Today, Nigerians join the rest of the Muslim world to celebrate Id-el-Maulud. It is important that as a country we imbibe the attitude of religious understanding and tolerance for us to move forward. The life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad is worth emulating. The story of his life is full of lessons for all Nigerians to lead a good life.
The Prophet, as a young merchant earned reputation as a honest and sincere fellow. While his tribe gradually became polytheists, he never worshiped any of the gods but rather, he would devote his time to meditation. It was during one of his meditation sessions, which had become habitual that he had encounter with Angel Gabriel, who gave him the message that he would eventually has over one billion faithful across the world.
In spite the persecution and the struggle he was tolerant and displayed great understanding with other religions.
It is important that as Nigerians, we must imbibe the attitude of tolerance and religious understanding. There is no religion that preaches violence and bloodshed. Nigerians must not allow bloodthirsty fellows who hide under the guise of religion divide the country. Nigeria remains one of the most religious countries of the world. This should be a value that should be cherished and benefited from but unfortunately it has become a window of opportunity for opportunists to exploit some faithful for their personal gains.
Politicians and public office holders have exploited religion to spread corruption and maladministration. The various revelations of corrupt practiced in the agencies of government does not portray us in good light.
Nigerians must understand that Islam does not tolerate ethnic cleansing, kidnapping, banditry and insurgency. IMPACT NEWS therefore calls on religious leaders to use their offices to preach against such acts and help spread the tolerance and understanding amongst faithful.
We hope that the inter-religious council co-chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto Sa’adu Abubakar and John Cardinal Onaiyekan should be strengthened to promote unity and tolerance especially in parts of the country that are troubled by religious tensions.
