Following the disciplinary action being taken against Halimah, a female Muslim police woman from the South east for using hijab with her police uniform somewhere in Ikorodu, Lagos State, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed to the Nigerian Army, the Police and all para-military forces in the country to allow their female Muslim officers to use hijab.
It would be recalled that a photograph of Halimah, a Muslim convert, in police uniform with her hijab tucked under her police beret went viral two weeks ago.
In a statement signed by the Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, on Tuesday, the group
said, “Many Muslim women in the armed forces and the police are suffering in silence. Halimah the police woman is not the only one who craves to use hijab. There are many others. They cannot speak out for fear of the kind of disciplinary action being faced by Halimah. But the result is lack of job satisfaction, loss of focus and a desertification of spiritual well-being. They are just being human and every homo sapien is body, soul and spirit.
“This is why we are calling on the police authorities to treat Halimah’s case with understanding. This is not a case of professional misconduct. It is a quest after spiritual sanctification. The police should note Section 38 (i) and (ii) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees her religious freedom.
“The case of Halimah can be compared to that of Fatima in South Africa and the latter is not being court-martialed. Instead, the South African army is reviewing its dress code as it pertains to Muslims. This is what our army and police should do. We cannot afford to stick dogmatically to an anachronistic system.”
The group recalled that the United States Army approved hijab in 2017 following a memorandum issued by the Secretary of the US Army in Washington on 3rd January 2017 under the subject-matter Army Directive 2017-03 (Policy for Brigade-Level Approval of Certain Requests for Religious Accommodation)
“It is only in Nigeria that religious ‘maradonisation’ has taken control of our thinking faculties and we have consequently excommunicated objectivity from our borders. The hijab does not interfere with the professional efficiency of the person wearing it. For crying out loud, she covers her head, not her brain!
“Available records indicate that several Muslim women have shelved the idea of joining any of the uniformed forces for fear of abandoning hijab. We therefore advocate the use of hijab by female Muslim uniformed officers in keeping with global best practices. It is the only obstacle standing between Muslim women and military service, including the police, customs, immigrations, traffic administrators, etc.”
MURIC therefore called on the army, police and paramilitary authorities to meet the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) which is the umbrella organisation for all Islamic associations in the country with a view to discussing the dress code for Muslims in their institutions.
