Niger State House of Assembly has a passed a bill criminalising Muslims in the State from marrying more than four wives.
The bill which takes effect from Wednesday, 26th February 2014, makes it a punishable offence for all professed Muslim who have more than four women as wives.
The State, according to the bill will prosecute any Muslim who contravened the provision of the new law.
Details later…
Christians and Muslims in Osun State have been urged to eschew religious crisis, to allow Governor Rauf Aregbesola deliver more dividends of democracy.
The Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Religion (Christian), Dr. Sam Ogedengbe, spoke yesterday in Alausa, Ikeja.
Ogedengbe, who is also the national president of the All Christian Leaders and Ministers Forum (ACLMF), said Christians and Muslims in Osun should not allow the wearing of hijab at Baptist High School, Iwo to degenerate into a crisis.
He said before Aregbesola became governor, the educational sector was in a shambles.
“That was why he merged secondary schools. Aregbesola is trying to revive the education sector. The indigenes should not distract him. They should not act as an obstacle to development.
“Aregbesola is not a religious fanatic. He is a dynamic governor, who is determined to develop the state. Baptist High School, Iwo is a government school. If Christians are interested in taking it over, they should allow Aregbesola to finish the resuscitation he is doing and write him that they want to take over the school from government,” Ogedengbe said.
He advised religious leaders in Osun to meet regularly with the governor to iron out sensitive issues, adding that this would prevent crises.
Muslims from no fewer than 100 Islamic organisations, under the aegis of the Joint Muslims Forum (JMF), converged on the main bowl of the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Onikan, Lagos Island to pray for the nation. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO reports
The adjoining roads leading to the iconic Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) venue of Nigeria’s independence from Britain back on October 1, 1960 were busy with all kinds of vehicles, heading towards the square.
From passenger buses to private cars, many streamed in to attend an event some believe was a ‘once in a life time opportunity.’
Tagged ‘Prayer for the Nation,’ it was first of its kind to attract well over 100 Islamic organisations coming together for a common cause – Prayer for the nation.
The nearest to this kind of event was the special Jumat service held at the Freedom Park, Ojota during the protest against removal of fuel subsidy in January 2012.
Penultimate Saturday, event was big in all ramifications.
Muslims from all nooks and crannies of the Centre of Excellence came out to be counted. There were others from outside Lagos. It was indeed a field day for petty traders and commercial tricycle drivers. Many who came for the event were surprised with the state of the art stage and the settings of the main bowl of TBS. The surging crowd nearly stretched the square to its limit.
Different organisations came in their colourful association’s attires. They include Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria (ADS); The Muslim Congress (TMC); Al-Mu’minaat; The Companion; The Criterion; Nasrul-lahi-li Faith Society of Nigeria (NASFAT); Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN); Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness (MICA); Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN); Council of Alasalatu; Imams and Alfas in Lagos.
Many of the leading clerics shone in Arabian attire – Jalabia, turban and Alukinba. Some wore their Alukinba on flowing traditional agbada.
The event was anchored by the Coordinator of Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Lagos Chapter, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib and Missioner of Fatiu-Quareeb Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Sulayman Adangba. The duo’s fluency in Arabic, Yoruba, Hausa and English languages went a long way in keeping thousands of the audience glued to their seats.
However, the absence of veteran broadcaster cum presenter of Eji sari programme on NTA Channel 10, Alhaji Rasak Aremu Gawat was felt.
Alhaji Gawat’s versatility and emotional attachment to his waka (songs) by the Muslim ummah were missing on that great day.
The event began with opening prayer before a mass Asalat was conducted. The coordinator of the programme and ADS Chief Missioner, Sheikh Abdurrahman Ahmad, said the situation in the country requires prayers.
“We gather to pray to Allah to guide our leaders to govern well and be just to the people. We are on the verge of extinction in this country. There are lots of acrimony, open letters and close letters, oppression, injustice, therefore we need God’s assistance,” he said.
The revered cleric lamented the marginalisation of Muslims in the country: “We want our rights. Nobody can usurp the rights of others in the state. We are for peace. No country can move forward without justice to every segment. We gathered because we feel a sense of duty to work together to make our country great. Allah should guide our leaders to be just. In spite of our anger, we bear no grudge against anyone.”
Sheikh Ahmad cautioned political leaders to stop polarising and causing confusion in the polity.
