The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Letter to Ramadan

    Letter to Ramadan

    By Femi Abbas

    Preamble

    Dear Ramadan,

    In the name of the Almighty Allah and with His mercy and blessings, which you brought to us, recently, we salute you. For 30 days, in the month of Ramadan, you were our special guest. And, with your special visit, you transformed our lives positively and rekindled our hopes spiritually.

    Before you first descended on this world about 1442 years ago, what we used to know of hospitality was the entertainment which the host offered his guest. But with your arrival, that tradition was reversed in a revolutionary manner. You became the only known guest in the world, who entertains his host to satisfaction. Yours is hospitality that cannot be measured in quality or quantity. And, that is why the universal preparation for your arrival, every year is unequalled.

     

    Premium recompense

    With your awful and charismatic nature, you arrive in the world every year with a splendour that re-jigs the souls of mankind and reconditions their daily routine. History is yet to show us a guest like you who engages his hosts days and nights even as he places premium on their recompense. But for your annual visit, who could have dared waking us up from our tactlessly deep sleep for a whole period of 30 or 29 days and nights? Who could have been rescued us back from our stray into the wilderness of materialism, avarice and ostentation? Not even the day of Arafat in Hajj has any means of competing with you in whatever way. Arafat plays host to only a few millions of pilgrims in a single day. You engage the entire humanity for a whole month, days and nights in their domain except those who reject your offer.

    Even the unbelievers are forced to recognise your presence with veneration despite your invisibility. For instance, all the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, all over the world, prepare for your arrival annually, if only to take advantage of your grandiose presence to do brisk businesses. Today, the greatest persecutors of Islam in Britain and the US are forced to pretend to be friends of that divine religion by hosting Muslims to Iftar in London and Washington. And the rest of the Western world copies them in doing that. Yet, each time you come around, most of us receive you reluctantly. But, when it is time for you to go, we hardly want to part with you again.

    And, when we are eventually forced to say bye for now according to the law that established our spiritual relationship with you, we do so only in tears.

     

    Timeliness

    No other time of the year injects into us, the vivid consciousness of our faith as you do. No other pillar of Islam instills in us the high level of discipline which you take us through for a whole month. We acknowledge the effect of your role in our lives and we pray the Almighty Allah to sustain that effect in us so that the door to AL-JANNAH which you evidently represent may not be locked against us when it is time to take our place in that everlasting home of bliss.

    With your coming once every year, we learn that life is neither static nor are the things inside it. No man of reason and letters stays put at a particular spot. Human body system gets strong only by shifting positions and moving around. Meeting and parting with fellow human beings from time to time are what make life interesting.

    Interacting and intermingling with other elements of nature are the ingredients that fertilize the soil of harmony on our terrestrial planet.

    The sun would have been boring, despite its usefulness to mankind, if it does not rise in the east at dawn and set in the west at twilight.

    No water spring would have been drinkable if it had remained stagnant on a permanent basis. Had the arrow refused to part with the bow, it would not have been able to hit its target.  The regular exchange of baton between days and nights is what makes calendar possible for humanity.

    We came into the world as travelers in transit. Our travel from father’s port of semen to the confines of mother’s womb in form of foetus is a transit. Our transformation from stage to stage inside that womb as vividly described by Allah in the Qur’an is a transit. And, following our arrival in this world, we naturally embark on a pilgrimage from the unknown to the unknown. Thus, any stage or condition in which we find ourselves in life, at any given time, is a transit. Without such transit, human life would have been monotonously valueless. Ditto other forces of nature, seen or unseen, animate or inanimate.

     

    Not by Fortuity

    Our world, the earth, did not come into existence by fortuity. Our primogenitors, Adam and his wife, Hawa’u (Eve) were not created to take charge of the earth by fortuity. The divine law by which this world is governed was not coined to guide us by fortuity. And, man’s peregrination on earth, world, towards the world hereafter, is not by fortuity.

    All these are a ground design of a great revolution through which the meaning of the universe is to be understood. That design is the handiwork of the Supreme Being known to Muslims as ALLAH.

    The divine signature appended to that design is what came to be known as the Qur’an which you (Ramadan) facilitated through a single night inside you, that Allah described as “more beneficial than 1000 months.

    That signature (The Qur’an) is inimitable and unsurpassable not only in the grandeur of its diction and the splendour of its contents but also in its connotation, essence and profundity. Its summary is what is known to humanity as ‘REVOLUTION’.

    By implication, the Qur’an can be semantically called ‘THE GREAT REVOLUTION’ that transformed the world from the sphere of obscurity into that of unimaginable sophistication. Yet, it is through the great night inside you, called ‘LAYLATUL QADR’ that such a great revolution came to Prophet Muhammad (SAW). If only the Qur’an is what humanity is privileged to access through your motherly belly it would have been enough. But, what is more, your contribution to the guidance of mankind transcends our perception of the Qur’an alone.

    A former American President, John F. Kennedy, did not know that he was describing the Qur’an when he once said: “We live in a hemisphere whose own revolution has given birth to the most powerful force of the modern age- the freedom and fulfilment of man”.

