Catholic archbishop of Abuja supports allowing Muslim women to retain the hijab

CATHOLIC archbishop of Abuja Cardinal John Onaiyekan has weighed into the ongoing debate about banning the Muslim head gear the hijab saying that the government should not ban it as has happened in neighbouring countries as part of it fight against terrorism.

 

Of late, terrorist sect Boko Haram, has resorted to using women and girls clad in hijabs to carry out suicide bombing attacks against soft targets. This has prompted Nigeria's neighbours including Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic to ban the use of the hijab and there have been calls for a similar Nigerian ban.

 

However, several Muslim leaders have opposed a ban, saying it is tantamount to religious persecution, arguing that motorcycles are used for terrorist attacks too and no one is calling for their ban. Cardinal Onaiyekan added that he too does not see any reason why a ban should be enforced as the hijab veil is cultural.

 

Cardinal Onaiyekan said: "I will say if a woman wants to dress that way, there is no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to do it. I do know that the experience in the northeast is the big hijab but if you are going in that direction, then no Hausa man up there should wear agbada because the babaringa should be banned too if that is what we are saying.

 

"A local gun can be put underneath the average Hausa man’s babaringa, so what I believe ought to be looked at positively and without bias are the ones that cover the face completely.  I believe that those ones, they could restrict to when they are in the mosque praying but when they are walking on the streets, especially when they are on the highway or approaching a check point, it shouldn’t be because the security operatives would want to know who are you, where you are from and where you are going."

 

He added that the  government might consider a way of making it possible for every Nigerian to be able to be recognised without necessarily covering their face.  According to the archbishop, in Arab lands and especially in the desert, men too tie the turban in such a way that one can hardly see their face because of the sand and dust.

 

However, he advised women that their faces are not to be seen by anybody else than their husbands, then they should not go out of their husband’s house. He added that such precautions will help Nigeria and make sure we do not get involved into unhelpful religious debates over the matter.