By  Femi Abbas

Monologue

Nights are pregnant. They give birth to wonders in the days. The paradoxical issues between days and nights are like those of the cloudy sky which is earnestly expected to pour down rain water for crops to grow. If rain falls, it is not because of any expectation. Rather, it is because the Almighty Allah has a message to pass to a section of the world through the rain water. After all, the cloudy sky could have throbbed through the environment either with a wild storm or a devastating tempest, if not for Allah’s mercy.

Preamble

As human beings, we do many things without noticing the role of a third eye around us. It is only when the effect or outcome of such a role is pronounced to the hearings of the world that we try to adjust, either by increasing the tempo, for posterity sake, or by relenting, out of complacency. Two remarkable events came up during this week, each of which warranted profound appreciation to people who played distinguished roles in them, directly or indirectly.

One was a special prayer which the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (USWEN)  organized for the success of a trusted brother, Barrister Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, the Chairman of National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), in piloting the affairs of Hajj operations in Nigeria and in ivoking the mercy of Allah to bail out Nigeria from the malti-faceted calamity that is currently threatening her corporate existence as a united and indivisible country.

The second event was the recognition of yours sincerely as the ‘Nigerian Muslim Media Person of the Year 2020’. The selection of yours sincerely for that spectacular recognition was done by a foremost Nigerian Muslim Social Media called ‘The Muslim Media Faculty’ in collaboration with the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN). The latter is the highest professional ‘Muslim Media’ body in Nigeria. Although both events came up during the days of Sunday, February 7, 2021 and Monday, February 8, 2021, respectively, the ratification of their conceptions had been done in the serenity of the preceding nights. The details of the two events will be published in this column, in a foreseeable future in sha’Allah.

The Third Eye

Who could have thought that the paltry messages dished out to the world from this column every Friday has been attracting the attention of some observers with a mark of notice?

Last Monday, February 8, 2021 was a rare day of a uniformed message from various countries around the world. And, the message had only one tone: CONGRATULATION!

That message was in reaction to the fortuitous announcement of the name ‘Femi Abbas’ as ‘Nigerian Muslim Media Person of the Year 2020’. The announcement was made through the blog of ‘Muslim Media Faculty’.

The magnitude of the barrage of congratulatory messages that bombarded me through the throbs of android phones, the Gmail and Social Media, generally, from all parts of the world, cannot be vividly described here. Although I am personally averse to conferment of awards, as a matter of principle, the fact that a fast growing Muslim Media outfit like ‘Muslim Media Faculty’ came up with such  recognition could not be ignored if only to encourage excellent media work by Muslim professionals. It had always been my fervent wish and prayer to see a well groomed, vociferous media outfit like ‘Muslim Media Faculty’ to come up as a competent and surpassing successor to ‘The Message’ column. Thus, when ‘The Muslim Media Faculty’ emerged with an incredible ability to keep the flag flying, I considered it as an act of ingratitude to Allah not to acknowledge the laudable activities of that outfit with a befitting appreciation. After all, it takes only a sound performer to recognize good performance in other people. And, in journalism, it is your work, rather than your boastful words of mouth that shows who you are in meaningful terms.

Growth of Ability

Ability to speak or write is a special gift from the AlmightyAllah. With time, such ability may grow to become a hobby which may be developed into a specialized   skill. And, with further training and advanced experience, the skill may become an appreciable profession that will be emulated by thousands of others.

Speaking, no matter how eloquently it may be, cannot be as important as getting audience for it. A speaker can be classified as an orator only by his audience. Radio and television broadcasters as well as public motivational speakers can testify to this assertion.

Writing Skill

The similitude of an orator, on a radio or television station, is like that of an author of books or a weekly columnist in reputable newspapers or magazines. Thus, as a writer, he/she can be celebrated or denigrated only by his readers. However, any writer who takes his readers for granted can only do so at his/her own peril. Such a writer may not be qualified for an author or a columnist.

Reminiscence

Ever since the privilege of writing this column (The Message) came to yours sincerely, in The Nation newspaper, in September, 2006, no week has passed by without receiving a barrage of reactions from many countries. Even on some occasions, when the column was not published, for one reason or another, reactions never ceased to come in torrents.

The reason for this was not just because I called the column a participatory one in its maiden edition but mostly because some ardent readers who had long been familiar with it, since its inception, in the now defunct Concord newspaper, in 1982, appreciate its quality and acknowledge the methodology with which it is presented to showcase Islam, to the world, every Friday. For instance, on a particular article entitled: ‘NO! MR. PRESIDENT, NO!’, which was published in this column, on February 2, 2007, when a onetime Army General, (Chief) Olusegun Okikiolakan Aremu Obasanjo was at the twilight of his second tenure of four years in office, as a Nigerian President, and, he was alleged to be clandestinely planning for an unconstitutional third term in office, I received 189 phone calls, 107 text messages and 143 written comments through the e-mail, all in one day. That was about five months after the commencement of this column in The Nation newspaper, in 2006.

Comment

After I left Concord newspaper, in 1989, most readers of this column followed it to other newspapers such as Tehran Times, Vanguard, the Monitor and ‘The Nation’. Some even followed it to some foreign magazines such as The Inquiry, Al-Afkar, Africa Now, At-Tawheed and a host of others including academic journals. Thus, questions, observations and comments were consistently coming into the column from various parts of the world in form of reactions.

This is a confirmation that it is only a bad writer that will close his ears or eyes to readers’ comments, even if such comments are  reprobative.

Reactions

It should be noted that the few reactions received over some publications, more than a decade ago, and published here below were randomly selected from the piling chunk in my kitty at that time. Those reactions were, however, not necessarily better or more important than many others which were not published then.

While thanking all the readers of this 39 year old column, particularly those who have been reacting to it from home and from abroad, since its inception, for their encouragement and well wish. I pray the Almighty Allah to appreciate their good intentions and encouraging spirit, as He (Allah) alone, can reward them abundantly.

First Meeting With the Sultan

It came as an undreamt surprise when my telephone rang at exactly 11.50 am on the first Sunday in February, 2007. My first reaction after picking the call was: “who is on the line, please?” especially when the call came without a recognizable   identity. In answering my question the caller only identified himself as SA’AD ABUBAKAR. I immediately searched my brain for a possible familiarization with that name. But while doing that, I did not know that I was repeating the name ‘Sa’ad Abubakar’ in a seeming soliloquy until His Eminence said: “Ah! Don’t you know anybody bearing that name?” And, in my reaction, I said “well! the only person I can think of, that bears that name is the new Sultan”. It was then that His Eminence said: “alright, this is the Sultan”. At that moment, I became so dumfounded that I did not know what to say again. The only clear words that I could utter were “Your Eminence!” before I went stammering. I was simply overwhelmed. In that telephone conversation,

His Eminence expressed deep appreciation of my writings with a tone of royal commendation saying he had been reading my column since its days in the now defunct Concord Newspaper. He counseled me never to relent, especially in calling a spade a spade as I had been doing. And, as the Commander of the Muslim faithful, (Amirul Muminin), he showered me with royal prayers and promised to be calling again in future.

That was one telephone call that made, not just my day, but probably my year. It was one reaction that confirmed my observation expressed in this column about this new Sultan shortly after his installation in 2006.

By that surprise call alone, the new Sultan added to the chain of “FIRSTS’ which I had listed in the mentioned article. In my 25 years of experience in journalism, as at that time, I could not remember an occasion when any public figure of Sultan’s status ever made a similar call to any ‘common journalist’ except when seeking a media favour.

A Lunch With His Eminence

About two weeks after the above narrated encounter with him, His Eminence called again to invite me to Kaduna from Ibadan for a launch with him. And, at his palace in Kaduna, This great Sultan sat down with me on bare carpet where we took a special launch together. That was my first experience of royal conduct in Nigeria’s Sultanate.

By his conduct and actions so far, since he came to the exhalted throne, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, has shown, by all means, an exemplary leadership for other Nigerian leaders or aspiring leaders to emulate. With him, we are being reminded of the Caliphate time of Umar Bn Khattab and Umar Bn Abdul Aziz as a confirmation that leadership is neither by vicious display of force nor by crude bully and animalistic brutality. May the Almighty Allah be merciful to Nigerian Muslim Ummah by preserving the life of this Sultan for the good of this world and that of the Hereafter. We also pray that the flame of His Eminence’s crescent glows brazenly for a long, long time to come without experiencing an eclipse. Amin.

More Reactions

Femi Abbas! It is unimaginable that a one time obscure Arabic pupil who never had the opportunity of a secondary school education could become suca global tutor of knowledge and discipline as you are today. I remember how we used to make jest of you by calling you Alfa. Our thought then was that going to Arabic school was the dead end for anybody to achieve anything through education in life. How I wish we could realise our folly then. Your case has further confirmed that greatness in life is never tied to Western type of literacy. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) never attended any school at all. Neither was he literate in any language. Yet he became the greatest teacher that the world has ever seen. Who can thwart the work of Allah? Femi, all my friends and I read The Nation every Friday because of you and it is as if we are back in the classroom. It was Yakubu Oorelope, I hope you still remember him, who drew my attention to your column. You are doing us proud. Please, teach on. You have students in us. One day we shall meet again and compare notes. I am sure none of us will have the courage to call you by your first name that day. God give us life and time. I hope you can still remember Taoreed Adeshina Aderibigbe, the stubborn goal keeper at Ogba, Agege stadium in the hopeless days of the late 1960s? Until we see physically let me continue to see you in The Nation.

‘Shina Show’, Agege, Lagos.

I can no longer be surprised by your standard in writing. You have proved your mettle as you once told me that you dropped Foreign Affairs job for Journalism after the NYSC service, to prove a point. And, indeed, you have done that beyond any reasonable doubt. I only wish to remind you once again that you should compile all these invaluable articles into a book form as an indelible legacy. May God help you.

Idris O. Gasper, Abuja.

“Femi, thank you for your brilliant Friday sermons, coming up in form of a column. Without a gun or sword, you have voluntarily chosen to be the people’s soldier defending us fiercely against the raging tsunami of the satanic forces who, unfortunately, happen to be our rulers today. I particularly enjoy your writing on Mr. President’s perception of national security and of course, the one on EFCC. If columnists like you were many, who can call a spade its real name, perhaps Nigeria would not have slipped into the hands of devils. Please fire on. Your pen is mightier than their missiles”. Bayo Jemitan, Ilorin .

6″Hello! Femi, Reading your column every Friday is like drinking cold, fresh water after a long trek in a hot desert. I am not a Muslim, but I see your column as one for all good Nigerians and not Muslims alone. With your article: ‘NO! MR. PRESIDENT, NO!’ published on February 2, 2007, you have endeared me to The Nation Newspaper. If what you are doing in that column is what Muslims call Jihad then I am for it. Don’t rest on your oars. May God strengthen your fortress in all directions?” James Ahamisu, Asaba.

“Thank you for reminding us of the late great leader, General MurtalaMuhammed, in your article of last Friday titled-‘EFCC: LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD’. If anybody is qualified to be called the father of modern Nigeria it is General Murtala Muhammed and not the leopard called Obasanjo, now parading himself as such. Through your article, we still remember that great leader (MurtalaMuhammed)’ revolution, reformation and reorientation of Nigeria within six months of his governance. Murtala was an impartial creator and executor of ideas. He was an exemplary leader who started reformation of our society with himself. He surrendered his personal property to the state because he believed that he wrongly used his office to acquire it before he became Head of State. And, he never sold any state property to himself at give-away price. Neither did he flout the law of the land despite the fact that he was a military Head of State. That was a leader by all standards. He, and not an impostor, self-styled messier, should be called and recognized as the father of modern Nigeria” .Ademola Atolagbe, Owu, Abeokuta .

“Hello! Femi, you are not alone in your opinion on President Obasanjo’s misconception of national security. Having moved from the prison to the Presidency without rehabilitation and reorientation, the man lost touch with modern reality and ruled with a prisoner’s vision. He has forgotten how Abacha started and ended. Such is the characteristic of African leaders. By the time he leaves the office very soon, and joins the league of former Presidents, God willing, his eyes will be open to the reality of what Nigeria is. Those who refuse to learn from history will surely bear the brunt of history”.

OkeyIbeabuchi, Owerri.

By  Femi Abbas

Monologue

This article has to be repeated because it was not published in ‘The Message Column’, in ‘The Nation’ newspaper, on two consecutive Fridays, after the demise of Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

Many readers, especially, those living abroad, have been asking why the column was not published last Friday, hence the repetition here because of the message it carries. Please read on:

It was another  moment of global reference to archival diary of history, on Thursday (February 11, 2021).  The media waves suddenly throbbed, with breaking news announcing the demise of a frontline Nigerian Statesman, Journalist and political colossus,  Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande. That un-refutable breaking news could not be appealed because it was instigated by the verdict of destiny. However, what the announcers failed or forgot to add to the broadcast was that the man’s footprint, on the sands of time, would remain indelible for centuries.

That news, which reverberated across the length and breadth of the entire world, immediately became a reminder to Nigerians, that death is truly the leveler of mankind.

Jakande’s Prowess

Besides sheer political propaganda, through the media, if any Nigerian politician of the contemporary time is genuinely qualified to be described as “The President that Nigeria never had”, it should be Alhaji Lateef Jakande and not anyone else.

As a notable professional Journalist and a vertical politician of note, this man can be classified as greater in death than in life, through his non-such dedication to the service to humanity which has now become an unprecedented legacy in Nigerian democracy.

By all standards, Jakande was, naturally, a personification of service to humanity, not only as a Nigerian patriot but also as an exemplarily contented Muslim.

