employment opportunities for the citizens while major justice is the protection of their lives, honour and property through policy implementation, monitoring and strict penalty for offenders.
A government that neglects all these has done injustice to the people and thus invited insecurity. Such government may be asked to leave.
The issue of justice pervaded the whole regimes of Abubakr (the first caliph, closest advisor and a father-in-law of Prophet Muhammad) and (especially) Umar (the second caliph, successor of Abubakr). Abubakr vowed to make the weak strong and the strong weak on the basis of justice while Umar added policy implementation and monitoring and night patrols for the purpose and also for security surveillance.
Islam and Muslims do not know the value of any government beyond and apart from justice and its concomitant security of life and property. That is why bandits of all sorts (armed robbers, kidnappers, Yahoo boys and girls, etc) are to be killed instantly when caught as criminals against God and the state while thieves would have their hands cut. The legal system that permits criminals to live and enjoy their loots may be directly responsible for the tragic situation we find ourselves today.
A deregulation of democracy in such a way that criminals are handed over to their religious institutions and authorities to be punished according to their laws may be an interim solution to the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.
Professor Afis Oladosu
Going by the explicit texts and provisions of Islamic law on good governance, the JNI’s position is extremely very valid and highly incontrovertible. In fact, exegetes and jurists of Islamic law and jurisprudence have posited that all sovereigns shall continue to enjoy people’s support and obedience insofar as they succeed in discharging their obligations. Of these, the establishment of general state of security is key and paramount. This is followed in importance by the promotion of the comfort and welfare of the masses.
There is no denying the fact that the current government in power has largely not been able to discharge these obligations. The challenge that the call throws up, however, might be that of finding a democratic alternative to the current democratic experience since the constitution does not, in my view, envisage a situation where a government would abdicate power before its time and term expire. In other words, the JNI’s call, valid as it is, could lead to anarchy.
I guess the only alternative let for us would be to wait patiently till that time when a new democratically elected government would take over the rein of governance. While we await that time, we should continue to pray that our country would not descend into abyss and anarchy.
Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni
When people are arrested for banditry or kidnapping, we just hear that they have been arrested and that is the end. We don’t hear that they have been imprisoned or executed, as the case may be. People who have killed don’t have the right to live, too. Nobody wants to die. These people committing all these atrocities don’t want to die; they want to live to enjoy the proceeds of their crime. If they know they won’t enjoy the money, the enthusiasm towards criminality would be reduced to a large extent. This aspect has to be looked into.
Again, there are lots of bad eggs within the military. Two weeks ago, in Zamfara State, the military had intelligence that bandits were in the bush and they were to go and engage them and flush them out. But before the troops got there, the bandits themselves had information that they were coming. They just went on top of hills and killed all the soldiers. So, it means that the intelligence of the bandits is even more effective, more sophisticated than that of our military.
We have to ask all these so-called security chiefs exactly what they are doing. The problem that the president has is that he knows how to hire but he doesn’t know how to fire. Let’s have a new set of people with new ideas. We have been doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result.
Alhaji Sirajudeen Bakrin
Security is one of the five intents of Sharia. Thus, it is crucial for the development of the society. It was the first thing Prophet Ibrahim requested from Allah in Makkah. It is the goal of justice in Islam. Without justice, there will be anarchy.
It is also the first responsibility of a government. However, it is the joint responsibility of all. The case of DhulQarnayn is relevant here: he called for the contribution and support of all citizens to fight the aggression of Yajuj and Majuj. Parents, teachers, community leaders who possess information about criminals in the community and religious leaders have a role to play. Farmers who plant weeds, security men, politicians who import weapons, judges who delay judgment, government, the father of all, must have a rethink on how they are contributing to insecurity in the land.
Alhaji Zakariyah Mas’ud
Islam itself has its name rooted in peace. It is the religion which has brought peace to mankind. It is the goal of Islam that peace reigns everywhere, and among all creatures of Allah. Before the advent of Islam, the powerful trampled upon the lives and property of the weak at will. Islam, however, put an end to all acts of threat against lives and property.
As for the government, their position is a trust reposed in them by the citizens to safeguard their lives and property. That is the main essence of government. If the government is not capable of discharging this all-important responsibility, the essence of such office is defeated.
However, it is pertinent to look at the root causes of insecurity in the country, towards proffering lasting solutions. Firstly, Nigerians have become ungrateful to Allah for His favours upon us. Many of the resources which Nigeria is blessed with are being misused or untapped, and the Creator is not pleased with such acts. Secondly, immorality and corruption are at the highest level, especially among the young generation. Ritual killings, fraud and insatiable thirst for wealth are security threats that must be eliminated from the root at all costs by the government for the nation to move forward.
For the kidnappers and bandits, the message of Islam to them is that all their actions are prohibited by their Creator and should be ready for the wrath of Allah unless they repent and quit their wicked acts.
Sulaimon Adesina
“In Islam, insecurity of one is insecurity of all. As a nation, the individual units of our system are insecure. The family system has collapsed and products from individual homes are nothing to be proud of. This is where we have got it wrong. The government has the task of putting in place everything required to guarantee security of lives and citizens, but it is the responsibility of the family to train quality and dependable individuals to operate in the society.
“But the buck stops at the desk of the government because it is entrusted with all apparatus to control and monitor all units of the society. Increase in the rate of heinous crimes is a pointer that the approach of the present government in tackling insecurity is not effective.
“The position of Islam is that lives and property of citizens must be secured no matter what it costs the government. The government is not only accountable to the people, it should be ready to render full account of its stewardship before the Creator.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola
In his own comment, the director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, said “It is sufficient to say neither the JNI nor the NSCIA is garrulous or reckless” and “therefore, MURIC will not give a contrary opinion on the issue of insecurity which JNI spoke about last week.”
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