Prof. Sabitu Ariyo Olagoke, is the founder and spiritual head of the Shafaudeen in Islam World Wide organisation. In this interview with ZAINAB ONI, the cleric speaks on Islam and terrorism, the hijab controversy as well as sundry national issues. Excerpts:
What is your comment on the anticorruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration?
When you look into the holy Quran Chapter 5, verse 62 to 63 which says that you will see a lot of people corruptly enriching themselves, one outsmarting the other and the clerics and the judiciary will be put to question on why they were looking elsewhere while the land they trusted was getting rotten, you’ll understand that President Buhari’s stance has been long overdue and everybody has to support him, because we are in a system where you have corrupt enrichment. There can never be any progress, instead, we will have insecurity, people will experience poverty as we are witnessing right now.
When you look at the home scenario in Nigeria, you will appreciate the natural resources we have, even the human capital. We have everything but unfortunately the dividend of democracy is so minimal and that is why we are wallowing in poverty. So, everybody has to support this particular government in realizing their aims and objectives regarding how best to make Nigeria a fraud-free society and a society that has zero tolerance for corruption. Besides that, we need to support him (President) on institutionalizing discipline because it is under that environment that any effort or democratic dispensation can have a reasonable dividend.
How do you see a situation where many people associate Islam with terrorism, both locally and internationally?
This is a wrong assumption which needs to be corrected because when you look at the rate of terrorism in America and Europe, you will agree with me that statistics has shown that more than 80 per cent is not from religious point of view. But what really gives one a lot of worry about Islam is that even in many Islamic countries, there is no good governance and where there is no good governance, there will be radicalisation because the leader will be operating authoritarianism. Where you are having that and the leader is not forthcoming with the dividends of governance, there will be radicalisation; radicalisation now will hide under the same Quran which the leader says he is upholding. So, various splinter groups will be forming themselves to address poverty and survival of the fittest; that is why we are having a lot of radical groups going into terrorism.
In Nigeria now, when you look at the Boko Haram issue, you will agree with me that there are three players on the row. The first one are the sponsors who believe that they should make the country ungovernable for this government. Number two are those people who started the Yusuf-led group, if you can remember the Yusuf that was killed through extrajudicial means. They were a kind of marabouts that have been serving the influential people around the area, earlier when they went into agreement that if we help you to get into power, will you go into Sharia. You know the politicians, they just frivolously said yes that by the time they got into power, they said they should do with commissionership and this is what they rejected and there was a problem. It was first a problem that was trivialized; that was why it snowballed into a lot of problems we are now experiencing. The third group happens to be the environment of poverty, because most of the people that were used are unskilled workers that were destroying the churches and mosques.
They are products of Almajiri, the products of poverty. If not for the presence of those people, it wouldn’t have lasted to any length. Where we are having poverty, if there is any insurgence, that insurgency will snowball into what I can term a global phenomenon.So, the lesson here is that the Islamic world must try as much as possible to internalise the subject matter of the Quran and as well implement the provision contained therein. For example, Quran 38 verse 26 says oh Dawuud, ensure that you see yourself as a true servant of God on earth and that you must lead or rule through justice and equity and that you must not rule the people through personal opinion. That democracy is about consensus of opinion, the nitty-gritty of the fundamentals of how we can operate democracy to its fruitful head. So, if all these leaders who claim to be Christians or Muslims, if they are scripture- compliant, they would be able to really govern accordingly to the extent that the people will be able to experience prosperity rather than poverty. Where you have prosperity, we can never experience insurgence. For example, when you look at militant activities, it is a form of terrorism but because they are not hiding under any religion, that is why we are not terming them as terrorists. They only term them as militants. But whether terrorists or militants, they are both worrisome. So, government must see to all these to ensure that the lives and property of the people are safe and secure.
What’s your view about the recent court ruling upholding the wearing of Hijab by female secondary school students in Lagos State?
You know there was a problem on the use of Hijab in Oyo State in 2003 and Muslim media practitioners of Nigeria came to me to write a position paper. It was that position paper that put everything to its rightful order and they asked me to convert it to a book which I entitled ‘Islam and the concept of Hijab’. What is really happening regarding hijab is that unlike turban, hijab is entrenched in the Quran and once anything is entrenched in the Quran, it is sacrosanct. That is, it has become part and parcel of the lifestyle of Muslim women.
What I am saying in essence is that what Lagos State has done is okay but hijab is not necessarily for fashion. It has a divine implication on the person that is wearing it and this is where parents must come in so that these children can realise the reason why they are wearing hijab. It has both social and spiritual implications in the lives of anybody wearing it. For example, when you are wearing hijab, you must shun anger and display modest virtues.
But if parents do not intervene and from outside we are now forcing people to wear hijab, they will make a mess of the whole thing. In foreign countries like London, you will see female Muslim students wearing their hijab. Recently the Pope instructed France to allow Muslims to wear hijab. So, if it this can come from the Pope, then it means it has a universal acceptance as a divine article of faith which has to be respected. Then, the users must be mindful of their behaviours, the way they comport themselves in the society.