Evidence of Performance

As the only Muslim among the five Governors of the Unity party of Nigeria (UPN),  in the country’s second republic, Alhaji Lateef Jakande convincingly proved the worth of a real Muslim in thought and in action, by glaringly surpassing the performance records of most other Governors of his era in the country.

Without an iota of doubt, Alhaji Lateef Jakande was UPN’s undisputable model Governor and pace setter in service oriented performance, which earned him the appellation of ‘ACTION GOVERNOR’.

His Vision-Based Actions

When Alhaji Lateef Jakande became the Governor of Lagos State, in 1979, eight years, after  the Military Government that preceded his own government, took over schools in Lagos State, (in 1975), he knew that the people of Lagos would suffer educational setback because the few schools that were available in the State, at that time, could not effectively satisfy the educational yearnings of those people.

He therefore, quickly designed an education program that could put Lagos State ahead of all other States in Nigeria, at the primary and secondary school levels.

Within the 51 months (i. e. October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1983), of his stay in office, as Governor, Alhaji Jakande established hundreds of primary and secondary schools that provided the children of the grassroots people the privilege of attending schools, free of charge, in their various localities.

Proof of Dynamic Leadership

To prove the genuineness of his dynamic leadership with impeccable sincerity, Governor Jakande made sure that his own children also attended the same grassroots schools that he established for the children of the masses.

And, to the amazement of all and sundry, in Lagos State, Governor Jakande built over 2000 classrooms within the period of 51 months that he spent in office as Governor, and limited the number of pupils in each classroom to 40 even as he canceled the school attendance shifting system which many people had thought to be impossible.

His Conception of LASU

For the first time ever, at the State level, Governor Jakande conceived the idea of Establishing a State University, at Ijanikin, near Badagry, and executed it with immediate effect and automatic alacrity in 1983. It was named

Lagos State University (LASU).

Not only that, as alternative tertiary institutions for secondary school certificate holders, who might be unable to gain admission into LASU or any other University, he also established a Polytechnic called Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) at Isolo and a College of Education (LACOEDU), near LASU, which was later renamed Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education. All of these were reasonably made cheap for students from poor homes, whose parents might not be able to afford the cost of tertiary education. And, as a Governor with human feeling, he ensured the boosting of scholarship and provision of bursary for indigent students in those tertiary institutions. Today, most of the graduates of those institutions constitute the bulk of the State’s civil servants and the hub of man power in the private sector of the State as well as that of the country and, even, many other countries outside Nigeria.

Other UPN States

It is historically notable that the pace of giant strides set by Alhaji Jakande, in Lagos State, became the model of emulation in governance which other Governors had to vigorously follow in what seemingly looked like a progressive competition among their States.

Thus, such institutions as Ogun State University which was later renamed as Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State; Bendel State University, which was later renamed Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State and Ondo State University, which was later renamed as Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, sprang up in those States.

Exception

It was only in Oyo State, where no State University was established by Governor Bola Ige, because of the two existing Federal Universities (i.e. University of Ibadan (UI) and University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University), respectively, that no University was renamed after any Governor in that State.

Befitting Secretariat

To create a conducive environment and progressive reasoning for the State’s civil servants Governor Jakande established a befitting secretariat for the State and a State House of Assembly at a very convenient place, in Ikeja, to ease people’s access to the seat of the government.

His Housing Scheme

As a people’s Governor who knew the negative implication of homelessness on the psyche of the people, in his State, Alhaji Jakande designed a massive housing scheme through which he provided over 30000 houses for both the lower and middle class income earners across the State, within the four years and three months that he spent in office as Governor. Without the provision of those houses, at that right time, only God knows the extent of accommodation problem that would have overcome Lagos by now.

His Metro Line Plan

One of the visionary measures that Governor Jakande  took to ameliorate the problem of bottleneck  transportation, in Lagos State, was to design an intra-city mass commuter rail system called metro line, the first of its type in Africa, at that time, which would have commenced full operation by 1985, if the military coup that abruptly terminated the country’s second republic had not occurred to turn the pleasant social dream of that metro line plan into a social nightmare. That the military government which terminated Nigeria’s second republic cancelled that great project and diverted the funds earmarked for it, was one of the social misfortunes obviously unleashed on Lagos State, the agony of which is still being felt  by all and sundry today. Actually, the cancelation of a metro line plan, at that time, in a water-logged State, like Lagos, was nothing less than an economic lockdown for Nigeria.

His Information Management Program

As a veteran Journalist, who knew the value of information dissemination, Governor Jakande also established a Radio Station which he named Radio Lagos and followed it up with a Television Station which he branded as Lagos State Television (LTV). That was in the same year of 1983. Today, the vibrancy of those media outfits are unquantifiable in terms of information dissemination, mass mobilization of the people and mass human empowerment.

In all these, most other progressive Governors in the country had no choice but to copy some of Jakande’s great plans as evidence of action governance, if only to show that democracy was more responsive to people’s yearnings than any dictatorial military governance.

His Health Program

When Alhaji Lateef Jakande first assumed office as Governor of Lagos State, in October 1979, one of his first areas of concern was the health of his people. He knew that no progressive plan could be pursued or executed successfully,  without sound health for the people.

He therefore established General Hospital in each of the six zones in Lagos State with free treatment for the patients.

As a matter of fact, Governor Jakande’s record of performance is a peculiar reference point for the present and future Governors or even Presidents of Nigeria.

If Nigeria had been fortunate to have a personality like Governor Jakande as President, it would have been a golden opportunity for Africa to raise its head, with confidence, as a  hopeful region in the global setting.

Personal Observation

As the pioneer Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande was like an elephant surrounded by a group of blind men. Each of those blind men can only be able to describe the part he is able to touch on the body of that mammoth animal and not the whole of it. We pray the Almighty Allah to repose his soul in eternal bliss with mercy and grant his family the needed fortitude with which to cope with life after his demise.

Recommendation

Now, without prejudice to whatever the Lagos State government, under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu may be planning, as a show of appreciation to this great man, ‘The Message’ column hereby recommends that LASU be renamed Lateef Kayode Jakande University (LKJU) in appreciation of his historic giant strides and in encouragement of future leaders in Lagos State.

Today, the Universities which the other UPN Governors established for their States, in emulation of Governor Jakande’s action governance, have been renamed after those Governors following their demise.

If the Universities established by the pioneer civilian Governors in other South West States of Nigeria could be named after those Governors, that of LASU must not be an exception. What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander.

God bless Lagos state, God bless Nigeria!

God bless Lagos State, God bless Nigeria!

By Femi Abbas

Monologue

This a “Here is the time against which we had been warned in the guiding admonition of Ubayyi Bn Ka’b and that of Abdullah Bn Mas’ud;

Here is the time about which we had been told that the truth would totally become repugnant to humanity while falsehood and the act of banditry would become globally deified; Were this time to linger beyond the required endurance of this era, without any change, the situation would reach a stage where no one would grieve over the demise of a relative or rejoice over the birth of a new baby”.

By an Arab Poet

Monologue

Peace, being a natural serenity that makes provision for innocence, is a unique virtue in the life of man. Its value cannot be measured on the scale of gold or that of silver. Any life without peace is a life without worth.

Peace, in a tempestuously complex society like Nigeria, cannot be by mere chance. Any peaceful stability in such a society can only be by a carefully planned sphere of life with formidable but abstract pillars. Such pillars include endurance, tolerance and mutual respect based on mutual understanding at corporate and private levels. The usual template of peace in any disciplined society is based on experience gained from history.

Preamble

This article is not new. It was first published in this column in 2012, just three years after a satanically disastrous group of bandits called Boko Haram in Nigeria emerged. The same article was republished recently when some readers called for its repetition because of its relevance to this turbulent time. And, now, a new trend of demand for it is becoming overwhelming on yours sincerely. Incidentally, the current situation seems to have transcended religion alone as Nigeria is now bombarded from all conceivable angles, by all elements of war, without any serious provision for peace.

The Wings of History

History is an invisible object with two invisible wings flying across generations in time and in space. One of those wings is positive while the other is negative. It is only with history that the present becomes the heritage of the past while the future awaits the baton of continuity or otherwise from the present. No living nation or tribe or even individuals can dream of a realizable future without a veritable present based on a memorable experience of the past. The web of life is like a magnet which no iron element can bypass on its way to ornamental glory.

A Fabric of Uncertainty

Today, against what ought to be a valuable heritage, Nigeria is, sadly passing through a fabric of uncertainty as she rolls back the fibres of the future into those of the present and weaves both together into the vestiges of the past. Such is a sign of a dead nation waiting to be interned. What kind of  war is not ravaging Nigeria today, in spite of Allah’s abundant bounties? The forces of the present seem to have connived with those of the past to jointly engage in wrestling down the future with a determination to depriving the generations yet unborn of any hope of decent existence.

For decades, Nigeria has been forced by the so-called leaders to engage in political, economic and social warfare without winning any. Now, with a religious dimension coming to join all these, at this time, can there be any option for Nigeria other than paying the cost of peace?

Like a billow vigorously storming around at the instance of an invisible tempest, a melee of religious hullabaloo engendered by a vicious political Pandora has virtually turned Nigeria into a land of curses. God! Where are we going from here?

MUSWEN’s Call for Harmony

In the past few weeks, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), which is the umbrella body for all the Muslim Communities/Councils and Organisations in the six states of the Southwest region, was compelled to watch, helplessly, the dangerous trend of insecurity in some parts of Yoruba land with its attendant linkage to ethnicity and religion.

Coming shortly after a social national imbroglio that was precipitated by the #End-SARS’ saga of misfortune, which almost ran the country aground, the ethnic laden crisis in the Southwest drew another global attention to this so-called giant of Africa.

The Scenario

Just last week, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria took a retrospective view of Nigeria of the 1960s/1970s and decided to come up with a press statement entitled ‘A Call for Harmony. The statement went thus:

“In the past few weeks, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), which is the umbrella body for all the Muslim Communities/Councils and Organizations in the six states of the Southwest Region was compelled to watch helplessly, the dangerous trend of insecurity in some parts of Yoruba land with its attendant linkage to ethnicity and religion.

Coming shortly after a social national imbroglio that was a precipitated by the #EndSARS saga of misfortune, which almost ran the country aground, the ethnic laden crisis in the South West of Nigeria drew another global attention to this so-called giant of Africa.

The whole scenario worrisomely came to MUSWEN, not just as a mind bugler, but also, as a reminder that, by nature, human life, like environmental weather, does not have a permanent feature.

The Source of Clemency

It is from the combination of turmoil today and calmness tomorrow that clemency arises to ventilate the atmosphere for peace.

From time to time, human beings are reminded of the three phenomena that sustain their existence on earth. These are life, health and peace.

Without those three phenomena, there will be nothing to call human life.

But then, there is an invisible balm with which to smoothen the rough surface of life, especially in times of turmoil. The name of that balm is patience, which often serves as the abode of peace.

Admonition

As a religious body, we, Muslims, never forget the role that destiny plays in our lives, whether in terms of hardship or that of pleasure.

Here, in Nigeria, we are people of diverse ethnic backgrounds with different cultural identities fused together by unforeseen circumstances, to commonly become citizens of a single country, is a matter of destiny.

Today, we are in a situation whereby if such destiny had not fused us together and given us a common identity as Nigerians, we would have found ourselves in a similar situation in another land with the labels of different nationalities and we would have had no choice other than to coexist in peace, therein, willy-nilly.

America for Instance

Today, virtually everybody in the world acknowledges the greatness of the United States of America as a foremost country in the contemporary world. Yet, at the formation of that country, the inhabitants of the vast land that became USA were not from the same ethnic or cultural background.

The sacrifice which they had to make at that initial stage of their country was adoption of patience that served as the balm of smoothness in the progress of their coexistence as citizens of the same nation.

From that unique situation, the elderly people and the vocal socialites in Nigeria ought to have applied the experience they learnt from America’s history to making Nigeria a great country.

Qur’anic Counsel

Allah had told us, in the Qur’an, over one and a half millennia ago, that diversity of colours, cultures, tribes and tongues is the secret of the greatness of nations.

This is contained in chapter 49 verse 13 of the Qur’an thus:

“Oh mankind, We have created you as males and females and We fashioned you into races and tribes so that you can interact (and draw wonderful advantages from your interaction). Surely, the very best of you are those who fear Allah most (in thoughts and in actions).

Thus, to live together in harmony, factors like considerateness, patience, tolerance, and endurance must reflect in our conducts as evidence of piety.

This is the time to know, in Nigeria, that security is neither by the quantity or quality of bayonets with which the army or the Police are equipped nor by flexing ethnic muzzles to demonstrate superiority of power.

Rather, security is about good governance, absence of corruption, adequate care for the underprivileged and intelligential watch.

If, despite the differences in our ethnic, cultural and ideological backgrounds, we can still trade together in the same markets and our children can attend the same schools as friends and compatriots, we must know that there is much more to gain from harmony than from disharmony.

Oneness of Citizens

By our social, economic and political interactions as well as inter marriages, so far, across the country, we have tacitly admitted our oneness as citizens of the same country. And, for the sake of peace and harmony, all these must not be disrupted by one ugly incident or another. Nigeria is our common project of fortune which must not be turned into a misfortune for our children to inherit.

God bless Nigeria!”

Purpose of Religion

By its design and intents, religion is supposed to be, not only a panacea for all human psychological ailments, but also a soothing balm for any spiritual ache. Ironically, however, religion, in Nigeria, today, has been turned into a poison   without any provision for an antidote. And through our usual   attitude tagged Nigerian factor, we seem to be bent on swallowing the pill of that poison without minding its dangerous repercussion.

