YARIMA OR ISLAM?

THEME OF A PRESS CONFERENCE ON REACTIONS TO YARIMA’S MARRIAGE ORGANIZED BY THE MUSLIM RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC) HELD ON TUESDAY 8TH JUNE, 2010 AT THE LADI LAWAL PRESS CENTRE, ALAUSA, IKEJA, LAGOS                               

Distinguished Guests,
Gentlemen of the Press,
As-Salaam Alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu,

I welcome you all to this Press Conference. Permit me, first of all, to introduce some of the officials on the high table: My names are Is-haq Lakin Akintola. I am the Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State. On my right is the Secretary General, Mr. Abdul Yakeen Williams. To my left is Alhaji Jara Basheer, a strong member of MURIC.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is an Islamic human rights organization. MURIC’s mission is to promote, project and protect the Allah-given and fundamental rights of Muslims. We envision an anti-violence and dialogue-loving Muslim, enjoying equal Allah-given rights, like all men, in a world free from violence and terror. Our motto is ‘Dialogue, Not Violence’. MURIC seeks to re-orientate, reengineer and reposition the status of Islam in the Nigerian socio-economic perspective.

YARIMA’S MARRIAGE: The former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmad Sani, Yarima Bakura, recently married a fourth wife, a young Egyptian girl. Whereas this marriage conforms with the dictates of Islam as stipulated in the Shari’ah, a tornado of criticisms has greeted it from non-Muslims and the press. Outright lies and distortions rented the air. Women liberation movements threatened fire and brimstone.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: The attendant hocus pocus included a protest march on the National Assembly. To our surprise and dismay, the latter, which looked the other way when Nuhu Ribadu was sent on a wild goose chase at Kuru, demoted and unceremonially retired, then Shugabad outside Nigeria; which has hitherto seen nothing wrong with the massive exploitation of Nigerians by mobile telephone network providers,  initiated probes into the marriage of Yarima, a mere private issue.

What is most clear in this marriage hullabaloo is that none of the critics have made any attempt to find out the position of Islam regarding marriage. It is highly regrettable that the National Assembly has also failed in this direction. We are alarmed that the men and women who occupy our  parliaments have little or no respect for the religion of Islam and its teachings. They now preoccupy themselves with investigating the Shari’ah and probing Islam. MURIC wishes to assert clearly, unambiguously and unequivocally that the National Assembly has no locus standi to investigate an Islamic marriage which conforms in its totality with the teachings of Islam.

The action of the National Assembly in setting up probe panels on Yarima’s marriage tantamounts to a gross violation of the ex-governor’s Allah-given and fundamental right, a breach of his freedom of religion (and his inalienable right to practice it) as stipulated in section 38 (I) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 which says:

Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief,
and freedom to manifest and propagate his religion  or belief in
worship, teaching, practice and observance.

The National Assembly’s action stands in contra-distinction to Article 18 of the United Nations Charter signed into law on December 10, 1948 which also affirms this indubitable freedom to practice one’s religion. It also contravenes Articles 9 and 14 of the European Treaty of Human Rights as well as Articles 18 and 19 of the Treaty of Civil and Political Rights.

MARRIAGE IN ISLAM: Islam regards the institution of marriage as sacred. It is the foundation of family life and that of society in general. Qur’an 30:21 affirms that marriage is an opportunity for the manifestation of love and mercy between a man and a woman. Qur’an 2:187 regards marriage as a form of protection. Qur’an 24:32 commands Muslims to marry. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) commanded Muslims to marry. He further affirms that anyone who has the capacity to maintain marriage but refuses to do so is no longer a Muslim. Celibacy is therefore an anathema in Islam.

Four conditions must be satisfied in Islam for a marriage to be acceptable. These include the proposal and acceptance (ijab wa qubul), the approval of the parents (rida al-walidayn), the dowry (mahr) and four witnesses (ash-shuhada’)

Every available evidence points to the fact that all these conditions were satisfactorily met in the marriage under scrutiny. Proposal and acceptance took place between the bride and the groom. Contrary to the malicious lies of Yarima’s detractors, the girl is not thirteen years old. Let them dig deeper and come up with the right age. The crux of the oppponents’ argument has always been that the girl is a 13 years old ‘minor’. If this is not true, it means their case lacks prima facie. No court worth its name will sustain that rubbish. 

