The Scourge Of Rape: Between Institutional Weakness And Societal Failure -By Ibrahim M. Attahir, Esq.

INTRODUCTION/PRELIMINARIES

AlhamdulLilLaahi Wahdah. Wassalaatu Wassalaamu Alaa Man Laa Nabiyya Ba’dah.

I thank the leadership of the Centre for Promotion of Sharia (CPS) for inviting me to present this paper. The cases of rape are becoming worrisome in many countries including Nigeria. The said leadership must be commended for their concern on the issues affecting the society.

The organizers did not coin any topic for me. They just asked me to speak on rape. I was the one who coined the topic: “The Scourge of Rape: Between Institutional Weakness and Societal Failure”. If it is found relevant, we should all be grateful to Allah for his bounty. If it is otherwise, the shortcoming is from me and I apologize for it.

I have divided the paper into eight sub-topics:

Introduction, concept of rape, punishment for rape under statutory provisions, punishment for rape under Islamic law, scourge of rape locally and globally, the statutory interventions, institutional weakness, societal failure and conclusion.

However, my presentation may be: “Half a loaf is better than none” or what the Hausas call: “Karbi-kar-ka-rasa”. I hope that at the end of the presentation our distinguished scholars and other participants will enrich it through their contributions. Remember what the brothers of Prophet Yusuf (AS) sought from him when they told him that their merchandise was of poor quality.

THE CONCEPT OF RAPE 

According to Black’s Law Dictionary, there are two concepts of rape. One is the common law and the other is modern (or statutory) concept: “At common law, unlawful sexual intercourse committed by a man with a woman not his wife through force and against her will”. The common law crime of rape required at least a slight penetration of the male organ into the female organ. 

“Unlawful sexual activity (esp. intercourse) with a person (usu. without consent and usu a female by force or threat of injury”. Most modern state statutes have broadened the definition along these lines. 

Under the Northern Nigeria Penal Code, 1960 (NN/PC), Section 282 provides that:“(1)   A man is said to commit rape who, save in the case referred to in subsection (2), has sexual intercourse  with a woman in any of the followings instances:-against her will;without her consentwith her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt;with her consent when , when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married;with or without her consent, when she is under fourteen years of age or of unsound mind.(2) Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife is not rape, if she has attained to puberty”.

The definition of rape under Section 131 of the Bauchi State Shari’ah Penal Code Law is almost a replication of the above provision of the NN/PC. 

Section 1 (1) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015  (VAPP) defines rape as follows:“(1) A person commits the offence of rape if -he or she intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with any part of his or her body or anything else;the other person does not consent to the penetration; orthe consent is obtained by force or means or threat or intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm or by means of false or fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act or use of any substance or additive capable of taking away the will of such person or in the case of married person by impersonating his or her spouse”

Under Islamic law, Al-Liheidan defines rape as: “A man or a woman compelling another to have sexual intercourse with either of them without consent of the other side or without his choice where the offence is totally prohibited”. (Underlining is supplied). The definition of Al-Liheidan is not wide enough to cover certain acts that are classified under rape in Islamic law even in his book. The use of “man”, “woman”, “sexual intercourse” does not include a situation where  a person in involved  sexual activity with  babies, animals, dead persons, etc all of which he classified under rape in Islamic law in his book. Rape under Islamic law does not include one of the spouses compelling the other have to sexual intercourse with him/her because there is presumption of consent between spouses. 

By way of a short analysis, the modern or statutory definition of rape has widened the concept by taking cognizance of the emerging trends such as oral sex, sex with children, babies, raping boys or men by way of sodomy, female using force against males, as well as those using objects for the penetration. Note the use of terms such as “sexual activity”, “with a person”,   “usually female”, “anus or mouth”, “of another person”, “any part of his or her body” and “or anything else”  instead of “sexual intercourse”, “by a man”, “with a woman”, etc. It is also unlawful to have sexual intercourse without consent after the perpetrator has substantially impaired his victim by administering, without victim’s knowledge or consent drugs or intoxicants for the purpose of preventing resistance by making the victim unconscious. Marital status is usually irrelevant in the modern definition. Unlike the Islamic law definition, the modern definition does not cover bestiality and sexual abuse of a corpse.

