Eric Patrick
An Islamic human rights group, the Muslim Rights Concern, (MURIC) has called for constitutional amendments to establish Sharia courts across all South West states and Fridays to be declared public holidays in recognition of Muslim religious practices across Nigeria.
The group’s Founder and Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, presented the proposal during the South West Zonal Public Hearing on constitutional review.
Akintola, who was represented by Dr Jamiu Busari, a group leader, addressed the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Lagos.
According to Akintola, no Sharia court currently exists in Southwestern Nigeria, where Muslims arguably form the majority.
This contradicts the pre-colonial Yoruba experience before the advent of British rule.”
He urged the National Assembly to create a constitutional provision requiring all South West governors including that of Edo State to establish Sharia Courts of Appeal.
He clarified that these courts would be strictly for Muslims, noting, “These courts will handle Muslim matters only, ensuring non-Muslims are not affected.”
MURIC also demanded the inclusion of Friday as a statutory public holiday to ensure equity in religious practices.
Akintola said, “Thursdays and Fridays were traditional weekends for Muslims in the pre-colonial period. Currently, Nigeria recognises Saturday and Sunday as weekends, both favouring Christians.”
He added that the current weekend structure was a colonial legacy, noting that Saturday was later made a full day to benefit Seventh-Day Adventists under Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s regime.
“We demand Friday be included as a recognised weekend day for Muslims,” he declared.
Akintola also decried the imbalance in the distribution of Nigeria’s national holidays.
“Nigeria has eight national public holidays, five of which favour Christians and only three for Muslims,” he noted, citing Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Eid-Kabir, Eid Fitr, and Maulud.
To address this, he urged lawmakers to declare the Islamic New Year a national public holiday.
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“This is already recognised in some states and should be adopted nationally,” he said.
Additionally, MURIC called for equal legal recognition of Islamic marriages.
“Christian marriages conducted in churches or registries are officially accepted nationwide. But Nikkah marriages are not recognised, creating problems for Muslim couples in formal settings,” Akintola argued.
He described the exclusion as “discriminatory in a democratic society saying, “A religious group’s marriage is officially accepted while another is ignored, this must change.”
He proposed that Islamic marriage certificates be granted the same legal status as Christian marriage documents.
Supporting the call, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) echoed the demand for judicial reforms, including the establishment of courts specialising in Islamic finance to cater to Muslim economic practices.
In response, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jubrin Barau, assured participants that their submissions would be carefully reviewed.
Represented by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Barau said the recommendations would be taken back to the National Assembly for further consideration.
According to multiple reports on Saturday, other civil society organisations, including youth, student, and women’s groups, also made presentations during the public hearing.