Hijab Controversy: MURIC Sends Petition to Rep for Investigation

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Thursday, January 4th, 2018

LAGOS, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Wednesday confirmed it has dispatched its memorandum to the House of Representatives over the investigation on recent refusal of call to bar of a Muslim female Law graduate – Miss AbdulSalaam Firdaus Amasa in Abuja.

Following the incident, the House Committee on Judiciary and Justice was mandated Wednesday December 20, 2017 to investigate the circumstances surrounding Abuja Law School ”hijabgate”.

In a statement issued Wednesday by the MURIC’s Director, Prof. Ishaq Lakin Akintola, the memorandum which it said was addressed to the Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary and Justice and entitled “Memorandum in Respect of Call to Bar Case in the School of Law”, affirmed the mandatory nature of hijab for Muslim women in the Qur’an and restated the provisions of the Nigerian constitution on freedom of religion and respect for the dignity of the human person.

”The memorandum also revealed previous court decisions in favour of hijab including a Court of Appeal pronouncement confirming the right of Muslim women to use hijab” the statement indicated.

The group appealed to the House of Representatives to “stand up for justice in this matter of infringement of Allah-given fundamental right of a lady who, having satisfied all righteousness in the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, is being denied her right to practice the law profession on account of her being a Muslim”.

”The memorandum also stated that the Law School Hijabgate has brought to the fore the myriad of persecutions faced by Muslim women because of hijab in various sectors. It adds, “In the process, thousands of Muslims have been denied international passports, driving licences and national identity cards while millions have been disenfranchised during elections. It is a case of mass profiling of Muslims.”

“We therefore appeal to the House of Representatives as the voice of the voiceless and the bulwark against oppression and persecution, to take the bull by the horn by criminalizing the obstruction, denial and stigmatization of female Muslim women in hijab while carrying out their civic responsibilities like obtaining international passport, driving licence, voters’ registration card,…” Prof Akintola stressed.

In addition, MURIC sought some reliefs including: immediate ‘call to bar’ for Miss Amasa; a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the molestation of Muslim students who were forced to remove their hijab on that fateful day; identification and adequate disciplinary measure (or measures) in respect of the Law School female lecturer who allegedly stepped on the hijab of Firdaus and debased it by using her feet to rub it on the floor and “kicked it around”;

The organization also called for a review of the code of dressing in the Nigerian Law School as it affects the ‘manifestation’ of religious beliefs and a review of the dress code in all professions where uniforms are used such that female Muslims in such professions can use suitable hijab along with the uniform.