On the other hand, the Islamic law, the common law and the NN/PC definitions do not include compelling or using force on one’s wife to have sexual intercourse with him as rape. The NN/PC has an exception where wife has not attained puberty. The Islamic law only sees rape of one’s wife as offence when the sexual intercourse is through the anus for which Ta’azir will be applied. The NN/PC does not see man as capable of being a victim of rape either from a woman or another man.

It should be noted that the VAPP, 2015 is a federal legislation that applies only in the FCT. A number of states have enacted their own Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Laws (VAPP). That of Jigawa State is in the pipeline. The nature of the legislation is that it specifically deals with offences against persons such as rape, incest, domestic violence, etc. It also has provisions for payment of reasonable compensation to victims.

PUNISHMENT FOR RAPE UNDER STATUTORY PROVISIONS

Under the NN/PC, Section 283 provides that: 

“Whoever commits rape, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any less term and shall also be liable to fine” (Underlining supplied to show the key words and the implications of the provisions for punishment). The provision appears to give something with the right hand and take it away with the left hand. The imprisonment for life is rendered useless with the clause “for any less term”, which is without limit. It could be for one week, which is still within the “any less term”. It is important to note that the two sentences are separated with “or” giving options to the court. It is this absence of mandatory sentence and the option that some judges rely upon to give very light sentences that bastardize the whole process.

Women, children human right groups as well as activists have been mounting intense pressure on governments to make punishment for rape severer. Probably, that may be one of the reasons prompting legislative interventions. Section 1 (2) and (3) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 provides that:“(2) A person convicted of an offence under subsection 1 of this section is liable to imprisonment for life except –   Where the offender is less than 14 years of age, the offender is liable to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment;in all other cases, to minimum of 12 years imprisonment without an option of fine; orin the case of rape by a group of persons, the offenders are liable jointly to a minimum of 20 years imprisonment without an option of fine.(3) The court shall also award appropriate compensation to the victim as it may deem fit in the circumstances”. 

There is an improvement from the position of NN/PC. Now the option of “any less term” or “liable to fine” is removed. The less term is now determined to be 14 years or 12 years as the case may be and award of compensation is made mandatory. However, it cursory that gang-rape which is more injurious to the victim that should attract severe penalty is only given 20 years jail term. The likelihood of the victim dying or having infectious disease is higher in gang-rape. It also has the attributes of terrorism and crime against humanity more that individual case.

The provision for compensation is commendable. However, the attitude of our courts to compensation leaves much to be desired. They do award compensation that bastardizes the whole process. A colleague told me of a case he handled. His client was stripped naked and paraded in along the streets of the community in which he lives for an allegation that he committed an offence. The court found as a fact that the claimant was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to his guaranteed fundamental human rights. Yet, the poor man was given N100, 000. 00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) general damages. There is also the case of DILLY Vs. IGP & Others. It was found as a fact that the son of the poor woman was killed in police custody. However, the Court gave his mother N 5,000, 000, 00 (Five Million Naira) general damages. There may be need for judges to awake to their responsibilities on ward of compensation.  

PUNISHMENT FOR RAPE UNDER ISLAMIC LAW

Rape does not have determined punishment under Islamic law. The determined punishments are for adultery, sodomy and bestiality.  Rape is an aggravated form of adultery and sodomy. The use of force and absence of consent in rape distinguishes it with adultery and sodomy and serves as exculpating factor for the victim. There are three punishments in Islamic law for adultery:  whipping, banishment and stoning to death. Whipping and banishment are for the unmarried adulterer while stoning to death is for the married one. In case of Sodomy, the Maliki School view is that if the culprit is married, it carries death penalty. However, if the offender is unmarried, the punishment will be by way of Ta’azir just like where a person commits sodomy to his wife. Therefore, the punishment for rape offenders is just like that of those guilty of adultery and sodomy. 

