The Chief Missioner of Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Ahmad, in this interview with ADEOLA BALOGUN and GBENRO ADEOYE, says the case of Yunusa, the alleged kidnapper of Ese Oruru, is straightforward and if found guilty, should face the law of the land

With Ese Oruru’s case, a lot of people have blamed Islam, saying it encourages paedophilia. What do you think about this?

It is unfortunate and it is callous of those who are holding a religion of almost two billion people responsible for the action of an individual who lived most of his life in Bayelsa State, but of northern extraction. If this is the way the world is, there will be so many blames and a situation will be created for hate, lack of tolerance and perpetual hostility between people, religions and nations. The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) in the United States, uses cross sign as a symbol, but has anybody ever blamed its action on Christianity? Adolf Hitler (leader of the Nazi Germany) was a Christian, has anybody blamed Christianity for his actions? This is why this kind of reasoning is very unfortunate; it is intellectually bankrupt and it stands the fact on its head. It is sensationalism at its best. I do believe that it is a smokescreen; the real agenda is that it is a campaign of hate against a region and against a religion and it is not going to take us very far.

But some people will say that this is a religion that allows people to marry minors and that if that was not so, no one would have been able to hide under its cover.

Again, that is feeding fat on ignorance. Let us go back in history. What was the age of puberty in Europe until very recently? Even up until now, states in the US have different ages of maturity. You can insist that 18 years is the age of maturity, but in other climes, they say it is 16. What do you say about that? Then again, we should be very careful with the way we throw tantrums. Those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. Islam reveres Jesus Christ. In fact, a whole chapter of the Quran is dedicated to the mother of Jesus; it is called Surat Mariam. And it is Islam that came in strong defence of Mariam and cleared her of all the allegations that were levelled against her. What are you going to say about the mother of Jesus? At what age did she get pregnant and for who? Joseph the carpenter who was close to 90 years old? She was a minor, 14 or 15 years. What is the age of maturity in the bible? So we should be very careful before we throw tantrums. We should not be blinded by hate and we should not condescend to generalisations. Generalisations are essentially simplistic and they complicate issues, promote ignorance, block mutual understanding and societal harmony.

But when the incident broke, as the leader of a sizeable number of Muslims in the country, how would you comment on what the alleged abductor, Yunusa, did?

Yes, I will make my comments. Let us now go to the issues. I can tell you very authoritatively the Islamic rulings, as far as marriage in general, is concerned. Let us use that as the basis for determining the correctness or otherwise of the action of whoever it is; remove the unfortunate individual from the picture now. Let us look at the fundamentals. The first condition for a valid marriage in Islam is the consent of the lady to be married. Islam holds that you cannot marry a woman against her will. As much as Islam has given power to the parents, Islam has not compelled such power to marry a lady against her will. No! So the first condition for a valid marriage in Islam is that the lady must consent willingly.

Two, this consent must also be supported by her parents, especially her father. So you cannot marry a woman without the consent of her guardian, and in this case, her father or whoever is the accredited representative of the father, if the father is not there.

The third condition is what is called Maarh. It is not a dowry and it is not even a gift. It is what a woman demands from the man for being man enough. Although, this is negotiable between both of them, they must come to an agreement. It could be cash, kind, deferred or even graduated over time. This is instructive because Islam grants such to a woman who is going into marriage. And from the outset, Islam is saying that she is to be consulted.

Finally, there must be at least two witnesses; these are the minimal conditions of marriage that must be satisfied. Take this against what happened. Where does abduction or elopement come in? The lady cannot give herself in marriage. It will not make that marriage valid.

Is that irrespective of the age of the lady in question?

Yes, irrespective of her age. This is because marriage is not just a union between two people; it is also a union between two families. In fact, in situations where the parents are being unnecessarily difficult or don’t have valid reasons, maybe because they think the individual who wants to marry their daughter is not rich enough, there are so many processes involved before whoever is the community leader can overrule the objection of the parents in the interest of the lady. So we must not continue to feed on ignorance and hate. We require some minimal understanding. What is even the provision of Islam about marriage?

Also, there are so many individuals doing wrong things. As we speak, so many people are breaking laws. They are acting in manners that are inconsistent with their conviction, faith and the law of the land. Now, as a leader of an Islamic organisation, how many people will I have to speak up against? ‘You are driving against traffic and you call yourself a Muslim. You’re taking bribe, or doing this or that’. You know it is impossible.

So until we verify the claims independently, we take them as allegations which have not been proved. So I hold Yunusa innocent because I have not had opportunity to hear from him. But let me say that if what he was alleged to have done is true, then that would be inconsistent with Islam. Islam does not allow you, whether underage or otherwise, to elope or abduct a girl or anybody for that matter. That is not the essence of marriage.

Some people may see Yunusa as a soldier of Islam having taken a girl from Bayelsa State to the north.

Yunusa had been living in Bayelsa State for long; he is well known to the parents of this girl. He is reported to be the customer of the mother of this girl. So Yunusa is not a stranger to the family; and not a stranger to the girl. There must have been some form of relationship between all of them before it turned sour. So when he was patronising the mother, he was not a soldier of Islam? It is probable that there may be some things that he has done in the past to please the parents. The parents never claimed that they never knew him, so he is not somebody just coming out of the blues. But this is not justifying his actions, no, far from that. I’m just saying that we should read between the lines. Whatever happened to investigation? We just pick news on the table without doing any investigation. The incident happened in August and was brought to the attention of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

http://www.punchng.com/i-hold-yunusa-innocent-until-i-hear-from-him-sheikh-ahmad/