The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar lll, on Tuesday voiced opposition to a bill seeking to ensure men and women have equal right to inheritance.
He made the statement in Gusau at the closing ceremony of the 20th Zamfara State Annual Qur’anic Recitation Competition.
Abubakar said that the bill was against Islamic religion and, therefore, unacceptable to Muslims.
The bill seeks equality for male and female children in the sharing of inherited family wealth or property.
It also proposes that a widow is entitled to the custody of her children unless it is contrary to the interests and welfare of the children.
The bill also seeks that a widow shall have the right to remarry any man of her choice and should have the right to a fair share in the inheritance of her late husband’s property and the right to live in her matrimonial house.
“Our religion is our total way of life; therefore, we will not accept any move to change what Allah permitted us to do,” Abubakar said.
“Islam is a peaceful religion; we have been living peacefully with Christians and followers of other religions in this country. Therefore, we should be allowed to perform our religion effectively.”
He called on the Senate to not consider the bill because of its religious implications.
Abubakar called on Muslims to continue to pray for peaceful coexistence in the country, adding that they should cooperate with all the tiers of government to move the country forward.
In his remarks, Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, gave the assurance that the state government would continue to support the Qur’anic recitation competition.
Yari and that his wife, Asma’u, donated N500,000 to each male and female winner of the 7th category of the competition – recitation of the Qur’an with Tafsir.
