A Muslim cleric in Kano State, Sheikh Jibrin Saeed Almaliky Assalafy has stated that the practice of democracy in Nigeria as a form of governance is prohibited by the Islamic religion, except that Muslim communities should do it out of necessity.
Sheikh Almaliky Assalafy made the assertion during an exclusive interview with CITAD Radio over the weekend at his mosque in Rano local government.
The cleric further explained that democracy is a man-made system, meaning “rule of the people by the people for the people”. Thus it is contrary to Islamic doctrine, because rule is for Allah, the most high, the Almighty, and it is not permissible to give legislative rights to any human being, no matter who he is.
“This democratic system that we are practising has no basis or origin in Islam. In fact, it is against the teachings of Islamic religion as well as the chronology of leadership in Islam” said Sheikh Jibrin Assalafy.
He hinted that, in order for one to be elected to lead the people Islamically, he needs to be responsible, intelligent and equipped with knowledge of life. But contrary to the democratic system which provides opportunities for everyone irrespective of the quality assurance of an individual.
In the same vein, the Sheikh stressed that, they are not calling on people to boycott the democratic system, in fact, they are calling on the students of education to participate in politics at all levels because this will bring about the necessary reforms, especially in terms of Islamic law.
Salafi scholars opine that democracy is haram in Islam, but they legitimize the opportunity to use democracy to come to power by voting towards establishing Islamic rule and encourage voters to choose the better between evils.