• Says ‘Islam began with Iqra, not ignorance’
• Rejects claim Muslims use taqiyyah to deceive Christians
• Defends peaceful practice of Shari’a in Oyo
• Says Nigeria belongs equally to Muslims, Christians
An Islamic scholar and member of Rabwa Islamic Propagation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade, has fired back at Deji Yesufu over his recent commentary on Islam, warning against using the activities of Boko Haram and other extremist organisations to define the religion.
Agunbiade, in a strongly worded response issued on Thursday, said equating Islam with terrorism amounted to what he described as a dangerous distortion of the religion.
He said while he welcomed Yesufu’s call for dialogue and peaceful coexistence, he disagreed with what he regarded as the attempt to portray Islam through the actions of violent groups that had “abused the name of Islam.”
The response followed Yesufu’s write-up titled, “Islam: An Open Letter to Edmund Obilo.”
Agunbiade argued that the proper way to understand Islam, the Qur’an and Shari’a was through knowledge, context and intellectual honesty, rather than through the activities of extremist organisations.
“Boko Haram does not represent Islam, and terrorism cannot be used as the standard by which Islam is judged,” he declared.
Taking his argument to what he described as the foundation of Islam, Agunbiade pointed to the first revelation received by Prophet Muhammad, saying the first command from Allah was Iqra—“Read”.
Quoting Qur’an 96:1, he said, “Read in the name of your Lord who created.”
He also cited Qur’an 39:9, where Allah asks whether those who possess knowledge can be equated with those who do not.
Agunbiade said the emphasis was significant because Boko Haram had become notorious for violence associated with hostility towards Western education.
“How, then, can an organisation associated with attacking schools, teachers and education be presented as the authentic Islam whose first revealed command was Iqra?” he asked.
He added: “Islam began with Iqra, not ignorance. It began with knowledge, not the destruction of schools.”
According to him, Boko Haram should be understood as a violent extremist organisation and not as the embodiment of Islamic teachings.
The Islamic scholar also took aim at the use of selected Qur’anic verses to portray Islam as inherently hostile to Christians and Jews.
He specifically referenced Qur’an 5:51 and 9:29, arguing that presenting the verses as blanket commands for Muslims to hate or kill Christians and Jews ignored the historical and textual circumstances surrounding them.
Agunbiade urged critics of Islam to approach the Qur’an as a complete text rather than extracting individual verses and presenting them in isolation.
He pointed to Qur’an 2:256, which states that there is “no compulsion in religion”, as well as Qur’an 60:8, which instructs Muslims to act kindly and justly towards those who do not fight them because of their religion.
He argued that such verses demonstrated the need to examine the Qur’an within its broader context.
According to him, the same principle should apply to hadiths dealing with Jews and Christians.
He said a hadith relating to a specific historical conflict, territory or circumstance should not automatically be transformed into a universal instruction governing peaceful Muslim-Christian relations in contemporary Nigeria.
The scholar also rejected the claim that Muslims practise taqiyyah as a general religious licence to deceive Christians and other non-Muslims.
He described the claim as a serious misrepresentation of the concept.
Agunbiade explained that taqiyyah had a particular theological and historical context, especially within Shi’a thought, relating to concealment of faith under persecution.
He therefore challenged the portrayal of taqiyyah as a universal Islamic doctrine authorising Muslims to lie to Christians.
Agunbiade further dismissed the argument that there was no such thing as a moderate Muslim.
He said the daily reality of Nigeria contradicted such a claim.
According to him, millions of Muslims and Christians across the country work together, trade together, attend schools together and live as neighbours without allowing their religious differences to degenerate into violence.
He argued that judging an entire religion by the actions of extremists was fundamentally unfair.
“To label all Muslims as potential extremists because some criminals claim Islamic justification for their crimes is no more reasonable than judging Christianity by the actions of every violent person who claims to be a Christian,” he said.
Agunbiade also cautioned against lumping Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis together as if they represented Islam as a whole.
He said the Muslim world comprised different schools of thought, political systems, cultures and movements.
He argued that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis had different histories, political objectives and circumstances and should therefore be assessed individually.
He, however, drew a line at attacks on innocent civilians.
“Most importantly, deliberate attacks on innocent civilians cannot be justified by Islamic principles, regardless of who commits them,” he said.
The scholar also challenged concerns over the alleged “introduction” of Shari’a into Oyo State.
Agunbiade insisted that Shari’a was not new to the state, arguing that Muslims had practised aspects of Islamic law peacefully for decades.
He cited the existence of a Shari’a arbitration panel at Oja’Oba Central Mosque in Ibadan, where, according to him, Muslims voluntarily take disputes for resolution according to Islamic principles.
He said such voluntary religious arbitration should not be confused with terrorism or extremist activity.
“This is not Boko Haram. It is not terrorism. It is peaceful religious dispute resolution,” he stressed.
Agunbiade also pointed to Section 275 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the establishment of a Sharia Court of Appeal in a state subject to the constitutional requirements.
He said discussions about Shari’a should therefore be separated from discussions about terrorism.
According to him, Muslims, like Christians, are entitled to practise their religion within the provisions of Nigerian law.
Agunbiade also rejected any suggestion that Nigeria’s development could be credited to one religious community.
He declared that Nigeria belonged to all Nigerians, regardless of religious affiliation.
He said Muslims and Christians had contributed significantly to the country’s development in education, medicine, law, politics, business, science, agriculture, security and public service.
The scholar maintained that the country’s problems would not be solved by turning Muslims against Christians or Christians against Muslims.
Instead, he urged Nigerians to unite against corruption, insecurity, poverty, injustice, poor governance and extremism.
Agunbiade ended his response with a call for religious tolerance and responsible public discourse.
He said Nigerians must learn to distinguish between a religion and individuals or organisations that commit crimes while claiming religious justification.
“Let us condemn Boko Haram without condemning Islam.
“Let us oppose terrorism without demonising Muslims.
“Let us defend Christians without portraying Muslims as their enemies.
“Let us defend Muslims without excusing criminals who misuse the name of Islam,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to approach sensitive religious issues with knowledge, context and intellectual honesty.
Returning to the first revelation of the Qur’an, Agunbiade said Iqra should serve as a guide for contemporary debates about Islam.
“The first command of the final revelation was Iqra. Read. Let that command guide our discussion of Islam,” he said.
He added: “Nigeria needs knowledge, justice, dialogue and mutual respect. It does not need religious caricature.”
Agunbiade’s position, he said, was ultimately a call for Nigerians to reject religious stereotyping and choose dialogue over confrontation in addressing differences between the country’s two major faith communities.
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