“Bandits Have No Religion, Don’t Call Them Muslims” — Oluwo of Iwo

“Bandits Have No Religion, The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has strongly criticised the practice of describing bandits as Muslims, insisting that criminality should not be linked to Islam.

In a statement released on Saturday through his Chief Press Secretary, Ibrahim Alli, the monarch argued that bandits do not possess the characteristics of practising Muslims, adding that an Arabic name or the use of a turban does not automatically make anyone a Muslim.

According to him, bandits neither observe Islamic prayers nor maintain the religious practices expected of followers of Islam.

“I condemn in totality the religious profiling of bandits as Muslims. Real Muslims are not bandits. You cannot see a mosque in the den of bandits. The herdsmen don’t equally have mosques in their abode (Gaa). They have no identification of Muslims in all ramifications.”

Oba Akanbi further explained that turbans are worn by many people outside Islam, especially those living in desert regions, and therefore should not be treated as evidence of religious affiliation.

He also rejected the argument that speaking Arabic proves someone is a Muslim, noting that people of different faiths use the language in several Arab countries.

“Bandits have no religion. Have you ever seen where bandits observe solat (Islamic mandatory prayers)? They might be wearing turbans, but not only Muslims wear turbans. People in the desert who are not Muslims also wear turbans.

“Many churches in Arab countries use the Arabic language to preach. We have people in all Islamic-populated countries who are not Muslims but speak Arabic.”

The traditional ruler described the continued association of banditry with Islam as unjust, saying the rise of banditry was more connected to governance failures of previous administrations than to any religion.

He urged Nigerians to stop linking criminal activities to Islam and called on the government to enact laws against social media commentators who, according to him, use online platforms to malign Muslims.

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