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no age stipulation in the Qur’an for marriage in Islam. Some critics have asked Muslims if the Qur’an asks Muslims to marry ‘minors’. Perhaps we should respond with a similar question. Does the Bible ask Christians to marry ‘minors’? Afterall it has been said that Nigerians love answering questions with questions and we are Nigerians. Let our critics show us a verse in the Bible where marriage to a ‘minor’ is prohibited.

Regarding the second condition, there is indisputable evidence that the parents approved the marriage. Even the opponents of the marriage contract admit the dowry was paid thereby affirming with their own mouths that Yarima met the third condition. The problem lies with their perception of the amount allegedly paid as dowry.

Let us assume that their claim that Yarima paid $100,000 as dowry is true. It further cements Yarima’s great respect for the institution of marriage. To have gone all out to pay that much shows how much he cherishes a holy union. Senator Ahmad Sani did not patronize the blue light districts of Abuja to pick indecently dressed, lascivious 12 year old girls in order to have illicit sexual relationship with them as many of his Abuja based critics do. This man went for decency. He opted for honour. But today, in a twist of irony, he stands persecuted.

Another angle to the huge amount paid as dowry is that it totally eliminates the element of exploitation being blindly peddled by his detractors. There is no iota of doubt that the girl, her parents and siblings have benefited from the largesse. They have definitely been lifted from the abyss of acute poverty. Levels have changed. Economic empowerment has taken place. Contrary to the traditional belief that only male children bring fortune to families, a female has heralded fortune for the lucky family. What is the problem of Yarima’s critics?   

There is no minimum, no maximum in the matter of dowry in Islam. It does not have to be money anyway. It can be anything physical or abstract.  Islam permits a Muslim woman to ask her prospective husband to give her anything, anything at all, anything under the sun or even above it. She may ask for the least amount of money, say, two hundred naira (N200) or even five naira (N5) only. And it is nobody’s business if she demands forty four billion naira (N44 billion) which is the same amount for which ex-governor Ibori is now a fugitive. Whatever she is given is her own by right. Nobody should share it with her.

She may not ask for money. She may simply ask her prospective husband to pray for her or to recite a portion of the Qur’an for her. She may even give the man a mental assignment like memorizing the whole Qur’an before she can marry her!

There is no problem at all with Yarima’s marriage. Those who are crying wolf over it see the wolf only in the figment of their imagination. Nigerians are yet to get to grips with how to respect and tolerate their neighbour’s faith.

The question being raised in Muslim circles is: What has this man done that is strange in Islam? The Prophet is known to have married A’ishah at the age of nine. Muslim clerics are in the habit of following the Prophet’s example by giving their young daughters in marriage to respected fellow Muslim clerics. Is Yarima the real target? If Yarima’s detractors get away with this, are Muslims really safe in their matrimonies? If the non-Muslims succeed in rubbishing our age-long tradition, will they not attack more Islamic rites? Is the National Assembly now a Christian Assembly? Are Yarima’s detractors not acting the script written by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)? Who or what is the real target? Yarima or Islam?

YARIMA’S PEDIGREE: It is on record that ex-governor Ahmad Sani, now a senator, was the man who expanded the horizons of Shari’ah back in 1999. The success of the Shari’ah revolution initiated by him can be best measured by the number of states in the North which embraced the initiative. We have not forgotten the threats issued against him directly by CAN. The press called him unprintable names. The West saw him as the modern Hitler. That was eleven years ago. Events of the last few weeks pertaining to the reactions of these same elements show strong indications that his enemies are now out for their pound of flesh. They intend to kill two birds with one stone: permanently destroy the public image of Ahmad Sani (possibly get him jailed in the process) and smear the name of Islam. It is a game of old rivals. Nigerian Christians are out to convert as many Muslims as possible into Christianity. They see it as a war in which any method is acceptable to them, fair or foul.

Otherwise how do we explain a situation in which Christian clergies seek to register organizations bearing Islamic names? The Nigerian Compass of Monday June 29 2009, page 14, published a public notice for the registration of an Islamic organization to be called the ‘Muslim Mujtamiah of Nigeria’. The list of the trustees of this diabolical body included one Pastor Charles Amankwe and Abigail Ogochukwu Ekwudo! Our question is: is deceit also acceptable in proselytisation? Do we need to start asking for the intents and purposes of this group of people? Fraud, crime and the formenting of religious crisis of unimaginable proportion must be part of it. May Allah save Nigeria from the grips of those whose stock in trade is deceit. Those who disguise in police uniforms to kill Muslims and yet turn around to accuse Muslims of attacking them.