The Factors of Ignorance

The factors that culminated in what we now variously call religious commerce, religious   militancy or extremism or fanaticism or terrorism, emanated only from the yoke of ignorance which bad governance has perennially incubated in readiness for hatching. And, could anything have influenced bad governance as much as ignorance? Yet, ignorance would not have had a role to play in our religious or political lives if we had demonstrated the will to genuinely follow the tenets of our religions and learned from the lessons of history without banking on sentimental assumptions and fallacious rumours.

History as a Teacher

History as a teacher always has a lesson in its kitty to teach those who are ready to learn from time to time. But, unfortunately, most human beings, especially Nigerians, refuse to learn any lesson from history and the price is what we are paying today.

Reminiscence

In 1962, Nigeria’s Governor General, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (who later became Nigeria’s first President in 1963), paid a three day official courtesy visit to the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in Kaduna. Dr Azikiwe was accompanied by his wife, Flora. The host Premier mobilized all the paraphernalia of office in honour of his guests whom he accorded an unprecedentedly flamboyant hospitality. The three days visit enabled those leaders’ wives to become so familiar with each other that Flora also invited the Bellos to the East on a similar visit. By the time the visit ended, Dr. Azikiwe had become so much impressed that at the point of departure he held Ahmadu Bello’s hands and gently pleaded with him to “please let us forget our differences”.

In response to that emotional but infatuating gesture, Sir Ahmadu Bello said in an equally gentle, baritone voice: “No sir! Rather than forgetting our differences, let us understand them. I am a Muslim from the North. You are a Christian from the South. It is only by identifying and understanding those differences meaningfully that our friendliness can truly blossom and endure”. There and then, Dr. Azikiwe nodded in agreement with his host’s logic and accepted the fact that one could not forget what has not been identified and understood. The lesson to learn from this experience is that of mutual understanding without pretentiously sweeping anything under the carpet. That is the principle upon which the marriage of political strange fellows who find themselves in a joint government is often based in Nigeria. It is also the principle upon which partnership of many Nigerian businessmen and women is based despite their cultural incompatibility. But that principle is not applied to Religion in Nigeria despite the existence of a body called Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC). And, this is because of easy but dubious access to cheap wealth by certain fraudulent charlatans who are greedily masquerading in the cassock of religion and parading themselves as   religious leaders.

Stages of Ignorance

For thousands of years, peoples of all races and tribes across the world thrived vaingloriously on cultural ignorance while attributing their calamities to mysterious forces and blaming such mysteries on what they called witchcraft. In the past, here in Africa, millions of children were forced to die in infancy, by their own parents, out of sheer ignorance, while the same parents turned round to blame what they called ‘ABIKU’ or ‘OGBANJE’ for the mass infanticide which they ignorantly engendered. With time, however, education and knowledge of science brought about the invention of various vaccines with which children were immunized against different diseases thereby giving those infants the   opportunity to survive. And, this has enabled us to know, today, that the mystery which we once called ‘ABIKU’ or ‘OGBANJE’ was a euphemism for ignorance in African mythology of those days.

Now that the days of cultural ignorance seem to be over, Nigerians have devised another means of restiveness by shifting to religious ignorance which enables them to replace the infanticide of the yore with modern day genocide through terrorism and banditry. It is hoped that one day, real education and not mere literacy will also help us to overcome the spectre of religious ignorance and propel our country to the progressive pedestal on which she ought to have been dwelling for long.

Qur’anic Testimony

If it had pleased the Almighty Allah to make all human beings one single race with one colour, one tongue and one religion, He would have done so without receiving any query from any quarters. But as the undisputable Omnipresent and Omnipotent entity, His decision to diversify His creatures cannot be faulted because it is from that diversity that all creatures have consistently derived unfettered benefits. In the world today, there are different races and tribes of human beings with different colours, languages and cultures each functioning as predestined and, yet they all interact positively with one another to the benefit of all and sundry.  This is in accordance with the words of Allah in Chapter 49 verse 13 of the Qur’an thus: “Oh mankind! We have created you from a male and a female and classified you into races and tribes that you may interact positively with one another (and thereby draw from the advantages therein). Verily, the most honourable among you before Allah are the most pious ones. Allah is All-knowing and most acquainted with all things”. Q. 49:13

Other Creatures

What is true of human beings in the above quoted Qur’anic verse is equally true of other creatures. For instance we can all see that on a single   plot of arable land on which a variety of plants may grow to form an orchard but each plant will stand out with different foliage and fruits. Some of those fruits may be sweet, some may be bitter and some may be sour. Some may be fruitful and some may be fruitless. Some may be trees of gargantuan posture while others may be ordinary legumes. Yet they are all fed by the same soil, watered by the same rain and photosynthesized by the same sun. Their different foliage, sizes, heights and tastes notwithstanding, they all function effectively and advantageously according to the purpose for which they are created. In the ecosystem, no tree in an orchard will ever accuse another of bearing fruits different from its own and no animal will blame another for carrying a feature or for wearing a colour different from its own. No whale will ever denigrate even a fingerling in the ocean for sharing the same water with it. Ditto the world of birds, reptiles, and that of insects.  Even as plants, animals, aquatics, reptiles, birds and insects, those creatures know that for everything Allah does there is a reason which may not be instantly known but will become known later. It is only among human beings that discrimination and segregation exist, based on ignorance.

Parable of Religion

We can also compare the above analogy to a situation inside a football stadium where there is a variety of sections such as State Box for the upper class, State Box Extension for the Middle Class and popular side for the lower class. At the entrance of the stadium, each person obtains a ticket according to his or her financial ability which determines his status. And that qualifies him for a seat in any of the sections in the stadium, according to the status of the ticket obtained. Without prejudice to the categories of the tickets they obtain, all the spectators in the stadium are authorised to watch the match for which they have paid. If at the end of the match however, a spectator, who was privileged to sit in the State Box, turns round to say that another spectator, who sat at the popular side of the stadium, did not watch the match, others around them will sarcastically conclude that something might have gone wrong with the psyche of the accuser. The positions from which those spectators watched the match might be different but the fact remains that they all watched the same match. That is the parable of religion in the lives of individual human beings.

The Mission of Religion

In Islam, all revealed religions are like an embassy established by a nation in another nation to strengthen her diplomatic relation with the host nation. The Ambassadors appointed to manage such embassy may be changed from time to time just like the foreign policy which guides those ambassadors, but the embassy remains intact, barring any unforeseen circumstances. So is the case with the Prophets of Allah. They might have come at different times and from different lands with different tongues. They might have brought different books revealed in different languages but their mission was one and the same because their Creator who appointed them as Ambassadors is only one and He cannot be pluralized. Muslims believe that all the Prophets and Messengers who have come into the world to guide mankind were from one and the same God who created the universe. Thus, Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael) Ishaq (Isaac), Musa (Moses), Daud (David), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (SAW) as well as others who preceded them or came in-between them brought the same message of monotheism through which mankind was counselled to worship one God and be upright in conduct.

In Qur’an Chapter 2 verse 285, Allah admonishes Muslims against discriminating among His Apostles thus: “The Apostle of Allah, Muhammad, (SAW) believes in what has been revealed to him by his Lord, and so do all the (Muslim) faithful. They all believe in Allah and His Angels, His Books as well as His Apostles. We do not discriminate against any of His Apostles. They say ‘We hear and obey. Grant us your forgiveness oh Lord! To you we shall all return”.

Religious Rivalry

As a Muslim, you cannot believe in one of those Apostles and disbelieve in others. And you cannot believe in one of the revealed Books while disbelieving in others. That is why no true adherent of Islamwill ever express foul language against the person of Jesus or blame the misdemeanour of a Christian on Christianity as some Nigerian Christians do against the person of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Islam as a religion when they accidentally have an unpleasant encounter with a misbehaving Muslim as if there are no misbehaving Christians in Nigeria.  Were Nigerian Muslims also to bring such a disgruntled rivalry into religion especially in their propagations, the country called Nigeria would have probably been long forgotten.

Unity of God

Although the modalities for worshipping God may differ from faith to faith and from sanctuary to sanctuary, this does not change the course of their faith in only one God. Thus, the rivalry between Muslims and Christians, especially, in Nigeria, over who is spiritually right or wrong is a product of ignorance.

Similarities

As taught by Christianity and Islam through their revealed books, respectively, the areas of life that need our cooperation are by far more comprehensive than those in which we differ. For instance, both the Bible and the Qur’an counsel humanity to worship one God. They preach good deeds to neighbours and other fellow human beings, publicly and privately, irrespective of religious lineage. They advocate good care for our parents, our children, the aged ones amongst us and the handicapped. They urge kindness to our spouses, forgiveness for our offenders, leniency with our adversaries and magnanimity in victory to the vanquished. They admonish us against cheating and any form of corruption. They forbid theft, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism and above all the killing of fellow human beings, extra-judicially, for whatever reason. They also warn us against provocation, aggression, oppression, exploitation and transgression even as they emphasize the ephemerality of this world and the eventuality of the hereafter. In all these, we have a common affinity to jointly guard us.

Dissimilarities

The few areas in which we differ are abstract and quite personal. They are not areas on which human beings are given the power to pass judgement. Only the Almighty God can judge on them. Such are the areas which we believe will pave our ways into the Paradise. But since paradise is for individuals and not for religious blocks why are we fighting each other as religious bodies on the basis of belief or disbelief? After all, the journey to Paradise or Hell is a matter of choice for every individual. And no one can tell with precision who will go to Paradise or go to Hell. Such is the prerogative of God which He has not assigned to any human being and which no human being can and should arrogate to himself or herself except one who wants to play God.

Perception of God

As an adherent of a religion, you can only perceive your God according to your faith and that should not cause any rancour between you and adherents of any other religion. As Nigerians, we dwell in the same country, eat the same foods, drink the same water, wear similar dresses, trade in the same markets, share the same offices and spend the same money. Our children attend the same schools, write the same examinations and obtain the same certificates. We intermarry across tribes and ethnicities as well as religions. All these form a stronger bond that ought to unite us much more than the abstract ones which often threaten to tear us apart. In a situation where the factors of life that unite us grossly surpass those that divide us will it not be stupid to relinquish unity and cooperation for the adoption of satanic animosity and ruinous antagonism?

Bless Nigeria!

By Femi Abbas

Monologue

From all observable angles, the Nigerian media, as championed by the South West axis of professional journalism, is the main arena to which Nigerian Muslims are regularly drawn into a spiritual war. And, of course, Islam is the main target of its satanic missiles. If there is any religious tension in the country, at any time, the media is where to search for its cause. The bellicose news reports deliberately aimed at maligning Islam and denigrating the exemplary personality of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), directly or indirectly, can only be read on the pages of Nigerian newspapers or heard on Nigerian radio station. The act is a typical obnoxious way of practising journalism as a profession.

Preamble

In response to a particular question coming incessantly to this column from various sources, yours sincerely decided to recall an article published in this column in 2007, which answers the recurring question. The enquirers wanted to know why Muslims and their activities were not as prominently reported in Nigerian media as those of their Christian counterparts.

Excerpt

An excerpt from the article with which I provided an answer to that question went as follows:

“Information is power. It can make or mar. An informer must be informed. He must know what kind of information to disseminate. He must know, not only when and where to disseminate such information but also how to disseminate it. These are the factors that make journalists professionals in their calling.

Journalism as a profession is not about news gathering, news reporting and news dissemination alone. It is also about the methodology of disseminating information and transmitting   education as well as dishing out entertainment randomly, to the public, at the right time and in the right manner. That is why a journalist is universally considered to be a professional who knows or should know something about virtually everything.  To be a thorough professional, therefore, a journalist must be an all rounder in various fields of discipline. He cannot report the space exploration without some scientific knowledge of astronomy. He cannot report war without some knowledge of weaponry and the geography of the war areas as well as the socio-cultural history of the warring groups or nations involved. Besides, no well trained journalist can report a religious activity without knowing some jargons of the religion in question.

And, of course, in the process of filing his reports, a professional journalist must be conscious of the technical sequence to be followed. This is generally known in the profession as ‘five W’s and H’. The coded cliché here is interpreted as follows: “Who (does) What? Where? When? Why? and How?” Without practical knowledge of that sequence, a journalist cannot be qualified to be called a professional.

The Norm of Journalism

From whatever angle journalism is viewed, therefore, knowledge remains the main axis around which its practitioners’ activities must rotate. No ignorant person can be genuinely accommodated in that noble profession. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had foreseen this before he recommended knowledge seeking to his companions. He said: “Seek knowledge even if you will have to travel to China”. That was at a time when China was known to be the farthest place from Arabia.

Essence of Knowledge

Nothing in the life of man is comparable to knowledge. As a matter of fact, life is worthwhile only if it is based on knowledge.

That was why the first revelation in the Qur’an started on the premise of knowledge. The very first chapter of that Sacred Book commenced thus: “Read in the name of your Lord who created; He created man from clots of congealed blood. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who taught by the pen, He, (Allah) taught man what he (man) did not know…”.  And, to further emphasize this, the Prophet said that “knowledge is missing, Muslims should search for it wherever they can find it”. He did not restrict such knowledge to that of religion alone. Without knowledge, there can be no right information.

How  Journalism began

Contrary to the falsehood documented and disseminated, by the Western world that journalism started in Germany in the 15th century, it was the Muslims who actually started journalism in Arabia over 1400 years ago. Although, they did not call it journalism, it was they who started what we now call journalism through the process that the early Muslims followed in documenting Hadith (the tradition and rightly guided statements of Prophet Muhammad).

