The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, for appearing on Id ground dressed in Islamic regalia including a turban on Friday, and for also delivering a politically motivated speech at the Id ground.
MURIC said in a statement by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola that Fayose’s action amounted to an “executive hocus pocus, highly sacriledgious and unduely provocative. It is Act I, Scene I in the Theater of the Absurd.”
The group said that Governor Fayose cannot pretend to be a friend of Ekiti Muslims as he has delivered several anti-Muslim speeches and uttered several hate pronouncements targeted at Nigerian Muslims.
It said that Fayose’s general attitude and body language to Muslims of Ekiti belie his status as the state governor, especially as he has also demolished mosques out of sheer desire to eliminate all Islamic landmarks from Ekiti.
“The fact that he offered advice concerning who Muslims should vote for in the coming Ekiti 2018 election in his speech at the Id ground reveals Fayose’s real motive. But that is his undoing. Delivering a political speech in a serene atmosphere and on a sacred ground is sacriledgious.
“Fayose has also politicized religion. Who are Fayose’s advisers for Allah’s sake? Or is it that he does not listen to them? It is most likely that he doesn’t listen to anyone.
“Like every bully, Fayose acts on instinct. He tries to think later though. Fayose has abused the turban and arrogantly violated Islamic wardrobe etiquette. It is an insult for him to have so boldly dressed himself up like an Imam on Id ground.
“Only a titled Muslim leader or an Islamic scholar can dress like that. Fayose has failed to respect a major Islamic decorum. Can any political leader put on a pastor’s cassock and clerical collar without causing uproar?
“Fayose has shown that he has no respect for Muslims or their religion. He derides Ekiti Muslims yet he tries to con them to vote for his party. This attempt to ridicule Islam reminds us of the words of Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) to those who mocked him, “If you mock us now, we will soon ridicule you and very soon you will know on whom shame and punishment will descend” (Qur’an 11: 38-39).
MURIC said that traditionally, non-Muslim governors and kings (Obas and Obis) are visited by Muslims on their way from the Id ground and that only those who are Muslims among the governors and kings appear at the Id ground.
“Fayose’s appearance at the Ekiti Id ground has violated all known norms. He has desecrated our holy grounds.”
