Book Title: Voice of MURIC, Volume 1 Author: Professor Ishaq Akintola No. of Pages: 240 ISBN: 978-978-971-113-0 Publisher: Azoohir Publishers limited, Abuja Reviewer: Professor Muhammad Umaru Ndagi Introduction The 240-page book is entitled ‘Voice of MURIC.’ MURIC is the acronym of ‘Muslim Rights Concern;’ a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) concerned with the rights, challenges and predicaments […]

Book Title: Voice of MURIC, Volume 1

Author: Professor Ishaq Akintola

No. of Pages: 240

ISBN: 978-978-971-113-0

Publisher: Azoohir Publishers limited, Abuja

Reviewer: Professor Muhammad Umaru Ndagi

Introduction

The 240-page book is entitled ‘Voice of MURIC.’ MURIC is the acronym of ‘Muslim Rights Concern;’ a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) concerned with the rights, challenges and predicaments of Muslims all over the world with specific reference to the plight of Muslims in Nigeria.

Authored by Ishaq Akintola, a Professor of Islamic Studies with specialization in Islamic Eschatology. Eschatology is the branch of theology that has to do with death, judgement and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.

The preliminary pages of the book consist of a dedication page, a table of contents, a preface written by the author and a foreword by Dr Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, the Secretary-General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), which has its National Headquarters in Kaduna, Nigeria. The book is dedicated to His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, OFR, mni; the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

In the preface, the author gives a brief background of MURIC. He states that he was inspired to establish MURIC by the annulment of the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election in which Chief M.K.O. Abiola was presumed to be the winner. The author maintains that he joined the Campaign for Democracy (CD) under Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti but had to withdraw his membership because CD refused to address issues that relate to the oppression of Muslims in Nigeria. Realising that Muslims in Nigeria needed a vibrant human rights outfit dedicated to the cause of Islam and the protection of the Allah-given fundamental rights of Muslims, Prof. Akintola thus mobilised a small group of Muslim youths in the last quarter of 1994, to form MURIC.

The author, who declares in the preface that ‘Dialogue, Not violence’ is MURIC’s avowed motto, also gives a catalogue of challenges faced by the organisation at inception. That the Nigerian media refused to carry any news story about MURIC until the Nigerian Tribune of Saturday, January 28, 1995 published the organisation’s press statement captioned ‘Disband Confab, FG told.’ It took another one year for the second publication on MURIC to appear in the National Concord of January 3, 1996.

According to the author, complete lack of financial support for MURIC as an NGO, from local and foreign donor agencies, is one critical challenge suffered by MURIC over the years; stating that its ICT appliances including an eight-year-old laptop and a dilapidated office which is used as the organization’s secretariat altogether depict the poor working environment for MURIC.

Akintola observes in the preface that his most critical challenge has been the constant threat to his life, and by extension, the lives of members of his family. He recalls how criminals who raided his house at 1.20am about four years ago proved beyond reasonable doubts that they were not armed robbers, but assassins. Without demanding for money, the robbers started shooting as soon as they sighted him in the balcony and shot his wife. He further mentions that another group of assassins came to his residence at daytime in 2016 but left after a failed attempt to gain access on time.

The founder of MURIC also discloses that he faces uncommon hostility from extremist non-Muslims because of what he stands for as a Muslim activist. Akintola laments how some non-Muslim professionals express and display religious fanaticism. He reveals how a female laboratory technician once wrote that he tested positive to tuberculosis. He had gone for the test as a requirement for obtaining entry visa into the United States as a Fulbright scholar in 2009. He affirms that the result was negative when he repeated the test at three different medical laboratories.

Prof. Akintola’s travails are not too different from the experience of some past Muslim scholars whose preoccupation was essentially to preach against injustice in all its ramifications. One may be justified to refer to the author as the ‘Imam Malik’ of our time. The only difference, perhaps, between these two scholars of jurisprudence is that Akintola has not been publicly humiliated by government authorities; which shall never happen insha Allah. Imam Malik Bn Anas (d. 795CE/179AH) was arrested and publicly flogged on the orders of the then Governor of Madinah. Imam Malik (RA)’s offence was that he gave a legal opinion (fatwah) to the effect that the oath of allegiance which the governor forced people to take in awe of the Abbasid Governor, Al-Mansur, was not binding because people were forced to do so.

The writer ends his preface to the book with an exposition of the cardinal philosophy of MURIC. He writes, “We remain oppressed until the Hungry are fed, the sick healed, the naked clothed, and the homeless sheltered. We will not let up in this intellectual and non-violent jihad.” He affirms MURIC’s commitment to the fight against bad governance, corruption and extravagance; adding that “We will seek freedom of worship for all, emancipation of the oppressed and justice for the persecuted.”

The preface is followed by a collection of what others say about MURIC with the author citing the names of those who made the statements. This is also followed by an acknowledgement in which the author recognizes the individual and collective support received by MURIC from ‘Muricians’ as well as non-Muricians including the Amir ul-Mu‘mineen, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The author concludes the acknowledgement by thanking his wife, Alhaja Aminat Omobolanle Akintola; emphasising that nobody cares for his safety and comfort as she does.

In the book’s foreword, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu reminds readers of the indispensable duties of Muslims to humanity, which according to him include protection of their religious freedom, personal liberty and dignity. Besides lamenting over Islamophobia as well as how human rights activities in Europe and America generally ignore the rights of Muslims including those in Rohingya and Palestine, Dr. Khalid also decries the outright imbalance of the Nigerian media in its reportage of Islam and Muslims in the country. He commends MURIC for publishing this book; stating that “the difference between knowledge and ignorance is record.”

 

The Book

‘Voice of MURIC’ is a book with a beautiful cover design that depicts justice. The book, which is handy, is written in simple, lucid and explicit language that greatly appeals to the understanding of an average English speaker. The font size, the margins and the high print quality altogether make the book legible to all categories of readers. The binding of the book is strong enough to guarantee durability.

The book is a compilation of press statements containing interventions by MURIC in Nigeria’s socio-economic and religious affairs. It is actually “a compendium of the struggle for Muslim freedom in Nigeria”. This particular publication which is volume one of ‘Voice of MURIC’ specifically consists of the press statements for a particular year. The author explains in the book’s preface that the press statements of other years will be published in subsequent volumes of ‘Voice of MURIC,’ clarifying that the press statements for each year will be published as a volume.

This volume one of the ‘Voice of MURIC’ consists of a total of 77 press statements shared into three chapters and arranged in a thematic order. The statements have not been arranged chronologically according to the dates on which they were issued.

The author quotes verses from the glorious Qur’an to support MURIC’s position on issues. For instance, while applauding the Lagos state government for extending maternity leave to six months, MURIC referred to Qur’an 2:233 wherein Allah (SWT) stipulates two years for breastfeeding.

Aside of choosing his words in the press statements, the author is equally meticulous about dates and figures. This, to a great extent, explains why in spite of the high frequency of its press statements, MURIC is not known to be standing trial in courts over libellous cases.

‘Voice of MURIC’ is a must-read for all. The book is a record that tells readers about when, where and how some incidents occurred in the country; suggesting what ought to be done to remedy a particular situation or phenomenon and forestall future recurrence.

Although no book in human history other than the Glorious Qur’an could be said to be perfectly error-free, ‘Voice of MURIC’ is one book I have read without observing the usual technical or structural errors often occasioned by human or material factors. May Allah (SWT) continue to bless, support and reward the author’s efforts under the auspices of MURIC in speaking for the rights and interests of Muslims, amin.