Opinion
Are Muslims really intolerant? by Lateef Adewole
The Insight by Lateef Adewole
“Religion is the opium of the masses” – Karl Marx
Last week, I wrote about the controversies that Bishop Kukah’s speech generated. As I anticipated, I got sufficient backlash. And Ironically, they came from both Muslims and Christians. Known friends and readers, and complete strangers who stumbled on the article, reached out to me on the WhatsApp number in the article. I interacted with many of them.
Many Muslims disagreed with me that I tried to exonerate Bishop Kukah by claiming he might not mean the religious slant adduced to his speech. I was inundated with many of his previous opinions which reflected similar slant of attacks on Islam. However, my position remained the same that since he came out to deny attacking Islam or Muslims, why should I think otherwise? In my understanding of Islam, people are judged by exactly what they say or do, not what we think their intentions are. So, even if he meant otherwise, that’s between him and his God.
On the other hand, some Christians also disagreed with me. Of note is a childhood friend of almost four decades who we have never agreed on religious issues. He is an intellectual, an ardent reader of my articles and a brilliant commentator on them. He categorically rejected the part where I wrote: “And this is not exclusive to Islam. There are too many things that Christians and Christian leaders do, which are completely at variance with the ways of Jesus Christ they claim to believe in, follow and even worship. Can their acts be used as representing what Christianity stands for? Religions themselves are never the problems but the ways their adherents practice them, especially here in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria. Let me not go further on this.”
In his characteristic manner, he did not agree that Christians can do what Muslims do. He said: “I have always told you, whatever you write about Christianity is a matter of personal opinion that doesn’t make you an authority in matters of religion. And as a matter of personal opinion also, I subscribe to the school of thought who claims Islam provides a safe haven for fundamentalism which is also an indulgence to violence and terrorism if you like.”
Christians praying in a church
This has remained his usual line whenever we have discussions about religion. But for me, I deal with what I can see. His stand is based on “spirituality”. About my “eyes and minds not being spiritually opened” to understand Christianity. I got it, since most people leading in Christianity based their “superiority in knowledge” on the “unseen and unverifiable” claims of revelations and communications with a higher being. Not just what they read and learn from the bible.
This is contrary to Islamic perspective which emphasizes knowledge. In Islam, no matter how highly placed or respected you are, when you make claims about any Islamic practice, you must back them up with verifiable verses of Qur’an, haadith, or sunnah (practices of the prophet on record), and not some “God told me something”. That’s the fundamental of Islam.
Let me now address the main topic today. I was prompted to do some extra thinking, research and study based on commentaries I received last week.
“In Kano, a Christian woman was killed by Muslims during Ramadan fasting. In Kubwa, A Christian preacher was killed early morning. Muslims rioted in the northern Nigeria because of cartoon of prophet Muhammed (pbuh). Muslims protested against Nigeria hosting of Miss World pageant in Abuja. Boko haram terrorists, who killed thousands are Muslims. Attackers of a village shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’.”
These and many others are things we have heard in Nigeria over the years. Like I said in my last article: “Many things that people who claim to be Muslims do are not part of Islam. Or how can we reconcile Allah saying in the Qur’an that if you kill a human being, it is like killing all mankind (Q5:32) and the Boko Haram terrorists, who claim to be Muslims and fighting for Allah but continued to kill innocent people in thousands for the past 10 years? Is that Islam? So, many people do not represent Islam in their sayings, manners and actions.”
This is an opinion that my Christian friend still disagrees with. I then asked myself; are Muslims really intolerant? Many will wonder why such question again after the various atrocities attributed to some “Muslims” like listed above. Let me make something clear, not all Muslims are good or bad. Same as Christians. And that; “Religions themselves are never the problems but the ways their adherents practice them, especially here in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria”.
Let me start from the basics. Most of us are on many WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms which are secular. Oftentimes, the rules usually prohibit the post of religious messages. Let everyone check their heart and recollect which of the two religious adherents break these rules by posting unsolicited preachings, prayers, invitation to religious programmes and other religious commentaries?
