The shutting down of schools under the order of Hisbah [moral police] in some predominantly Muslim states of northern Nigeria in the month of Ramadan is a clear indication that Islamism has ascended new heights in the Muslim North. The entrenchment of a range of religiously inspired political ideologies that hold the belief that Islam should influence socio-political and economic system of public administration [Islamism] in the Muslim North has resulted in the imposition of Sharia laws in the region and establishment of Hisbah to banish vice and enforce virtue. As the Nigerian state is increasingly weakened by politics of religious identity, the influence of Islamism has expanded in a manner that has severely diminished Nigeria’s secular constitutional democratic order and in the process given rise to the dominance of Muslims while undermining the civil rights and freedoms of non-Muslims in the predominantly Muslim northern part of Nigeria.
Fasting as an act of worship is enjoined upon Muslims in Quran 2:183 thus “O Believers! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was for those before you, so you will become mindful of Allah,” making it an obligation upon all Muslims from between the ages of seven and 10 in the month of Ramadan; a month made holy by the revelation of the divine revelation of the Quran therein. The holy month of Ramadan is usually observed by abstinence from food, drinks and pleasures of the flesh from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days by Muslims. It is also a period of renewal of faith by living a pious life of reflection, contemplation and remembrance of Allah through various activities of worship such as recitation of the Quran, listening to preaching, observing nightly voluntary prayers and being charitable to the poor and needy.
Whereas, fasting is obligatory on believing Muslims, there are exemptions made for the sick, infirm, aged, travellers and those whose peculiar circumstances make it impossible to observe the Ramadan fast. And to ease the difficulty of abstaining from food and water for a prolonged period during the day, Muslims are encouraged to take early morning meal before the beginning of the day’s fast in order to maintain a balanced metabolism. This is because Muslims are not precluded from working, schooling and carrying out any other productive activity while observing the Ramadan fast and will require some residue energy to undertake these activities successfully.
For example, I am writing this article while fasting. And before putting final touches to this piece, I had gone for Newspaper Review programme on AIT between 7am and 7:45am. Once I send my material to my editor at about noon for editing and publication the next day, I will set out for the Abuja studio of Naija Info, where I am the presiding Chief Judge of Abuja secondary schools debate competition between 3pm and 6pm. By the time I get home by 6:30pm, I will be preparing for Iftar [breaking of fast] by 6:50pm. Not to mention that Mohammed, my 12 years old son is fasting and attending school between the hours of 7am and 4pm. And he appears to be coping better than daddy! This has been the norm all my life as a Muslim.
Clearly, the shutting down of schools in the month of Ramadan even for the benefit of Muslims is an innovation that has no basis in the Quran or Prophetic tradition of Muhammad [PBUH], as the true test of faith is being able to cope with your regular work load while observing the Ramadan fast. But what makes this even more absurd and illegal is that it violates the freedom and right of non-Muslim indigenes and residents of these states to education in the month of Ramadan who are not obliged by their religion to fast in the Muslim holy month. Whereas fasting in the month of Ramadan is obligatory for Muslims, it cannot be compelled on both Muslims and non-Muslims by self-appointed agents of religious morality enforcement such as Hisbah.
Nigeria is a secular state and must remain so, as all faith groups can always find accommodation of freedom of religious practice without infringing on the right of others under the Constitution. And the insistence on continuously violating Nigeria’s secularism by state actors in the Muslim North approximates the violent struggle of non-state actors like Boko Haram to forcefully destroy secular Nigeria and erect an Islamic state in its place. What state actors are trying to achieve through political Islam is what Boko Haram is also trying to achieve through violent Islamist jihadism. The closure of schools during the month of Ramadan is less about concerns for schoolchildren and more for the symbolic dominance of Muslims in multi-religious Nigeria, which is the ultimate goal of Islamism.
And if the Muslim North keeps insisting and expanding the frontiers of Islamism in Nigeria through the surreptitious use of political Islam, then it is time to stop the war on Boko Haram and seek for a negotiated settlement that will cede the region to Islamists while the rest of Nigeria will get whatever it wants including 100 per cent control of oil mineral resources and revenue within the framework of a restructured Nigeria.