In order to prevent false documentation of any fabricated statements in the name of the Prophet, some Muslim researchers took up the task of ascertaining what the Prophet actually said or did as against what some prominence-seekers were trying to attribute to him. It was a thorough investigative job voluntarily done by certain individuals to retain the authenticity of Islam through Hadith. Foremost among such great researchers were Abdullah Bn Abbas, Abdullah Bn Mas’ud, Malik Bn Anas, Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nisai, Ibn Majah and a host of others.

For the purpose of authenticity, those great scholars introduced what they called the ‘Chain of Narrations’ (Isnad). Through that Chain, they were able to trace the source of every reported Hadith to the Prophet who was quoted to have expressed it. Such narrations were graded as: Sahih (perfectly authentic); Hasan (genuine); Hasanun Sahih (genuine and authentic); Munqat’  (broken); Garib (strange) and so forth.

Thus, from its final documentation through this process, Hadith was transmitted from generation to generation just as we transmit news stories today in journalism profession. Without the great effort of those researchers, the world would have been flooded today with all sorts of fabricated expressions credited to the Prophet. And, such fabrications would have thrown the Muslim Ummah into total confusion even as Islam itself would have been shrouded in doubt.

The First Minister in Islam

The very first Minister appointed by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was that of information.

The black man from Abyssinia, called Bilal, who was charged with informing Muslims of the time of Salat by making ‘Adhan’, was Minister of Information. That shows how important information is in Islam.

Inception of Journalism in Nigeria

When journalism, as we know it today, was introduced to Nigeria, by the colonialists, at Abeokuta, in 1859, it was through the Christian perception and mentality of the colonial masters. Although, the earliest Nigerian journalists were quick to realize the power of the Press which they used to fight for Nigerian independence, they nevertheless, inherited some colonial traditions which are still causing disharmony in our society today. One of such traditions is religious sentiment, which was an instrument of negative evangelism that pervades Nigeria today. For instance, an average Nigerian journalist does not see anything positive in Islam as a religion because he/she is so blatantly ignorant of its tenets according to the level of the introduction embedded in the training of the profession.  This is not to say that journalists cannot understand Islam if given the opportunity and the right professional orientation, but the colonial tradition they inherited is such that they must not see anything good in any religion other than Christianity, which is the religion of the colonialists. And, for this reason, they had to follow the colonial Orientation in reporting Islam and the Muslims

according to their masters’ perception until very recently when that perception began to change in the West for various reasons.

Abuse of privilege

Even for well over a century after the introduction of journalism to Nigeria, the word ISLAM and MUSLIMS were reported in Nigerian media, like in European media, as Mohammedanism and Mohammedans respectively. It took the few Muslims in Europe at that time to counter that obnoxious but deliberate imposition before it was changed. Even as of today, and against the ethics of their profession, most Nigerian journalists take pleasure in writing or pronouncing ‘MOSLEM’ rather than ‘MUSLIM’ knowing fully well that the earlier is derogatory and abhorrent to Muslims.

In news reporting and even editorials of many newspapers, some journalists have ridiculously embarrassed themselves, their employers as well as their Muslim readers by confusing Eidul Adha with Eidul Fitr during Muslim festivals out of deliberate refusal to want to know anything about Islam. On the contrary, no Muslim journalist will ever confuse Christmas with Easter as Christian journalists do report Eidul Fitr during Eidul Adha festival.

Another instance is the seeming malicious manner in which some journalists do report the outbreak of events and occurrences in the country particularly at very sensitive times thereby compounding any religious problem at hand. It has virtually become a tradition in Nigerian media to describe youths who engage in any disturbing activities in the north as ‘fanatics’ or ‘fundamentalists’ or ‘zealots’ even before the details of whatever happened become known. And, in other parts of the country, such restive youths are merely reported as miscreants or militants or bandits by the same Christian journalists. The implication here is that any disturbance in the Muslim dominated area in the country must automatically be clad in the garb of Islamic religion which is perceived as the breeder of fanaticism.

These and other religiously insensitive reporting can be potentially dangerous for the corporate existence of this volatile country. We had witnessed many crises that were precipitated by such journalistic insensitivity in the remote and recent past. But the big question is: why are Nigerian Muslims apathetic to media employment?

Muslims in the Media

Muslims in the media must have good knowledge of Christianity and the culture of its adherents just as Christian journalist must know the dos and don’ts of Islam and the Muslims. Arabic is not a language meant for the Muslims alone. There are Christian Arabs who speak no language other than Arabic. And, there is no record anywhere to show that Prophet Isa (Jesus) ever spoke English which is the primary language of the Bible in Nigeria today.

Observation

Both Islam and Christianity came to meet us here in Nigeria. Why must we use them to destroy ourselves on the pages of newspapers or on the radio and television stations?

One of the responsibilities of the media is to ventilate a peaceful atmosphere for harmonious co-existence of the people. Thus as supposedly educated and civilized professionals, Nigerian journalists must not shirk such a fundamental responsibility at this age of the internet.

Admonition

For the sake of our collective survival, no combative or provocative journalism should be extended to religious sphere. We all need to live in harmony before we can expect any individual to be patriotic to our country. God save Nigeria!

By FEMI ABBAS

Monologue

In a few days’ time, the world will play host to a unique but abstract guest that will perch on the shores of human life with special grandeur of accurate clues to human complex problems. This genderless guest will come with an array of clemency that will qualify it as the bearer of  a timely succour. The arrival of this guest will be the divine catalyst by which the long awaited respite will be ushered into the minds of all genuine Muslims, throughout the world. When it comes, that catalyst will serve as a replacement for the current tribulations that intensely grip the entire mankind by the jugular. The name of the Guest, is RAMADAN.

Why Ramadan?

“The ninth lunar month called Ramadan, in which fasting is divinely ordained, derived its name from the Arabic word ‘Ramd’ (meaning baking). That name had been in existence before the advent of Islamic calendar. It was coined from a baking summer that used to come after the spring which followed the freezing winter before the advent of Islam.

The Mission of Ramadan

Ever since it became a major attribute to Islam, Ramadan’s mission has been to firm up all loose ends in the life of Muslims. And, it does that with a ruling touch of perfection.

The 30 or 29 days of this Holy Month are fully spent by Muslims in fasting from dawn to dusk. Such fasting is not about abstinence from foods and drinks alone. It is also about self-restraint from all sinful acts and self-equipment with a reign of impeccable discipline.  More importantly, Ramadan is about repackaging human destiny through a new but sincere resolution.

Fasting during this sacred month is figuratively believed to be the burner of all sins. It was in this glorious month that the revelation of the divinely reformative guidance called the Qur’an first began in 610 CE.

In Retrospect

Yours sincerely can vividly recall the description given this sacred month in this column, some years ago, which is still as relevant today as it was then. That description went thus: “Once every year, something creeps glamorously into the world like the early morning light. It moves kaleidoscopically into an arena where the center becomes its stool. It lifts its unraveling veil and beams a special focus on the world with an arresting attention during the days. It envelops the nights in a shroud of divine covenant to enable it link up believers’ dreams directly with their fulfillments. No one, except the Almighty Allah, knows Ramadan’s port of embarkation and no human being can claim to know its destination. All we know of this sacred month is that of a Guest that is so vividly present in our world and yet so physically invisible. Its arrival in the world is often heralded by a retinue of other lunar months that form its entourage. The two most prominent among those lunar months are ‘Rajab’ and Sha’ban’.

Classification

Traditionally, Ramadan is classified into three main segments. The first ten days in the month constitute the first segment that is said to be of blessings galore for pious Muslims who need Allah’s blessings and seek them spiritually. The second ten days constitute the second segment that is believed to personify forgiveness for those who are ready to repent on their sins and seek forgiveness on them. And, the last ten days, are divinely earmarked for spiritual emancipation of mankind from the shackles of satanic   slavery. Thus, Ramadan, in the psychological and spiritual comprehension of its mission, in the life of mankind, is, by far, beyond an ordinary   month. It should   rather be seen as a whole season that serves as an exemplary template for other seasons.

The Night of Power

It is in the last segment of Ramadan, which consists of the last ten days of the sacred month, that a particular night called Night of Power (LaylatulQadr), in which the secret of human destiny is encapsulated. Meeting that night consciously and spiritually is like securing the master key to one’s own permanent apartment in Paradise. However, to meet that night, there is a proviso. And, the proviso is that one needs to remain awake throughout those last 10 nights to be fortunate to meet the D night of majesty.

Identity of LayulatulQadr

Meeting LaylatuQadr in its full regalia is a serious matter of efforts rather than that of mere guessing. It must, however, be noted that Allah did not disclose, even to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), which particular night of the sacred month of Ramadan is called LaylatulQadr. Nevertheless, by asking the Muslims to look for it in the odd nights of the last ten days, the Prophet has helped the rightly guided Muslim Ummah tremendously. But, who can be so sure of the odd nights in that segment of the month, these days, when the issue of sighting the crescent before commencing Ramadan fast is often controversial? That is why it is better for all fasting Muslims to keep the entire 10 nights of that segment awake.

Respect for Seasons

Europeans have so much respect for seasons that whenever they are visited by an important guest, they give him a seasonal   treatment and call him an ‘August visitor’. This is because the month of August that shares that honourary term as a matter of nomenclature is the peak of summer season that harbours hospitality at its peak for the Caucasian race of Europe. In Islam, the most venerable guest of the year, throughout the world, is the month of RAMADAN. Yet, the visiting time of that sacred month is not restricted to any particular season.

A Guest of All Seasons

The arrival of Ramadan in the world may coincide with that of any season. And that is what qualifies it eminently to be called the Guest of all seasons.

With Ramadan as a Guest, therefore, not only the Muslims but the entire humanity is consciously or unconsciously engaged in hospitable activities as a show of respect for that great Guest. Those who cannot fast in that sacred month do take advantage of its presence to readjust their social conducts by taming the brute in them even as some of them engage in buying and selling of some relevant needs either for the purpose of humanitarian gesture or for strengthening social acquaintances. Thus, there can be no indifference to the awful presence of Ramadan in any part of the world.

Ramadan’s Convoy

As an annual   principal Guest, Ramadan does not come into the world of man all alone. It is always accompanied by an entourage that forms its convoy. Thus, like the sun in the midst of stars, Ramadan, on its arrival in the world, ascends the throne of destiny in full regalia while all other months, (lunar and solar) quickly take their bow in salutation.

In that grandiose circumstance, Ramadan can be called the King where other months are just chiefs and it can be called the Doctor in a world where people are physically and spiritually handicapped. It can also be called the compass with which to find the right way in the wilderness of life. And, because of its multipurpose posture, this same sacred month can also be called the sanitizer of human soul, the sterilizer of human spirit as well as the immunizer of human biological system. Besides the lunar months of Rajab and Sh’aban that lead the convoy of Ramadan into the world, a retinue of invisible ministers is also in its convoy to serve as parts of its entourage. Among such Ministers are piety, knowledge, truth, justice and peace. All of these jointly usher that Guest of guests into the world with rare splendour”.

Indices of Recognition

Although the indices of recognizing the beginning and the end of the month of Ramadan are naturally vivid to those who care, sighting the crescent of hope is foremost among those indices.

Ramadan is not preceded by two glorious lunar months of ‘Rajab’ and ‘Sha’ban for fun. The number of days in those two months is to enable any serious Muslim know the time of the arrival of Ramadan and prepare for it. In Islam, no lunar month exceeds 30 days and none is less than 29 days.

Therefore, crescent or no crescent, it is very possible and easy to know when to start Ramadan every year even without waiting to be prompted. The regular confusion often created by the sighting or non-sighting of the crescent, especially before the commencement of Ramadan is therefore avoidable especially where Allah’s instruction in Q. 5:59 is sincerely followed.

Preparation

Islam is neither a religion of spiritual levity nor that of commercial venture. The spiritual seriousness of this divine religion is such that everything that needs to be done in it requires preparation.

For instance, to observe daily prayer (Salat), Muslims do prepare by performing ablution (Wudu’) or even special bath (Guslu) when necessary. To pay obligatory annual charity (Zakah), Muslims do prepare by calculating their annual income and by working out the ordained net end of that annual income (Nisab) from which the payable amount of Zakah should be deducted. And to perform Hajj, Muslims do prepare by knotting a spiritually guided intention to that effect and by settling any outstanding debt as well as by taking care of the home front to guarantee food and social security for the family members to be left behind before proceeding on pilgrimage. It is that same spiritual concept of preparation that warrants the monitoring of the appearance of the crescent as a precursor of Ramadan fast.

Spiritual Seclusion

The last segment of 10 days of in the month of Ramadan also grants a rare opportunity to some willing Muslims, in accordance with the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), to either go for Umrah in Makkah or take to spiritual seclusion (I’tikaf) locally, as a way of reaffirming their total submission to Allah. Following this is a session of charity (ZakatulFitr) made compulsory for all Muslims to pay irrespective of age, gender and status. Such charity is given to the poor and the needy especially in the neighbourhood or in a  lager vicinity. It is given out in the very early morning of Ramadan Festivity called ‘IdulFitr’ or the night before it, to enable those poor and  needyones celebrate the festival with the Ummah in a festive mood.

Anti-climax

The first day of the month of Shawwal, immediately after Ramadan, which is traditionally spent in great celebrations with rejoice and observed as ‘Fast-Breaking Festival’ (EidulFitr) by Muslims through a congregational prayer is the anti-climax of the sacred month of Ramadan. That festival itself has its own preparation and methodology.

Paradise and Hell

In the sacred month of Ramadan, all gates of Paradise, according to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), are wide open for all those aspiring to gain entry into it while the gates of Hell are tightly closed. That is a mark of Allah’s mercy for remorseful Muslims

who do not want to remain fetteredtp the manacles of Satan.

