We thank Allah for making us witness yet another Eid on earth. We pray He makes us witness many more on earth.
While we savour the meats and food, let the message of the festival not be lost on us.
Eid Mubarak
Nigerian Muslims, today, join the rest of the Islamic world to celebrate Eld-el-Kabir, an important festival which is the climax of the climbing of Mount Arafat by pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. It is marked by festivities that will involve the killing of rams to symbolise Prophet Ibrahim's obedience and strict compliance with Allah's instruction to offer his son, Ismael, as a sacrifice to him.
Allah, as the Muslim Holy Book records it, provided a white ram to replace Ismael just at the point he was to be sacrificed by his father, thereby instituting for all generations a model for uncommon obedience and trust in Allah. Nigerian Muslims will join fellow faithful in killing rams for this festival to mark the important historic incident, which unequivocally confirmed Prophet Ibrahim's faithfulness to Allah.
But, beyond the fanfair of ram killing and merry-making, we urge all Nigerians not to allow the significance of this notable event to be lost on them.
We should not just slaughter rams and feast at this time, we must strive to imbibe and demonstrate the useful lessons in the monumental action of Prophet Ibrahim. We must ask ourselves if we are capable of exhibiting the humility, total trust and obedience demonstrated by the Prophet. Sadly, this sacrificial attitude is rare among Nigerians today. Everywhere, especially among our political leaders, there is so much selfishness. Public office holders cherish their self-interest above all else.
We urge Nigerians to go beyond the routine merriment of this festivity and bring to life the morals and virtues behind Prophet Ibrahim's awesome act of worship. Our leaders should bow to the wishes of the people as expressed through the ballot.
This Eid-el-Kabir, we urge everyone to go beyond tokenism in faith and make sacrifices for the common good. Our leaders should give selfless service, and trust in God to fulfill their expectations and aspirations in the coming polls, rather than resort to wicked and ungodly tactics to get into office. The people are sovereign in a democracy. Leaders ought to demonstrate great humility, just as Prophet Ibrahim did, relying totally on God to work out His perfect will for his life...
As true servant leaders, Nigerian leaders should not lord it over the people. Let them draw useful lessons from Prophet Ibrahim's awesome act of devotion, and receive fresh vision and vigour to serve the people in a sacrificial manner.
Let the essence of this festival guide their conduct, henceforth. It should reflect in the behaviour of all Nigerians. Let it propel us to ensure good neighbourliness and trust in God. Relationship between the leaders and the people should be based on trust, and the welfare of the people should be the primary focus of the government.
We call on all Nigerians to imbibe the virtues in Prophet Ibrahim's conduct so that we can live peaceably, while working for progress of the country.
Doing this will help the nation untie the Gordian knot of credible political leadership that eluded it for five decades.
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