We Want Fridays Declared As Work Free Day For Muslims Like Sunday – Islamic Leader

Ishaq Akintola
A prominent Muslim in Nigeria speaking on behalf
of a large sector of the Islamic faith has urged
the Nigerian government to declare Fridays public
holidays for Muslims.
The Director of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC,
Ishaq Akintola, has called for ‘fair treatment’
between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
The professor of Islamic Eschatology said Nigeria
is not a secular state as according to him, it does
not recognize religion.
In a chat with the Punch, Akintola said:-
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“I still insist Nigeria is not a secular
state. It does not recognise any
religion at all. An example is the
Sallah holidays. Although Christians
used to enjoy Christmas and other
holidays, there was no Sallah holiday
for Muslims on Eid el-Fitr and Eid el-
Kabir days during the colonial days.
We wrenched that from our
oppressors’ hands after a long
struggle.
“Another example where freedom
has come our way is where Nigerian
Christians compelled Muslims to
operate Christian financial system
with its riba (interest) which is
haram (forbidden) for Muslims, yet
they refused to allow Muslims to
practise the Islamic banking until a
former governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
(now Emir of Kano), belled the cat by
introducing Islamic banking.
“What exactly do I mean? Nigerian
Christians have been enjoying
everything they need since the
British took over the country and
colonised it. They have the Christian
common law while they object to
Muslims having Shariah. They enjoy
Christo-Western education while
they restrict Muslim children’s
access to Islamic education.
Christians are free to do whatever
they like on Sundays but Muslims are
chained to their workplaces on
Fridays. That chain must break.
Freedom is our cry.
“The government supports both
Christian and Muslim pilgrimages.
Christian and Muslim prayers are
said at official functions. The
preamble of the Nigerian Constitution
leans heavily on God. So, we are a
multi-religious nation. It is when
Christian leaders want to pull the
wool over our eyes that they claim
that Nigeria is a secular country.
“We must widen the horizon of the
quest for self-determination. They
hold Christian court or church
marriage whose certificate is
recognised by law whereas mosque
marriage certificate is not
recognised. Christian schoolchildren
use Christian school uniforms but
Muslim children are disallowed from
using the hijab. Muslim women are
denied driving licences and
international passports in Nigeria on
account of their use of hijab.
“There is an urgent need to
straighten this lopsided system. It is
not working. Nigerian Muslims still
remain oppressed today because they
have yet to be emancipated in the
four examples above. There are more
areas of oppression. But there are
one or two aspects where the
Muslims have been liberated.
“So you can see that it is all about
struggling for liberation. It is like a
master-slave affair. Those who sit on
the necks of Muslims are reluctant to
set them free. But we will get there
whether the oppressor likes it or not.
It is interesting to note that
Christians know that a Muslim
commits a sin each time he collects
or gives riba yet they never freely
allowed it. What do you call that? Do
we love our neighbours?
“Do you call that freedom of
religion? Isn’t there some element of
selfishness in that? Didn’t Jesus teach
loving the neighbour? I remember
that a particular bishop from the
East led his followers in a public
demonstration against the
introduction of Islamic banking.
Ridiculous, isn’t it?
“As for the claim that Muslims are
being favoured by the present
administration, that is large-scale
falsehood. Even Nigerian toddlers
know that Buhari is religion-blind.
He is not a fanatic. He just wants to
fix Nigeria.”
“How has the present administ