Kaduna Religious Preaching: The Fire Within

If the Kaduna State House of Assembly
eventually passes into law an Executive Bill
currently before it, a resident risks spending
two years in jail if he plays any cassettes
containing religious recordings or music in
his car.
This is one of the several provisions of the
proposed legal document tagged, “A Bill to
Substitute the Kaduna State Religious
Preaching Law, 1984” which Governor Nasir
El-Rufai wants the lawmakers to approve,
ostensibly as part of measures to curb the
spate of religious upheavals in the area.
Kaduna has had perhaps more than its fair
dose of violent religious riots in northern
Nigeria. Reports from human rights groups
show that about 15,000 persons lost their
lives in February and May 2000 alone when
metropolitan Kaduna virtually went up in
flames as sections of residents protested the
move by government to hoist the Shariah
flag in the state. Incidentally, the then
Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi had
proposed before the House of Assembly, a
Bill seeking to implement the Islamic Shariah
legal system, after a successful launch of
the initiative in Zamfara Started months
earlier.
JNI,
CAN
to
issue preaching licences
A major thrust of El-Rufai’s proposal is the
establishment of an inter-faith ministerial
committee to regulate the practice of the
two main religions in the state, Christianity
and Islam. Apart from this, there shall also
be a committee of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam
(JNI) with equal representation of the Izala
and Darika religious groups, for Muslims and
another committee by the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN). The inter-faith
ministerial committee is expected to exercise
supervisory control over JNI and CAN. Apart
from certain restrictions which the proposed
Bill places on the playing or blaring of
religious recordings outside churches and
mosques, a preacher may also be jailed for
a period not exceeding two years if he
preaches without a valid licence or engages
in inciting religious teachings and uses
derogatory terms in describing any religion.
Under the Bill too, a preacher visiting
Kaduna from outside the state is expected
to obtain a permit to cover the period of
his stay. For preachers who are resident in
Kaduna State, the licence to preach has a
life span of one year which may be
renewed.
Rampant hate, inciting preaching
In fact, before now, the issue of alleged
inciting statements credited to some
preachers has been a source of worry to
leaderships of religious groups in the state.
In fact for the JNI, the matter was a
subject of debate during the group’s 2015
annual pre-amadan conference last June in
Kaduna when it noted that in spite of
repeated calls by the Muslim leadership,
some scholars still employed divisive
comments during their Tafsir preaching, in
the month of Ramadan. According to the
JNI, “there is a growing trend of mystic
doctrines expressed by some unguided
extremists which are completely
contradictory to the Islamic faith and
principles. Many of the media houses that
air Tafsir during Ramadan do not care to
censor statements capable of destabilizing
the Ummah.
Negative conducts contrary to the
established creed of the Islamic faith are
being exhibited by some scholars in their
Tafsir sessions. Some Mufassirun
(commentators) delve into unnecessary
juristic arguments on issues which are
categorically clear and on which there is
consensus. There are some scholars whose
sessions are inciting and there are some
scholars whose sessions are full of mockery
of others, rather than uplifting the spiritual
well-being of the listeners. A number of the
Mufassirun do not have the basic knowledge
of Tafsir, therefore lack the capacity to
conduct Tafsir.”
The JNI solution to such infringements
appears to be similar to provisions of
sections in the El-Rufai proposed regulatory
document. According to the JNI, “the
(Muslim) leadership should regulate the
conduct of Tafsir, to control erring
commentators and make it mandatory for
any Mufassir to be screened and be given
permission by the JNI or any authorized
body before he can be allowed to venture
into Tafsir.”
Beyond what may be a general consensus
that government has the right to sanction
clerics found guilty of inciting comments,
however, some Christian and Muslim leaders
in Kaduna say the proposed religious
preaching law is as irrelevant as the Kaduna
State Regulation of Religious Preaching Edict
No 7 of 1984 which the Bill seeks to
replace. For the Secretary of the Kaduna
State branch of CAN, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim,
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as well as the Penal Code law which
is in force in northern Nigeria already
prescribed sanctions to deal with clerics who
err in the course of their preaching. He
argues that provisions of the Kaduna
religious Preaching Bill tend to duplicate
extant laws of the land. Also speaking in an
interview with Saturday Vanguard, another
cleric, Sheikh Haliru Maraya, former Special
Adviser (Islamic Matters) to former Governor
Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, described the Bill as
unrealistic saying that if it scales through
the Legislature, the law will strip Muslims of
the Constitutional right to practise their faith.