“We pray Allah to let them (politicians) bury their inordinate ambitions and to let us choose right. Unless our politicians stop their divisive ways, they will have no country to govern. We want peace but we are also demanding for our rights. The country with its diverse nature needs peaceful co-existence among the people. We pray to Allah for peace to reign in this country,” he said.
In his welcome address, Senator HAB Fasinro, an elder statesman, said the prayer was part of the Muslims’ contribution and duty to their country “regardless of the fact that we being are discriminated against.”
“We, therefore, urge our leaders to stop marginalising the Muslims,” he added.
Fasinro called on Muslims to unite against oppressions but shun violence.
Secretary- General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof Ishaq Oloyede while speaking on the theme, “Leadership and prayer in nation building”, submitted that Nigeria leaders have failed to live up to masses’ expectations.
“Our country”, Oloyede said, “needs visionary, purposeful and resourceful leaders to chart a good way and proffer solutions to the problems facing this nation. This country has Muslims who can provide quality leadership to chart a new course. This is known through the history of Muslims in all ages. Leaders should see their positions as a trust and not a personal property. Leadership without consultation with people is zero. We need Allah to save our country. Our people are sacrificing honour at the altar of wealth. There are political oppression, rigging, corruptions which have to be stopped for the nation to move forward.”
While enjoining Muslims to fight for their rights, Oloyede said: ”We frown at the continued marginalisation of the Muslims across the country and in Lagos; Muslims’ voice in Lagos has to be heard. There are issues of Hijab, Hijrah public holiday, Coroner law which have to be resolved in the interest of the people. Shariah issue has to be resolved too. Lagos is full of non-Islamic symbols all over the streets, why can’t we have Islamic symbols too in all places? I urge the religious leaders not to sell their conscience. They must speak out against injustice being meted out to the Muslims.”
In her goodwill message, Prof. Fatimah AbdulKareem urges Muslim women to fight for their rights.
Prof. AbdulKareem, the Head of Morbid Anatomy and Molecular Biology Department at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos/Lagos University Teaching Hospital (CMUL-LUTH) rejected widespread notion that Muslim women are oppressed.
“We are not oppressed. Hijab is our choice. Modesty is our pride. As Muslim women, let us do our duties to our society. Let us speak with one voice,” she told the gathering.
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Director and Head of Arabic and Islamic Department, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Ishaq Akintola in his contribution said: “History is being made in Lagos as Muslims gather to demand what has been eluding them for years. Hijab issue is not political; we are not fighting Governor Babatunde Fashola but just to get what is our due. Hijab is the right of female Muslims, the present school uniform was designed by the Colonial masters and it is a Christian uniform. We want our female students to dress to school with their Hijab. It is their right”.
The chairman of Oyo State Muslims Council, Alhaji Kunle Sanni wants the Muslims from the Southwest to stand up for their rights.
He said: “Muslims are not violent. We are not antagonists to the government, but to get what is due to the Muslims. This prayer for the nation is welcome not only in Lagos but in Oyo State too. We have a lot of challenges facing the Muslims in Oyo State; with our coming together we will be able to surmount the problems facing us.”
In his closing remark, the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Musiliu Smith called for more of such prayer in all Southwest states.
”We need prayers for the challenges facing the nation. Let people be encouraged to join politics to right the wrongs in the country,” he said.
He urged Muslim lecturers to be exemplary and instil right attitude in the mind of students.
Aside speeches, revered clerics one after another made special prayers for unity, progress and peace in the country.
Among the clerics were Mufti of Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), Sheikh Dhikrullahi Shafi’I; Missioner of Nawair-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh AbdulMajeed Ayinla; Skeikh Muhammad Olatunji; Ustadh Zikrullahi Hassan; Sheikh Sulaiman Faruq Onikijipa and Sheikh Moshood Jubreel Ramadan.
M USLIM students have been urged to set rewarding academic goals and pursue them with enthusiasm. Former Dean of University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Faculty of Arts, Prof Zakariyyah Oseni, gave the advice students at the orientation organised by the institution’s chapter of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN).
In his lecture titled: “Campus life: The battle for survival”, Prof Zakariyyah urged new students to focus on their studies, imploring them not to be be carried away by frivolities on campus.
“There is so much freedom in the university. Do not get distracted by it. Do not be influenced by other people’s behaviour. Know exactly what you want in life and stand by it,’’ he stated.
He warned the students against indecent dressing on campus, noting that university was established for learning and not fashion.