     

    Other Pillars of Islam

    In your absence, the other four pillars of Islam could only presumably be engaged in an imaginary debate even as each claims to be the key to paradise. Faith, for instance, might claim that without her, all other pillars could only exist in vain.

    To counter her claim, Salat might describe her five daily appearances in the life of a Muslim as the impetus that gives faith a deserved relevance. Zakah, on its own, may recount to the first two that whoever would be faithful enough to observe Salat ought to be married to Zakah either as a giver or as a receiver. And, at that point, Hajj might come in to contend that only a semblance of the ‘Hereafter’ (Yawmul Qiyamah), which she represents, can authenticate the spiritual visa with which humanity would be ushered into paradise through the wagons of other pillars. She (Hajj) might claim that without her as an emancipator of rightly guided humanity from the shackles of Satan, no one would have had the slightest idea of what that Great Day would be.

    When you are around, dear Ramadan, all other pillars fall in line conceding leadership to you without any argument. You are not just the undeniable evidence of faith in man; you are also the most reliable witness of Salat, Zakah and Hajj.

    Prophet Muhammad (SAW) attested to this through one Hadith-ul-Qudsi when he quoted Allah as saying that “Fasting (in Ramadan) is Mine and I am the one to give reward on it”.

    To fast while you are around, faith must not only be present, it must also be a formidable foundation. Salat must also convincingly increase the tempo of her spiritual vitality. Whoever is not dressed in the toga of faith and feather his hat of Salat will only be wasting his time if he claims to be fasting. And when you are about to return home according to your tradition, Zakah must appear before you to pay homage in the name of ‘Sadaqatul Fitr’. Even Hajj which, should not statutorily meet you, must also send an envoy to pay homage to you in the name of Umrah (Lesser Hajj).

    By making this observation, one is not trying to crown you as the king of the pillars of Islam but to exhibit your exemplary virtue in the realm of spirituality. And, with the awful role you play every year, the position of a coordinator may be ascribed to you directly or indirectly.

    In the light of the aforementioned, we cannot persuade you to stay with us permanently since going and coming once every year adds to the legendary grandiose that makes us crave passionately for your presence. We fervently pray the Almighty Allah to grant us further opportunities to benefit in the years ahead, from the unlimited bounties which you are privileged to bring to us every year. With tears flowing through our eyes, we bid you adieu for now hoping that by the grace of Allah you will come to meet us again alive and in sound health.

     

    Nostalgia

    Prior to your arrival, dear Ramadan, some people dreamt but never lived to realize their dreams. Some looked but never saw. It is only in the imagination of man that age or illness should be the cause of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever was privileged to have passed through your endearing presence successfully this year should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after your departure. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

    As you just bade us bye for now, we shall continue to look back with nostalgia to the good things we have done under your influence while you were around.

     

    Needs and wants

    It is mostly when you, Ramadan, are around that Muslims reconfirm their NEEDS rather than their WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

    Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not, ordinarily, given to WANTS. They are more concerned about NEEDS than WANTS. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With NEEDS come contentment and satisfaction while WANTS are the cause of greed and avarice.

    Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, had provided the needs of every living creature even before its creation. But then, He knew that of all those creatures man alone would go beyond NEEDS into the realm of WANTS. That was perhaps what informed the negative role which Satan assumed in the life of man shortly after the creation of Adam.

    By introducing WANTS to man, what Satan did was to create a permanent job for himself in the life of man. Without WANTS the world would not have been what it is today. Blood would not have been flowing. Money would not have been deified. Hatred would not have been known to man. And, man’s inhumanity to man would have been totally averted.

    The effect of WANTS first became known when Qabil (Cain), the first son of Adam preferred his brother’s wife to his. In the tantrum that ensued from that unfortunate saga, Qabil (Cain) killed his brother Habil (Abel) and combined the latter’s wife with his own and became a polygynist. From thence, greed and avarice became ingredients of man’s culture. And, WANTS rather than NEEDS became the domineering factor in the life of man. This is one of the vices which you, Ramadan, often come to correct in man.

     

    Summary

    At no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence be more manifest than in Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth.

    Some people fasted actively last year but were no more to witness this year. Some put their feet at the door step   of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some felt by the way side along the line. Some fasted with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some joined the spiritual train with no idea of their destination in the month. Some sat on the fence with one leg here and the other there. However, none was hidden from Allah.

    Now, all is over. But we shall keep remembering those days with indelible nostalgia. We shall keep recalling our anxiety while looking towards sighting the crescent that ushered you into our world with incomparable glory. We shall not forget the compensating evenings of Tarawih and the marvellous nights of Thajjud and Sahur. We shall look back to the immaculate days of Tafsir and the exclusiveness of ‘Itikaf. Yes our minds will not be off the great expectations embedded in the majestic LAYLATUL QADR as well as the great pleasure in the payment of Zakatul Fitr. All these will surely enable us to take a retrospective look at your grandiose annual presence with nostalgia. Bye for now, dear Ramadan, until we meet again next year, by the grace of Allah.