Preachers already licensed by Allah
According to Maraya, “if you look at the
concept of preaching for the religion of
Islam, it comprises two major aspects.The
first one is the preacher and the second
aspect is the mode of preaching, that is,
how the preaching is conducted. As far as
Islam is concerned, no government has the
right to license a preacher because Almighty
Allah has already given preachers their
licences. They do not work for government,
they work for the religion of Islam. Allah
has enjoined believers to call people to the
right path. But government has the right to
come in when it comes to the aspect of the
manner of conducting the preaching. Allah
has enjoined preachers to to preach with
wisdom. If it is conducted in a manner that
is apparently considered in a bad manner,
then that one is not preaching, as far as
Islam is concerned.that is where government
can regulate manner of preaching. Hate
preaching should not be allowed.
Government can say that no preacher
should mention the names of individuals,
nobody should use the podium to cast
aspersions on people or groups or other
sects of the same religion, or cast
aspersions on another religion. Government
can say that no preacher in Kaduna State is
allowed to abuse anybody while preaching.
So, everyone should be allowed to preach
but under certain guidelines. It contradicts
the teaching of Islam to say that one
cannot preach unless he is given a licence
to do so. During the time of the Prophet of
Islam, everyone could preach but under
proper guidelines and during the times of
the companions of the Prophet, particularly
during the times of the first four Caliphs,
everyone could preach but also under
certain guidelines. And, it is also inconsistent
with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution
as amended to say that somebody cannot
preach without a licence. Section 38 (1) of
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria gives every person the right to
propagate their religion, either alone or in
association with others. This means that
whether you have a licence or not, every
person has the right to preach. Preaching
is part and parcel of the religion as far as
Islam is concerned. If you say that I cannot
preach without a licence it clearly means
that one should not practise the religion.
The Constitution says every person has the
right to practise any religion, the right to
change a religion and the right to propagate
that religion. Government may have good
intentions but it should not say that a
preacher cannot preach without a licence.
What happens if you give me a licence and
then I go and conduct hate preaching?
Giving a condition of obtaining a licence
before preaching is contrary to the tenets of
Islam and it is inconsistent with provisions
of the Constitution.
Problems
Going by provisions of the Bill, if it is
passed as it is now, what it means is that
you cannot play CDs or cassettes with
religious recordings in your car.I do not
think that anybody has the right to stop
you from playing a religious cassette in your
car. Laws should be designed in such a way
that that they are implementable. If this Bill
  sails through, the way it is, it cannot be
implemented. And that is why nobody has
even implemented the law since 1984. It is
not practicable especially the areas of
licence and playing of recorded religious
materials.”
Pastors, evangelists
The CAN scribe says he shares the same
view as what he describes as the larger
section of Christians in Kaduna, concerning
the Bill to check religious preaching. As he
puts it, “the law has not even been in force
since 1984 when it was enacted and
amended in 1987. We have issues with the
Bill. We define a preacher as someone
called by God. There is a general call which
has to do with everyone as Jesus said in
the book of Matthew chapter 28, go ye into
the world and make disciples of all nations.
That is the general call. Then we have a
specific call which has to do with the
pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers,
among others.These ones have an office in
the body of Christ. They go through
particular denominations, schools or
seminaries. They are then ordained and
licensed by their various churches. Those are
preachers by our definition.
Kaduna problem not religious
Government ought to have sat down with
stakeholders and discussed, more so with all
the crises we have had in Kaduna although
if you dig deep, you find out that the crises
didn’t actually start as religious crises. They
were more of political but some people
hijacked the situation. The problem in
Kaduna is not religion. If there is
improvement on the lives of the people,
there will be development and where the
people are not idle, nobody would want to
go and cause problem. There is a saying
that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Government should create more jobs and
create conducive atmosphere for learning in
the schools and workers should be paid
their salaries as at when due. I should think
that the government believes in the people
and if Christians and Muslims say no to this
Bill, that means there is a problem and
government should listen to the people.”
Govt’s intention
However, the intention of the government is to
check hate preaching that could lead to religious
violence.
The bill may not be passed as it is but the good
intention of the government should be
appreciated and not misconstrued as being
against freedom of religion which is already
enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. And the
governor has repeatedly said so. Freedom of
religion remains.
Hate preaching will be barred by law and
punishable by law. The entire Nigeria not only
Kaduna needs such laws.