Questions

Looking at the uniqueness of Islam as a religion in terms of constant hygiene, decent dressing, spiritual discipline in observance of Salat, the spirit of charity which Zakah and Sadaqah represent, the rules and regulations guiding social interaction during Hajj performance and the codes of the divine law that governs the lives of Muslims as accentuated by the month of Ramadan, one cannot but ask relevant questions as follows:

Where else can one find a Guest like Ramadan? Where else can one meet a Guest that serves as the host to his supposed hosts and becomes a supernatural Doctor that heals mankind of ignorance, poverty and physical diseases? It was probably more to Ramadan than to man that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) referred when he said: “whoever believes in Allah and the ‘Last Day’ should venerate his guests”. That is why Muslims often greet one another in this uniquely great   month thus:

‘RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

This is the month of Ramadan, the ‘Dean’ of all lunar months. It comes into the world once in a year. Its arrival is always with fanfare despite its invisibility. The majestic splendour of this spiritually grandiose month is shrouded in the divine blessing that often heralds its readiness to storm the world.

Unlike all other months of the year, Ramadan keeps humanity in a curious suspense even as it sends a harbinger ahead of its coming. That harbinger is the crescent of hope, which millions of Muslims globally await before commencing the annual obligatory fast in the month.

From its name alone, Ramadan can be called the key with which to open the door to eternal pleasure. Ramadan is the solid ground upon which the formidable edifice of Islam is built. It is the month in which Islam came into the world of mankind through the commencement of the  revelations of the Qur’an in 610 CE. Yet, it did not become a pillar of Islam until 14 years later (624 CE) in Madinah. Without the revelation of the Qur’an which started in the sacred month of Ramadan in 610 CE, perhaps the world would have remained oblivious of the five pillars of Islam today.

Read Also: Humility – your pathway to elevation!

Ramadan is the great light that comes annually to illuminate the dark world of man and to wake up the snoring humanity from deep sleep. It is also a major yardstick with which to measure discipline in the life of Muslims individually and collectively.

To wake up in the night and observe spiritual genuflexions (Nawafil); to take an early breakfast (Sahur) before dawn and abstain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse as well as other pleasurable activities of life throughout the days of Ramadan is a collection of obligations which only the spiritual phenomenon called Ramadan can impose on man as an act of discipline.

It is only with Ramadan that the hardest heart can be   softened and the wildest animal instinct in man can be tamed. No other pillar of Islam preaches patience, endurance, tolerance, sympathy and social welfare as effectively as Ramadan does. Ramadan is the month that levels the ground under the feet of the rich and the poor alike.

Without this month in the life of a Muslim, the world would have been meaningless spiritually. Welcome on board of this cruising spiritual Yacht that is, once again, commencing a spiritual voyage on the pacific ocean of discipline towards the ‘Cape of Good Hope’.

RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Whenever the month of Ramadan comes around, its first port of call is Tarawih. That is the famous supererogatory Salat that entertains Muslim congregations with special hospitality in virtually all Mosques across nations and continents in the evenings of the month.

Tarawih is a special Salat observed voluntarily, according to Sunnah, after Salatul ‘Ishai. It contains many genuflexions (raka’at) ranging from six to twenty depending on the choice of its observers. Despite its significant role in Ramadan, Tarawih was not observed congregationally at the inception of Islam. When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first introduced it as an attribute of Ramadan in Madinah, in 624 CE, he started observing it in the Mosque,, all alone, for the first few evenings,  immediately after Salatul ‘Isha’i.

But when he observed that some of his companions were joining him in observing this Salat, thereby turning it into another congregational prayer, he stopped observing it in the Mosque to avoid giving it the impression of another obligatory Salat.

However, shortly after the demise of the first Caliph, Abubakr Siddiq, Umar Bn Khattab, who became the second Caliph   walked into the Mosque one evening in the month of Ramadan, and met a crowd of Muslims observing Tarawih individually. But each of them was reciting the verses of the Qur’an aloud to the utter disturbance of the others. Umar then commanded all of them to stop reciting those verses and asked them about the Salat they were observing after ‘Ishai. When they told him that it was Tarawih, he ordered them to queue up as a norm for observing congregational Salat according to Sunnah. He then asked for the most knowledgeable person among them and told him to lead the rest in observing Tarawih congrgationally while he watched with delightful admiration.

After the completion of the Salat, Umar said satisfactorily that “I have established a beautiful tradition”. From thence, congregational observance of Tarawih became a legitimate tradition which is today enthusiastically observed by Muslims, throughout the world, in the month of Ramadan. Tarawih is not the only precursor of

Ramadan fasting. There others. And, Sahur is one of them. But the latter is weightier than the former because of its entailed statutory status. Please read about Sahur tomorrow in sha’Allah. RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Monologue

Today’s article is not new. It is only being republished here due to popular demand. When it was first published in this column six years ago (2015), many Muslim couples, in Nigeria and abroad, saw it as a true mirror of their matrimonial homes. Many others took it for a matrimonial handbook capable of serving as a guide for the conduct of their homes. Yet, many who missed it at that time but only heard of it from those who read it have severally called for its repetition in this column. Thus, because of the value it may add to Muslim homes and the role it may play in resolving conflicts in those homes, ‘The Message’ decided to re-publish it here today for the benefit of all and sundry. Here it goes:

Preamble

“A radical 20th century India-born British journalist and novelist, George Orwell, wrote a famous allegorical novel entitled ‘ANIMAL FARM’ in 1945. His focus in that novel was mainly on the Russian revolution of 1917 which he satirized venomously. While writing the novel, that social critic never thought that any possible ripples could arise from it, which might have a backlash effect on the entire human social life in the 21st century. But ironically, with the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), in 1991, the application of that book became manifest on the entire social life of today’s mankind. This will be explained shortly.

Institution of Marriage

Perhaps no institution in human life is as temporally or spiritually valuable as marriage. This is an indisputable fact across nations, races, cultures and religions. Marriage is the main axis around which the continuity of human existence on earth rotates. It is either a pivotal source of decency or a clear cause of malfeasance in any given society. Without marriage, human societies would have been like Orwell’s Animal Farm. And were Orwell alive today he would have probably redirected the focus of his novel towards the matrimonial homes globally rather than to condemnation of socialism.

Rate of Marital Dissolutions

Nowadays, the rate of dissolution of marriages is by far higher than the rate at which marriages are consummated. At least, going by the local customs of the various tribes in Nigeria one can conclude that marriages are conducted weekly throughout the country as against the daily occurrences of their dissolutions.

Definition

Some people define marriage as a legalization of intercourse and procreation of children without any reference to its divine sanctity. Others call it a social contract culturally or legally consummated between two consenting mature people of opposite genders. The latter definition is also silent on the obligation and responsibilities of such a union. In Islam, marriage is much more than both definitions. It is on the one hand, a promise made by the male gender who is soon to become the husband and on the other, a trust personification by the female gender who is soon to become the wife in the custody of her husband. Thus, marriage is an agreement between two families aimed at creating an avenue for continuity of social life through a common social venture jointly managed by the two representatives of both families in their bid to set up a home of their own.

Essence of Marital Life

In the life of any serious-minded human being, three events are fundamentally essential. These are birth, marriage and death. The three events form the main social axis around which the entire human life rotates. All other events in human life are merely peripheral.

Throughout the world, today, (Nigeria inclusive), marriage has become a balloon which can be casually inflated in one minute and thoughtlessly deflated in the next minute. It has been taken for a mere chess game played for the fun of the players as well as that of the onlookers. To most Nigerians of today, marriage is not more important than dining, wining, singing and dancing. It has been reduced to mere fun and entertainment which many young couples see as a legitimate means of actualizing sexual urge that would have been perceived as a social aberration without passing through a formal matrimonial communion.

Parable of Marriage

While conducting a marriage in Lagos sometime in 2012, yours sincerely compared a marital couple to a pair of scissors which has two blades. Each of those blades faces a different direction. The one faces the right side whilst the other faces the left side. These positions are not naturally interchangeable. Yet, with the nuptial knot tying them together in the middle to seal their common destiny, the two blades jointly work assiduously in their move to certify the essence of that togetherness.

Looking at a pair of scissors very carefully, one will discover that the two blades therein sometimes stick closely together and sometimes stand out separately. Their meeting and parting randomly accentuate the essence of their togetherness. Through those meeting and parting moments, the two blades of the pair of scissors communicate effectively and mutually function dutifully. When they stay apart, the tendency is for some intruders to assume that they cannot jointly function again and therefore attempt to penetrate the gap between them. But as soon as those intruders try to come in, the two blades of the scissors quickly come together to crush them. There is a marital lesson for human beings to learn from this.

Implications

Unfortunately, today, marriage has become like the country called Nigeria where projects are hurriedly executed to satisfy the momentary secret (under the table), in terms of contract, without any consideration for the quality and maintenance of such projects. When two young people of different genders and backgrounds are coming together to form a couple, they hardly think of the implications of such a union in terms of individual differences and the possible challenges that may emanate from those differences. Young couples of today perceive love, either from beauty point of view or from endowed wealth or even from pleasure of sexual intercourse. And, that is a way of turning infatuation or possession of material wealth or sexual enjoyment into love, which is usually the cause of early marital collapse.

Love or Infatuation

In marriage, love develops only gradually with mutual understanding, especially when it becomes evident that one spouse accommodates the weaknesses of the other through tolerance and compromise. The attraction which beauty or wealth or intercourse engenders can only, at best, generate tentative LIKENESS and not LOVE in the real sense. This is where the foundation of divorce is often laid even before the consummation of marriage. There is nothing called love in a matrimonial home in the absence of sincere communication and thorough mutual understanding as well as compromise and tolerance. It is not enough to claim mutual understanding through mutual study during courtship. No matter how long it may last, the period of courtship can never be enough for any couple to fully understand each other. That period is usually to impress each other while the tendency to pretend is often disguised. That is why an Arab poet once coined a couplet thus: “A liking eye sees nothing wrong in the conduct of the liked one; but a hateful eye only searches for the faults in the hated person”.

The Seriousness of Marriage

Marriage is a serious business which must be seriously negotiated initially by the concerned couples and their parents or guardians. At the courtship stage, the concerned couple must not only discuss the modalities of coming together as husband and wife they must also negotiate the factors of sustaining their marriage through proper sustenance of the home. Any marriage without a program of sustenance is likely to become like dew used by a farmer to water his crops into fruition. Can dew function like rain?

The Prophet’s recommendation

In his recommendation to Muslim men who are searching for wives, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported as saying: “Wives should be married on the basis of four factors: beauty, wealth, family background and faith”. He, however, emphasized (Islamic) FAITH as the strongest factor for Muslim couples. He did not recommend such factors to women because he knew the difficulties that women might face in making choices of husbands but he strongly recommended that a woman’s consent in the process of her marriage is germane. The Prophet then concluded that any marriage without such consent is invalid. This means that forcing a girl into marriage without her consent is illegal in Islam.

Marriages are globally collapsing at an alarming rate today because couples and their families have closed their eyes to two key factors in sustaining the matrimonial home. These factors are COMMUNICATION and MUTUAL RESPECT. No marriage can ever survive or succeed without a thorough pre-marital counseling by parents, guardians or religious clerics who must not only tutor potential couples but also demonstrate practically to them how marriages are sustained using their own marriages as examples. Newly married couples often dream of building their homes in a floating castle without remembering that it is possible for a dream to end up in a nightmare.

Communication

There can be no matrimonial peace in the absence of adequate communication between husband and wife based on mutual respect. Nothing signals the collapse of a marriage more than a absence of communication. A marriage without effective communication is like a house without doors. Of course, the children from such homes are mostly the victims of any ensued divorce. If a marriage is initiated and consummated without communication, how can anybody think that such a marriage can be genuinely sustained?

The real essence of marriage is for husband and wife to disagree in order to agree and not the other way round. In the process of disagreeing or agreeing, communication is the only key instrument. Without it, the home can never be solidly intact.

Any couple that closes the matrimonial door to communication has surely opened that door to marital dissolution. Even divorce, whether through mutual agreement or through court injunction, must be a subject of communication in one way or another between both parties.

Togetherness in Worship

In Islam, one of the most potent ways of ventilating communication in the home is to worship and pray together at least twice in a day (morning and evening). A Muslim husband must at least be knowledgeable enough to lead his family in Salat and to preach and pray for such family daily. Through such worship and prayer, many knotty matrimonial issues can easily be untied. Besides, the children will learn to be good-mannered and to resolve disagreements among themselves. That is one of the reasons why Muslims are urged to acquire knowledge about their religion.

Spate of Divorce

The spate of divorce in any society today is much higher among the ignorant couples than the knowledgeable ones. It must be noted here that literacy does not necessarily amount to knowledge as erroneously believed in Nigeria by most elites.

Matrimonial Conflicts

Matrimonial conflicts are not new to any modern society. What seems to be new and worrisome about them is the geometric leap they are taking these days.

Conclusion

Today, Nigerian society is prone to danger of insecurity mostly because of matrimonial instability. And the more marriages are consummated, the more matrimonial homes crumble. Who, then, will save the society by saving our matrimonial homes? That is the biggest question of this time which is begging for a very positive answer. The security of Nigeria as a country depends very much on the stability of matrimonial homes. That is why emphasis should rather be laid on stability of homes than on distribution of contraceptives for the purpose of reducing procreation. There can be no peaceful nation without peaceful homes. This is a panacea for national insecurity. The battle for Nigeria’s future peace is rather in the matrimonial homes than in the Sambisa forests of this world, which is the enclave of the evil agents called Boko Haram. God bless Nigeria.

