By Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, Abuja and AbdulRaheem Aodu, Kaduna
Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) yesterday lampooned the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that indicted the Nigerian Army for reckless action in their December 2015 clash against the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), describing members of the IMN as “hypocrites,” who believed they were above the law.
The council, which distanced itself from activities of the movement, also known as Shi’ites, said “they were not good Muslims and were neither here nor there when it came to Islam and its teachings”.
The chairman, Working Committee of the Kaduna state chapter of the Council, Sheikh Mohammed Suleiman, told reporters yesterday, shortly after the SCSN seminar on the activities of the Shi’ites in Nigeria, that the Shi’ites were very dangerous and were not true Muslims.
But in a reaction last night, IMN spokesman, Malam Ibrahim Musa flayed the SCSN for its position saying their defence of the December killings contravened the teachings of Islam and “demonstration of their hate preaching and intolerance”.
Sheikh Suleiman had accused the Shi’ites of “abusing the holy Prophet of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), Aisha and Khalifa Abubakar, among others.”
He said: “We show some lectures given by the Shi’ite scholars that show that they are not good Muslims. So, what the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up the government says about the Shi’ites is true and so every Muslim should support that.
“What the soldiers did against them as rightly said by our leader is right. Even in Iran, where the Shi’ites have their base, no Chief of Army Staff will be passing and the Shi’ites will stop him, talk less of Nigeria where the Muslims are in the majority and the Sunnah Muslims are in the majority.”
He, however, cautioned the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) against its utterances, even as he calls on Christians to take up arms to defend themselves.
“We are calling on CAN to watch its words. It is wrong for them to call on Christians to take up their arms to defend themselves.
“A Christian leader in person of former President Obasanjo had ruled this country for eight years nobody said Muslims should take up arms to defend themselves. We also had former President Jonathan who ruled this country for six years; nobody said Muslim should take up arms.
“So, why would they be saying Christians should take up arms and defend themselves. We should be very careful because this country belongs to us all. The Muslims cannot send away the Christians and can the Christians send the Muslims away.
We should live in peace and harmony.”
But, speaking with Blueprint last night, the IMN spokesman said: “It is surprising that a group claiming to be an Islamic group will denounce the faith of fellow Muslims and justify their killings. This is unfortunate. We don’t believe this is a serious Muslim group that is out to espouse the ideals and teachings of Islam in Nigeria”.
He said the statement corroborated the position of groups such as the SCSN as the “ideological centerpiece of hate-monger terrorist groups like IS and Boko Haram that are daily killing innocent souls all over the world”.
Musa added that anyone who pronounces someone else as a non-believer has transgressed boundaries. “How can you call someone that pray, fasts and goes to on pilgrimage as none Muslim? That is the basis of the terror we are grappling with today,” he added.
According to him, even if Shi’ites blocked the road of the Chief of Army Staff “that was not enough excuse for one, a Muslim group for that matter, to justify the murder of over 1,000 people within two days.”
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