Femi Abbas
History is resplendent with lessons for people whose steps in life are in tandem with Allah’s guidance. It is also the same for the ignorant ones who see this ephemeral life as their ultimate destination.
There is no life’s odyssey without a divine guidance which often comes either in form of admonition or in form of warning. Heeding or shunning such guidance is, however, a matter of choice. And the consequences of such a choice may eventually become an indelible heritage of the concerned people.
Today’s World
We live in a world, today, that is quite different from that of the centuries ago when the Glorious Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
But surprisingly, nothing in the contemporary world has run counter to the foretold occurrences in that sacred Book or even to happenings prophesied by the last Messenger of Allah.
Business Transactions
Business transactions in the time of the Prophet might not involve technology or sophisticated transportation and communication as we have today, but the norms which guided businesses today have not shown any significant difference from those of the olden days. Not even the introduction of mundane ideologies like capitalism, socialism, and communism has altered those norms. That is a further confirmation of Islam as the most genuine religion and the Glorious Qur’an as the most authentic Message of Allah to mankind.
Today’s Youths
Incidentally, today’s youths do not see any virtue in working hard for acquisition of wealth. What matters most to them is to get money by all means at the cheapest cost and squander such money lavishly on frivolous materials. And, that is the main cause of the rampancy of crimes in the land.
Economic ideology
An unlettered personality like Prophet Muhammad (SAW) did not need to formulate any mundane economic theory or to invent an inconsequential economic ideology to administer a great Islamic government. He was not just a political leader but also an economic expert, a great law giver and an army general of impeccable status.
Without necessarily going into details of how he managed the economy of the Islamic state which he established and ruled from the scratch, it is obvious that even his ascension to ‘Sidratul Muntahah’ (apex of all heights) through seven planets, an adventure that paved the way for modern man’s exploration of the space, is of immense economic value to the contemporary world which no sensible critic can logically dispute. Although some ignorant people see the Qur’an as a mere religious Book, the economic value of that Book has remained unquantifiable and, it will remain so forever. The rapid spread of Islamic banking in the Western world today is a clear evidence of that fact. In Islam, economic discipline which is natural takes precedence over economic ideology which is artificial and unrealistic.
The Qur’anic Economic Value
Being the most read book in the world, the Qur’an has been translated into hundreds of languages making it possible for millions of people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to be employed at various stages of the world’s economy. For instance, the writing of the Qur’an, its recitation, its proof-reading, its printing, its marketing, its teaching, its translation, its interpretation, its sale and even its criticism by unbelievers are all sources of economic survival for millions of people in the world irrespective of their religions. The global engagement in research on that Glorious Book by various scholars and intellectuals, either for acknowledgement of facts or for mere blind criticism, is an attestation to the above assertion. There was no book like the Qur’an before its revelation and there will never be a book like it till the world will come to an end. The unrelenting hostility to Islam and the contents of the Qur’an in certain corners of the world is largely due to blatant ignorance about that divine religion. But that cannot continue forever.
Islam as Employer of Labour
If only one quarter of a billion people is gainfully employed in working on the Qur’an alone, today’s world economy would have been remarkably upheld by the religion of Islam. Yet, apart from the Qur’an, millions of people are engaged in various businesses relating to Hadith (Prophetic Tradition), Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), Tarikh (Islamic History), Tawhid (Faith in the oneness of Allah) and Thaqafah (Islamic Culture) among others. All such specialized learning forums which emanated from the Qur’an itself were advanced to compliment the sacred Book of Allah.
Even, for hundreds of years that the Orientalists were busy criticizing Islam through their satanic publications, it was undeniable that those destroyers were benefiting from the economic legacy of the divine religion through the sale of their evil publications.
Orientalists’ Atrocities
Today, even as the same Orientalists are busy reversing themselves on what they had maliciously published about Islam in the past centuries, they are still benefiting economically from that reversal.
However, despite the vast economic advantages provided by Islam, some unscrupulous Muslims including Nigerians still engage in illegal businesses that contravene the tenets of that divine religion. Some of such Muslims are among the thousands of Nigerians who are now languishing in various prisons around the world. Some others are even sentenced to death, by various means, as punishment for their crimes. Incidentally, some of such people often commit their atrocities under the cover of Islam.
Personal Experience
This reminds yours sincerely of a fortuitous encounter with one of those fraudulent elements, as far back as 1981, which keeps my heart quivering even today. I had once relayed the episode of that ugly encounter in this column some years ago through an article with the same title. Recalling it here today is a way of getting young Nigerians to share in that experience either as an admonition or as a warning on the vanity of human wishes.