NOTE:

THIS article was first published in this column on August 21, 2015.

By Femi Abbas

Sahur is an Arabic word meaning ‘awaking the night’. Its verb root is ‘Sahira’ which means to keep a night vigil. Connotatively, Sahur, as related to Ramadan, is, statutorily, an obligatory Sunnah (Sunnatul-Muakkadah) introduced by Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It is one of the major components of Ramadan fasting which, unlike Tarawih, cannot and must not be treated as a matter of choice. The essence of Sahur during Ramadan is not just to wake up for eating and drinking but also, to observe Nawafil and recite the Qur’an for the purpose of Ibadah and thorough understanding. (Nawafil is the plural of Nafilah).

Sahur is an indication of the high level of discipline injected into true Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Within the period of Sahur, Muslims are allowed to engage in all legitimate activities including spiritual and social exercises that are generally permissible in Islam. Sahur may commence from the midnight and end before Dawn (Fajr). During that period, eating and drinking legitimate edible substances are permissible in moderation.

Nawafil or supererogatory genuflexions may be observed severally according to the ability of the observer. Recitation of the Qur’an may also be done for as long as the concerned Muslims are able to do it. Meanwhile, for effective utilization, the Sahur period may be divided into three segments whereby one segment may be dedicated to the observance of Nawafil and another to the recitation of the Qur’an, while the third may be dedicated to the essential consumption of food and drinks in moderation. Whichever of these segments engages a Muslim during the Sahur must come to an end with the arrival of salatus- subhi at dawn. The observance of salatus- subhi at its right time is such an obligation that must not be interrupted by any other activity. Muslim women who may have no time for recitation of the Qur’an or observance of Nawafil because of their cooking activities during sahur will also have full reward for taking care of others in the family. In a Nutshell, Sahur is a compulsory component of Ramadan fasting which cannot be sacrificed for whatever reason.

RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

For the first few days in the month of Ramadan, every year, there is tendency for some Muslims to forget that they are fasting and thus break their fasts inadvertently during the day. Naturally, the possibility of eating or drinking accidentally due to sheer forgetfulness in the early days of Ramadan is apt. This often occurs to Muslims who hardly fast outside the month of Ramadan.

If it happens to you, there should be nothing to worry about. As soon as you remember, just recondition yourself to the regulations of Ramadan fasting and continue your fast. Do not tell anybody. Let it remain a secret between you and your Lord. It does not matter whether you remember while eating and drinking or thereafter. In Islam, actions are judged according to intentions. And who else judges both actions and intentions other than Allah, the All-seer and All- knower. Even in the five obligatory Salats observed daily by all genuine Muslims, provisions are made for rectification of errors committed through forgetfulness. This is done in terms of ‘Sujudus-Sahwi’. Thus, like in Salat, the forgetfulness in Ramadan involves neither drunkenness nor sexual intercourse nor cheating of any kind.

Read Also; The rule of Sahur

As a Muslim, you are not supposed to eat any forbidden food or drink any intoxicant in the first place, Ramadan or no Ramadan. To be drunk, therefore, in the month of Ramadan, under the pretext of forgetfulness is a confirmation of hypocrisy or infidelity.

As for sexual intercourse which should only occur legitimately between a husband and his wife, it is impossible to be done out of forgetfulness. At least if the husband cannot remember Ramadan, the wife should. Sexual intercourse cannot be done unconsciously.

But if intercourse occurs in your dream and you suddenly wake up to discover that you are already wet, all you need to do is to clean up with purification bath (Janabah). And, then, you continue your fast. Fasting, especially in Ramadan, is a means of rejuvenating spiritual consciousness and renewal of good intention. Anyone who   breaks his/her fast in error due to forgetfulness should immediately repent and abstain from any situation that can cause its repetition. Allah is forgiving and merciful. RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Nigeria is a home of temptations. The agents of Satan are many and ubiquitous. They are most active in the sacred month of Ramadan. You will meet them in the neighbourhood, in offices, in commuter buses, in the markets and on the roads. Like Satanic rainbow, they come in various colours carrying with them, all sorts of tempting arsenals. Some of them are men. Most are women.

Their temptations come in different forms and shapes. Some will make jest of you in a provocative way. Some will deliberately bring food to your presence and start eating right in front of you. Some will pretend not to be aware that you are fasting and, therefore, offer you prohibited drinks. Some women will tempt you with the most sensitive contours of their bodies. The powders on their faces and other cosmetic materials on their faces alone are enough to disarm you spiritually if you are not a formidable Muslim. Their antics are many. But your resistance to all these is the most vital ingredient for the acceptance of your fast by Allah. This is a situation in which Muslims are expected to close their eyes and their minds at the same time. They should close their eyes to any eyesore and close their minds to all spiritual irritants.

In no Islamic society can such temptations be experienced. In any sane Muslim society, it is a punishable offence to deliberately tempt or provoke fasting Muslims in the month of Ramadan. As a matter of fact, all food vendors and restaurants are statutorily prohibited from operating in the days of Ramadan. They can only trade in the nights. And, of course, there is nothing like alcohol or nudism in such societies even outside the sacred month.

Resistance to temptation in Ramadan is a function of two things: high level of discipline and strong faith in Allah. Any Muslim who lacks these two is surely bereft of the necessary armour against temptation. Ramadan in the life of a Muslim is like a delicious food given to a hungry man. If he handles it carelessly, it may end up in the belly of a goat. Satan is always on standby to snatch any reward accruing to pious Muslims from good deeds. To avoid becoming a victim of satanic machination therefore, do not be careless with Allah’s bounties for you in this sacred month. RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

From the beginning of Ramadan, every year, Muslims congregate in various Mosques or Learning Centres where the exposition of the Qur’an (Tafsir) is rendered by learned Muslim scholars. This is in accordance with the Prophetic tradition which encourages better understanding of the Qur’an.

Linguistically, Tafsir means exposition. But technically, it means the comprehensive analysis of the Qur’an, spiritually, linguistically, logically and semantically. In other words, Tafsir is the comprehensive exposition of the contents of the Qur’an, as usually done by learned Muslim scholars especially during the month of Ramadan throughout the Muslim world.

Because of the coded language of the Qur’anic revelation, it became necessary for the verses of that sacred Book to be decoded for the purpose of thorough understanding by the Muslim Ummah when the Prophet was alive. And, the example of this was laid by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself to the great delight of his companions.

From the explanation above, it therefore becomes clear that the revelations of the Qur’anic chapters and verses were the immediate causes of intellectual research in Islam. For instance, Arabic, the original language of the Qur’an, had no grammar prior to the revelations of the divine message. The grammar of that language evolved only from the contents of the Qur’an.

With time, the challenge which the Qur’an threw to humanity in all spheres of life led to serious competition among scholars. Thus, each time a revelation came, the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) were always eager to know why and how of every what. And this led to their very close association with the Prophet who paved the way for them towards that intellectual research.

Although the formal study of Tafsir as an independent intellectual discipline did not begin until many years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), he (the Prophet) nevertheless, started its process. He did not only educate his companions about the exoteric and esoteric meanings of the revealed verses of the Qur’an, he also explained their applications to the daily life of man as well as the implications of same.

It was the prophet who decoded most of the coded areas of the Qur’an for proper understanding of the ordinary Muslims. Through his utterances and actions which were later to be known as Hadith and Sunnah, the contents of the Qur’an became more and more understandable to the Muslims even as further researches continue today.

Thus, after the prophet’s demise, Hadith and Sunnah together became an independent subject of research paving man’s way to higher firmaments in civilization. And, this has helped, in no small measure, to expand the scope of Tafsir. It is from Qur’anic researches that, all new discoveries and new frontiers in knowledge became adapted to the study of Tafsir until Tafsir itself became an estuary through which every stream of knowledge was passed to mankind. But what problems does Tafsir face in the contemporary time? Read the answer to this question in this column tomorrow in sha’Allah. RAMADAN KARIM!.

By Femi Abbas

At the beginning of this sacred month, 11 days ago, an analysis was done in this column classifying the 30 days of Ramadan into three segments. The first segment was said to contain the first ten days during which the blessings of Allah come to the faithful Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with faith and good intention, there is no working for the blessings therein. That segment ended yesterday paving way for the second segment that begins today.

As from today, Sunday, May 25, 2021, fasting Muslims, all over the world, will start working for the master key to their final abode (Al-Jannah) through forgiveness. That is the essence of this second segment of the month of Ramadan. During this period, Muslims are expected to intensify worship (Ibadah) by spending their days and nights repenting on their misdeeds and iniquities while seeking Allah’s forgiveness through the chanting of Istighfar. But such forgiveness is neither automatic nor free.

Usually, there are conditions attached to it. One of such conditions is that one must admit his misdeeds and repent on them. The second is that he should voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness. And the third condition is for him to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness during that time, a Muslim should follow the guidance of Allah as exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who reportedly said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And, if you want Allah to speak to you recite the Qur’an”. No one who abides by the above conditions and follows the Prophet’s counsel will ever be disappointed. Allah is both promising and fulfilling. He never reneges on His promise. In Qur’an 2:186 He promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of all who seek my favour if they pray to me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect my favourable response and trust in me so that they may be rightly guided”

The second ten days segment of Ramadan is not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days. It is also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last ten days when they are expected to be fully liberated from the evil manacles of satanic forces. For genuinely dedicated Muslims, in this sacred month, the prayer for that liberation in any language and in a condition of purity is a sine qua non.

RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Generally, neighbours are neighbours, Ramadan or no Ramadan. They are the people with whom one interacts closely, on a daily basis, in the same vicinity. Neighbours are co-inhabitants in the same residence, area, office, farm or market. Some of them are permanent. Others are temporary. This is not a matter of Ramadan alone. It is a general Islamic norm that all Muslims are supposed to follow.

Impotance of Neighbours

In Islam, neighbours are so important that they are perceived as next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them that they are like family members. According to Bukhari and Muslim, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was reported to have once sworn by Allah three times saying: “He does not believe in Allah”!, He does not believe in Allah”!, He does not believe in Allah”! Whoever creates fear or restlessness in his neighbours”.

Prophetic emphasis

In another Hadith, also reported by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet was quoted as saying that “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day should treat his neighbour nicely and respect his guests”.

New Toga

In the month of Ramadan, a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He should double his good deeds to his neighbours by extending generosity to them and by cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He should genuinely give them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

It does not matter whether the neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives.

No Discrimination

The Prophet did not discriminate in his Hadith when he was admonishing on relationship with neighbours. And that is the inalienable position of Islam on neighbourhood.

Whoever, had quarrelled with his neighbours, therefore, let him go and settle the quarrel. Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and sexual intercourse within specified periods, during the sacred month of Ramadan, a good Muslim must also mind his relationship with people around him, especially neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure.

Not In Half Measure

Whoever wants to receive full rewards for his religious activities in Ramadan should treat his neighbours well. And, when Ramadan is over, the good deeds must continue.

RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Islam and Muslims are like Siamese twins or even like the snail and its shell. None of them can survive without the being in the company of other. There is nothing in the life of a Muslim that this divine religion called Islam does not touch effectively in the lives of Muslims. For instance, in Islam, travelling is not just a part of education. It is rather a form of education. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) realized this early in his prophet-hood years and emphasized it. He said: “Seek knowledge even if you will have to travel to China”.

In retrospect

At the time the world map, as it is today, had not been crafted, China was considered the farthest place from Arabia.

In accentuation of the Prophet’s instruction that Muslims should seek knowledge, even as far away as China, a renowned Arab poet came up with a stanza which translates thus:

“There is no permanent, resting place for a sensible, learned person; therefore, move from city to city and adapt to any new environment in which you may find yourself;

Travel out from your immediate environment and meet new contemporaries similar to those you may have left behind at your embarkation;

Interact with diverse people because human comfort and prosperity are mostly attainable through interactions…”

Islam regards for travellers

The respect which Islam has for travellers is such that they (travellers) are described as wayfarers in the Qur’an. And by virtue of their journey, Muslim travellers are not only permitted to reduce their four rakats of (Dhur, ‘Asr and ‘Ishai) to two rakats each, they are also excused from fasting while on journey (although they will make up for the missed fasts later). Not only that, they are also listed among the groups qualified to receive Zakat; the proviso, however is that such a journey must be justifiable and legitimate.

Journey by necessity

Judging by the laid down proviso, as presented above, it becomes understandable that a Muslim journey in Ramadan must be one of necessity and not of mere pleasure.

The rule is that the journey must not be less than 48 miles or 80 kilometres. On such a journey, a travelling Muslim may break his fast and shorten his Salat. But that rule was formulated at the time when donkeys and camels were the means of travelling.

Today, when it is possible to travel from Lagos to Kano within one hour in a comfortable aircraft or from Ibadan to Lagos in a fully air -conditioned car, within the same period of one hour, it may rather be unnecessary to break the fast and reduce Salat especially when the traveller must make up for the fast broken after Ramadan.

Exception

There is hardly any rule without exception. The modern exceptions to the rule of travelling in Ramadan have transcended those of the donkey age.

However, this does not mean that any Muslim traveller in Ramadan who wishes to follow the primordial rule of the donkey years cannot shorten Raka’ats of his salat and break his fast. Nevertheless, if that rule is followed, the conditions surrounding it must equally be followed.

Ramadan Karim!

By FEMI ABBAS

Preamble

For every activity of man that yields successful or unsuccessful result, there must be a history from which others can learn a lesson. Sometimes, it is man that makes history and some other times, it is history that makes man. Whichever is the case, however, the symbiotic relationship between history and man is a confirmation of the fact that none of them can be separated from the other.

