As Muslims prepare to round off the holy month of Ramadan, the head of Markaz Arabic and Islamic Centre in Lagos, Sheikh Habeebullahi Adam Al-Ilory, has urged Muslim faithful to be moderate and not aggressive in their actions, while advocating peaceful co-existence with men and women of other religions.
In a statement meant to usher in this year’s Eid-el-Fitr, the cleric explained that, that is the reason his preaching had been hinged on moderation, while asking Muslims to do everything within their reach to avoid portraying the religion in bad light.
“The Tafsir we had is hinged on moderation. Muslims must be moderate. We don’t have to be extremists. Fanaticism isn’t Islamic; we don’t have to be brutally aggressive. We must be able to co-exist with men and women of other religions. What we’re trying to do is to avoid portraying Islam in bad light. We shouldn’t portray the prophet badly.
“So, anything we see that portrays the holy prophet in a bad light is not part of the religion- it’s a mismatch, an intrusion. We should eliminate that because the Quran is the only material with authenticity of the standard to live by and the constitution the Lord has placed in our hands to worship and serve Him. It’s also the standard to live by so as to have a pleasant account to give when we finally meet God,” he said.