Again, in Nigeria, the dominant religion in the core north is Islam while the dominant religion in the South-East and South-South is Christianity. An overview of the level of tolerance of each religion to the other will reveal much. How many churches are in these Muslim core northern states? They are everywhere. Too numerous to count. Ironically, it is in the heart of the Islamic caliphate, Sokoto, that Bishop Kukah has blossomed. He is given the latitude which emboldened him to speak truth to power even when he rankles his generous hosts. But when you get to the Christian dominated states in the south, you will only see extremely few mosques.
In a whole city, you can count the number of available mosques on the fingers of one hand. In Aba, Abia state where I live for many years, there were just about two or three mosques in the whole of the great Enyimba city at the time. Not much has changed till date. Same applies in other cities in the state and other states in the South-East and South-South. I know because I lived, worked and traversed the regions in my 10 year sojourn in that axis. Nothing like daily congregational prayers in mosques. We have to “travel” to get a mosque for “Juma’a” on Fridays. My wife was always conscious because of her mode of dressing.
During my NYSC, I served in Ikot Ntung village in Akwa Ibom. Every Friday, I had to travel to Eket, a distance of over 10 km just to observe congregational service. There was no single mosque in the whole local government. It’s that bad. So, I am able to compare with what is obtainable in the north since I also spent another 10 years in that region. All these are from my personal, real-life experiences. Not some information read from newspapers, books or tell-tales.
In public schools, there is freedom of religion as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This guaranteed the use of hijab (head scarf) by female Muslims. However, this has remained a tug of war as many schools with Christians as heads (principals and headmasters/mistresses) often prevent the Muslims from using hijab. They do everything to frustrate them.
This case has gone to courts in many states with judgements in favour of Muslims, yet, these Christian heads will not allow the Muslim girls to use their hijabs in peace. There has been cases all over the South-West states. One prominent was the University of Ibadan International School. A Christian principal did not only prevent the students from wearing their hijabs within the school premises, she forced them to remove it several meters away (off campus) on the road to the school gate.
Similar things play out in many offices which are government owned. There are many cases where Christian bosses forced their Muslim subordinates to remove their hijabs. I know because some sisters of mine have experienced it before. All these are done quietly and subtly without the knowledge of the public. It is when Muslims rise up to protest such injustices and intimidations that the whole world will hear of it and call Muslims troublemakers.
Historically, it was war before Muslims were allowed just one or two hours on Friday afternoons to observe their weekly congregational service. Most teachers, especially lecturers in higher institutions who are Christians would deliberately put their lectures or tests at that period to force Muslims to abandon their religious service. What other terrorism could be more than that?
Let’s not begin with private sector, whether schools or workplaces. It is like “hell fire” for many “serious” Muslims. When my son was to go to secondary school, I visited many good schools around. Many are not specifically Christian schools but owned by Christians. I was told that my child cannot abstain from the Christian worships or do any Islamic prayer within the school premises. And that he must even join the choir, for which I will use my money to buy the choir’s robe (gown) for him. That’s ludicrous.
Whereas, when I eventually got one, it is owned by a Muslim, but admits students who are Christians. The school even created a chapel for their worship and allow them time for their service. That’s the difference. My children attended a school owned by Christian at primary school level. The programmes are over 95% dominated by Christian practices.
The story of Barrister Firdaus Apasa trended some years ago. At the call to bar ceremony in Abuja, she was prevented from being Called to Bar because she refused to remove her hijab. She lost few years while she fought her case in court. She eventually won and later was Called to Bar after two years. That happened in an environment of legal minds. They threw their professional callings to the wind by engaging in illegality, just to suppress an innocent girl from practising her religion.
The South-Western region is one with fairly proportional ratio of Muslims and Christians. And the region remains the stabilising zone in the Nigerian state. Unfortunately, some “extremists” in Christianity and Islam are trying to destabilise the region with their fanaticism in recent times.
It is rare in most families not to have a mix of the two religions. In mine, from my parents’ generation, half of them are Muslims and half Christians. Not just ordinary Christians, leaders of some Christian denominations at the state and national levels. In my generation, there are those who are Christians while many of us are Muslims. By the way, I attended an Anglican Primary and Catholic Secondary schools.
