Stop packing our people from one place to another like animals — Sheikh Dahiru warns

Controversial Islamic Scholar and leader of almajiri in Nigeria, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, has said in an interview with Daily Sun, that the practice of Almajiri in the North is not responsible for poverty and insecurity in the region as many are made to believe.

Bauchi said Almajiris have the constitutional rights to practice their religion in any part of the country, and must not be treated like animals.


On ban on practice of Almajiri, he said, “The constitution of the country gives us the freedom to practice our religion the way we want it. Our biggest religion is the Quran. Since the Quran has given them (those in power) laws that they have refused to abide with, what right do they have to give instructions or law to the Quran? Based on that, we will not accept the ban on Almajiri by northern governors. Our right to freedom of worship is being violated. We will not accept violation of our right to go to any part of the country to practice our religion.”



On why he opposes the abolition of the Almajiri system by Northern governors, he said, "The reason is because there is a government and the government operates by a constitution. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives every citizen the right to movement, the right to practice their religion. These students (Almajirai) are Nigerians.

"Packing our people like animals and moving them from one place to the other, we will not accept. As Nigerians, we have a right to practice our religion. The Quran is the basis of our religion. We will not accept any violation of our rights. Every Nigerian has a right to go to America to study, he has a right to go to the United Kingdom to carry out western education, to go anywhere to read western education but we will not accept the ban on Almajiri. We have the right to go anywhere in the world to read the Quran. This is a right given to us by God.




"The constitution of the country gives us the freedom to practice our religion the way we want it. Our biggest religion is the Quran. Since the Quran has given them (those in power) laws that they have refused to abide with, what right do they have to give instructions or law to the Quran? Based on that, we will not accept the ban on Almajiri by northern governors. Our right to freedom of worship is being violated. We will not accept violation of our right to go to any part of the country to practice our religion.


On whether he was contacted by governors before the ban on Almajiri, he said, "They did not consult me before abolishing the almajiri system. No. They didn’t. The governors should go and stop others in other countries from reading the Quran, not in Nigeria.

"The governors are free to go to other countries to make laws that would infringe on the rights of people, rights that are inalienable and given to every man, not only Nigerians.



"Like I mentioned earlier, Nigerians have the rights to go to other parts of the country to seek knowledge. Any governor that wants to ban almajiri should go to other country to do that because as for us in Nigeria, the law gives us the right to practice our religion without any fear or hindrance, to move freely to other places within or outside the country to practice our religion. We will not accept what the governors are doing.

On governors' claims that the Almajiri system breeds insecurity and poverty in the north, he said, "Is it the recitation of the Quran that breeds poverty or Insecurity? Or hunger? These are the thinking of atheists. I am asking the world, does the Quaranic education bring hunger or poverty? These are the thinking of infidels and those with misconceptions about religion. Are they the only group that make the country?"