Illicit act
Akram (not real name), a Nigerian youth of less than 30 years of age, did not see anything like poultry in his dream when he was going into Saudi Arabian prison as a convict in 1981. His only prayer was for Allah to influence the minds of the Saudi Authorities to have mercy on him and grant him amnesty after two or three years in prison. His prison term at that time was 15 years. He earned the sentence through drug trafficking engendered by blind ambition to be quickly rich by all means.
Akram was such a quiet, easy-going young man that he could not be related to the crime that landed him in a Saudi prison. He graduated from the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia where he read Sharia’ah. I first met him in 1978 when I went for a first degree at King’s University in that country. His University was in Madinah while mine was in Jeddah. He left Saudi Arabia after graduating in 1980 and decided to settle down in his home country after a one year compulsory national service to the nation. In his plan, Akram did not want to work for anybody. His ambition was to be a big merchant of automobile and electronics. However, since there was no ready-made capital with which to start off such a business, he decided to take a short cut, typical of what is termed ‘Nigerian factor’ and he found Saudi Arabia, the country that funded his University education with a very rich scholarship, as most suitable for such a dirty business. Thus, he embarked on his first illicit ‘business trip’ to the country of his Alma Mata in 1981.
Meeting Point
It was on my way back to school from a summer holiday of the same year that I met him at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. After embracing and exchanging pleasantries, we decided to sit together in the aircraft (of the then Nigerian Airways) in order to have a chat on the good old days and our expected future. Thus, from Lagos to Jeddah (a journey of five and a half hours), we really chatted to our fill. It was as if we had not spent one hour when we arrived at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah after five and a half hours.
Youthful Exuberance
As bachelors, we discussed various issues ranging from marriage, bearing of children to monogamy and polygamy as well as family structure. We gossiped on the political trend in our country as championed by the then ruling party, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). We compared Nigeria’s pace of development with that of Saudi Arabia and concluded that our government had neither any focus nor any plan, a situation which made Nigerian youths abroad feel like orphans.
Further Ruminations
In the course of our discussions, we also talked about world peace, the then cold war between the Western Capitalist World championed, by the United States and the Eastern Socialist Block championed by the now defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and the future of Islam in Africa and the Middle East. We analysed the Middle East crises and the role of the two opposing world powers in those crises. We also veered into Nigeria’s micro economy by discussing the role of small and middle scale businesses in our country compared to those of other countries with similar status like Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Egypt.
Reading the Future
Without gazing through any crystal ball, we concluded that with no middle class in place, our country might have no hope except through an accidental miracle. We also reviewed the use to which Nigerian oil was put vis-a-vis that of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Libya and Algeria. On this, we concluded that oil in Nigeria was a blessing from Allah which the country’s ruling class turned into a curse. But we were not experienced enough to suggest tangible solution.
Thus, in that long conversation which touched virtually all issues affecting the corporate life of Nigeria and her citizens, we agreed on some and disagreed on some. However, we were satisfied to have delivered our minds of their pregnancies if only to broaden our horizon.
Point of Departure
On arrival at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, my friend quickly dashed into the toilet and requested me to help push his baggage towards the security desk for checking. He promised to join me shortly on the long queue for immigration procedure. It was almost my turn for security check before an instinct gingered me into consciousness. For more than 30 minutes after he went into the toilet and entrusted his baggage to me, Akram did not resurface. When it was about my turn for luggage checking, something just told me to abandon his baggage I did. My own baggage was checked and I went out of the arrival hall to wait for him at the taxi terminal. After about one hour of waiting and Akram did not surface, I decided to proceed to my hostel where he was to pass the night in my room as we had earlier agreed.
The Shocking News
While still expecting him in my hostel, the electronic waves throbbed with breaking news. The Saudi Television reported the arrest of a Nigerian who smuggled drugs into the Holy Land. His name was ‘Akram’. That was at 9pm Saudi local time. We had arrived in Jeddah at about 9.00am that day. About one hour after the breaking news, my friend was brought to the glare of the nation through the electronic tube and paraded on the Saudi national television as the suspected culprit in the illicit drug trafficking. That was one of the most frightening moments of my life. Akram wanted to be rich by all means and I was to pay the cost of his richness.