I have also observed that when it comes to marriage, despite the supposed level of religious tolerance in south-west, it is easier for Muslim families to accept Christian son-in-law or daughter-in-law with their faith than the reverse. This is the reality. We hear of the story of the step-mother of Bishop Oyedepo who died recently. Despite that she was a Muslim, the “powerful” Bishop made her burial to become controversial by influencing her children not to allow her to be buried according to Islamic rites, against her wish while she was alive. That’s the level of tolerance I am talking about. Muslims will rarely do that.
I have not made a generalisation that all Christians are intolerant. In fact, many of my great friends who will also read this article are Christians. We have been together for many decades till date. We have become like families. Not to talk of my own family members who are also Christians. But, let each search their conscience. Their answers are there.
However, my general observation is that, it is when Muslims react that everyone would hear of what Muslims have done. Whereas many Christians use their positions and influence to intimidate, terrorise, and hinder Muslims from practising their religion in peace, subtly, surreptitiously and underground, away from the public eyes.
Like the examples I cited earlier, many of which I totally condemned. According to the report then, the woman in Abuja was said to have gone to the front of the mosque where the Muslims were observing morning prayer, shouting her preachings and disturbing their worships. It was said that she had been previously cautioned several times to no avail. Did she do right? Killing her was against Islam. Similar thing happened to the woman in Kano. Why would anyone deliberately stir trouble?
I lived in an area surrounded by three churches. In the past ten years, the noise from their loudspeakers has been hell. They engaged in endless church programmes both during the day and many times overnight, making it impossible for people to sleep. We have appealed to them numerous times but they remained recalcitrant, despite knowing that they are engaging in illegality. Any day I decide to take them up legally with government and they are sanctioned, is the day they will remember that I am a Muslim. They can even call me “fanatic”. That’s the tolerance I am speaking about.
Muslims also have their prayers five times daily in mosques with loud calls to prayer, but no single prayer will normally lasts longer than ten minutes. That’s less than an hour in a day. All other excesses which constitute inconveniences to the neighbourhood are condemnable too. Islam does not allow such.
How many people can recall what caused the anti-Miss World riot in Kaduna? It was a Christian by name; Isioma Daniels, who wrote an article in Thisday newspaper on 16th of November, 2002. She wrote; “The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring ninety-two women to Nigeria and ask them to revel in vanity. What would Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them”. Was this not blasphemous? But it was the riot that broke out after that many would remember.
It is not the way of Muslims to go all out to castigate Christians or Christianity or make caricature of Jesus Christ. That’s against Islam. According to Islam, Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ, pbuh) is one of revered messengers of Allah. Believing in all the messengers of Allah is one of the articles of faith in Islam. So, derogating him is a serious sin in Islam. Likewise his mother, Maryam (Virgin Mary). She is an exalted woman in Islam that Allah revealed a whole chapter of the Qur’an in her name; Surat Maryam (Qur’an chapter 19). Same cannot be said of Christians concerning Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). Many of them do not even believe he was a messenger of God.
Like those intolerant Christians, there are many Muslims who are also intolerant. They find it difficult to accommodate people of different faith or can even provoke them. Their actions are unIslamic.
In all, like my stand has always been, it is not the religion, whether Islam or Christianity that is the problem. It is how their adherents practice them that create the problems. Sadly, the countries of origins of these religions do not act the ways of our people in Africa and Nigeria in particular. We have turned the religions upside-down and only exploit it for our selfish interests, be it financial, political, social or economic. Many are insincere about it. They are pretenders.
In spite of all our claims to be religious in this country, with mosques and churches all over the place, the level of atrocities that we commit make nonsense of such claims to our beliefs in God. Many only hide under religion to perpetrate their evils. The earlier the people wake up from their slumber the better for all of us and the country. We must learn to tolerate one another. Only one God created all of us. And it is by His permission that we practise different religions. He could have made the whole world practise only one if He wants.
May God continue to guide us aright.
God Bless Nigeria.
Lateef Adewole is a political analyst and social commentator can be reached by email lateefadewole23@gmail.com or via WhatsApp +2348020989095 and @lateef_adewole on Twitter
