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| Amir, MSSN Lagos State Area Unit, Kaamil Kalejaiye |
The Muslim Right Concern and Muslim Students' Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Council have condemned conversion of abducted girls into Islam by the Boko Haram sect.
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau on Monday, released a video showing some of the girls kidnapped at a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State on April 14.
In the video, Shekau announced that the kidnapped girls had been converted to Islam. He also threatened not to release them until some of their members in Nigerian jails are set free.
But the groups condemned both the kidnap and forceful conversion of the girls to Islam by the sect, stating that there was no compulsion in making people accept Islam.
Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a statement on Tuesday, described the acts as baseless, urging Federal Government not to accept releasing arrested terrorists for the girls.
He said, "We reject the purported conversion of the kidnapped girls. It is cowardly, shameful, ridiculous and preposteirous. It is sacriledge. We affirm authoritatively that such conversion does not hold water in Islam because a non-Muslim can only be converted on his or her own free will. We have no iota of doubt that the girls ‘converted’ under duress. Such ‘conversion’ is null and void under the Shari’ah.
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| Prof. Ishaq Akintola (Right) and members of MURIC |
"The so called conversion is therefore baseless, unfounded and of no validity whatsoever. It exists only in the hallucinated imageries in Shekau’s demented mind. We urge the Federal Government to dismiss Shekau’s offer of exchange of Boko Haram prisoners for the kidnapped girls. A man who orders the invasion and kidnap of innocent young girls is honour-blind. Shame on Boko Haram! Shekau has no modicum of integrity left in his anatomy. He has no intention of honouring this deal. He is trying to buy time. He is digging in."
He lamented that the teachings of Islam was been distorted, saying, "This renegade group is out to defame and distort the true teachings of Islam. Members of Boko Haram are rebellious subjects and enemies of peace. We charge the Nigerian Army to go back to the drawing board and evolve more potent strategies for crushing this renegade group. To crush Boko Haram is a task that must be done."
On its part, MSSN in a statement by its President, Kaamil Kalejaiye, said it can’t understand the ascription of killings of innocent people in the name of religious conviction.
Kalejaiye said, “The spate of unjustified killings in our country is getting unbearable and Islam is always at the receiving end. We condemn these killings, abductions and all forms of attack on citizens. We unequivocally condemn its perpetrators. Islam is a religion of peace and does not in any way have a confluence with killing, bombing, kidnapping and forcing people of other faiths into its fold.
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| Kaamil Kalejaiye |
“If these were the methods used by Prophet Muhammed (SAW) to invite people to Islam, it would not have had adherents worldwide. Those who are trying to paint Islam bad and black will meet their waterloo very soon. We feel and share the pains parents of these future leaders are going through, we pray that almighty Allah protect them wherever they are and safeguard them back home.”
