AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMA’AT NIGERIA

EIDUL ADHA MESSAGE (2016 – HIJRA 1437)

We congratulate the entire Muslim Community in Nigeria for the 1437 Hijra Eidul Adha celebration. We pray that Allah, The Gracious and Merciful, will accept our humble sacrifices and glorification of His Holy Name and reward us all abundantly and eternally. It is necessary to remind ourselves of the lessons of Eidul Adha celebration in the tradition of Abraham’s complete submission to God and his readiness to sacrifice everything for Allah’s Pleasure. The dearest thing to Abraham (Peace be on him) was his only son at that time. Yet he was quite willing to sacrifice him for the Pleasure of Allah.

It was only a trial for Ibrahim to assess his faithfulness and complete devotion to Allah. Allah then substituted a ram for the sacrifice. Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 60 v.5 that:

“There is a good model for you in Abraham and his adherents when they said to their people: ‘We have nothing to do with you and with that which you worship beside God. We disbelieve in all that you worship. There has arisen enmity and hatred between us until you believe in God alone’, except the declaration of Abraham to his father ‘I will surely ask forgiveness for you, though I have no power to compel Allah in this respect.’

Today most human beings are not prepared to do the right thing or say the truth because of our love for materialism or worldly gains. At home, in the market place, in the offices, at schools, at workshops, and even at places of worship, most of us are dishonest, fraudulent, inconsiderate, and very selfish in our love for wealth and worldly pleasure. We cannot do away with our reckless immorality and corruption talk less of sacrificing our dearest things for the Pleasure of Allah and submission to His will. Yet we all claim to believe in the legacy of Abraham. We should realize the promise of God to Abraham covers only the faithful and not the unjust or wrong doers.

In a nutshell, the model of Abraham (Peace be on him) is that we should not compromise at all with corrupt people who worship materialism and selfish evil desires. Those corrupt people should be considered enemy of God and His people, and we should keep our distance from them, except that we should continue to pray for God’s forgiveness and guidance for them so that they can change their evil ways. We should be prepared to stand by the truth at all times and sacrifice all our selfish and evil propensities in the pursuit of the Pleasure of God Almighty and the welfare of all humanity with fairness and without any discrimination.

Let us also recall God’s report about Abraham in Quran Chapter 2 v.127 as follows:

“And remember when Abraham said ‘My Lord, make this a nation of peace and provide with fruits (sustenance) such of its inhabitants as believe in God and the Last Day. He (God) said ‘And on him also who believes not will I bestow benefits for a little while, then will I drive him to the punishment of the Fire…’,

This implies that our prayer for peace and prosperity will be accepted on a sustainable basis for the righteous people of our country. But for the corrupt, they will enjoy a little while and end up in hellish calamity. It also implies that the rulers must make all efforts to ensure that no one suffers hunger in the land. Prayer means what we desire with all our mind, words and deeds and struggle fervently to achieve, hoping for God’s blessings on our efforts. Prayer is not just an appeal to God without concerted efforts and actions towards its realisation.

We therefore call on our leaders to ensure that hunger (including thirst) is totally banished from the land. And this is quite possible. First of all, it is not pardonable for prices of food to be rising while many are jobless and those who have jobs are being owed salaries or are having their salaries static or reduced. In the management of the economy, all tiers of government and all hands must be on deck to ensure that the poor do not get poorer or the situation of food and nutrition does not get worse for every citizen. And this is quite achievable with appropriate policies and determination irrespective of whatever happens to the fortunes of the economy. This is the least the rulers owed to the people.

God also requests us to relate to our people what is contained in the Scripture that“Abraham was indeed a man of truth and a Prophet” (Q.19:42). Thus Abraham was first a man of truth before God appointed him as a Prophet.

We are also refered to the people of Abraham as models of virtue. Two of them needs to be mentioned. First his son, Ishmael (Peace be on him) was ready to obey his father even with the sacrifice of his life. This is a lesson of perfect obedience that children should exhibit to their parens. Then we have the example of his wife, Hagar (Hajara) (Peace be on her) who completely submitted to her husband on the basis of piety and not sinfulness. Today, all pilgrims to Mecca remember Hagar (Hajara) the wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael when they observe Saffa and Marwa joggling in remembrance of the anguish of the mother searching for a source of water for her child that was about to die of thirst.

This has to do with matrimonial guidelines that are at the foundation of the serious problems of modern juvenile delinquency, criminality, intolerance and terrorism.

In the Holy Quran Chapter 16 v. 121 we read:

“And Abraham was indeed a paragon of virtue, obedient to God and ever devoted, and he did not at all belong to the idolaters”

This implies that Muslims and all those who trace their faith to Abraham, the father of faith, should be of moral exellence and should never compromise in serving any other interest apart from that of Allah, the God all of Creation. In this regard all Nigerians who are mostly either Muslim or Christian should be united in patriotic service to our fatherland, in the pursuit of justice, peace, equality and prosperity for all, without any discrimination whatsoever.

Dr. Mashhud  Adenrele Fashola

Amir Sahib Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Nigeria