     

  • A Summary of Facts

    A Summary of Facts

    By Femi Abbas

    Monologue

    At  no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence more manifest than in the month of Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth. Some people fasted actively last year but are no more today. Some put their feet at the door step of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some fell by the way side along the line. Some fasted with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some joined the spiritual train with no idea of their destination in the month. Yet the month cruises on without minding any un-gored horse.

     

    Preamble

    At the beginning of this sacred month, an analysis was done in this column classifying the 30 or 29 days of Ramadan into three segments. The first segment was said to contain the first ten days of the month during which the blessings of Allah came to the faithful Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with faith and good intention, there was no working for it. That segment ended after the fist 10 days, thereby paving way for the second segment that began on the 11th day of Ramadan to take the baton for the spiritual race.

     

    The Second 10 Days

    During the second 10 days, most fasting Muslims intensified worship (Ibadah) by spending their days and nights seeking Allah’s forgiveness and by chanting Istighfar. But such forgiveness was neither automatic nor free. Usually, conditions were attached to it. One of such conditions was for every fasting Muslims to admit his/her misdeeds and repent of them. The second was to voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness. And the third condition was to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness during the month of Ramadan, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And if you want Allah to speak to you recite the Qur’an”. No one who abided by the above conditions and followed it scrupulously would ever be disappointed. Allah is both promising and fulfilling. He never reneges on His promise. In Qur’an 2:186 He promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of whoever seeks My favour if he seeks from Me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect My favourable response and trust in Me so that they may be rightly guided”

     

    Midway Ramadan

    Those second ten days were not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days, they were also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last ten days when they would be fully liberated from the evil machinations of any Satanic forces.

     

    The Weight of Death

    Reward of human life is not spiritually measured by the time or manner of his/her death. In Islam, death is neither the consequence of iniquities nor the repercussion of ignorance. There are instances when the sinless dies and the sinful lives. There are also instances when the learned dies while the ignorant lives. The schedule of life and death is not in the custody of any human being and no man can judge the volume of its reward. Death is a debt which every living being owes and must pay regardless of time or manner.

    Not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was spared of death or given a foreknowledge of its time or manner. Allah ordered him (Prophet Muhammad) to say as follows: Q. 10:49 thus: “Say I have not the power to benefit or to harm myself except what Allah pleases. Unto every nation is a fixed term. When their terms expire, it can neither be delayed by an hour nor quickened by one minute”. Q. 10:49.

    This is a verse of the Qur’an which some ignorant non-Muslims have severally quoted and interpreted according to their satanic whim as if Jesus did not express a similar fact in the Bible thus: “I can do nothing on my own, I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me…” John 5:30.  In the wild imagination of those ignorant people, the Prophet should claim infallibility to enable them call him a liar and an impostor.

     

    Nostalgia

    Before the commencement of 1442 AH Ramadan fasting, some people dreamt but never lived to realize their dreams. Some looked but never saw. It is only in the imagination of man that age should be a factor of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever is privileged to pass through this year’s Ramadan successfully should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after the sacred month. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

     

    End of Ramadan

    In a few days time this year’s Ramadan will come to an end by the grace of Allah. And, we shall continue to look back, with nostalgia, to the good things we have done in the sacred month. For instance, we shall remember that in no other month of Hijrah calendar is the role of Muslim women more pronounced than in Ramadan. Like in other months, they (women), display the roles of wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. But more than in other months, they exhibit their religious dedication in Ramadan.

    Even as they (wives) assist their husbands financially in maintaining the homes, they still take care of those husbands as well as the children and relatives domestically. At the time of the day when the husbands are knocked out by fatigue arising from fasting, in Ramadan, the wives are still busy in the kitchen preparing Iftar for the household. At the time, in the night, when some husbands are engaged in Tahajjud, or are snoring in bed, the wives are already up in the kitchen preparing the Sahur for the family.

    Some of these women are pregnant. Some are suckling their children. Some of them are knowledgeable enough to do the Tilawah (recitation of the Qur’an) like their husbands. Some are even financially buoyant enough to finance their homes fully or partially.

    And, in all these activities, they never feel tired. Where and when they feel tired, they never show it. If any month has ever depicted the virtues of women, it is Ramadan and the women activities in it. If for the reason of their activities in Ramadan alone, they deserve tolerance and dignified treatment in the hands of their husbands.

     

    Role of Children

    We shall also remember the role of our children in the month and then endeavour to ensure the continuity of those rewarding activities.

    Children are Allah’s greatest gift to man. Their presence in a house is blessing. Their contribution to security and joy is immense. Those are children for you. They can play the role of teachers just as they do that of students. They learn fast, they teach fast. They are a major security for parents in any given environment.

    Children play both temporal and spiritual roles in a matrimonial life. And with such roles, they sometimes create hope for humanity and sometimes, they signal despair. They are the greatest asset in the possession of parents in time of peace. They are also the greatest weapon for those parents against the forces of Satan.

    Because of their innocence, they pave way for God’s forgiveness and quick acceptance of prayers. And, most importantly, children guarantee the continuity of man’s existence on earth. It is only with them that the fulfillment of today’s promise is possible tomorrow.