Analysis

There can be no history without man just as there can be no man without history. The genesis of Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria is one historic contribution of Nigerian Muslims to the popularity of the fourth pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting. For Nigerian Muslims who are between the ages of 45 and 50 years, it will be noticed that one of the most prominent components of Ramadan month today is Ramadan Lecture. That component which was not in existence before 1985 is so rampant today that most African Muslims can hardly think of Ramadan without Ramadan Lecture. it has virtually become a spiritual phenomenon strongly waxed into the fabric of the sacred lunar month called Ramadan. Whether in Lagos, Sokoto or Calabar or even in Abidjan or Harare or Kinshasha, once Ramadan arrives every year, most African Muslims engage themselves passionately in Ramadan Lecture, either as preachers or as programme sponsors or as audiences.

Genesis

Incidentally however, the genesis of that phenomenon does not seem to be of any concern to many who see it as just an addendum to the sacred month of fasting. Even when it is an  undeniable fact that Ramadan fasting as a pillar of Islam has been in existence for almost one and a half millennia, it hardly occurs to most Nigerian or African Muslims of today, that Ramadan Lecture which began in Lagos in 1985 is Nigeria’s own contribution to the enhancement of the liveliness of the fourth pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting.

Question

How did the idea of Ramadan Lecture which many African Muslims are now taking for granted come about? Who were the inventors of this ingehuous idea that has become a global heritage and, what was actually the role of Bashorun MKO in this historic invention?

How Ramadan Lecture Started

The world is dynamic, not just intellectually or religiously but also environmentall.

Its dynamism varies from time to time and from place to place. The tendencies for that dynamism are what have perennially constituted the accessories of human progress. This is not peculiar to a period in history or a section of the earth in the geography of the world. Without such tendencies, the rapidity of human progress would not have probably been in synergy with the propensity of man to surrender to the unquestionable might of Allah.

Ramadan  Glamour

Perhaps, nothing gives more glamour to the month of Ramadan in Nigeria today than Ramadan Lecture. But only a few people know that the idea of that concept emanated fortuitously from a probing question once raised by the late Alhaji Saka Fagbo in 1984. It was the needed answer to that question that prompted the actualization of that concept to the amazement of most old cadre Muslims.

In Retrospect

The whole story started with the gathering of some brothers, including the late Alhaji Salam Fagbo, Alhaji Mojeed Sofola, Alhaji Abdul Kabir Ayomaya. All the three were then staffs of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). And, yours sincerely from Concord Newspaper was in that accidental gathering. At that occasion, Alhaji Salam Fagbo raised an inquisitive question that germinated into what came to be called ‘Ramadan Lecture’ in 1985.. The group was later to be joined by Alh. Abdur-razaq Gawat (also of NTA).

Venue of the Episode

The episode took off from the Channel 7 branch of Nigerian the NTA, Tejuosho Street, Surulere, Lagos. where Alhaji Fagbo was then the General Manager.

The Question

The question that sparked off the glorious idea went

as follows: “What can we do to give seasonal happiness to Nigerian Muslim children that would be similar to that of Christmas Carol which Christian children enjoy in December every year?” Ater some hours of deliberations on that challenging question, the brothers harmonized their thoughts and concluded that festive happiness could not be limited to children alone saying such an Islamic programme would be more beneficial to all and sundry if it was well packaged with Islamic knowledge and intellectualism. To give the new idea a befitting publicity, yours sincerely was mandated to brief the then Baba Adini of Yoruba land Bashorun MKO Abiola who was also the publisher of Concord Press.   At that time, yours sincerely was also Abiola’s Special Adviser on religious Affairs). After briefing Bashorun Abiola, I also advised him to take up the sponsorship of the proposed programme. As expected, Bashorun Abiola did not only accept to sponsor the programme, on television and radio stations in Lagos State, he also voluntarily offered to be the permanent sponsor Tafsir on radio and television stations throughout the 30 days of the month of Ramadan every year in all the Southwest States plus Kwara and the then Bendel states, for as long as he was alive.

Catalyst

Bashorun Abiola’s  historic acceptance to sponsor that programme became the catalyst for the mobilization of Muslim groups and communities in the southwest of Nigeria where Ramadan lectures were being organized. And, with time, the idea of organizing Ramadan lecture was adopted in other parts of the country and thus became a National affair that some other Countries in the West African Sub region started to emulate.

Spiral Effect

Today, Ramadan lecture is like a summer rainbow beautifying the Islamic Sky across the Continent of Africa in the sacred month every year.

First Ramadan Lecture

The very first  Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria was delivered by the late Alhaji Abdus-Salam Olatunde at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos. Thereafter, some other Muslim philanthropists joined the train by organizing and sponsoring similar programmes during the month of Ramadan.

The Innovation

The innovation called Ramadan Lecture is a further confirmation that the real bastion of propelling Islamic religion in Nigeria is in the Southwest, particularly Lagos. It should be recalled that some of the most prominent Islamic organizations in Nigeria today, such as the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Ansar-ud-deen society of Nigeria, Anwar’ul-Islam society of Nigeria, Naiwa-rud-deen society of Nigeria, zumratul Islamiyyah society of Nigeria, NASFAT, Fathu Quareeb, FOWMAN, The Criterion, The Companion and many others emanated from Lagos.

Prayer

It is our prayer that ALLAH should preserve the souls of those who have died among the innovators Ramadan Lecture as well as the originators of the above mentioned Muslim organizations and grant them everlasting bliss while guiding the only living one amongst the inventors of Ramadan Lecture towards further progressive efforts in projecting Islam in Nigeria.

RAMADAN KAREEM!

By Femi Abbas

The world’s greatest teacher, that ever live, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) will never cease to be a teacher of teachers even in death. It was he who first recognized communication as the greatest means of fulfilling temporal desire as well as attaining spiritual satisfaction. Thus, he recommended it to the Muslim Ummah.

One of the features of Ramadan fast is I’tikaf which simply means seclusion. It comes up during the last ten days of the sacred month.

Its purpose is to completely abstain from all sinful acts and enhance one’s spiritual standing. I’tikaf or self seclusion is adopted by any Muslim who wants to get closer to the Almighty Allah through the spiritual realm.

With I’tikaf, a Muslim can attain inner composure and equanimity while he is absorbed in eternal reality. For the eight years of fasting (624-632 CE that he spent in his latter period in Madinah, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) regularly observed I’tikaf in the last ten days of every Ramadan.

And, after him, his wives and succeeding companions adhered to that tradition as a means of purifying the heart and attaining peace of the mind.

I’tikaf is mostly done in the Mosque but it can also be done in a house especially by women if the house is clean and free of disturbance. While in I’tikaf the Mu’takif or recluse is expected to observe all the five daily prayers and other Nawafil (supererogatory genuflections). He is also to engage in the recitation of the Qur’an and the glorification of Allah. He seeks forgiveness and shows gratitude to the Creator and Protector of the universe for all the countable and uncountable good things of life with which he has been endowed.

While in I’tikaf, one is not expected to move around beyond the vicinity of the Mosque or house in which he is secluded. Foods and drinks are brought to him by his wife or relations. He goes to the toilet and takes bath as necessary. But he is not to go about in vehicles during the time of I’tikaf except by necessity.

I’tikaf is Sunnah (voluntary) and not obligatory for anybody. Only those who have the time and the means can go into it. Daily paid workers who must provide for their families and salary earners who are not on leave are advised not to go into I’tikaf. Wives and children must not suffer from lack of domestic provisions just because the family bread winner has gone into I’tikaf. And, women are not permitted to go into I’tikaf leaving their husbands and children at home. That can only happen with the permission of the husband.

But where a woman is unmarried or is old and has no responsibility of providing for the husband or children, she can go into I’tikaf.

People in I’tikaf can cook their foods and wash their dresses. All these must however have been taken along from home. A recluse is not supposed to break the I’tikaf by going to the market in search of needed provisions. A sick person is not expected to go into I’tikaf. But if a person suddenly falls sick while in I’tikaf, it is necessary for him to break the I’tikaf and go to the hospital. He may return into I’tikaf if he is well.

Also, if there is any emergency in the matrimonial home of the recluse or even in the neighbourhood, which requires an urgent attention, the recluse must break the I’tikaf and attend to such emergency promptly.

I’tikaf does not extend to the day of ‘Idul Fitr. It must be terminated as soon as Ramadan fast ends. A woman’s I’tikaf terminates automatically with the commencement of her menstruation. We pray Allah to accept our I‘tikaf as an act of ‘Ibadah Amin.

By Femi Abbas

As stated in this column yesterday, the intention of rectifying material indebtedness by proxy must be in the name of the debtor and the source of funding must be pure.

As for moral indebtedness, it may come in form of promise or reciprocation of good deed. In Islam, promise, especially a voluntary one is a debt, which must be paid. For instance, a deferred dowry in marriage is a debt that must be paid no matter how long it takes. Ditto the case of an orphan’s property under one’s custody which is promised to be returned. Both must be paid as at when due based on fear of Allah. There are many other forms of promises.

All these types of debts are between man and Allah. They need no witnesses except where evidence is required. The one which requires witnesses is contained in chapter 2:282 of the Qur’an. It is about money and other material matters. This verse (the longest in the Qur’an) deals extensively with the issue of indebtedness and emphasizes the documentation of such a debt between the creditor and the debtor in the presence of witnesses who must append their signature or thumb printing to the document. It does not matter whether the debt in question is between a husband and his wife or between a mother and her daughter. The intention is to create a peaceful co-existence, within the Muslim community, which no debt should interrupt. It is better not to make promise than to change one’s mind after making a promise without explaining to the person to whom promise is made.

Another form of debt is the boycott of sexual intercourse either by the husband or wife for an untenable reason. From the day a marriage is consummated a knot of legitimate sexual indebtedness has been tied. And except for a very cogent reason which must be understandable to both parties, no one of them should boycott intercourse deliberately. Ramadan fasting, therefore, or any religious activities in the sacred month should not be used as an excuse for refraining from intercourse without getting the consent of the other party. Whoever does that has deviated from the fulfilment of a major promise. And, that, in itself, is a major debt which must be paid. RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Monologue

At  no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence more manifest than in the month of Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth. Some people fasted actively last year but are no more today. Some put their feet at the door step of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some fell by the way side along the line. Some fasted with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some joined the spiritual train with no idea of their destination in the month. Yet the month cruises on without minding any un-gored horse.

Preamble

At the beginning of this sacred month, an analysis was done in this column classifying the 30 or 29 days of Ramadan into three segments. The first segment was said to contain the first ten days of the month during which the blessings of Allah came to the faithful Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with faith and good intention, there was no working for it. That segment ended after the fist 10 days, thereby paving way for the second segment that began on the 11th day of Ramadan to take the baton for the spiritual race.

The Second 10 Days

During the second 10 days, most fasting Muslims intensified worship (Ibadah) by spending their days and nights seeking Allah’s forgiveness and by chanting Istighfar. But such forgiveness was neither automatic nor free. Usually, conditions were attached to it. One of such conditions was for every fasting Muslims to admit his/her misdeeds and repent of them. The second was to voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness. And the third condition was to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness during the month of Ramadan, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And if you want Allah to speak to you recite the Qur’an”. No one who abided by the above conditions and followed it scrupulously would ever be disappointed. Allah is both promising and fulfilling. He never reneges on His promise. In Qur’an 2:186 He promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of whoever seeks My favour if he seeks from Me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect My favourable response and trust in Me so that they may be rightly guided”

Midway Ramadan

Those second ten days were not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days, they were also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last ten days when they would be fully liberated from the evil machinations of any Satanic forces.

The Weight of Death

Reward of human life is not spiritually measured by the time or manner of his/her death. In Islam, death is neither the consequence of iniquities nor the repercussion of ignorance. There are instances when the sinless dies and the sinful lives. There are also instances when the learned dies while the ignorant lives. The schedule of life and death is not in the custody of any human being and no man can judge the volume of its reward. Death is a debt which every living being owes and must pay regardless of time or manner.

Not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was spared of death or given a foreknowledge of its time or manner. Allah ordered him (Prophet Muhammad) to say as follows: Q. 10:49 thus: “Say I have not the power to benefit or to harm myself except what Allah pleases. Unto every nation is a fixed term. When their terms expire, it can neither be delayed by an hour nor quickened by one minute”. Q. 10:49.

This is a verse of the Qur’an which some ignorant non-Muslims have severally quoted and interpreted according to their satanic whim as if Jesus did not express a similar fact in the Bible thus: “I can do nothing on my own, I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me…” John 5:30.  In the wild imagination of those ignorant people, the Prophet should claim infallibility to enable them call him a liar and an impostor.

Nostalgia

Before the commencement of 1442 AH Ramadan fasting, some people dreamt but never lived to realize their dreams. Some looked but never saw. It is only in the imagination of man that age should be a factor of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever is privileged to pass through this year’s Ramadan successfully should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after the sacred month. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

End of Ramadan

In a few days time this year’s Ramadan will come to an end by the grace of Allah. And, we shall continue to look back, with nostalgia, to the good things we have done in the sacred month. For instance, we shall remember that in no other month of Hijrah calendar is the role of Muslim women more pronounced than in Ramadan. Like in other months, they (women), display the roles of wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. But more than in other months, they exhibit their religious dedication in Ramadan.

Even as they (wives) assist their husbands financially in maintaining the homes, they still take care of those husbands as well as the children and relatives domestically. At the time of the day when the husbands are knocked out by fatigue arising from fasting, in Ramadan, the wives are still busy in the kitchen preparing Iftar for the household. At the time, in the night, when some husbands are engaged in Tahajjud, or are snoring in bed, the wives are already up in the kitchen preparing the Sahur for the family.

