BARR FIRDAUS AMASA: HEROINE OF THE YEAR
By
Sanni Kay. Yusuf
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and protect their private parts and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent and to draw their ‘hijabs’ all over their necks and blossoms…” Q24 V31
“O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their ‘jilbaab’ all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as respectable women)…” Q33 V59.
Barr Firdaus is worth the accolade – Heroine of the Year – for standing tall against all odds to make happen what her predecessors tried to, but could not do – for not minding the callous refusal to be conferred what she had laboured for all these years.
Nothing else can best describe such an iconic, titanic rarity than the word, heroine.
May Firdaus be granted FIRDAUS. Aameeeen!
I shouldn’t have been too engaged to spit a few words since Barr Firdaus’ Call to Bar imbroglio broke out a couple of days ago and the social media rocked by ceaseless arguments, just as I shouldn’t be too busy to peruse various epistles in defence of our brave-hearted hijab heroine – Firdaus Amasa. It’s really fulfilling to know that muslims have woken up from their age-long slumber.
We should not be surprised that Nigerian christians were against Firdaus’ heroic tendency. They have been like that and they may never change forever because it’s in them: always at the other end of Islamic values. Recall the recent case of sukuk. And of course, that of Islamic banking. Their umbrella body, CAN cried foul and wept blood as if they were under coercion to embrace Islam. Anything Islamic is a threat to them aside a few who are rational.
But it pains that some ill-baked, self-styled muslims could join the bandwagon to antagonise our legal luminary of the year. Going through the comments of such ill-faithed ideologists, I wondered if they ever knew what Islam was. Muslims are the architects of the avalanche of problems encountered in the practice of Islam.
What exactly has Firdaus done wrong? She was accused of wearing a ‘forbidden garment’ to the venue of a Call to Bar ceremony in Abuja. What garment? Hijab…
When I went through the heroine’s image, I could not even see any hijab worn. All I sighted was a small black piece of cloth placed under a wig covering down the cheek area and tucked through the neck into an all-rapping black pullover. So I asked myself: ‘Where is the hijab?’
It’s obvious that the tormented heroine would ordinarily not wear her hijab in such a manner. She had actually considered the acclaimed fictitious rules of the game. She had compromised enough. What else did despisers of sanctity want? She must strip herself unclad to abide by some barbaric, unfounded extant rules, right?
Does it even make sense that the lady was allowed to be clad in her hijab all through her studentship which spanned almost a decade, only to be disallowed to wear same just for a few hours. What a shame of supposed upholders of fundamental human rights!
Wearing hijab is a way of life for any adherent muslimah. It is a spiritual exercise that is accompanied by a reward indescribable. It is not a garment to be worn intermittently or optionally. And the least of length is down the blossom, as aforementioned.
We prayerfully await judgement by the court as Sheikh Barr Abdur-Raheem Ahmad Sayi and other cerebral muslim legal laminaries bombard the evil doers with facts. May Allah see them through.
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