    In the Qur’an, children are mentioned many times and most often with reverence. They are treated in that glorious book as a major issue in the life of man. As orphans, they do not only have a role to play, they also compel some adults to play a role relating to them.

    As heirs to their parents, they have substantial shares in inheritance. Muslim children are like cubs of lions. They follow the footstep of their parents or guardians very closely. They are often with their parents during the five daily prayers. They watch their parents as the latter give charity to the poor. They accompany them to public lectures and Islamic social gatherings.

    And, in Ramadan, children are part of the Muslims’ total spiritual package. They wake up with them at night. They fast with them in the day. They break the fast with them at sunset. They join their parents at Tafsir and night lectures. They participate in Laylatul Qadr and in giving Zakatul Fitr to the poor. Who can substitute the role of children in a matrimonial home?

    In all the above mentioned activities, children are supposed to be encouraged. At the tender age of seven, they should be guided to fast even if for half a day. And when they reach the age of 10 they should be strengthened in faith and in religious deeds. They should be provided with necessities of life both in the temporal and spiritual realms. With these, they will grow up to become the fulfillment of their parents’ dreams. Most children grow up as good or bad citizens by emulating their parents. A child is therefore what his parents make him/her. If advantage of Ramadan is not taken by Muslim parents to mould their children into good Muslims what other platform will be used? Your child is your sun. Make hay with it while it shines.

     

    Neighbours

    We shall also recall how we relate with our neighbours, especially the non-Muslims among them, in that month of Ramadan. In Islam, neighbours are as important as the next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them.

     

    New Toga

    In the month of Ramadan a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He doubles his good deeds to his neighbours, extending generosity to them and cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He genuinely gives them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

    It does not matter whether those neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives. In Islam, good neighbourliness should be an inalienable posture of a Muslim. Therefore, whoever, had quarreled with his neighbours before Ramadan, should go and settle the quarrel.

    Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and intercourse, in the days of Ramadan, a good Muslim must mind his relationship with people around him, including neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure. It is not made a pillar of Islam by accident. Its purpose is to return man to the original state of purity in which he was created. That Allah entrusts the world to man is also not by accident. Allah consulted widely before entrusting this great responsibility to man when the latter volunteered to bear that responsibility. See  Qur’an 33:71 for details.

     

    Needs and wants

    It is in during Ramadan that Muslims reconfirm NEEDS rather than WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

    Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not supposed to be given to material wants. Rather, they should be more concerned about temporal and spiritual needs than temporal wants alone. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With needs come contentment and satisfaction while wants are the causes of greed and avarice. And those are the factors of disharmony in the world today.

    If you are a participant or a witness to it this year’s Ramadan, utilize your experience maximally. You do not know whether or not you will have that opportunity again.  RAMADAN KARIM!

     

     

  • What we owe each other

    What we owe each other

    By Segun Gbadegesin

    These are trying times. Insecurity has become the unfortunate norm and tension is understandably high. Between the rulers and the ruled, there is a deep-seated mistrust. One-time partners have suddenly become bitter adversaries. Before we approach the precipice of national existence, it is a good time to remind ourselves about what we owe each other. But to come to terms with what we owe each other, we must first understand what we have in common. What binds us together such that it demands of each of us specific obligations toward the other?

    What we have in common is not a common ethnicity. Neither is it a common citizenship. Nor is it a common religion. While some of us have each of these in common, each is also a basis for differentiation in other respects. Citizens are different from aliens in respect of their relationship to the nation. But there is something that a citizen has in common with a resident alien. And there is something an Orisa worshipper has in common with a Muslim even when they differ on account of the Being they worship.

    Our common humanity is what binds us together despite the artificial differences of ethnicity, nationality, or religion. The same blood runs through our veins. We share the dualism of body and soul. In addition to being commonly susceptible to physical and emotional pain and suffering, we also possess in common the distinctive quality of dignity which makes us objects of respect. We have the ability to think and plan our future and we have the inbuilt capacity to empathize with others.

    Now, while everyone readily concurs that he or she is endowed with every quality in the foregoing characterization of our common humanity, not everyone acts in ways that show or demonstrate that he or she recognizes the humanity of others. If we all did, we would not have the unfortunate cases of inhumanity of humans against fellow humans. We would not have kidnappers dehumanizing other human beings. We would not have killer herders maiming farmers and destroying their crops for the sake of cows.

    The crux of what we owe each other is the recognition of our common humanity, its essential character, its basic needs and requirements, and the willingness, when we are able, to help facilitate its triumph over handicaps and obstacles. And since most of us claim allegiance to one or another religion, it is important to underscore the fact that this demand of recognition is the least common denominator of all religions.

    But it is not just the monopoly of religion. It is also at the heart of every humanistic ethos.

    What does such a recognition entail? What are we required to avoid doing or to do when we recognize the common humanity of others? Both religious and secular ethics settle on these two broad categories: things we must not do and things we must do. For don’ts, we are enjoined not to kill, steal, or defraud others, etc. For do’s, we are enjoined to help others in need. Perhaps, for reason of enforceability, our laws and statutes focus on the former rather than the later. We don’t generally have laws enforcing the obligation of charity.

