At Sallah, Islamic scholars urge value reorientation, good governance, others

As the festival of sacrifice ends, famous Islamic scholars have said Nigerians are passing through a tough economic time, calling on the political leadership to stop displaying wealth and arrogance across the land.

The scholars, who spoke to The Guardian, included Chief Imam of University of Lagos (UNILAG) Muslim Community, Prof. Ismail Musa; Amir Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of Nigeria, Folorunso Alatoye and Rivers State Islamic Leader/Vice President-General and Chairman, Association of South-South Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, Alhaji Nasir Awhelebe Uhor.

Musa said what the Federal Government should now do is to turn the current hardship into positive gain by accepting that Nigeria’s breakthrough may be through hardship, which they have often neglected.

He also enjoined the government to learn from its mistakes, adding that hardship provides a propitious opportunity to achieve landmarks as individuals and as a nation.

He said: “The fact that prices of goods and services are escalating is, no doubt, a great concern but turning pain into gain is more paramount.

Proposing a new hope for Nigerians, the Chief Imam quoted the Quran 2:286, which says: “Perhaps you dislike something, which is good for you and like something, which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know (Quran 2:286).”

Musa argued that Nigeria’s problem was as a result of not learning from major mistake and making God play second fiddle in human affairs. He called on Nigerians to stop relying on their limited human knowledge.

He stated: “We rely too much on our limited human knowledge and relegate or reject divine wisdom. The so-called intractable global, national, communal and personal problems will continue until we turn to and rely on God’s formula, which is to live a God-conscious life.

“A God-conscious life is a God-directed life and it produces a God-protected life. This God-inspired model entails making every act of mankind an act of worship that is presented to God in expectation of His abundant blessings. We only act correctly when we are inside the places of worship, but do the contrary outside them.

“God-consciousness should be manifested in all places (homes, offices, playgrounds, etc) and at all times because man ought to constantly be in a state of worship which is the state of obeying your Lord and your Sustainer apart from following the Constitution.

“The New Hope I present to Nigerians lies in strict adherence to man-made laws as well as God-inspired guidance. Once we do this, Nigeria will witness an everlasting period of boom, abundance and blissful life.

I wish all Nigerians a joyous and rewarding Idul-Adha.”

On his part, Alatoye urged Nigerians and the political class to resuscitate the true spirit of sacrifice, selflessness, righteousness and fear of God in all their dealings both at interpersonal, corporate and national levels.

The national head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of Nigeria, who decried Nigeria’s wrong values, reminded the government that its citizens deserve respect, care, and love from the political leaders.

Alatoye said: “These wrong values should stop because Nigerians deserve respect, care and love from the political class. Government at all levels must ensure that palliatives get across to citizens as a stop gap to poverty alleviation programmes.

Within the corporate world, all forms of cheating, fraudulent practices and corruption, which culminate in losses to the corporate world and the national economy should stop and fresh ones nip in the bud,” he added.

Urging national, state and local governments to stop lavishing money on luxurious SUV cars, Alatoye added: “In the national, state and local governments, profligacy and excessive spending in the areas of purchase of exotic or luxurious SUV cars by the executive and legislative Arms should stop. This has sent wrong signals to the populace that these arms of governments are stinkingly rich, but do not care for the welfare of the citizens but themselves.

He called on the political leaders to be ready to make sacrifice and to the faithful, Alatoye said: “One should be ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah. One should be ready to sacrifice a small thing to attain a much more exalted goal; one should be ready to follow God’s commands always. Through this sacrifice, one should realize that faith must be given precedence above worldly affairs.” He also harped on the importance of resuscitating values of patience, tolerance and prayerfulness, as part of the lessons derived from the Eid-el-kabir.

“Indeed, no other time do we need to be more prayerful and patient than the present situation that we are passing through in Nigeria.”

Similarly, Uhor said hardships could reduce if government is willing to tackle decisively the very high cost of fuel, transportation, the mindless extortions by security operatives on the highways, foreign exchange manipulations and reduction of the cost of governance.

According to him, “these are achievable factors within a very short time, if and where the welfare of the people is paramount. Our leaders will find it more rewarding giving governance a humane face.”