He said: ‘’Always dress neatly and decently on campus. Be well behaved and exhibit good characters. This way, you are promoting the image of your family and the university. Let people see the beauty of Islam in you.’’
He cautioned parents against enrolling their underage children in higher institutions, saying higher institutions are meant for adults and not underage.
‘’Parents should stop pushing their children to the university, especially when they are below the age of consent. The university is meant for adults and not children. Maturity matters a lot in this regard,’’ he said.
In his remark, the Amir, Kabeer Fasasi, said that the orientation was aimed at giving the students information they needed to survive on campus. He urged members to work hard and pray for success in their academics.
•Aregbesola’s wife presents gifts to first baby
Muslims in Osun State yesterday prayed for the state and the country in commemoration of the new Islamic year, Hijrah 1435.
The Osogbo Township Stadium, venue of the celebration, was filled with Muslims and well wishers from other faith.
The Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Elder Adebiyi Adelowo, and top government officials were at the event.
Aregbesola and the Chief Imam of Osogbo/President, League of Imams and Alfas in the Southwest, Edo and Delta, Alhaji Mustapha Ajisafe, led the prayers.
The governor advised Muslims to live according to the tenets of their faith, saying no true Muslim would shed the blood of his fellow men.
He urged Muslims to revive themselves morally and spiritually, as “these are the lessons of the migration of Prophet Muhammed from Mecca to Medina, which is called Hijrah 1,435.”
Aregbesola urged the people to be upright in their dealings with fellow human beings.
He said in the present day, Hijrah means spiritual migration, which entails purging our souls of anti-social vices.
The governor said: “A tiny minority has emerged in Islam who, by their actions, have profaned Allah and portrayed Islam as a religion of violence. They are at war with everybody and make no discrimination between Muslims and adherents of other religions.
“Muslims, Christians, men, women, children, the aged, young and anybody within their range is considered a fair game and they always leave on their trail blood, sorrow and tears.”
Aregbesola said the declaration of a holiday to mark the Hijrah is to promote fairness among religious groups.
Sheikh Ajisafe said among other lessons, respect and prayers for leaders, holiness and Godliness should be imbibed by Muslims.
Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties Bashiru Ajibola said people should not hide under religion to cause chaos in the society.
Earlier, the governor’s wife, Alhaja Serifat, accompanied by the wife of the Chief of Staff to the governor, Alhaja Kafayat Oyetola; Commissioner for Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture Sikiru Ayedun and Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties Ajibola Basiru, visited the State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, to present a gift to the first baby of the Islamic year.
The baby’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Rasaki Olajire, named her Serifat, after Mrs egbesola.
The governor’s wife urged couples to plan their families and give birth to the number of children they can cater for.
She urged nursing mothers to take advantage of the state’s various immunisation programmes to protect their babies from diseases.
Mrs. Olajire thanked Mrs. Aregbesola for her visit and gifts.
A Director in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Gbenga Adepoju, said the baby was born around 11:30pm on Sunday and was named the first baby because Islamic hours start from 7pm.
On Sunday evening, fire-works were lit at the Freedom Park in Osogbo to mark the new Islamic year.
The Aregbesola administration began the Hijrah celebration three years ago.
Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson advised Muslims to promote humility, loyalty, love and unity, which constitute the key components of Sallah celebration.
The governor urged the residents to always emphasise religious tolerance as a vital ingredient for peace and development.
He noted that this year’s celebration afforded Nigerians another opportunity to correct the wrongs of the past and return the country to an enviable position it always occupied in Africa and beyond.
Describing Nigeria as one of the most endowed nations, the governor advised Muslims to eschew acrimonious and divisive tendencies and see other Nigerians, no matter their religious inclinations, as close relatives.
An Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muyideen Gidado, has urged Muslims to maintain the cleanliness of the Ramadan season.
Gidado, who was a guest lecturer at an event organised by Yusurullah Association of Nigeria, Ghandi Mosque, Iyana-Church Ibadan, yesterday urged Muslims to turn away from the things forbidden by Allah.
The cleric, who spoke on the ‘Impact of Asalatu on the life of a Muslim’, said: “Living our days on earth with the fear of Allah will guarantee Al-janat and eternal bliss. I am very surprised that Muslims have the highest population in Nigeria and are the most corrupt too. During Ramadan, all the beer parlour and prostitutes joint were all closed down but immediately after, they go back to their vomit.We only have religion without the fear of God. Muslims are using the name of Allah to steal and repercussion awaits them here.”