    Let us admit that a general observance of the don’ts in our legal system would serve us well as it ensures a peaceful and stable society, which in turn may enhance our individual ability to take care of ourselves without needing the charity of others. This is why the enforcement of those laws are of prime importance and why a society in which they are not, must be deemed as violating the requirement to recognize and respect our common humanity. It is also why we are gravely disappointed when our elected officials fail in their responsibility to enforce the law, thus endangering our common humanity.

    When laws that are supposed to enforce citizens’ obligation to refrain from harming other citizens are trampled upon and government feigns ignorance or appears helpless, citizens are at the mercy of criminals as their humanity is abused and disrespected. We just heard about the pain of parents losing their job-seeking young daughter to a rapist-killer! It hurts and demeans us all.

    We have an obligation to speak out in protest. We owe the young victim a duty in virtue of the common humanity we share to not let her killers escape justice. Furthermore, we owe each other the obligation to struggle to prevent a future occurrence. When we hear of protests motivated by systemic injustice in other climes, it is this obligation that individuals rally to discharge. Our common humanity beckons us to similar conduct. It may be misconstrued by governments as illegitimate or hostile, but that is their take. Ours is respect for the common humanity that they sometimes despise.

    As important as the duty to refrain from harming others is, it doesn’t exhaust our moral obligations. Importantly, we have an obligation to help others. This is especially important in the time and era that we find ourselves with many people hurting through no fault of their own. And just as the duty to refrain from harming others, the duty to help is also common to all ethical traditions.

    In African traditional religions, as in almost every known religious tradition, emphasis is placed on kindness, not just to relatives but also to strangers. In the Orisa tradition of the Yoruba, Orunmila admonishes his followers to be kind because kindness begets kindness. We are assured that the calabash of a kind person doesn’t break. The dish of a kind person doesn’t crack. Instead, a kind person will have an abundance of wealth and children. In other words, there is no regret in practicing kindness.

    Zakat is a core obligation in Islam. Muslims are required to help the poor and needy in proportion to their means. They are urged to be liberal in giving because whatever good they send off before their souls, they shall find it with Allah, echoing the Biblical injunction to Christians to provide for their house in Heaven by giving to the needy here on earth.

    In the Christian faith, Jesus Christ personified this attitude to humanity with his own ministry of teaching, healing, and compassion. He did not just focus on evangelization. He deliberately sought after the welfare and wellbeing of people. Whenever he saw his followers in pain or in need, he had compassion over them. It was this compassion that led him to feed 5000 people and 4000 people on different occasions.

    Jesus also taught compassion. With the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus established charity as a requirement for the faithful, insisting that our neighbors are not necessarily those living next door to us. They are whoever crosses our path and needs our help. As we also see in that parable, we don’t have to have a common ethnicity or religion. The Levite who bypassed the robbery victim was of Jewish origin and faith as the victim. The Good Samaritan, on the other hand, was of a different faith. Yet he was used by God to come to the aid of a Jew because he saw in him a common humanity.

    On their part, secular philosophers of various persuasions are united in their embrace of charity as our moral obligation. We are to act in such a way as to bring about the most good or happiness. Lack of basic needs detracts from human happiness. Not knowing where the next meal will come from is stressful. Many children face such predicaments for no fault of their own. If we are endowed, we have an obligation to help those less endowed.

    And should anyone feel unmotivated to help others, he or she must remember that by having such a mindset, he or she is signaling to others to have the same mindset. The problem is that since no one knows the future, everyone soon need the help of others, but will not get it because others would have shared her or his uncaring mindset.

    Make the world better for humanity. Lend a hand to those in need.

     

  • Indebtedness (2)

    Indebtedness (2)

    By Femi Abbas

    As stated in this column yesterday, the intention of rectifying material indebtedness by proxy must be in the name of the debtor and the source of funding must be pure.

    As for moral indebtedness, it may come in form of promise or reciprocation of good deed. In Islam, promise, especially a voluntary one is a debt, which must be paid. For instance, a deferred dowry in marriage is a debt that must be paid no matter how long it takes. Ditto the case of an orphan’s property under one’s custody which is promised to be returned. Both must be paid as at when due based on fear of Allah. There are many other forms of promises.

    All these types of debts are between man and Allah. They need no witnesses except where evidence is required. The one which requires witnesses is contained in chapter 2:282 of the Qur’an. It is about money and other material matters. This verse (the longest in the Qur’an) deals extensively with the issue of indebtedness and emphasizes the documentation of such a debt between the creditor and the debtor in the presence of witnesses who must append their signature or thumb printing to the document. It does not matter whether the debt in question is between a husband and his wife or between a mother and her daughter. The intention is to create a peaceful co-existence, within the Muslim community, which no debt should interrupt. It is better not to make promise than to change one’s mind after making a promise without explaining to the person to whom promise is made.