It should be noted, however, that there are jurists who are of the opinion that the manner of commission of the offence may make some differences. For example, where kidnapping or abduction or use of fire arms or causing injuries or infection with HIV AIDS or other infectious diseases is involved, it may come under terrorism or crime against humanity and the punishment may shift or be complemented with Ta’azir. Now that individuals and groups clamour for severer punishment for rapists and terrorists, the wisdom of Islamic law punishment can be clearer to them. God who is the creator of man and the lawgiver knows the psychology of man. The punishment is provided to balance the equation of human psychology. According to Oudah, man indulges in sexual activities for the pleasure associated with it. However, where the pleasure is probably going to lead to longer pain, many will not indulge in it.

The groups that see the punishment for rape under Islamic law as severe seem to see the issues from one side. They hardly appreciate the condition of the victims. Many rape victims nowadays are either intentionally killed by the rapists or they die from the injuries they sustained before, during or after commission of the offence as in the Delhi Bus Rape.

The kind of wickedness shown to rape victims has compelled countries that hitherto had cold feet in executing convicted offenders to shift ground. Now, “there are countries that considered capital punishment as too severe and abolished same. This issue of public security has compelled them to reintroduce it in order to combat terrorism. Let us consider another scenario. Even the staunchest antagonists of capital punishment will hardly control themselves not to kill a person they catch raping their mother, daughter or wife”. Law reports are full of cases of murder resulting from provocation coming from a scenario where a person meets another raping somebody dear to him. 

There are elaborate provisions for compensation for rape victims under Islamic Law. The guiding principle is that where a female is raped, she should be paid a compensation of the equivalent of her dowry. However, dowry should be given a liberal meaning to include all the necessary things that things given or done by the groom for the bride before the marriage. This varies from culture to culture. In Hausa/Fulani communities of Northern Nigeria it should include what is known as “kayan lefe”. Therefore, if quantified, it may run to millions of Naira especially in view of the opinion of some jurists of Maliki School that the dowry will be paid for each act of rape. If the victim is raped ten times, she will be entitled to the dowry ten times. In addition to that, there may be compensation for injuries caused to the victim or diseases he or she is infected with.  Section 96 of the Bauchi State Shari’ah Penal Code Law, 2001 provides for payment of compensation. I earlier stated the need for judges to awake to their responsibilities on award of compensation. 

THE SCOURGE OF RAPE LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

It is almost a daily affair in Nigeria today to hear reported cases of rape. If the reported cases reach such an alarming rate, then only God knows the unreported cases which may be more. According to a report by NOIPolls in July, 2019 up to one in every three girls living in Nigeria could have experienced at least one form of sexual assault by the time they reach 25.

All indicators show that cases of rape are on the rise in Nigeria. One of the most disturbing things about rape is that some of the perpetrators are persons that are supposed to be responsible. There are allegations in which family members, religious teachers, police officers or medical doctors, etc rape persons under their care. Another sad experience about rape is that even insane women living on the street who may have not taken bath for years are alleged to be raped. The case of a young lady abducted by policemen and kept as a sex slave for 28 days in Kano is most pathetic.

It is difficult to identify the exact causes of the rising cases of rape. Before, one of the reasons given for rape was the way women abuse their bodies through display of nudity and using explosive dresses and bikini wears or poverty or high cost of marriage, etc. I recall an article written by the Daily Trust columnist, Idang Alibi with the caption: “Operation Show Your Breasts” in Daily Trust of 14thAugust, 2003.  He opined that: 

“Pray, can  anyone who is knowledgeable  in such matters, tell me the name of the current  fashion that arrive the Nigerian shores, the fashion of young and not so young women wearing  top that clearly reveal their breasts?” However, some of the rape cases, it is reported that  a 25-year old raped an 85-year old granny and  a grown up person raped a three-month old baby or a person raped an insane lady. Such actions cannot be attributed to any sexy appearances or behavior of the females. Normal human beings will not be sexually attracted to such victims. It is probably safer to attribute such cases of rape to multiple factors. You can also find an octogenarian who may not have business with marriage or women raping a young girl.

One of the factors is most likely the activities of magicians/ritualists who tell their clients to do some difficult or abnormal things. According to The Guardian, February, 23, 2020, incest, which is also on the rise, is attributed to money rituals.