A BILL FOR A LAW TO SUBSTITUTE THE
KADUNA STATE RELIGIOUS PREACHING
LAW, 1984
In this law, unless the context otherwise
requires:
“Authority” means express permission,
consent or knowledge of the preacher, given
by the relevant authority
“Governor” means the Governor of Kaduna
State
“Preacher” means a person duly licensed by
the Jama’atu Nasril Islam or the Christian
Association of Nigeria, to preach
“Public place” means public resorts and
includes markets, public institutions or
centres and other facilities accessible to the
public
“Relevant authority” means the Jama’atu
Nasril Islam (JNI) or the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN)
“State” means the Kaduna State of Nigeria
(1) The two major religions in the state shall
be regulated by the following bodies:
(a) a committee of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam
with equal representation of Izala and
Darika religious groups in the case of
Muslims, and
(b) A committee set up by Christian
association of Nigeria, in the case of
Christians
(c) An inter-faith Ministerial Committee to be
appointed by the Governor
(2) The Inter-faith Ministerial Committee shal
interface between the Jama’atu Nasril Islam
(JNI) and the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) committees and exercise supervisory
control over them.
The Committee shall comprise of the
following:
(i) A Chairman to be appointed by the
Governor on the recommendation of the
Secretary to state Government
(ii) The Special Adviser to the Governor on
Internal Security
(iii) The most senior official of government
advising the Governor on Internal Security
(iv) A member representing Jama’atu Nasril
Islam (JNI) and the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN
(v) Representative of the Ministry of Justice,
and
(vi) One representative each from the
Nigeria police, the Department of State
Security and the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps not below the rank of
Superintendent of Police or its equivalent.
(1) The religious bodies established under
Section 4 (a) & (b) of this Law shall issue
licences approved by the Ministerial
Committee
(2) The licence shall be issued for a period
not exceeding one year.
(3) A sponsored external preacher shall be
issued a permit for the period of the event.
(1) There is hereby established in each Local
Government Area of the state, a committee
to screen applications for licences and
recommend same to the Ministerial
Committee for approval
(2) The committee shall consist of the
following members:
(a) the Chairman and co-Chairman each
representing the two major religions, to be
appointed by the Governor on the
recommendation of the Local Government
Chairman of the area
(b) A representative of the Police not below
the rank of Assistant Superintendent of
police
(c) Two Muslims, one representing the Izala
and Darika religious groups respectively
(d) Two representatives of the Christian
Association of Nigeria, and
(e) A representative of the traditional
institution.
(3) The proceedings of this Committee shall
only be valid if there is a quorum of not
less than five members with the Chairman
and Co-Chairman jointly sitting with at least
one member each representing the two
major religions in attendance
The Committee established under section 6
shall;
(a) ensure compliance with the terms of the
licences so issued and,
(b) Register accredited preachers all religious
groups and organizations operating in the
Local Government Area.
Provided that the permit to be issued to
the licensed preaches shall specify the
duration or the number of occasions it is to
be used.
The Kaduna chapter of the Jama’atu Nasril
Islam and the Christian Association of
Nigeria shall have and keep records of the
churches and mosques including the data of
all its preachers in the state.
All cassettes, CDs, flash drives or any other
communication gadgets containing religious
recordings from accredited preachers may
be played in the following places only:
(a) inside one’s house
(b) Inside entrance porch (Zaure)
(c) Inside the church
(d) Inside the mosque, and
(e) Any other designated place of worship
10. Any cassette containing religious
recording in which abusive language is used
against any person or religious organization
or religious leaders (past or present) is
hereby prohibited in the state
11. Members of the Ministerial Committee
may be paid such allowances as may be
determined by the Governor
12. A person shall be guilty of an offence
who, in contravention of this law;
(a) preaches without a valid licence
(b) Plays religious cassette or uses a
loudspeaker for religious purposes after 8
pm in a public place
(c) Uses a loudspeaker for religious purposes
other than inside a mosque or church and
the surrounding areas outside the stipulated
prayer times
(d) Uses a loudspeaker in vehicles plying the
streets with religious recording
(e) Abuses religious books
(f) Incites disturbance of the public peace
(g) Abuses or uses any derogatory term in
describing any religion or,
(h) Carries weapons of any description
whether concealed or not in places of
worship or to any other place with a view
to causing religious disturbance shall be
guilty of an offence
3. A person who commits an offence under
the provisions of this law shall be liable on
conviction to a term of imprisonment not
exceeding two years or a fine of N200,000
or both and have his licence revoked
4. The Shariah courts and customary courts
shall have jurisdiction try violators of this
law summarily and shall on conviction give
orders for the forfeiture or destruction of
any vehicle, equipment, instrument, gadget
or book or other material carrying any
offensive message
5. The Kaduna State Regulation of Religious
Preaching Edict No 7 of 1984 is hereby
repealed.

Comments

Popular Posts