    Another form of debt is the boycott of sexual intercourse either by the husband or wife for an untenable reason. From the day a marriage is consummated a knot of legitimate sexual indebtedness has been tied. And except for a very cogent reason which must be understandable to both parties, no one of them should boycott intercourse deliberately. Ramadan fasting, therefore, or any religious activities in the sacred month should not be used as an excuse for refraining from intercourse without getting the consent of the other party. Whoever does that has deviated from the fulfilment of a major promise. And, that, in itself, is a major debt which must be paid. RAMADAN KARIM!

     

  • I‘TIKAF

    I‘TIKAF

    By Femi Abbas

    The world’s greatest teacher, that ever live, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) will never cease to be a teacher of teachers even in death. It was he who first recognized communication as the greatest means of fulfilling temporal desire as well as attaining spiritual satisfaction. Thus, he recommended it to the Muslim Ummah.

    One of the features of Ramadan fast is I’tikaf which simply means seclusion. It comes up during the last ten days of the sacred month.

    Its purpose is to completely abstain from all sinful acts and enhance one’s spiritual standing. I’tikaf or self seclusion is adopted by any Muslim who wants to get closer to the Almighty Allah through the spiritual realm.

    With I’tikaf, a Muslim can attain inner composure and equanimity while he is absorbed in eternal reality. For the eight years of fasting (624-632 CE that he spent in his latter period in Madinah, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) regularly observed I’tikaf in the last ten days of every Ramadan.

    And, after him, his wives and succeeding companions adhered to that tradition as a means of purifying the heart and attaining peace of the mind.

    I’tikaf is mostly done in the Mosque but it can also be done in a house especially by women if the house is clean and free of disturbance. While in I’tikaf the Mu’takif or recluse is expected to observe all the five daily prayers and other Nawafil (supererogatory genuflections). He is also to engage in the recitation of the Qur’an and the glorification of Allah. He seeks forgiveness and shows gratitude to the Creator and Protector of the universe for all the countable and uncountable good things of life with which he has been endowed.

    While in I’tikaf, one is not expected to move around beyond the vicinity of the Mosque or house in which he is secluded. Foods and drinks are brought to him by his wife or relations. He goes to the toilet and takes bath as necessary. But he is not to go about in vehicles during the time of I’tikaf except by necessity.

    I’tikaf is Sunnah (voluntary) and not obligatory for anybody. Only those who have the time and the means can go into it. Daily paid workers who must provide for their families and salary earners who are not on leave are advised not to go into I’tikaf. Wives and children must not suffer from lack of domestic provisions just because the family bread winner has gone into I’tikaf. And, women are not permitted to go into I’tikaf leaving their husbands and children at home. That can only happen with the permission of the husband.

    But where a woman is unmarried or is old and has no responsibility of providing for the husband or children, she can go into I’tikaf.

    People in I’tikaf can cook their foods and wash their dresses. All these must however have been taken along from home. A recluse is not supposed to break the I’tikaf by going to the market in search of needed provisions. A sick person is not expected to go into I’tikaf. But if a person suddenly falls sick while in I’tikaf, it is necessary for him to break the I’tikaf and go to the hospital. He may return into I’tikaf if he is well.

    Also, if there is any emergency in the matrimonial home of the recluse or even in the neighbourhood, which requires an urgent attention, the recluse must break the I’tikaf and attend to such emergency promptly.

    I’tikaf does not extend to the day of ‘Idul Fitr. It must be terminated as soon as Ramadan fast ends. A woman’s I’tikaf terminates automatically with the commencement of her menstruation. We pray Allah to accept our I‘tikaf as an act of ‘Ibadah Amin.

  • Vacuum abhorred!

    Vacuum abhorred!

    By Segun Gbadegesin

    From Aristotelian theory of physics and modern theory of spiritualism, we may infer a theory of social and political life with insecurity as its signpost. Its central thesis is that insecurity is a function of the vacuum created by weak leadership, inadequate structures and policies that neglect the welfare of citizens, especially the youth. Simplistic in its formulation, its appeal is its explanatory import.

    In one of his most interesting theories, the Master of Those Who Know, observe that there cannot be an empty space in nature because for every such potential void, there is matter to fill it up. Nature abhors a vacuum. We know, of course, that later theorists refute this theory. But Aristotle’s proposition soon took on a life of its own and it has since become a popular idiom in psychology, spiritualism, business and yes, politics.

    Consider spiritualism. If we have a tripartite nature comprising body, soul, and spirit as many worldviews, including our traditional offerings suggest, then all three need to be catered to. And since we tend to prioritize the spiritual for various reasons, including personal worries about the unknown, it is not a surprise that we have grown a thriving industry to serve this need.

    But where and when moderation takes a flight, and we sense a void that is not satisfied by existing spiritual agencies, that void will be filled up quickly with the emergence of extremist and fake tendencies. Thus, cults and violent jihadists. A free society with a liberal posture to the expression of spiritual values, but limited interest in the development of the mind, is therefore susceptible to this destructive urge.

    That our society has little to no interest in the development of the mind is not a creepy observation. Our colonial and first republic experience was far more positive in the matter of a laser focus on education. The federal and regional budgets devoted a healthy attention to education and this translated into great achievements which also guaranteed us an efficient civil service, productive private enterprise and responsible governance structures.

