The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic rights advocacy group, has urged the Nigerian government to declare the first day of Muharram as a public holiday, as it does every January 1.

This is contained in a New Year Message released by Professor Ishaq Akintola, the director of the group on Sunday.

According to the group, January 1 (New Year’s Day) holiday is a creation of a “Christian colonial government designed to dignify and cushion the pomp and pageantry of Christmas”. As a result, it contends that only the recognition of the first day of the Islamic new year can restore equilibrium and ensure parity, justice, and fairness.

The statement reads, “As usual, the Federal Government (FG) declared today, 1st January, 2023, a public holiday in recognition of the first day of the Christian Gregorian calendar. But because the day fell on a Sunday, FG created an alternative by declaring the following Monday (the day after tomorrow) a public holiday. It must be noted that the same thing happened in 2022 when the date fell on a Saturday.

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“MURIC issued a statement on this gross imbalance on 7th January, 2022. Today’s press release is a slight modification and a follow-up to our statement of 2022. A nation that gives full recognition to the first day of the calendar of one religion but ignores the first day of the other cannot be described as one in which there is equal right and justice.

“Christians are being pampered by the Nigerian government. Christian culture has been imposed on Nigerian Muslims. Christianity is being glamourised and idolised while Islam is being disfigured and demonised.

“The imposition of 1st January holiday without an equal declaration of 1st Muharram as a holiday is an aberration, a misnomer and a gross injustice because Nigerian Muslims have been demanding for the declaration of the first day of the Islamic calendar as a holiday for more than forty-three (43) years to no avail.

“It simply means that FG has been so badly blackmailed by Christian leaders that it has no option but to support the continued Christianisation of Nigeria. The Federal Government (FG) still considers the first day of the Christian calendar sacred while the first day of the Islamic calendar is regarded as unimportant. This is a spillover from colonial days when Muslims were forced to go to work and school even on Salah days. We say never again.

“Never again shall we go back to slavery. Never again shall we accept the religious apartheid slogan of ‘No holidays for Muslim festivals’. MURIC frowns on this lopsided arrangement. It is unfair, unjust and undemocratic. We demand an immediate review of FG’s holiday policy. We demand the declaration of the first day of the Islamic calendar as a holiday before this annual 1st January holiday can be justifiable. The declaration of today as a holiday is an act of injustice.

“Going down the dark lanes of history, it is important to note that the Christian calendar was established by Pope Gregory XIII (1502 – 1585), a Christian emperor, while the Islamic calendar was kicked off on 16th July, 622 C. E. (Christian Era) to mark the historical migration (hijrah) of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) from Makkah, where the Muslims faced persecution, to Madinah, where they found religious freedom.

“The decree which declared Anno Hijrae was promulgated in 639 C.E. during the reign of Umar bin Khattab, the second orthodox Khalifah (634 – 644). The Islamic calendar also finds divine expression in the Glorious Qur’an 9:36; 2:189; 10:5 and 17:12. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, therefore, the Islamic hijrah calendar is not a product of human machination and manipulation.

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“Being a product of a people hitherto repressed by the pagans of Makkah, the Islamic calendar is both a symbol and an instrument of freedom and liberation. Seen from this angle, all past and present efforts made by Nigerian Muslims for the actualisation of the hijrah holiday is, therefore, part of the struggle for the emancipation of Nigerian Muslims from the clutches of Christian neo-imperialism, oppression and persecution.”

The group said, “To strike a balance, we demand the declaration of 1st Muharram as a holiday for the Muslim Hijrah calendar. In the alternative or if the government thinks this demand is unreasonable, FG should stop declaring 1st January as a holiday. That is when we will know who has been benefitting from it and who has been losing and hurting.

“It is only when those who argue that the 1st January holiday is not a Christian holiday and that it is for all of us to accept the idea of cancelling the holiday that we will know that they are sincere. So let us start getting at the truth by dropping the 1st January holiday.

“The fact that many state governments in Nigeria have been recognising 1st Muharram (Hijrah holiday) for some years now and declaring the day as a public holiday underpins its relevance, significance and the correctness of the hypothesis of its proponents. Many core Northern states declare the 1st Muharram as a holiday every year. So what stops FG from doing the same at the federal level? Is it because Nigeria is a Christian State even though it has not been officially announced?

“Apart from the recognition given to 1st Muharram every year by core Northern states, it is noteworthy that the current Minister of the Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, a Muslim, declared Hijrah holiday in Osun State when he was governor. The late Governor Isiaka Ajimobi who was equally a Muslim, also declared hijrah holiday in Oyo State.

“But his successor, Seyi Makinde who is a Christian, refused to follow suit in his first two years in office until Muslims in the state forced him to do so in his third year (2021). Makinde also declared the 1st Muharram holiday in 2022 to assuage Muslims and get their support for his second term.”

“By the way, the next hijrah holiday will fall on 19th July, 2023, ceteris paribus. That will be the 1st Muharram, 1446. The next administration can still right this wrong. This earth planet will not tumble if it declares 19th July, 2023 Hijrah holiday in recognition of the first day of the Islamic calendar,” the group added.