We are not interested in passing judgement, but there are facts from which we cannot run away. Those who do this kind of thing must be experts at hoodwinking government, security agencies, the gullible public, civil society and, of course, the National Assembly.

THE NIGERIAN PRESS: We seek the understanding of gentlemen of the press. This is a noble profession that must not be allowed to be hijacked by any group, tribe or religion. Though it is true that journalism was started in Nigeria by Rev. Henry Town send who, incidentally, was the same man who introduced Christianity in Nigeria in 1832, loyalty to the pioneer must not be eroded by religious bigotry. The cardinal principle in journalism is that truth is sacred. MURIC charges members of the press to treat Muslims the same way they treat the adherents of other religions.

In this regard, we register our protest at the manner in which the terror incident involving a Christian extremist who rammed his car into a loaded plane early this year in Calabar was treated. This man was reported as screaming at people at the scene of the incident after the failed terror plot, “You are all sinners. You must accept Jesus Christ as saviour…” It is amusing to note that no single Nigerian newspaper called this man a terrorist, which indeed he is. Had a Muslim tried half of this, all mosques in Nigeria would have been surrounded by the police. The print and electronic media would have called Muslims fanatics, terrorists, fundamentalists, extremists, confusionists, anarchists, etc. We are compelled to ask, “Whither is the press conscience?”

NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS: To our Christian brothers, we say that we desire peaceful coexistence. Nigeria belongs to all of us and no group can send the other away. We appeal to Christian leaders not to allow this country to become another Rwanda. Malicious name-calling, deceit, mockery and blackmail are not ingredients of brotherhood. Though MURIC is committed to dialogue and opposed to violence, we must affirm that provoking Muslims often lead to confrontations. Provocation is like fire. Violence is mere smoke. Just as there can be no smoke without fire, so there can be no violence if there is no provocation in the first place. We therefore charge Christian leaders to educate their followers. Muslims should be allowed to be what they are, practicing their faith as ordained in their scripture.

Many of the vices opposed by Islam are equally condemned by the Bible. So why should there be disagreements over this? Many of the things practices by Muslims have been done by many in the Bible. According to Professor Domelo in his Commentary on the Bible (page 177), Serah married Abraham when the former was just 11 years old. Mary married Joseph at 12. In Genesis 20:12 the Bible says Abraham married his own sister of the same father but different mothers. 

Leviticus 18:22 prohibits homosexualism and lesbianism. It says, “You shall not lie with a woman as with a man. It is an abomination”. But what do we find today? Gay marriage has been accepted by American churches. (Punch, August 5, 2003, page 53). The Canadian supreme court has okayed gay marriage (The Guardian, Dec 11, 2004, page 10)Britain’s Archbishop of Canterbury approved gay clergies (Daily Sun, Nov. 18, 2005, page 11). In Nigeria, Rev. David Mac-Iyalla of Changing Attitude Nigeria has introduced both homosexualism and lesbianism into the Anglican Communion (Saturday Sun, Dec. 31, 2005, page 4).

There is no where in the Bible where you can find any prohibition of polygamy but the Qur’an expressly permits it in 4:3 (Surat an-Nisai). Therefore what right does anybody have under the sun to deprive us of this Allah-given right? Or to mock us for exercising it? It is unacceptable. The paradox here is that Christians also practice polygamy though many do so secretly. But should this justify their persecution of Yarima for marrying another wife openly according to the dictates of his religion? It means there is no freedom of religion in Nigeria. Muslims are being victimized for practicing their faith. Yet some groups have the audacity to take Yarima’s case to the United Nations! Some justice!

William Shakespeare was right when he opined, “Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall. Some run from brakes of vice and answer none while some condemned for a fault alone.” This is the case of Ahmad Sani, Yarima Bakura. This is the case of Nigerian Muslims.

We respect the views of our Christian brothers on national issues, but we reject their holier-than-thou attitude. How dare they accuse us of things they themselves are doing? Yet we still have many honest Christians around. A Nigerian Christian monarch exclaimed in 2004, “I have two official wives. The rest are not official” (Daily Sun, Dec 10, 2004, page 13). Another outspoken Christian explained why he did not support one man one wife and how he manages his five wives (Daily Sun, Nov. 28, 2007, page 33).

