July 15, 2015

Nigeria Muslims reject calls to ban hijab in the country

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Wednesday 15 Jul 2015 - 14:02 Makkah mean time-28-9-1436

(File image)

Abuja, (IINA) - Defending the religious rights of Nigerian Muslims, a leading Muslim group has rejected the call to stop and search hijab wearing women under any circumstances, urging for more respect for women, according to media reports.
“We are certainly not going to support any ban on the hijab under whatever guise,” said Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, secretary-general of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (an umbrella group for the Muslim community in Nigeria).
He said the policy of singling out Muslim women wearing hijab within the context of government counterterrorism measures “would amount to profiling” on the basis of religion.
The Muslim leader emphasized that the JNI (Jama’atu Nasril Islam) also opposes the frisking of “all Muslim women” by security agencies, “except, of course, where there is strong suspicion.”
“In law, everyone is presumed innocent until the contrary is established,” he said.
According to Abubakar, such measures aren’t only discriminatory, but also fail to resolve the root cause of the problem.
“The hijab is being blamed as if it were the hijab itself that was carrying out these dastardly acts,” he said.
Muslims all over Nigeria have frown on the latest security lapses in Nigeria and its neighboring countries, demanding more respect for the rights of Muslims who are sometimes stopped and searched indiscriminately.
They have also called on President Muhammadu Buhari's government to track down the Boko Haram insurgency, which has been terrorizing the northern part of the country since 2009.
From his side, Professor Ishaq Akintola, Muslim Professor of Islamic Eschatology at the Lagos State University, said the Muslim community was against the search of women wearing hijab.
Justifying their decision, Nigerian security authorities said the new rules were forced due to increase of bombing attacks carried out by veiled women.
On the other side, Professor Dawud Noibi, the executive secretary of Muslim Ummah of south-west of Nigeria, said that singling out hijab-wearing women was wrong.
“It would be wrong for the army or the police to single out Muslim women who wear hijab for security search simply because the Boko Haram insurgents use a similar mode of dressing to carry out their suicide bomb attacks," Noibi said.
Azeez Olasupo said such move was tantamount to denying the Muslim women their right to freedom.
SM/IINA

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