Imaginary Lamentations
What would have happened if I had not heeded the warning of my instinct? Who could have believed me if I had been caught with Akram’s baggage? Akram, an introvert, handsome young man was such a seeming gentleman in appearance and in disposition. Relating him to such a criminal venture would have oirdinarily generated a fierce argument among onlookers if the incident had occurred in Nigeria and he was paraded as a drug trafficker on a television dtation. If I had been caught with Akram’s baggage, what explanation I could have given to exonerate myself? That was a question that ran through me like milk through water for quite some years thereafter and changed my mind about sentimental friendship with people, no matter how innocent they might look.
It was that incident that forced me to decide never to assist anybody again in carrying his or her baggage while on a journey.
Court Trial
After about three months of court trial, Akram was sentenced to fifteen years in jail. He was lucky that drug trafficking at that time in Saudi Arabia had not attracted death as punishment. If it were now, the punishment would have been death sentence by beheading. I was also lucky that at that time the Saudi immigration authorities had not adopted the use of secret camera (CCTV) to monitor passengers.
The Saudi Prison System
For 15 years (1981-1996) after the narrated episode, that landed him in prison, Akram remained behind the bars languishing in Saudi Arabian prison as an inmate among criminals as he anxiiously expected to be let off the hook one day. But one good thing about Saudi Arabia as a country or any other Islamic country for that matter is the concept of reformation which imprisonment entails. In those countries, inprisonment was not just a punishment for crimes but also a means of preparing inmates for a better post-prison life and re-orientated for better world outlook.
Besides, prisoners are paid a specific amount of money daily for their labour in prison. And that gives them hope of reintegration into the society after leaving the prison. Such money is kept in a special bank account opened for them. The total amount is paid to each inmate after his or her prison term.
Thus, when Akram left the prison in 1996, the post-prison money paid to him by Saudi government became the capital with which to establish a business of his own.
Thus, when he was finally deported to Nigeria and permanently banned from reentering Saudi Arabia Arabia it was not without his prison emolument. It was with that emolument that he a poultry business. And, within a couple of years thereafter, he became a big poultry farmer but whether or not he learnt any lesson from that incident is another matter.
Qur’anic admonition
Most of the young men and women of today do not seem to believe in crawling before walking. To them, what matters most in their lives is how to quickly get money to spend and not how such money is made. The slogan of this era, among those youths, is the Machiavelian principle of power grabbing: “The end justifies the means”. That is the main cause of the high rate of crimes witnessed ubiquitously in Nigeria today and the entailed short life span for those youths.
Qur’anic Guidance
In Qur’an, Chapter 43, Verse 32 quoted above, Allah had warned Muslims against desperate accumulation of wealth over 1,400 years ago even when desperate quest for wealth was unfashionable. However, the refusal by today’s youths to heed that warning and the aggressive greed of the privileged elders in power constitute the main cause of rampant banditry and insurrections around in the country.
In Islam, desperation for accumulation of wealth is prohibited because it encourages a focus on the end result rather than the means and its entailed immorality. In the past decades, Nigeria had sunk so deep into the valley of corruption that no one cared to ask about the source of any wealth even as corruption became the taproot of Nigeria’s tree of existence. Now, with parents, teachers, professionals and even legislators getting so desperate to become rich what type of can be said to be waiting for Nigera?
Parochial Wealth Estimation
Desperation is not what fetched Nigeria the enormous oil wealth of today.
Effect of Desperation
If desperation ever had any role to play in accumulating wealth, perhaps Nigeria would have long become a country in penury. This is because people who were more desperate in this same country and had lived and died some centuries back would have discovered this oil wealth and they would have exhausted it long before our own generation. But in consonance with the above quoted Qur’anic verse, Allah deliberately preserved it (oil) for our own generation for a reason best known to Him. Yes, oil may be Nigeria’s principal source of wealth today, it is surely not the last source of wealth in this country.
There are other sources of wealth preserved for the future generations which no desperate ‘awks’ in this generation can discover.
Epilogue
Those who see oil as Nigeria’s ultimate wealth and want to own its control or die over its possession should engage in a rethink. You can only have the privilege of presiding over the wealth of a nation for a while and not for all times. The experience of some past regimes in Nigeria should serve as a sufficient lesson. And those in government today should also note this very well. The privilege of the past did not extend to the present and that of the present will surely not extend to the future. Every era is a transit. And every transit has a time limit. Contentment is the only wealth of inestimable value in human life. God bless the readers of this column.