MURIC urges authorities to protect US-based Nigerian Muslim lady from online abuse

Stanley Ihedigbo

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged authorities to protect US-based Nigerian Muslim lady Shakirat Oluwatosin Raji, who is currently targeted for cyberbullying for speaking out in favour of civil Shari’ah in Yorubaland.

The group described the attacks on Shakirat as barbaric, Islamophobic, and Bohemian.

According to the Executive Director of MURI, Professor Ishaq Akintola, they called on the security apparatus in the United States of America to give Shakirat adequate security.

“A US-based Nigerian Muslim lady, Shakirat Oluwatosin Raji, is currently being targeted for cyberbullying for speaking out in favour of civil Shari’ah in Yorubaland. The authors of the cowardly and despicable acts also threatened her with death.

“MURIC condemns this cyberstalking in the strongest terms. At a time when Yoruba Muslims of South-West Nigeria are politically marginalized, economically debilitated, socially ostracized, and religiously persecuted, attacks on Shakirat for speaking up for the victims of these preposterous acts are barbaric, Islamophobic, and Bohemian.

“These attacks stand in contradistinction to the principles of democracy, freedom, and respect for the dignity of the homo sapien. These aggressive acts constitute an assault on civilized behaviour and an attempt to strangulate free speech,” he explained.

The Human Rights Activist noted that Yoruba Muslims are currently engaged in a campaign for the establishment of civil Shari’ah (not the criminal aspect) to regulate the marriages of Muslims, their divorces, their inheritance, and to determine their halal (Islamically lawful) purchases and sales.

“It is widely known that Muslims living in the great democracies of the world, America, Britain, and France, enjoy these civil liberties that are nonetheless related to Shari’ah.

“For example, Crescent Foods is a leading halal food supplier in the United States. Salem’s Market & Grill is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Island Grocery & Grill is a halal supermarket located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sufiya’s Grill is in East Meadow, New York while Halalco Supermarket is located in Falls Church, Virginia.

“What the US allows in the form of Shari’ah-compliant products in the above supermarkets can be compared to what Yoruba Muslims are demanding in South-West Nigeria, namely, special civil courts for Muslims where family matters can be resolved.

“Just as the halal supermarkets in the US are specifically for Muslims resident in that country while no American Christian can be forced to go there for his or her purchases, the Shari’ah courts being proposed by Yoruba Muslims are for Muslims only. It is a demand for the actualization of Allah-given fundamental human rights while its denial is an infringement on those rights and a crime against humanity.

“It was this civil liberty issue that the US-based Muslim lady, Shakirat Oluwatosin Raji, tried to explain on social media when she was most brutally taken up. Invectives were poured on her. Clangorous diatribes were rained on her from high up while rancorous vitriols came from below.

“For instance, Nyanmirin Banza Hunter, on his X handle @EyeIgun75944, issued a direct death threat which read ‘Next Jumuah na your dead body dem go carry come,’ meaning ‘Your dead body will be brought home next Friday prayer.’ This threat was issued on 20th December 2024,” he further explained.

According to the Professor, another hater who goes by the name Labia Majora @LabiaMinoria threatened to report her to her employers.

“He twitted, ‘I will fish out where you work and I shall attach a photo of all your tweets. I will explain to them what you stand for…’ His tweet was dispatched on 24th December 2024.

“For the avoidance of doubt, particularly because of those who love to give Muslims false and baseless labels, our organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), founded in 1994, is an Islamic human rights organization. MURIC is a pacific association, peace-loving, law-abiding, and dialogue-prone. We detest violence and we condemn terrorism in all its ramifications. That is why we adopted our avowed motto: ‘Dialogue, Not Violence’.

“We call on the security apparatus in the United States of America to give Shakirat adequate security. Her comment on social media constitutes no security threat to the government and the good people of the United States of America.

“She is a law-abiding Nigerian professional with a clean record. America is well known as a land of freedom. Therefore, Islamophobic proclivities and social media stalkers must not be allowed to becloud this great treasure of democracy,” he lamented.