Do you think the reason he gave that he had written a letter and didn’t know his directive was not followed was tenable?

First and foremost, the Emir of Kano must have intervened or arbitrated to resolve the conflict. He did not act in the capacity of a judge and he did not constitute a court. According to the evidence on ground, the case was taken to him as the Emir. The case did not even happen in Kano city, it happened in a village. Then he contacted the district head to investigate. The district head contacted the village head and they gave reports to him. To authenticate the report, he referred it to another body. ‘Please investigate this and report back to me.’ And they reported back to him and he said ‘look, this girl is too young to be married, return her to her parents.’ It was said that the girl complained that her life would be in danger, but the Emir said ‘okay, the Assistant Inspector-General of the zone, please ensure that you return this girl to her parents and also ensure her safety. What else would he have done under the circumstances? I don’t know; I want people to tell me. So I see all the snide remarks, all the campaigns of calumny, all the wailing against the Emir of Kano as uncalled for and it is unfortunate. Those who have taken it upon themselves to launch sneer campaigns against others should know that one day, they would also be in positions of authority.

As an Islamic leader, what do you think should be Yunusa’s punishment if it is established that he had abducted Ese?

If it was abduction, I think the law of the land is sufficient in dealing with all cases of kidnap and abduction. It is not a religious matter.

You are not going to suggest a Sharia punishment?

No, wait! There have been cases of robbery. It is a daily thing and in robbery operations, there will be Muslims who could be Yoruba or northerners. There could be Christians who are south easterners or south southerners. Would you report that these robbers are representatives of their ethnic groups, zones, or religions? No! We just report them as robbers. What they have done is criminal. It does not matter what religion they profess. They have committed a criminal act and when you bring religion into it, you are sensationalising it and unwittingly building a defensive wall around it. That is what the press is doing. You are giving them protection and it drawing them into a bigger and larger conflict.

Yunusa, according to media reports, is a commercial tricycle rider. He hails from Kano and was living in Bayelsa State. That paints a picture of someone who had lived in the state over a period of time and interacted with the community.

I’m sure that Igbo people come to Yorubaland and get themselves involved in crime. Hausa people go to Igboland and get involved in crime. Will it be reasonable, fair, or just to regard these criminals as representatives of their ethnic groups or religions? Will it be right for anybody to say that they have been sent on a mission by either their ethnic or religious groups? Nobody does this but then when it comes to a case that people have deeper interests in and want to sensationalise, they begin to look at the ethnic background. If that would not create enough sensation, they begin to look at religion. So they look at the prominent person (around the issue) and draw him in. People even, at one point, alleged that the girl was being held in the palace of the Emir of Kano. This is something that is very far from the truth.

What about if Yunusa has had carnal knowledge of the minor, what punishment is stated in the Sharia law for the offence?

If the case of rape is proved against him, for instance, then let the law take its course. The most unfortunate thing is that all of these stories have been a one sided campaign. We have not heard from the girl or from Yunusa and we are already passing judgements. How fair is that? By any standard of justice, they are innocent. As far as I’m concerned, Yunusa is innocent until it is proved that he has committed a crime. I will not condemn him merely on the strength of allegations until he is properly tried. But let me say here that I am not defending the person of Yunusa. No, very far from it. And I will never defend whatever is wrong and inhuman and cruel and unjust.

But supposing it is proved that Yunusa had an illegal marriage based on Islamic law and other standards, what should happen?

The law of the land can take care of this. We do not need a national conference to determine that, which is why we have the courts. But it is also dangerous to try and convict him in the media. If we perceive infractions, we can sensitise the people so that they will bring accused persons to justice; that is all. We do not have the right to try people and convict them in the media.
The parents of the girl have said that Yunusa has forced their daughter to convert to Islam. Why does it seem that Muslims like to impose their religion on others?

Look, let us use our heads and not our hearts. Religion is a matter of the heart or a matter of conviction. So you cannot impose it on anybody. You cannot impose conviction on me. It is stupid at this age and time to say you have forced somebody to convert to Islam. You can’t force anybody to convert to Islam and of course, Islam has been very categorical on that. Let there be no compulsion in religion because faith is not compatible with compulsion.

So is it that some Muslims don’t understand this part of the Quran with the way they are intolerant of people of other faiths or even threaten relatives who convert to other religions? In some cases, people have been killed by family members for converting from Islam.

That is a totally different issue, which is different from compelling someone to convert to your religion. Intolerance is bad, I can tell you that. But let us admit it, religion is a heritage. I’m sure it will not please you as a Christian if your first child comes to you and says he is now a Buddhist. Even if you are not going to be violent or discriminatory against that child, you are not going to be happy. But the extent of the reaction will vary from individual to individual.

There are those who will cautiously react and there are those who will overreact. It is in all religions; it is not just limited to Islam, it happens in Christianity too. I’ve witnessed it. A young lady converted to Islam and he was rejected by her parents. If you have not experienced it, then don’t blame anybody. We can appeal that people must react moderately. And this kind of intolerance again is different from not wanting to recognise the right of others to defer from you. If you have the right to keep your moustache and shave off your beard, what denies me the right to shave off my moustache and keep my beard? What is the problem about that? Why must you be intolerant?

If I’m putting on a cap, it is not because my brain is leaking. Why must you deny me opportunities or look down upon me because I am putting on a cap? This is the kind of intolerance that I’m talking about. Look, no matter what you do, this is a plural world. For as long as the world remains, there will be Muslims and there will be Christians. Muslims cannot convert everyone to Islam and Christians cannot convert everyone to Christianity. Even everyone cannot become born-again. Everybody cannot join the Pentecostal bandwagon.

Catholics will remain Catholics. And once in a while, you find people crisscrossing; there is nothing we can do about it. But this is not the issue. The issue is that there are people who feed on hate and blow issues beyond proportions. They play religious and ethnic cards. The most unfortunate thing is that nothing divides the elite. President Muhammadu Buhari was at the Redeemed Camp and he joined them for the service of songs. When Jim Nwobodo (former Governor of Anambra State) was wedding, Abubakar Rimi (former Kano State Governor) went to church. They were friends. The late Ooni of Ife (Okunade Sijuwade) and the late Emir of Kano (Alhaji Ado Bayero) were very close friends. They were the closest of traditional rulers in their time.

We should not help those who want to propagate hate, divide the people and push another agenda. People are being abducted every day; people are being ritually murdered every day, Muslims, Christians, whatever.

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

Our media sucks. They are hypocrites and one-sided. No media outrage on the abductors of the ikorodu gals as they are all xtians. #doublestandard

you no for copy everything now