Weekly Trust (Kaduna)
AbdulFatah Olajide & Aliyu Askira in Kaduna
22 November 2002
Lagos & Kaduna — Ever since the idea of hosting the Miss World pageant in the coun-try was made public by its promoters, there have been indications that the controversial beauty show may turn out to be an ill wind that would blow the nation no good.
Even before the staging of its grand finale, which has now been shifted to December 7, a seemingly sponsored publication on the licentious beauty parade has sparked off a violent protest in the country.
Irked by the publication of a provocative cover story titled "Miss World: The World on their feet," which cast aspersions on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in ThisDay newspaper of Saturday November 16, Muslims came out en masse at the Kaduna State branch office of the newspaper, just as a fatwa (religious decree) has been passed for the beheading of the writer of the offensive story as stated in an anonymous letter signed by one Sheikh Abdulkareem Abdullahi and sent to Weekly Trust.
The fatwa states that: "Isioma Daniel has committed a blasphemy against our noble prophet (SAW). Her offence is no less severe than that of Salman Rushdie who wrote the Satanic Verses to defame our prophet (SAW). Therefore, any Muslim who finds her should behead her for the sake of Allah and His rasul (SAW).
The provocative story which has been likened to the Satanic Verses states in its third paragraph thus: "Muslims thought it was immoral to bring ninety-two women to Nigeria and ask them to revel in vanity. When will Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would have chosen a wife from one of them."
From the look of things, Muslims would not be easily placated on this matter. Reactions from Muslim organisations and individuals have been vehement and uncompromising.
The reaction of the president of the Supreme Council for Sharia implementation in Nigeria(SCSN), Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmed was expectedly sharp. He declared that with the blasphemous story, ThisDay newspaper has declared a total war on Islam. He therefore urged Muslims to also declare a total war on the newspaper. "We (Muslims) do not provoke other people, but when we are provoked, we don't rest until we deal with the offending agent. Nobody will denigrate the holy prophet of Islam and live in peace with Muslims," he added.
In another strongly-worded statement by Dr AbdulLateef Adegbite, the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) expressed shock that the publishers of ThisDay "readily provided a platform for such a dastardly statement either deliberately or recklessly without caring for the effect such tantrum would have on the psyche of Muslims" and warned that Muslims worldwide would never take this grievous insult lying low."
In its own reaction, the Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness (MICA) declared that the offensive story was a deliberate attempt to provoke Muslims, and likened it to "the regrettable case of Salman Rushdie and his infamous Satanic Verses."
Rejecting the indirect apology being published by ThisDay newspaper over the blasphemous statement, both MICA and NSCIA gave the publishers of the paper up till tomorrow (Saturday November 23) to publish a comprehensive apology and retraction of the offensive story.
The publication of the offensive story has tended to reinforce the suspicion within the nation's Muslim community that the licentious beauty pageant may have been intended by its promoters to embarrass Muslims, among other objectives.
For the show had earlier been slated for November 30 which falls within the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan before it was shifted to December 7 sequel to a massive outcry by muslims who along with discerning followers of other religions totally abhor such show of shame, as an Islamic leader recently described it.
Again, analysts believe that there is no correlation whatsoever between the tourism industry in the country and the beauty pageant.
Ironically, the blasphemous story published against the prophet has tended to unite the nation's muslims who have not only been unanimous in their condemnation of the story, but have also been sending solidarity text messages on their GSM phones to alert one another on the blasphemy since last Sunday.
AbdulHameed Daramola, a Lagos Muslim told Weekly Trust that he alone alerted over seventy Muslims across the country about the blasphemy through text messages on his GSM since last Sunday when he became aware of the issue.
Meanwhile, in Kaduna, though tension appears to have subsided, eminent Islamic scholars are insisting that the writer of the offensive story cannot jump death sentence for blasphemy. Malam Rufa'i Adamu, the administrative secretary of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria (NSCIA) who spoke in his capacity as a concerned Muslim told Weekly Trust that though the ordinary Muslim may be helpless as Nigeria is not a sharia state, under normal circumstances, the culprit should die. "You cannot escape death no matter the interpretation one may adopt. Of course, one is free to seek to repent, which scholars said may be accepted. But the truth is that death is the final punishment, he said."
He dismissed as rubbish the claim by some people that the writer be forgiven since her action may be due to ignorance, saying the Qur'an says death penalty is paramount.
Already in Kaduna, some people who were angered by ThisDay's response to the issue set the newspaper's office in Malali GRA on fire Wednesday. It did not end there. They dropped what appeared like a warning note that all is not over yet until they stop the paper from further circulation in the North.
At the moment, however, a special squad headed by DCP Edgar Nanakumo of the Kaduna State Police Command has been drafted to monitor suspicious movements and to quell any uprising that may erupt - sequel to the tension in the state.
Josephine Lohor, the Kaduna bureau chief of ThisDay, told the police that she narrowly escaped being matcheted by the mob, as they arrived her office ten minutes after she left.
Malam Musa Yunus, who spoke to Weekly Trust on behalf of the Chief Imam of Tudun Wada (Kagoro Close), where tension rose to unimaginable heights, called on Muslims to ignore the apology offered by ThisDay in its November 19th edition, as he said "it only amounts to adding salt to injury. "You cannot blaspheme the holy prophet and offer a two-paragraph statement as apology. Muslims should boycott the paper completely," he advised. He then urged the publishing company handling the printing of ThisDay (owned by a Muslim) to disengage their services of the newspaper, as "it has committed what many muslims would not forget." He then concluded that what makes the newspaper's case special is the fact that there is no alternative to blasphemy than the death sentence.
The unidentified militant youths Wednesday morning invaded ThisDay's Malali GRA office "in search of their staff" according to an eyewitness, failing which they razed the building. Not even the Ahmadu Bello Way office of the paper was spared of burning. It does appear that uneasy calm has taken over many Muslim-majority states in the North over ThisDay's offensive story.
Aside the religious crisis that it has generated, muslims are of the opinion that the staging of the Miss World pageant may give a boom to promiscuity and worsen the nation's HIV/AIDS plague.
For the promoters of the programme, however, it is the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria. They argue that it would not only enhance the tourism industry in the country but also attract foreign investors to the country. But with the controversy it has been generating and the violence it has ignited, it is obvious that the beauty contest may end up being more of a curse to the nation than a blessing.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2002 Weekly Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