One of the factors which activists always complain about is the fear of stigma/shame. It is unfortunate that many cases of rape happen within the family circles. In such circumstances the family will not want the stigma that one of their members rapes the other. Even outside family circles, family of a rape victim fear that they will end up exposing the victim and she may not even get justice. I handled a case in which I watched brief for the complainant. Her father told me that it was the police officers that were persuading him that he should settle the issue so that finding suitor would not be difficult for his daughter. But the man was clever. He told them that: “Nowadays even prostitutes do get husbands”. The implication of such attitude of avoiding stigma is that while the family avoid stigma, they give a cover to the rapist. 

At global level, the scourge of rape is also disturbing. According to World Population Review, 2020, South Africa is reported to be the country with highest cases of rape. According to a survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council, approximately one in four men surveyed admitted to committing rape. Ten countries with the highest rates of rape are: South Africa, Bostwana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Bermuda, Sweden, Suriname, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Grenada.

India is one of the countries where cases of rape are prevalent. The case of “Delhi Bus Rape” stands out in recent times. In 2012, six young men raped a lady in a moving bus leading to her death due to the injuries she sustained. Protests erupted across India after the incident. The perpetrators were arrested, investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to death. After exhausting appeals and mercy petitions, they were eventually executed in March, 2020. The execution was as a result of pressure mounted on the government and the courts by women right groups and activists not to show mercy. Otherwise, according to the New York Times report, India rarely executes its citizens. The last time it carried out death sentence before that of the rape case was in 2015 in a case of terrorism.

As a result of the incident in India and similar cases of sexual harassment elsewhere, many countries have introduced female only buses/taxis across the world. The female only vehicles known as “pink buses” are meant to reduce the incident of sexual harassment.

The countries include China, Japan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil and Mexico. According to USA Today of April 29, 2016, quoting from a survey by China Youth Daily newspaper, “Sexual harassment is a common yet largely ignored problem on China’s public transportation system. More than 50% of women have experienced inappropriate touching or body contact while using the country’s trains and buses…” In 2017 a Labour Party MP in Britain also suggested the use of females only transport to curb the growing cases of sexual harassment.

The scourge of rape is such that governments keep on looking for the best ways to tackle it by coming up with various policies. In some Arab countries, the offender is compelled to marry the victim. That arrangement proved devastating on 16th March, 2012 in Morocco.  A rape victim, Amina Filali compelled to marry the person that raped her committed suicide which ignited debates and protests across the country calling for abolition of Article 475 of the Moroccan Penal Code which backs such marriages.

THE LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTION

Nigeria is not left in the search for the best way to tackle rapists. The National Assembly (NASS) and various States Houses of Assembly are under pressure from women, children, human right groups and activists to make laws that will tackle the ever growing scourge of rape in the society. Groups and individuals suggest various punishments ranging from death penalty, life imprisonment and castration. The NASS enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 (VAPP).  The Kano State House of Assembly was reported to be considering making provisions of castration as a punishment for rapists. A similar proposal was earlier made to the Ekiti State House of Assembly.  I understand that the Jigawa State House of Assembly is also considering a Bill on violence against persons which include rape. The Kaduna State House of Assembly is also recently reported to enact a law on surgical castration of persons convicted for raping children under the age of 14 years.

Beyond Nigeria, the idea of castration seems to be gaining ground. The State of Alabama in the U.S. enacted a law requiring chemical castration (as opposed to surgical one) of certain classes of rape convicts. The State of Oklahoma also proposed a similar bill which was strongly opposed. A former soviet republic, Moldova also passed a law mandating chemical castration in 2012 but later repealed it on the grounds that it violated fundamental human rights.

Dr. Saidu Ahmad Dukawa, an erudite lecturer in political science from Bayero University Kano, recently observed that castration is likely to run into problems of how it will be carried out. He gave example with the difficulties associated with the execution of death by hanging due to lack of interest in the job of hangman.

In addition to that, the Governors are reluctant in signing death warrants probably because of pressure from human right groups and the “international community”. Therefore, there is a fear that even if the provision of castration of rapists is inserted, it may only exist in the statute books because of many challenges. 

