The Nigerian Muslims were taken aback when a bill titled “Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence against Women,” presented by Senator Abiodun Olujimi, representing Ekiti south, scaled through a second reading.
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Before criticizing the effrontery of the senators who chose to insult the close to a hundred million Nigerian Muslims, by seeking to repeal the Sharia Law of inheritance, in their apparent bid to put to end the humiliation and degradation their women have been subjected and inured to (but which we have no hand in), we must, first, query and grill our own senators who pusillanimously and/or foolishly watched as their colleagues seek to quash verse 11 of Chapter IV and other related verses of the Book of Allah which has been in practice for centuries in the north.
One wonders whether the Muslim senators, with the exception of the few who opposed the bill, grasped what was discussed during the first and second readings of the bill, (that is if they even attended the sittings on those days). And if they actually comprehended what was discussed but decided (on our behalf) to let the bill scale the second reading, they have no business representing us.
Don’t waste your time pontificating, the senators are there to represent us and various components of our societies (culture and religion included) and ensure that we, the electorates, and our interests are represented, promoted and guarded against any form of intrusion, and so on. Therefore, any misrepresentation on whatever interest of ours should get proportional reaction(s) and should not be taken lightly by those who are supposed to care.
Recall that, according to newspaper reporter (Thisday) of 30th September 2016, “the bill, (which initially) had provided that enabling women should have equal rights with men in marriages, divorce, property ownership and inheritance…,” was earlier this year rejected by the senators on many grounds amongst which was religion.
Late last month, the sponsor of the bill re-presented it after some modifications, and according to the Daily Trust newspaper “a copy of the draft law specifically stated that women and men shall have the right to inherit, in equitable shares, their parents properties.”
This is the main crux of the matter. In Qur’an, Allah (The Exalted) made it categorically clear that females should take half of what males will get when it comes to children inheriting their parents. “Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females.” This has been in practice for centuries in the north.
Therefore, for the senate to attempt enacting laws that goes directly on collision with the Laws of Allah, which has been codified in the Nigerian laws, been practiced in the country and recognised by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, they are not only creating avoidable chaos but inviting unnecessary confusion in the framework of the Nigerian judicial system. Most of the wordings in the bill provided ample ambiguities that could spark series of judicial irregularities especially in areas where a formidable law of inheritance is in practice.
Muslims have no objection to the move by the southern senators to end the humiliation their women have been subjected to, especially when their husbands die. Our senators should encourage them.
It is unacceptable, for instance, that while Muslim women stands the chance to inherit thousands or millions of naira when their husbands die, as the case might be, their counterparts in the same country stands the risk of being buried alive together with their dead husbands or be counted among the items to be inherited, as the case might be.
But what is reprehensible to us is the attempt to draw us back to the status of a pegged standard that is obviously full of lacunas as against the divine law which we so cherish and enjoy for so long. We are not complaining!
Let me give an example. Contrary to what many think and believe, the Sharia Law of inheritance, like all components of sharia, is flexible and dynamic, at times females ended up getting more than males. For instance, where a man, who has one wife fifteen children (either males or females or both) dies and left eight million naira, the widow would get one million naira (1/8) and the remaining seven millions divided to the children. The widow here will get more than anyone. But according to this bill it has to be distributed equally. How this escaped the attention of our senators beats imaginations of many Muslims.
Whereas the bill seemed to limit its scope on people who died and left children, the Sharia Law of inheritance covers all facets of consanguinity.
On the other hand, the classical Muslim family ties provided a formidable support system where weaker members (old, female and young) are mandated to be supported, covered and taken care of by stronger members of the family.
Thus, notwithstanding who gets what, the weaker members of the family (old, females and young) often depends on the stronger members’ (men) share, while their shares are stashed elsewhere. Interestingly, even when and where nothing was left to be inherited the same scenario applies.
Therefore, it is wrong for a people who are probably living in a different type or system of family support to attempt depriving us of our enjoyable and supportive laws because either they erroneously think or assume that we are in the same mess or simply ignored our existence while making laws that seeks to ameliorate their problems.
It is bad enough that we are grossly misrepresented and largely marginalized in almost all spheres of this country’s existence, we can’t stand our representatives sitting (as though spineless) while what we hold dear is been shredded into pieces.
Mahmud wrote this piece from Abuja
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