    Now, turn to every HDI in the last 20 years and you’d be sorry for the children that we are bringing up. The 2020 figure of 0.539 which classifies us as one of the lowest in the world was the highest since 2003. This gives us a good idea of what has been the lot of our children. Without opportunities of a normal life, a void is created and nature abhors a void. Something somehow must fill the void. Cultism beckons. They answer.

    This is really what feeds into every cycle of angst in social life and we seem to have no grip on how to get out of it. The minds that we refuse to develop and equip with sellable productive skills will be available for destructive ventures. Ancestral wisdom teaches us as much: the child that we refuse to train will end up auctioning off the house that we build. While we are proud of our undistracted focus on infrastructural development, hoodlums with their minds set on making quick bucks of the expensive gadgets are busy formulating their plans. It’s already happening.

    One face of insecurity, its root cause, is the society’s abandonment of its social responsibility of educating the youth functionally and qualitatively and instead leaving them to fend for themselves. The other face is society’s neglect of its responsibility to provide adequate security for members. It’s a no brainier. If you refuse to do your part to develop your children so they can live responsibly and contribute positively to social life, then at least be sure you secure yourself firmly so your peace is not shattered by those you refuse to train. This we refuse to do. So, what do we really expect?

    I know. Someone will be quick to tell me that there is crime in every society, including the most advanced. And it includes crimes committed by the most developed minds. True indeed! What makes the difference between ours and such societies is that they have a well-developed security and crime-bursting system while we fail on both scores. The rate of unsolved crimes in such societies is negligible compared to ours. And because of our lack, the vacuum thus created is easily filled. How?

    With a weak intelligence and crime bursting system, corrupt officials are quick to fill the void, creating a graft industry that feeds on the innocent and denies them of justice. This also has its repercussions as frustrated citizens handicapped in the system seek other means. Jungle justice is born out of such frustration. It is easily predictable.

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    Bandits, kidnappers and killer herdsmen flaunt their AK-47s unchallenged. They invade farms, schools and residential neighborhoods, cowing their victims into submission. This may trigger a response from daredevil avengers with a mission, thus filling the vacuum. And they may be joined by hoodlums who have nothing to lose. It’s happening before our very eyes and we are at a loss. But we created the void.

    Our response thus far has been to create more official terror as a counter to what we consider to be illegal sources of the terror inflicted on citizens. It has not worked because even in this effort, we create huge vacuum. We pump funds into the weapons industry for use of police and soldiers but a fraction of such funds get used for the purpose.

    To avoid the anarchy of the state of nature, in which the vacuum created by an absence of a competent authority is filled by warring groups competing for scarce resources, we created government represented by the state. We reject monarchical institutions in favor of a democratic republic that is expected to cater for the social, economic, and security needs of all. But we know that the spirit of anarchy that exists in the state of nature still lurks around the state. With competent leadership, the threat of anarchy remains subdued. However, with weak leadership, a vacuum is created, and anarchical tendencies quickly rally to fill the void. This is happening.

    National unity is our buzz word. We invoke it at every opportunity as evidence of our patriotic zeal. We deplore ethnic and tribal sympathies. Surprisingly, we fail to recognize that while the latter are the first sentiments we are oriented into and they don’t need much help to be operationalized, supranationalism beyond ethnic nationalism requires hard work with a leadership that is above board. That is, a leadership that is seen as playing the role of a supranationalist without being a closet ethnic nationalist. When this is missing, a vacuum is created in national life and ethnicity quickly moves in. This is happening.

    How does a progressive government respond to this phenomenon? The success of progressivism in the last years of colonialism and the first few years of independence in this country is a pointer in the right direction for an answer to this question. Progressivism is people-centered, placing them above structures and materials. Their welfare is prioritized and the development of their mind is number one on its agenda. A progressive government that abandons this model is so only in name.

    In terms of policies, we have failed the generation of youths roaming round our cities. Take education as an example. We are granting more and more university licenses even though millions of our youths are rejected admission and we have no other avenues for them to advance. We are not even providing the budget needed to make these universities operate optimally. And we are training students to become worthless graduates who cannot complete in the marketplace of skills.

    Yet we neglect to invest in youths’ acquisition of middle level skills that can trigger development in the technological-information age. The federal government can lead efforts in technological education with the establishment of technical schools as we used to have in the first republic. If we do, we would absorb from the streets high school graduates with no prospects of university admission, whose eyes are now so deviously set on cultism and other crimes. We will fill the void with useful and productive ventures.

    Just a thought!

  • History of Ramadan Lecture

    History of Ramadan Lecture

    By FEMI ABBAS

     

    Preamble

    For every activity of man that yields successful or unsuccessful result, there must be a history from which others can learn a lesson. Sometimes, it is man that makes history and some other times, it is history that makes man. Whichever is the case, however, the symbiotic relationship between history and man is a confirmation of the fact that none of them can be separated from the other.