However, the proposal for castration should not be dismissed summarily. There is need for Islamic jurists to consider it critically. This is in view of the fact that some jurists see the offence of rape as having both Hadd and Ta’azir attributes especially where it is combined with abduction/kidnapping, terrorism, crime against humanity, etc. In that regard, an unmarried rapist may even attract death sentence because of the other offences he committed in course of the rape and the manner in which he committed the rape. One of the arguments against castration is that it is a denial of fundamental human right since the rapist may repent. It should be noted that the rapists too do not respect the fundamental human rights of their victims. How about the unrepentant rapists like the one that was arrested for raping 40 women?

I also read a communiqué/statement issued by the Council of Ulama Kano dated 24th July, 2020 against the proposed punishment of castration. It seems to me that there is some mix-up in view of recommendation No. 2 in the communiqué. Under it, the Council advised the Kano State House of Assembly to dust up the Kano State Shari’ah Penal Code, 2000 and demand that the Judiciary and the Executive should implement it. There are at least three issues here. One, the Council seems to understand that the Bill is intended to replace the Shari’ah Penal Code. Two, the Shari’ah Penal Code is not operational. Three, the role of Kano State House of Assembly on application of the laws it enacts.

I have not seen the Kano State Bill. But do not think that it is intended to replace the Shari’ah Penal Code. What I expect is that the Kano State House of Assembly, like many state legislatures, is trying to domesticate the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 (VAPP). The Shari’ah Penal Code applies to Muslims only. But there are many Nigerians and non-Nigerians that are resident in Kano State and are not bound by the Shari’ah Penal Code. That new law when passed will apply to them. It is likely to replace provision of the Penal Code, not the Shari’ah Penal Code. Once the House of Assembly enacts a law, its role ends there. It is not part of its mandate to see to the implementation of the law. In any event, the Kano State Shari’ah Penal Code is in force. It was under the Code that a Shari’ah Court sentenced a rapist to death in August, 2020.   The scenario above applies in states that are predominantly Muslim like Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, etc which have the Shari’ah Penal Code, all that may be needed is to make the new legislation have Shari’ah flavour in terms of punishments and compensations that may be provided in form of Ta’zir. I am not unmindful of the jurisdictional intricacies that become a clog in the wheel of application of Sharia criminal law. It has long been suggested that the Sharia implementation can be channeled through the High Court which has unlimited jurisdiction by making necessary amendments in the High Court Law and other laws. 

INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS

During the time of President Goodluck Jonathan, there was an occasion in which he was literally begging the state Governors to be signing death warrants. They have continued to avoid signing death warrants to pave way for execution of convicts that were sentenced to death. Later in 2016, a Governor was reported to advocate that the power of signing death warrants should be given to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

The Governor argued that due to the nature of our culture the state Governors find it difficult to sign death warrants. When I checked, from Sir Adetokunbo Ademola to the present CJN none can be said to be from a different culture. I doubt even if Sir Danley Alexander can qualify to be from a different culture.

Only God knows what is in the minds of the Governors.
It is also said that the Governors avoid signing the death warrants because they are not sure whether the convict actually committed the offence. This reason is too naïve. The offenders are not just picked from the streets and taken to the Governors to sign the death warrants. Any person suspected of committing an offence has to undergo a long process. It starts with arrest, investigation, prosecution and conviction. Then there will be another process of appeals from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and finally to the Supreme Court. It is after exhausting the long processes that the issue of execution comes up. It is interesting to note that this long process cuts across different agencies in the two arms of government (the executive and the judiciary). The arrest and investigation are done by the police or other law enforcement agencies. However, the prosecution is done by the Federal or State Ministry of Justice or the Police as the case may be. The adjudication is done by the Judiciary. However, after conviction, the final approval for execution must come from the executive arm – this time around not from the Ministry of Justice or the Police, but from the Governor.

