Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad
Abubakar III has stated that
putting on hijab is a right and not
a privilege for Muslims across
the nation. The Sultan spoke in Benin City at
the General Assembly and
Executive National Council
Meeting of the Nigeria Supreme
Council for Islamic Affairs
(NSCIA). Abubakar said though Christians
were not believed to be terrorists
but they committed wicked
crimes against humanity. He, however, hailed the Pope for
making a very strong statement
defending Islam as a religion of
peace. On the hijab controversy, the
Sultan said: “Hijab is our right not
a privilege. It is not a favour to
us. It is our right. “And we hold on to the
Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria that
guarantees freedom of worship. “That is why we don’t disturb
anybody who wants to go and
worship the way he wants.” He added: “Nigeria is a multi
religious state, not a singular
state. And being a multi-religious
state, we must allow the various
religions to go on but we must not
trample on each other’s right, which means I must be allowed
to practice my religion the way I
believe as ordered me by the
Holy Quran and nothing else. “So when we get this done, the
issue of hijab and so many other
things affecting Islam, I believe is
our right, not a privilege, unless
the Constitution is changed.” On bad elements in Islam, he
said: “Those bad people among
us, like in other religions, we
should pick them out and teach
them the tenets of Islam. “If they refuse to change, that is
their own problem. We will meet
with the creator on the judgement
day. “In any society, there are many
terribly bad people. So many,
who are not Muslims but carry
out criminal activities with some
Muslim organisations in America,
France and even in Nigeria. “Those people doing negative
things should be called criminals
or terrorists but not Muslims. “I’ve never heard of Christian
terrorists but we have heard of
so many Christians or followers
of other religions who committed
heinous crimes against humanity. “But they didn’t claim to do it for
their religions and we did not hold
them against their religions.”
