MURIC Rejects US Pressure on Shariah, Says Islamic Law Is Non Negotiable
- MURIC rejected calls from US-linked figures urging Nigeria to outlaw Shariah and warned that such pressure crossed a constitutional red line
- Prof. Ishaq Akintola questioned America’s intentions in Nigeria’s anti-terror efforts and described the suggestions as foreign interference
- The organisation warned that Nigerian Muslims would resist any local or external attempt to tamper with Shariah, which it described as a hard-earned institution
The Muslim Rights Concern has warned that Shariah remains a central part of Muslim life and will not be discarded under any form of external influence.
The organisation issued its position after reports surfaced that an American academic advised the United States government to push Nigeria into outlawing Shariah and the Hisbah.
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Professor Ishaq Akintola, who leads MURIC, said calls for such pressure were unacceptable and raised serious concerns about the motives behind them.
MURIC questions calls from US circles
The group reacted to comments by Dr Ebenezer Obadare, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Obadare had urged Washington to pressure President Bola Tinubu to abolish Shariah during a congressional briefing connected to Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern.
Akintola said the advice crossed a boundary that should not be touched. He described Shariah as a legal and constitutional framework that Muslims fought to protect.
He said any attempt to tamper with it would be interpreted by Muslims as an attack on Islam.
Concerns over sovereignty and intent
The MURIC director said the suggestion amounted to interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
He questioned whether the United States was committed to helping Nigeria tackle terrorism or seeking to undermine Islam. He said surrendering the country’s sovereignty to foreign pressure was unacceptable.
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Akintola accused some Christian voices of using foreign platforms to revive old opposition to Shariah. He said their strategy was an attempt to achieve through external influence what they had failed to achieve through local democratic processes.
He said Nigerian Muslims would continue to back the federal government’s fight against extremist groups as long as there was a clear distinction between combating terrorism and interfering in religious practice.
He warned that the attitude of Muslims would change if any government attempted to outlaw what he called a hard earned institution.
Akintola described the call from Obadare as mischievous and reactionary. He said it carried an imperialistic tone that should have no place in modern democratic society. He added that the conversation must remain within the bounds of Nigeria’s constitution and respect for its religious diversity.
MURIC lambasts CAN over position on alleged genocide
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) had issued a strong reaction to recent statements and actions attributed to the Christian Association of Nigeria.
The organisation said CAN’s persistent description of Nigeria’s security breakdown as Christian genocide and its acceptance of calls for possible foreign intervention posed a grave threat to national stability.
MURIC made its position public in a statement signed by its executive director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
Source: Legit.ng
