- The top Muslim body has threatened legal action against the Nigerian Law School and two others
- The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) accused the law school of lawlessness and Islamophobia for refusing to call a graduate, Firdaus Amosa, to bar
- The NSCIA said Amosa who has not violated any law has been exposed to ridicule for standing for her religion
A top Muslim body, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), has threatened legal action against the Nigerian law School for refusing to call one of its students, Firdaus Amosa, to bar.
NSCIA also threatened a nationwide protest should the Nigerian Law School fail to do the needful by calling Amosa to bar.
In a statement released on Tuesday, December 19, and signed by the deputy secretary general of the NSCIA, Salisu Shehu, the organization accused the Nigerian Law School of lawlessness and Islamophobia.
Shehu, a professor said, there is no doubt that Amosa has been victimised, humilated and traumatised by the action of the Nigerian Law School, the Body of Benchers and the Council for Legal Education on account of her faith.
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He said the graduate was denied every right of joining her professional colleagues because of her religion.
NSCIA added that Amosa who the group said has not violated any law has been exposed to ridicule for standing for her religion.
Shehu said: “The NSCIA demands that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Justice, call the Council for Legal Education and the Nigerian Law School to order so that they will not stoke religious crisis in the country.
“Our Council patiently waits for what the Ministry will do as it puts other options on the table including litigation and nation-wide protests.
“Those who think they can ride roughshod on the rights of Muslims just because their co-Christian colonialists did it successfully will have to wake up and realise that Muslims are equal stakeholders in this country.
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"Besides, there are many instances of judicial pronouncements on the unconstitutionality of denying Muslim ladies the right of using hijab.
"For instance, in suit no ID/424M/20004 concerning Abidemi Rasaq & ors V. Commissioner of Health, Lagos State, the Lagos State High Court ruled that a circular of the Lagos State School of Health Technology banning students from wearing hijab is unconstitutional. Similarly, in suit no CA/IL/49/2009 involving the Provost Kwara State College of Education Ilorin V. Basirat Saliu, the Appellate Court ruled that the use of hijab by female Muslims qualifies as a fundamental right under Section 38 of the Constitution.
"It beggars belief that the Islamophobic posturing of the Nigerian Christian establishment is legendary even if this dates back to the Christian colonial past and its vestiges.
"The hatred for Muslims and Islam appears to be a virulent cancer that has spread across the body of those who use religion to oppress and deprive others of their religious rights.
"For a country that has a majority Muslim population that is fully conscious of the grounds it had lost due to the Christian colonial rule and cultural imposition of the past, taking a lot of infractions against Muslims is not borne out of docility.
"The dignified taciturnity of Muslims in the face of oppression in Nigeria is borne out of the premium Islam places on mutual co-existence and peaceful living," Shehu said.
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NAIJ.com earlier reported that the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa'ad Abubakar, reacted to the hijab controversy recently.
The sultan who also doubles as the president of NSCIA said Hijab simply means decent dressing for Muslim women and a part and parcel of Islam as a faith.
He said he could not decipher why the issue of Hijab would be so controversial to the extent that female Muslims who adorn Hijab would be 'molested'.
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Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Tuesday, 19 December 2017