Some of these women are pregnant. Some are suckling their children. Some of them are knowledgeable enough to do the Tilawah (recitation of the Qur’an) like their husbands. Some are even financially buoyant enough to finance their homes fully or partially.

And, in all these activities, they never feel tired. Where and when they feel tired, they never show it. If any month has ever depicted the virtues of women, it is Ramadan and the women activities in it. If for the reason of their activities in Ramadan alone, they deserve tolerance and dignified treatment in the hands of their husbands.

Role of Children

We shall also remember the role of our children in the month and then endeavour to ensure the continuity of those rewarding activities.

Children are Allah’s greatest gift to man. Their presence in a house is blessing. Their contribution to security and joy is immense. Those are children for you. They can play the role of teachers just as they do that of students. They learn fast, they teach fast. They are a major security for parents in any given environment.

Children play both temporal and spiritual roles in a matrimonial life. And with such roles, they sometimes create hope for humanity and sometimes, they signal despair. They are the greatest asset in the possession of parents in time of peace. They are also the greatest weapon for those parents against the forces of Satan.

Because of their innocence, they pave way for God’s forgiveness and quick acceptance of prayers. And, most importantly, children guarantee the continuity of man’s existence on earth. It is only with them that the fulfillment of today’s promise is possible tomorrow.

In the Qur’an, children are mentioned many times and most often with reverence. They are treated in that glorious book as a major issue in the life of man. As orphans, they do not only have a role to play, they also compel some adults to play a role relating to them.

As heirs to their parents, they have substantial shares in inheritance. Muslim children are like cubs of lions. They follow the footstep of their parents or guardians very closely. They are often with their parents during the five daily prayers. They watch their parents as the latter give charity to the poor. They accompany them to public lectures and Islamic social gatherings.

And, in Ramadan, children are part of the Muslims’ total spiritual package. They wake up with them at night. They fast with them in the day. They break the fast with them at sunset. They join their parents at Tafsir and night lectures. They participate in Laylatul Qadr and in giving Zakatul Fitr to the poor. Who can substitute the role of children in a matrimonial home?

In all the above mentioned activities, children are supposed to be encouraged. At the tender age of seven, they should be guided to fast even if for half a day. And when they reach the age of 10 they should be strengthened in faith and in religious deeds. They should be provided with necessities of life both in the temporal and spiritual realms. With these, they will grow up to become the fulfillment of their parents’ dreams. Most children grow up as good or bad citizens by emulating their parents. A child is therefore what his parents make him/her. If advantage of Ramadan is not taken by Muslim parents to mould their children into good Muslims what other platform will be used? Your child is your sun. Make hay with it while it shines.

Neighbours

We shall also recall how we relate with our neighbours, especially the non-Muslims among them, in that month of Ramadan. In Islam, neighbours are as important as the next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them.

New Toga

In the month of Ramadan a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He doubles his good deeds to his neighbours, extending generosity to them and cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He genuinely gives them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

It does not matter whether those neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives. In Islam, good neighbourliness should be an inalienable posture of a Muslim. Therefore, whoever, had quarreled with his neighbours before Ramadan, should go and settle the quarrel.

Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and intercourse, in the days of Ramadan, a good Muslim must mind his relationship with people around him, including neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure. It is not made a pillar of Islam by accident. Its purpose is to return man to the original state of purity in which he was created. That Allah entrusts the world to man is also not by accident. Allah consulted widely before entrusting this great responsibility to man when the latter volunteered to bear that responsibility. See  Qur’an 33:71 for details.

Needs and wants

It is in during Ramadan that Muslims reconfirm NEEDS rather than WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not supposed to be given to material wants. Rather, they should be more concerned about temporal and spiritual needs than temporal wants alone. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With needs come contentment and satisfaction while wants are the causes of greed and avarice. And those are the factors of disharmony in the world today.

If you are a participant or a witness to it this year’s Ramadan, utilize your experience maximally. You do not know whether or not you will have that opportunity again.  RAMADAN KARIM!

By Femi Abbas

Preamble

Dear Ramadan,

In the name of the Almighty Allah and with His mercy and blessings, which you brought to us, recently, we salute you. For 30 days, in the month of Ramadan, you were our special guest. And, with your special visit, you transformed our lives positively and rekindled our hopes spiritually.

Before you first descended on this world about 1442 years ago, what we used to know of hospitality was the entertainment which the host offered his guest. But with your arrival, that tradition was reversed in a revolutionary manner. You became the only known guest in the world, who entertains his host to satisfaction. Yours is hospitality that cannot be measured in quality or quantity. And, that is why the universal preparation for your arrival, every year is unequalled.

Premium recompense

With your awful and charismatic nature, you arrive in the world every year with a splendour that re-jigs the souls of mankind and reconditions their daily routine. History is yet to show us a guest like you who engages his hosts days and nights even as he places premium on their recompense. But for your annual visit, who could have dared waking us up from our tactlessly deep sleep for a whole period of 30 or 29 days and nights? Who could have been rescued us back from our stray into the wilderness of materialism, avarice and ostentation? Not even the day of Arafat in Hajj has any means of competing with you in whatever way. Arafat plays host to only a few millions of pilgrims in a single day. You engage the entire humanity for a whole month, days and nights in their domain except those who reject your offer.

Even the unbelievers are forced to recognise your presence with veneration despite your invisibility. For instance, all the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, all over the world, prepare for your arrival annually, if only to take advantage of your grandiose presence to do brisk businesses. Today, the greatest persecutors of Islam in Britain and the US are forced to pretend to be friends of that divine religion by hosting Muslims to Iftar in London and Washington. And the rest of the Western world copies them in doing that. Yet, each time you come around, most of us receive you reluctantly. But, when it is time for you to go, we hardly want to part with you again.

And, when we are eventually forced to say bye for now according to the law that established our spiritual relationship with you, we do so only in tears.

Timeliness

No other time of the year injects into us, the vivid consciousness of our faith as you do. No other pillar of Islam instills in us the high level of discipline which you take us through for a whole month. We acknowledge the effect of your role in our lives and we pray the Almighty Allah to sustain that effect in us so that the door to AL-JANNAH which you evidently represent may not be locked against us when it is time to take our place in that everlasting home of bliss.

With your coming once every year, we learn that life is neither static nor are the things inside it. No man of reason and letters stays put at a particular spot. Human body system gets strong only by shifting positions and moving around. Meeting and parting with fellow human beings from time to time are what make life interesting.

Interacting and intermingling with other elements of nature are the ingredients that fertilize the soil of harmony on our terrestrial planet.

The sun would have been boring, despite its usefulness to mankind, if it does not rise in the east at dawn and set in the west at twilight.

No water spring would have been drinkable if it had remained stagnant on a permanent basis. Had the arrow refused to part with the bow, it would not have been able to hit its target.  The regular exchange of baton between days and nights is what makes calendar possible for humanity.

We came into the world as travelers in transit. Our travel from father’s port of semen to the confines of mother’s womb in form of foetus is a transit. Our transformation from stage to stage inside that womb as vividly described by Allah in the Qur’an is a transit. And, following our arrival in this world, we naturally embark on a pilgrimage from the unknown to the unknown. Thus, any stage or condition in which we find ourselves in life, at any given time, is a transit. Without such transit, human life would have been monotonously valueless. Ditto other forces of nature, seen or unseen, animate or inanimate.

Not by Fortuity

Our world, the earth, did not come into existence by fortuity. Our primogenitors, Adam and his wife, Hawa’u (Eve) were not created to take charge of the earth by fortuity. The divine law by which this world is governed was not coined to guide us by fortuity. And, man’s peregrination on earth, world, towards the world hereafter, is not by fortuity.

All these are a ground design of a great revolution through which the meaning of the universe is to be understood. That design is the handiwork of the Supreme Being known to Muslims as ALLAH.

The divine signature appended to that design is what came to be known as the Qur’an which you (Ramadan) facilitated through a single night inside you, that Allah described as “more beneficial than 1000 months.

That signature (The Qur’an) is inimitable and unsurpassable not only in the grandeur of its diction and the splendour of its contents but also in its connotation, essence and profundity. Its summary is what is known to humanity as ‘REVOLUTION’.

By implication, the Qur’an can be semantically called ‘THE GREAT REVOLUTION’ that transformed the world from the sphere of obscurity into that of unimaginable sophistication. Yet, it is through the great night inside you, called ‘LAYLATUL QADR’ that such a great revolution came to Prophet Muhammad (SAW). If only the Qur’an is what humanity is privileged to access through your motherly belly it would have been enough. But, what is more, your contribution to the guidance of mankind transcends our perception of the Qur’an alone.

A former American President, John F. Kennedy, did not know that he was describing the Qur’an when he once said: “We live in a hemisphere whose own revolution has given birth to the most powerful force of the modern age- the freedom and fulfilment of man”.

Other Pillars of Islam

In your absence, the other four pillars of Islam could only presumably be engaged in an imaginary debate even as each claims to be the key to paradise. Faith, for instance, might claim that without her, all other pillars could only exist in vain.

To counter her claim, Salat might describe her five daily appearances in the life of a Muslim as the impetus that gives faith a deserved relevance. Zakah, on its own, may recount to the first two that whoever would be faithful enough to observe Salat ought to be married to Zakah either as a giver or as a receiver. And, at that point, Hajj might come in to contend that only a semblance of the ‘Hereafter’ (Yawmul Qiyamah), which she represents, can authenticate the spiritual visa with which humanity would be ushered into paradise through the wagons of other pillars. She (Hajj) might claim that without her as an emancipator of rightly guided humanity from the shackles of Satan, no one would have had the slightest idea of what that Great Day would be.

When you are around, dear Ramadan, all other pillars fall in line conceding leadership to you without any argument. You are not just the undeniable evidence of faith in man; you are also the most reliable witness of Salat, Zakah and Hajj.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) attested to this through one Hadith-ul-Qudsi when he quoted Allah as saying that “Fasting (in Ramadan) is Mine and I am the one to give reward on it”.

To fast while you are around, faith must not only be present, it must also be a formidable foundation. Salat must also convincingly increase the tempo of her spiritual vitality. Whoever is not dressed in the toga of faith and feather his hat of Salat will only be wasting his time if he claims to be fasting. And when you are about to return home according to your tradition, Zakah must appear before you to pay homage in the name of ‘Sadaqatul Fitr’. Even Hajj which, should not statutorily meet you, must also send an envoy to pay homage to you in the name of Umrah (Lesser Hajj).

By making this observation, one is not trying to crown you as the king of the pillars of Islam but to exhibit your exemplary virtue in the realm of spirituality. And, with the awful role you play every year, the position of a coordinator may be ascribed to you directly or indirectly.

In the light of the aforementioned, we cannot persuade you to stay with us permanently since going and coming once every year adds to the legendary grandiose that makes us crave passionately for your presence. We fervently pray the Almighty Allah to grant us further opportunities to benefit in the years ahead, from the unlimited bounties which you are privileged to bring to us every year. With tears flowing through our eyes, we bid you adieu for now hoping that by the grace of Allah you will come to meet us again alive and in sound health.

Nostalgia

Prior to your arrival, dear Ramadan, some people dreamt but never lived to realize their dreams. Some looked but never saw. It is only in the imagination of man that age or illness should be the cause of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever was privileged to have passed through your endearing presence successfully this year should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after your departure. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

As you just bade us bye for now, we shall continue to look back with nostalgia to the good things we have done under your influence while you were around.

Needs and wants

It is mostly when you, Ramadan, are around that Muslims reconfirm their NEEDS rather than their WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not, ordinarily, given to WANTS. They are more concerned about NEEDS than WANTS. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With NEEDS come contentment and satisfaction while WANTS are the cause of greed and avarice.

Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, had provided the needs of every living creature even before its creation. But then, He knew that of all those creatures man alone would go beyond NEEDS into the realm of WANTS. That was perhaps what informed the negative role which Satan assumed in the life of man shortly after the creation of Adam.

By introducing WANTS to man, what Satan did was to create a permanent job for himself in the life of man. Without WANTS the world would not have been what it is today. Blood would not have been flowing. Money would not have been deified. Hatred would not have been known to man. And, man’s inhumanity to man would have been totally averted.

The effect of WANTS first became known when Qabil (Cain), the first son of Adam preferred his brother’s wife to his. In the tantrum that ensued from that unfortunate saga, Qabil (Cain) killed his brother Habil (Abel) and combined the latter’s wife with his own and became a polygynist. From thence, greed and avarice became ingredients of man’s culture. And, WANTS rather than NEEDS became the domineering factor in the life of man. This is one of the vices which you, Ramadan, often come to correct in man.

Summary

At no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence be more manifest than in Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth.

Some people fasted actively last year but were no more to witness this year. Some put their feet at the door step   of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some felt by the way side along the line. Some fasted with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some joined the spiritual train with no idea of their destination in the month. Some sat on the fence with one leg here and the other there. However, none was hidden from Allah.

Now, all is over. But we shall keep remembering those days with indelible nostalgia. We shall keep recalling our anxiety while looking towards sighting the crescent that ushered you into our world with incomparable glory. We shall not forget the compensating evenings of Tarawih and the marvellous nights of Thajjud and Sahur. We shall look back to the immaculate days of Tafsir and the exclusiveness of ‘Itikaf. Yes our minds will not be off the great expectations embedded in the majestic LAYLATUL QADR as well as the great pleasure in the payment of Zakatul Fitr. All these will surely enable us to take a retrospective look at your grandiose annual presence with nostalgia. Bye for now, dear Ramadan, until we meet again next year, by the grace of Allah.