Newsrescue Reports.........
Due to the court judgment
permitting female Muslim students to use hijab with their school uniforms,
Christian students in the State of Osun went to school in church regalia as
instructed by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Osun chapter.
While a voluminous hue and
cry from various quarters has followed this development, we wish to advise Osun
CAN to fall back on doctrinal teachings, model influence as well as precedence
in Christendom.
For doctrinal teaching,
Osun CAN should allow the Bible to guide its action on the matter. The Bible
enjoins Christian females to cover their heads with a veil (I Corinthians
11:4-13).
I
Corinthians 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered,
dishonoureth his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her
head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were
shaven. 6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be
a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7 For a man
indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of
God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For the man is not of the woman:
but the woman of the man. 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the
woman for the man. 10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head
because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman,
neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of the
man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13 Judge in
yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
As a model for Christian
women, Mary the mother of Jesus (peace be upon him) provided the practical
example of how a Christian woman should dress. Mary uses veils in all her
pictures that we have seen and she should be a model for all Christian women.
Christendom has a precedent
in the use of veils by Catholic nuns. There is little or no difference between
the Muslim hijab and the Catholic nun’s veil. Osun CAN and indeed all Christian
women can adopt this.
So instead of this rancour,
we advise synergy between Christian and Muslim doctrinal teachings. The root of
religious crisis can be traced to the lacuna between scriptural teachings and
the practice among adherents of Christianity and Islam. Although both religions
teach love and peaceful coexistence, the practitioners do the opposite.
In this hijab controversy,
however, the Muslims have proved more faithful to the teaching of their
scripture. They wished to use the hijab with the school uniform but school
authorities disallowed them. Instead of taking the law into their hands, they
petitioned the state government.
Although Ogbeni Aregbesola
is a Muslim he did not give them the permission to use it. Still exercising
restraint, they went to court. Afterall the court should always be the final
arbiter in a democratic setting. However, the reaction of Osun CAN to the
court’s pronouncement leaves much to be desired.
In the present
circumstance, we of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) are of the opinion that
the way forward is for Osun CAN to dig into Christian archives, design a
Christian veil that matches both the colour and stuff of the school uniforms
just as the Muslims have done and direct Christian students in the state to use
them.
But nobody should expect
female Muslim students of Osun to stop using their hijab after this landmark judgment.
The only logical option left is for Osun CAN to seek parity for female
Christian students in the state to use the Christian veil on their school
uniforms. Osun CAN will be playing dog in the manger if it fails to do this but
insists that Muslims should not use their hijab. If someone does not need
something, he has no moral right to stop others from using it.
This is where the Osun
police command must be on alert. The police must not abdicate its
responsibility. MURIC warned not too long ago that the so-called peaceful
coexistence that exists in the South West is a very thin veneer. The cord
holding Christians and Muslims together in the sub-region can be likened to a
single thread of a spider’s web. It is too fragile and it exists because the
Muslims have chosen to remain quiet on the issue of religious freedom. We can
all see how it is playing out now.
To cement our position, we
can trace the origin of the two religions because today was born from the wombs
of yesterday. Islam came to Nigeria in 1085. Christianity came in 1842. Islam
was in Yorubaland as early as the 17th century, about 200 years before
Christianity. But on arrival, the British colonialists enslaved the Muslims by
imposing Christian culture on all facets of life in the land at the expense of
Islamic landmarks. This should have been addressed after independence but it
was not done.
Each time the Muslims ask
for their rights, they were told to go and live in Kano or Sokoto if they want
to enjoy their rights. We cannot take this discrimination any more. We demand
the right to religious freedom. Our right is our right. This is why we support
those clamouring for restructuring in Nigeria. The whole gamut of our
coexistence must be revisited. They will be surprised that it cannot be about
oil alone. South West Muslims demand religious emancipation.
The hijab saga in the State
of Osun is informed by the reluctance of Osun CAN to set the Muslims free. CAN
has long been promoting a neo-colonial agenda. MURIC advises CAN to let the
Muslims go. There is no need for bickering. We can eat together and work
together so long as no group lords it on the other. CAN can use its Christian
veil. We are already using our hijab.
We could have ignored the
church garments which Osun CAN ordered Christian students to wear but it is not
even in the interest of Christian children or that of their parents. For how
long can the ridiculous show continue? The Muslim hijab is cheap and small.
Church regalia is costly and cumbersome. Can the parents afford it all the
time? Osun CAN is cutting its nose to spite its face.
Unlike the church garment,
hijab is not too conspicuous on a school uniform. The church garment covers up
a school uniform whereas hijab leaves the uniform uncovered. It is about head
and bosom cover, not about a garment that covers the whole body. CAN missed
this point.
Again we have no serious
grouse against the use of church garments in school, afterall it is more decent
that the short, tight and provocative skirts we call school uniform, except that
it elicits public ridicule and promotes indiscipline in schools.
MURIC invites Osun CAN to
join hands with us in the fight against indecent dressing and immorality.
Nigeria cannot be pretending to fight HIV and AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases as well as premarital sex and teenage pregnancy when
school uniforms are designed to seduce the opposite sex. We must be serious for
once.
In our concluding remark,
we remind Osun CAN that Nigeria has experienced enough religious crises. We
have lost thousands of our compatriots including properties worth billions of
dollars. Neither economic growth nor political stability can be achieved
without peace. We therefore urge Osun CAN to tow the path of dialogue in
resolving this impasse.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Newsrescue
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