HATRED FOR SUNNAH AND HIJAB BY SOME MUSLIM PARENTS: AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT

On Sunday, 26th, November, 2017 to be precise, a sister was seriously victimized and assaulted by her own parents not to ever wear hijab again in her life. They seized all her khimaar and burnt them. They took her to one jalabi "shehu" who purportedly specializes in the treatment of mentally derailed people. She was placed with mentally ill patients. They felt she was mentally derailed to have accepted Sunnah within few months of her Youth Corp program in Sokoto and started wearing full hijab. 

There are many parents who feel this way towards their children who have just started striving upon pristine Islaam (Sunnah). Some parents would be like: "are you mad", "are you crazy", "is this how you will be dressing?" "Something must be wrong with your head". This is most often, the reaction of many Muslim parents when their children start taking every Sunnah serious, stop following them to unsunnatic gatherings, saying "no" to a big wedding , insisting on marrying a salafi brother or sister who understands the Sunnah the way they do. On this ground, some parents have been delaying their sons and daughters from getting married.

The sister, herself narrated the story of how she was chained like a mad person for several days with serious beating. This reminds me of how the early Muslim men and women suffered so much in the hands of the disbelievers. We all remember the case of Sumayyah Bint Khayyat رضي الله عنها and how she was stabbed to death for being one of the first to display Islaamic identity in the public. Indeed, in her, our sisters have great role model to follow. This is just by the way. The sister later escaped out of the Shehu's custody and went to hide somewhere unknown to anyone. The sister's parents started searching for her. When they couldn't find her, they felt disturbed and had to lie against a brother the sister had proposed to marry. Of course, the sister's parents knew the brother very well. The father wanted him, but the mother insisted her daughter can't marry a "Tableegh" as many people ignorantly call anyone who is known to be upon Sunnah in our contemporary community. 

The mother alleged that it was the brother who took her away from them. I met the sister's mother who told me the brother took her daughter away and they wanted to arrest him for abduction. She also alleged that the brother told her daughter to go resign from her job and she did. I told the woman to be patient that the brother has nowhere to run to and that, it is never in the Sunnah to insist on marrying a lady without her parents' consent. I had started blaming the brother in my mind, thinking: "what kind of thing is this?" Even though I had never met the brother before, I vowed to investigate the matter and help them to search for the brother wherever he might be hiding for justice to prevail. I promised the mother that I would call her before sun sets that day, for the report of my findings.

In the course of my investigation, a friend of the brother informed me that the brother was in a madrasah at Fate, Ilorin, when he heard that the lady's parents were looking for him to be arrested. We put a call to the brother and he left the madrasah to meet me at our masjid immediately. I told him not to go to the sister's mother just like that because they were still angry and wanted to take him to the Police Headquarters. I knew there was no way they would take him to the station without torturing him over an offence that had not been proven against him. 

When the brother came, I confronted him in the first place, asking him: "why did you hide their daughter from them?" The brother said he knew nothing about it and that the last time he saw the sister was in September, 2017, when the mother said she can't marry her daughter to a "Tableegh". I also asked him why he told her to resign from her job? He said he knew nothing about her resignation, and that it has been long that he saw her. He said they don't even talk on phone because her line was always not available. I advised the brother to go and report himself immediately at a nearby police station since he believes he knew nothing about the allegation. I told him to call me when he gets to the police station, so that I can call the lady's mother and her angry brother to go and meet them there. When the brother got there, he called me, and I called the lady's mother to go and meet them at the police station as promised. 

When they got to the station, the lady was forced to show up because he heard that his parents have arrested the brother, and that if she fails to show up, the brother would be locked up and taken to court on accusation of abduction. As the lady was entering the premises of the police station, his angry uncle started beating her in front of the police and everyone. He tore her khimar, not even minding what the lady was wearing beneath it. Even ordinary scarf, he didn't allow her to wear. He kept beating her in front of the police men and women till blood started coming out of her mouth. Only eye witnesses to the incident can say how wicked the young man was towards the lady on that fateful day.

The brother had written his own statement before the Police, saying he knew nothing about the alleged abduction and he never told her to resign any appointment. The real truth came up when it was time for the young lady to put down her own statement before the Police. I was by the side of the room where they were taking her statement. The sister was writing what actually transpired that led to her abscondment from home. The lady's mother, and her brother who was beating her were there to make sure that the lady writes what would favour them in her statement. Ordinarily, they ought not be there. The statement ought to have been written individually, voluntarily without unnecessary pressure or undue influence. But I can testify that they were forcing the lady to write what they wanted her to write under duress and continuous beating from the same wicked uncle. The mother was also there shouting at the lady. I was almost crying where I was. I couldn't help the situation.

The lady was adamant on writing the truth about what transpired, and they were commanding her to write things that would indict or incriminate the young man who apparently knew nothing about her whereabout. I heard the mother and her brother telling the lady to write that it was the brother who carried her away. They didn't I was listening to them. The lady refused to write it, and the uncle was slapping her in front of the Police. Then, I couldn't exercise patience again, I had to enter and see what was actually happening.  When I entered the room, they were all afraid. The police officers didn't know who I was. They started asking..ehen, ehen? From where? The lady's mother and the uncle who knew how I helped them to locate the brother said ..oh, "he was the one who assisted us to get the boy". So, I was watching. A woman came in and said "don't mind him (referring to me), he is part of them". The uncle said, "no, he is not part of them", the woman said, "they are tableegh". I said: "it depends on what you mean, the brother is a brother in Islaam and we are not tableegh, we are Ahlus Sunnah". The uncle said: "oh, you are one of them". He started cursing us and beating the lady in my presence and in the presence of the Police. 

To be continued in sha Allaah....