04-05-2009, 05:31 AM
Zakzaky was released in December after his latest brush with the authorities, when the government dropped charges stemming from his proclamation: "There is no government except that of Islam".
But his freedom has not brought the release of many of his disciples, nor has it tempered his rejection of secularism and his demand for an Islamic state in multi-denominational Nigeria.
It is not only his religious militancy that is cause for concern among the authorities. His message of social justice and an end to corruption is clearly targeted at the downtrodden and the youth, the bedrock of his support. His network also clearly extends beyond the north, the historical Islamic heartland, analysts say.
"He is highly relevant both as a religious and political leader," Fabian Okoye of the Human Rights Monitor, a civil liberties group told IRIN. "In the first place, his religious group poses a serious challenge to the establishment in the north. They believe the kind of society they have, sanctioned by mainstream religious leaders, is ungodly and repressive. They believe the system needs to be uprooted."
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/...3199e.html
But his freedom has not brought the release of many of his disciples, nor has it tempered his rejection of secularism and his demand for an Islamic state in multi-denominational Nigeria.
It is not only his religious militancy that is cause for concern among the authorities. His message of social justice and an end to corruption is clearly targeted at the downtrodden and the youth, the bedrock of his support. His network also clearly extends beyond the north, the historical Islamic heartland, analysts say.
"He is highly relevant both as a religious and political leader," Fabian Okoye of the Human Rights Monitor, a civil liberties group told IRIN. "In the first place, his religious group poses a serious challenge to the establishment in the north. They believe the kind of society they have, sanctioned by mainstream religious leaders, is ungodly and repressive. They believe the system needs to be uprooted."
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/...3199e.html