By Mumini Abdulkareem
A female scholar, Hajia Halimat Gambari, has charged Muslim sisters in the country to fulfil their right to participate in politics and national activities in order to conquer inferiority complex hitherto confronting them.
Hajia Gambari stated this in Ilorin, yesterday, in her paper themed “Marginalisation and fate of Muslim sisters in Nigeria” delivered at a sensitisation programme organised by Muslim Sisters in Nigeria.
According to her, the rights of Muslim sisters to religion, freedom from harassment and intimidation, human dignity, vote and be voted for and participate in politics should not be denied.
She stressed the need for Muslim sisters to demonstrate to the world that adorning Hijab and Niqub was not a sign of backwardness but to protect their sanctity as Muslims and civilised people.
She urged them to hold tenaciously to their faith and follow Allah’s commandments as enunciated in the Holy Quran and Hadith.
“Muslims in Nigeria generally are faced with modernisation problems where the core Islamic values, ethics and teachings are being threatened with westernisation. The practice of Islamic religion in its originality has been conceived to be fanatism and extremism.
“Mostly, women in Hijab and Niqub are the victims of religious intolerance and persecution by Muslims and non-Muslims, due to ignorance.
“My advice to the sisters here is that no matter the level of provocation, the Iman should be held at optimum. We should remember that life in the hereafter is the most important thing to the Muslims.
“Our rights as citizens should not be denied and must be fulfilled. Our rights include; right to vote and be voted for by participating in politics, right to association, right to life, right to human dignity, right to religion, freedom from harassment and intimidation,โ she added.
Also, in her lecture, Mrs Kafayat Abdulquadri, said Islam accords female folks their due respect, adding that they should be proud of themselves regardless of societal situations.
