THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned what it called attempts to interfere in the private lives of Muslims through a bill on discrimination against women, which has scaled second reading in the Senate.
The group, however, expressed support for the application of the Senate bill to the oppressed women in other religions and cultures in the country, saying “they need it. We don’t”.
MURIC asserted that Islam had already liberated Muslim women and they were not discriminated against in any form.
In a statement signed by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the group said it was on the same page with the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who had already expressed strong objection to the bill.
The group advised the Senate to listen to the leader of Nigerian Muslims and described as unwarranted, the imposition of “unIslamic laws” on Muslims who, it said, had already been protected by Islamic laws.
It noted that the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) had also released its position paper which rejected the bill, supported the Sultan’s position and warned the Senate against meddling in Muslims’ affairs.
“The Glorious Qur’an liberated women. They can work, earn income and own property (Qur’an 4:32). A Muslim woman is free to choose her own husband (Qur’an 4:19). Her dowry belongs to her (Qur’an 4:4). She can sue for divorce (Qur’an 4:128). The husband is under compulsion to feed, accommodate and clothe his wife according to his means (Qur’an 65:6 – 9).
“What the brains behind the equal rights bill in Senate should have done is to study what obtains among the various cultures in Nigeria before attempting to impose any bill on us.
“It is an open secret that women are discriminated against in some places in this country, particularly in Southern Nigeria. Women are made to drink the water used to wash the corpse of their dead husbands to ascertain whether or not they had a hand in their husband’s death. They are not allowed to inherit their husbands.
“But that does not apply to Muslim women. We accept the death of husbands as Allah’s wish. It is not in our character to demonise our women or to accuse them of witchcraft. We cherish them. We love them. Our women are our mothers and daughters and Allah has instructed us to show them love (Qur’an 30:21) and treat them with kindness (Qur’an 4:19).
“Therefore, nobody should pretend to liberate Muslim women from any perceived oppression. What have the champions of the equal rights bill done about Muslim women who are disallowed daily from using hijab in this country? What have they said so far since we have had to go to court to assert Allah-given fundamental human right of female Muslim students to use hijab?
“One major problem with Nigeria is that those who claim to be interested in reform always ignore the stakeholders, particularly Muslims. They always pretend that certain perceived inequalities are general. They, therefore, attempt sweeping changes. But Muslims do not need reforms which ignore their Allah-given fundamental human rights”, MURIC said.
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