Anambra state Muslim Council yesterday urged Governor Peter Obi to jettison the idea of retiring from politics after handing over next year.
In his Eid’l Fitr message to the state, Anambra State Secretary General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs , Alhaji Sanni Ejoh, said Obi is still very much relevant to the political and economic development of Anambra State and Nigeria.
Ejoh said, “Governor Peter Obi should jettison the idea of retiring from politics after handing over next year because he is still very much relevant to the political and economic development of Anambra State and Nigeria going by his unparalleled achievements in Anambra State so far.”
He added that ‘’Muslims should intensify prayers for the successful conduct of the 2013 local government and governorship elections in the state.”
Muslim leaders in the Southsouth geo-political zone have called on their political leaders to give Muslims a sense of belonging.
The South South Muslim Forum (SSMF) said, being political leaders, the region’s governors should not be seen to be biased against Muslims since they are also part of the citizens of the region.
The group, after an emergency meeting held in Warri, Delta State, regretted that Muslims from the region have always been at the receiving end of political appointments.
The leaders, drawn from Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers noted with concern the apathy of some state governors to Muslims in the zone and urged them to integrate Muslims into the state and local polity to justify religious equality as enshrined in Nigeria constitution.
While commending the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar for his efforts to finding peaceful solution to the security challenges in the country, the group enjoined Muslims to utilise the opportunity of Ramadan to pray for peace and unity.
Besides, all Muslims are advised to be law-abiding citizens, while exhibiting tolerance for one another, as exemplified by Prophet Mohammad.
The group urged President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint Muslims from the Southsouth zone into the cabinet, boards and other relevant institutions.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Mumakai Unagha, the group also called on the Federal Government to fulfil the agreement reached with the Academic Staff Union of University to ensure students return to school
The Muslim leaders called on the Senate for the quick passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill to ameliorate the suffering of the masses especially the people of the Niger Delta region.
Intrepreneurship skill has been identified as a viable tool to build a virile nation, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the Yaba College of Technology, Imam Luqman Abdul Raheem, has said.
He stated this during the fourth annual Ramadan lecture of the Muslims Professional Accountants’ Association in Nigeria (MPAAN).
Imam Abdul Raheem said only entrepreneurial success would help Muslims get recognition in the country
“To emerge as a formidable Ummah in the Nigerian competitive environment, we must adopt entrepreneurship as a potent tool for managing our life, time, money, talent, energy, career, fame and several other God-given resources under our custody,” he said.
He said Islam encourages entrepreneurship as a means of allaying poverty, saying the early Muslims were known for their entreprise.
“Entrepreneurship is not new to Islam, the early Muslims were great adventurers and traders using caravans and ships for commerce across the globe,” he said.
He, however, warned them of the probable failures in entrepreneurship, saying that precautions be taken to avoid liquidation.
“At the individual level of analysis, business fail on account of poor idea development and business plan, lack of sustainable capital base; lack of outlook and image and limited international marketing experience, among others,” he said.
The don said for business to develop and for one to become a good entrepreneur, sincerity and expertise are needed.
“Competencies required to raise empire for the Ummah include sincerity, expertise, leadership, strategic thinking, team work and service focus, among others,” he said.
Imam Abdul Raheem also urged them to avoid five forbidden things in business.
“As Muslim professionals, we must be selective in our choice of businesses, enterprises and economic earnings, you must apply the principle of honesty in your choice of entrepreneurship; avoid Riba (interest), avoid Maisir (gambling), avoid Gharar (uncertainty), avoid haram (unlawfulness) and avoid dhulum (hypocrisy),” he said.
MPAAN Amir (President) AbdulMumin Muhibudeen said the essence of the seminar was to enlighten Muslims to be entrepreneur independent and salvage the economy from collapse.
“The only panacea to the economic problem in Nigeria is entrepreneurship. Consequently our association deemed it fit to enlighten its members and public about entrepreneurship towards a healthy and sustainable economy,” he said.
Another guest speaker AbdulWasi Amoo, a lawyer, spoke on the topic: Immorality, Corruption and Terrorism: the Islamic View.
He said immorality in the society included indecent dressing, fornication, and disobedience.
Amoo, the National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Muslim Lawyers Association (MULAN), said Islam abhors corruption and terrorism and it should not be associated to it.