Many Nigerians are still talking about the secret meeting between the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouq and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
According to Daily Trust, the secret wedding Fatiha between the two top government officials took place on Friday, 18 September, at the Maitama Juma’a Mosque in Abuja.
However, more facts on the ‘secret wedding’ are now being pushed into the public domain.
For example, PRNigeria, quoting family sources said that the marriage plans had been in the offing for some time now, but was delayed by the incredible tight official schedules of both of them.
It also confirm that indeed, the Chief of Air Staff has taken the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as his legally married wife.
According to PRNigeria, the need to observe the Covid-19 safety protocol and the sensitivity of respecting the mood of the nation facing serious internal security challenges were some of the reasons why the couple chose to make the wedding a low-key event.
One of the family sources said it was even pressure from family members that compelled them to eventually tie the knots at the time they did because the tight official assignments of both of them were almost going to delay it further.
The family source said: “While the Minister was busy overseeing the humanitarian activities which her ministry was undertaking owing to the flood and security challenges in the country, the Air Chief was also on the field most of the time superintending over the air component of military’s internal security operations across the country.
“As a matter of fact, both of them were represented at the wedding based on the Islamic principle of representation in marriage”, the source confided.
Speaking in the same vein, an Islamic scholar who witnessed the event at a mosque in Abuja said such low-keyed wedding is encouraged in Islam.
The Scholar who preferred to be anonymous said: “The actual Muslim wedding known as a nikah is a simple ceremony which doesn’t necessarily require the physical presence of the bride and the groom once they have representations or witnesses sometimes known as Wali from both parties in agreement for the marriage.
“The ceremony consists of reading from the Qur’an, payment of the Sadaki dowry and the endorsement by the Wali, the representatives, including the exchange of vows and prayers. Therefore, culturally and religiously this Islamic marriage is encouraged and supported because it has the blessing of ‘Wali’ the representatives who have “Walayah” authority or guardianship over partners engaged in concluding the marriage contract.”
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