All the above long processes are checks and balances provided to safeguard the sanctity of human life so as to make sure that only the right persons are killed by law. The legislature too is not left out because it passed the law. If despite all the above safeguards the Governors feel that they are afraid that the convicts might not have committed the offence, it means they do not have confidence the judiciary. It may also mean that they do not even have confidence in the agencies under the executive arm of government. The Police and the Ministry of Justice are bodies under the executive arm of government. Furthermore, we all know that many of the Governors secured their seats through court cases. Can they also claim that they are not sure whether they actually won the election because they don’t have confidence in the judiciary? At the end of the day, it is the criminals that benefit from this hide and seek. They will continue with their atrocities with impunity when they know that nothing serious will happen to them. It is, therefore, not surprising that a serial rapist was arrested for raping 40 women.

Can it be correct that the Nigerian or African culture does not encourage death penalty for offenders? Do we then start importing governors whose culture does not prevent them from signing death warrants? The first class monarch in Hausa tradition is referred to as “SarkinYanka”. It, literally, means the “executive monarch”. That is to say that he has powers to order for execution of those sentenced to death. Capital punishment is known and applied in many cultures. It cannot be correct to claim that executing convicts is unknown to us. The Glorious Qur’an cautions believers not to be taken by pity for those to be punished. Our politicians are quite aware that the political system is borrowed from the U.S. In the U.S. some states still have death penalty in their statute books and they execute convicts. The state of Alabama executed 83-year-old convict in 2018.

It is sad that the institutional weakness seems to cut across many institutions. I am made to understand that the “virus” of evading having anything to do with death penalty has started infecting judicial officers. There are judges that rarely pass death sentence. I don’t know their reason. May be, like the Governors, they are not sure whether the accused person actually committed the offence. If this trend continues, one day the Police too may start having cold feet in arresting offenders because they may claim that they cannot be sure that the accused person actually committed the offence. I hope a day will also not come that even the legislature will start shunning away from its own responsibility on the pretext that they will not enact a law on death penalty because they cannot be sure that the person to be sentenced to death actually committed the offence. 

SOCIETAL FAILURE

While writing this paper, a court registrar informed me about one of the rape cases which their court determined. The rapists, while wielding machetes, went to abduct the girl in broad daylight. They ferried her by putting her in between two persons on a motorcycle. They went and gang-raped her for more than 24 hours. They ran out of luck when they foolishly brought her back and they were apprehended. They were eventually prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment each.

It is a sign of failure on the part of the society for such criminals to be allowed to commit such atrocities with impunity in a state capital while people watch. A gang that comes to rape your wives/daughters is literally waging war against the whole community. All laws that provide for arrest give power to private individuals to at least arrest a person they see committing or attempting to commit an offence and hand him over to the police or other law enforcement agencies. People in such communities know the elements that perpetrate all such criminalities in their vicinity. Yet, they fail to constitute themselves into a neighborhood watch to tackle them. They also fail to report the atrocities of the criminal elements to authorities concerned.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION

We have seen that definition of rape is becoming wider to cover the emerging trends of rape.
The offence of rape is on the rise locally and globally and the authorities concerned continue to look for the best way to tackle it.

There are calls to make the punishment for rape stiffer which prompts the legislatures to intervene.

Countries that rarely execute convicts have started shifting ground due the prevalence of terrorism and rape and public pressure on the authorities not to show mercy to terrorists/rapists.

The Islamic punishment and compensation for rape should be implemented especially that the rape is taking the dimension of terrorism and crime against humanity. The proposal for castration should also be considered as additional punishment especially for serial rapists.

The prevention, detection and investigation of crimes in this digital age are technology-driven. We must not be living in the past. In the Delhi Bus Rape case, the culprits threw out the young lady from the bus after they assaulted her severely. However, the Indian Police used CCTV camera footages to identify the bus, track and arrest the culprits within one week. It would have been difficult for the police to apprehend them within that period if there were no CCTV cameras.

Fighting crime should be everybody’s business. If we want to get it right on the scourge of rape, all hands must be on deck. Shifting blame will only continue to unleash the criminal elements on the law-abiding citizens. The need neighborhood watch cannot be over-emphasized.

Thank you for listening. 

ALHAMDU LILLAAH WASSALAATU WASSALAAMU ALAA RASULILAAH.

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