It reminds us of King Solomon in I Kings 11:3 who had 700 wives and 300 concubines! Abraham had three wives (Sarah, Hagar and Ketura, see Genesis 11:29; 16:1-2 and 25:1). Jacob had four wives (Leah, Racheal, Zilpha and Bilha, see Genesis 29:17-35).

Many non-Muslims hide their other wives and concubines from public glare and it is only after they die that the truth is discovered. Bola Ige’s unknown son emerged after his death (The Monitor, Dec 30, 2001, page 1). Five years later another son surfaced! (Sunday Sun, Feb 2, 2005, pages 1 & 5). A pastor who desired another wife thought the only way out was to kill the present one. He therefore set her ablaze. Interestingly enough the murdered wife was the daughter of another pastor! (Vanguard, April 1, 2005, page 7). This poor woman would have been alive today if Christians allow their followers to officially marry more than one. Only God knows how many murders like this have been committed.  We are of the opinion that Muslims who practice polygamy openly deserve respect, not derision. Treating Muslims with disdain particularly in public life is a major cause of religious friction in this country.

THE WOMEN GROUPS: We are appalled by the role played by women groups in this saga. Our fear is that these women are being used by CAN. A cursory glance at their leadership and their religious leaning confirms this. What did the women organizations do when Muslim women were disenfranchised in the whole of the South-West during the laughable identity card exercise in 2003? Muslim women were forced to remove their hijab before taking I.D. card pictures. That is dehumanization. It is enslavement. It is denial of Allah-given and fundamental rights. Those self seving organizations looked the other way. We cried out but nobody listened until we were constrained to go on peaceful demonstration. The attitude of these women groups is parochial, myopic and ludicrous.

Come to think of it. What did the women groups do when Pastor Trybest Atonye defiled his wife’s 13 year old sister just two weeks ago? (Nigerian Compass, June 5, 2010, page 6). What did they do when a randy pastor, Reverend Eke Mbah, a.k.a. Reverend Might, raped eight year old twin sisters? (Daily Sun, May 31, 2005, page 6). Another pastor impregnated a 15 year old girl, Racheal (Sunday Punch, April 25, 2004, page 24). 

So we must ask the question: is it Yerima or Islam? Why do these people look the other way when pastors commit atrocities? And why are they eager to act when it involves Muslims? Well, they missed the point. Yarima has done nothing unIslamic. Case closed.

CONCLUSION: In view of the glaring injustice in the reactions of the press, the National Assembly and women liberation groups, we of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), desirous of a sustainable democracy, peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance, hereby affirm and state as follows:

1. that Yarima’s marriage is a private affair;
2. that the said marriage was conducted in total conformity with the teachings of Islam;
3. that the current stand of these groups is regarded by Nigerian Muslims not as an attack on Yarima per se but as a vicious campaign against Islam and Nigerian Muslims;
4. that we reject the Child Rights Act as it breaches the teachings of Islam and deprives Muslims of their Allah-given and fundamental rights;
5. that we demand the dissolution of the panels set up by both Senate and the House of Representatives to probe Yarima’s marriage as this constitutes an attempt to probe the scripture of Islam;
6. that if some people with evil intention can march on the National Assembly demanding the prosecution of Yarima for conducting an Islamic marriage, Muslims also have the right to respond in like manner and in defence of their hero and liberator, the Yarima of Bakura;
7. that should the victimization of Yarima continue on this issue MURIC will organize one million Muslims to march peacefully on the National Assembly on a Friday;
8. that the continued persecution of Yarima constitutes a potent threat to peace in this country.
9. that Yarima is, undeniably, a hero among Muslims having used the instrumentality of the Shari’ah to liberate Nigerian Muslims and this is why he is being persecuted;
10. that we stand by Yarima in this trying period;
11. that Nigerian Muslims should remain vigilant but resist all provocations and maintain the peace, law and order;
12.  that we remain committed to dialogue and non-violence and
13.  that detractors should leave Yarima alone!

“When trouble sleeps, Yanga go wake am, wetting he dey find?...
 “Palaver he dey find”

Distinguished Muslim leaders, gentlemen of the press, thank you very much for listening. As-Salaam Alaykum, wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu.

Dr. Is-haq Akintola                                          Abdul Yakeen Williams
     DIRECTOR                                               SECRETARY GENERAL