Popular Muslim cleric also embroiled in rape scandal

An Islamic cleric in Osun State, Habeebulah Abdulrahman, (popularly known as Al-Edewy), has been accused of raping a 16-year-old female student of his Islamic school.

In response, Mr Abdulrahman told Premium Times the teenager is his wife and he had the right to have sexual intercourse with her.

The victim, born in 2003, lost her dad at a young age but stays with her mother in Ede, a town in Osun State. She recently completed her junior secondary education in the town.

Premium Times’ investigation revealed that the cleric, in January, invited the girl to join his Islamic class not far from her house, for proper Qur’anic teachings. The girl yielded with the consent of her mum.

But the Islamic scholar after a while requested her hand in marriage. The girl on several occasions rejected the proposal but Mr Abdulrahman persisted until he raped her.

This newspaper gathered that he gave the victim several gifts with the motive of luring her into marriage, but when confronted he claimed he was only supporting because she has no father.

How it happened

On April 18, the scholar travelled to Ilaro in Ogun State for an Islamic lecture alongside the girl and two other male students.

While the two male students were lodged in a separate room, Mr Abdulrahman booked a single room for himself and the girl. He attempted sexual intercourse with the girl but she raised an alarm and got the attention of the hotel’s receptionist, she said.

The girl claimed he eventually raped her that night.

On their way back to Osun State, Mr Abdulrahman visited his relatives in Abeokuta, where he again allegedly raped the teenager.

According to the teenager, at Abeokuta, he forced himself on her in the absence of the two male students and the scholar’s relatives.

“Before I knew what was happening, the whole house was empty and he told me not to attempt running away because everywhere had been locked.

“The bed was stained after he had his way and he instructed me to go and wash his singlet that was also stained.”

How It Started

Narrating the events that preceded the rape, she said; “Barely four days after I joined the Islamic school, he asked me to marry him but I said my studies will be affected and that he is too old for me even if I want to marry anyone at all.

“There was a day he came to my house and because no one was at home he entered my room while I was trying to undress. He told me we should make use of the opportunity but I refused.

“Even when he told me he would be coming to my house to ask for my hand in marriage, I refused immediately.”

Meanwhile, after the alleged rape, the girl stopped attending the Islamic class and the family was silent about it until some of the brothers who stay outside Osun State got the information during a visit to Ede in June.

According to the victim’s mother, Mrs Ibrahim, the cleric started by checking on the girl’s performance in school, which made her feel he had the interest of the family at heart.

“When he learnt the girl has a boyfriend, he was furious and we all thought he was concerned for a good cause.

The scholar’s Islamic school
“When he started giving gifts, I also asked him and he said he was doing it to help a fatherless girl. Even when he said he wanted to marry the girl, the only grouse we had against him was that the girl objected to the marriage,” the old woman said.

While recounting her experiences, she rained curses on Mr Abdulrahman, saying: “he felt he could step on our rights because he is influential and we are nobody, but my God will judge him and his family.”

We’re Married, Cleric Claims

In response to the allegation, Mr. Abdulrahman claimed that it was not a case of rape because he had been married to the girl in the Islamic way, a day before they embarked on the journey.

“She is my wife and not an ordinary student. She misbehaved and I told the family that I was no more interested in her. The family want to coerce me to marry her. What she did, I don’t think anyone can accept that. She went to another man’s house for two days.”

“After 15 days, I saw those pictures. I went to the family and her mom and showed them that picture. It was then that I declared that I am no more interested in her. Since then, they have been peddlinglies for me to marry her.”

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