     

    Analysis

    There can be no history without man just as there can be no man without history. The genesis of Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria is one historic contribution of Nigerian Muslims to the popularity of the fourth pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting. For Nigerian Muslims who are between the ages of 45 and 50 years, it will be noticed that one of the most prominent components of Ramadan month today is Ramadan Lecture. That component which was not in existence before 1985 is so rampant today that most African Muslims can hardly think of Ramadan without Ramadan Lecture. it has virtually become a spiritual phenomenon strongly waxed into the fabric of the sacred lunar month called Ramadan. Whether in Lagos, Sokoto or Calabar or even in Abidjan or Harare or Kinshasha, once Ramadan arrives every year, most African Muslims engage themselves passionately in Ramadan Lecture, either as preachers or as programme sponsors or as audiences.

     

    Genesis

    Incidentally however, the genesis of that phenomenon does not seem to be of any concern to many who see it as just an addendum to the sacred month of fasting. Even when it is an  undeniable fact that Ramadan fasting as a pillar of Islam has been in existence for almost one and a half millennia, it hardly occurs to most Nigerian or African Muslims of today, that Ramadan Lecture which began in Lagos in 1985 is Nigeria’s own contribution to the enhancement of the liveliness of the fourth pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting.

     

    Question

    How did the idea of Ramadan Lecture which many African Muslims are now taking for granted come about? Who were the inventors of this ingehuous idea that has become a global heritage and, what was actually the role of Bashorun MKO in this historic invention?

     

    How Ramadan Lecture Started

    The world is dynamic, not just intellectually or religiously but also environmentall.

    Its dynamism varies from time to time and from place to place. The tendencies for that dynamism are what have perennially constituted the accessories of human progress. This is not peculiar to a period in history or a section of the earth in the geography of the world. Without such tendencies, the rapidity of human progress would not have probably been in synergy with the propensity of man to surrender to the unquestionable might of Allah.

     

    Ramadan  Glamour

    Perhaps, nothing gives more glamour to the month of Ramadan in Nigeria today than Ramadan Lecture. But only a few people know that the idea of that concept emanated fortuitously from a probing question once raised by the late Alhaji Saka Fagbo in 1984. It was the needed answer to that question that prompted the actualization of that concept to the amazement of most old cadre Muslims.

     

    In Retrospect

    The whole story started with the gathering of some brothers, including the late Alhaji Salam Fagbo, Alhaji Mojeed Sofola, Alhaji Abdul Kabir Ayomaya. All the three were then staffs of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). And, yours sincerely from Concord Newspaper was in that accidental gathering. At that occasion, Alhaji Salam Fagbo raised an inquisitive question that germinated into what came to be called ‘Ramadan Lecture’ in 1985.. The group was later to be joined by Alh. Abdur-razaq Gawat (also of NTA).

     

    Venue of the Episode

    The episode took off from the Channel 7 branch of Nigerian the NTA, Tejuosho Street, Surulere, Lagos. where Alhaji Fagbo was then the General Manager.

     

    The Question

    The question that sparked off the glorious idea went

    as follows: “What can we do to give seasonal happiness to Nigerian Muslim children that would be similar to that of Christmas Carol which Christian children enjoy in December every year?” Ater some hours of deliberations on that challenging question, the brothers harmonized their thoughts and concluded that festive happiness could not be limited to children alone saying such an Islamic programme would be more beneficial to all and sundry if it was well packaged with Islamic knowledge and intellectualism. To give the new idea a befitting publicity, yours sincerely was mandated to brief the then Baba Adini of Yoruba land Bashorun MKO Abiola who was also the publisher of Concord Press.   At that time, yours sincerely was also Abiola’s Special Adviser on religious Affairs). After briefing Bashorun Abiola, I also advised him to take up the sponsorship of the proposed programme. As expected, Bashorun Abiola did not only accept to sponsor the programme, on television and radio stations in Lagos State, he also voluntarily offered to be the permanent sponsor Tafsir on radio and television stations throughout the 30 days of the month of Ramadan every year in all the Southwest States plus Kwara and the then Bendel states, for as long as he was alive.

     

    Catalyst

    Bashorun Abiola’s  historic acceptance to sponsor that programme became the catalyst for the mobilization of Muslim groups and communities in the southwest of Nigeria where Ramadan lectures were being organized. And, with time, the idea of organizing Ramadan lecture was adopted in other parts of the country and thus became a National affair that some other Countries in the West African Sub region started to emulate.

     

    Spiral Effect

    Today, Ramadan lecture is like a summer rainbow beautifying the Islamic Sky across the Continent of Africa in the sacred month every year.

     

    First Ramadan Lecture

    The very first  Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria was delivered by the late Alhaji Abdus-Salam Olatunde at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos. Thereafter, some other Muslim philanthropists joined the train by organizing and sponsoring similar programmes during the month of Ramadan.

     

    The Innovation

    The innovation called Ramadan Lecture is a further confirmation that the real bastion of propelling Islamic religion in Nigeria is in the Southwest, particularly Lagos. It should be recalled that some of the most prominent Islamic organizations in Nigeria today, such as the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Ansar-ud-deen society of Nigeria, Anwar’ul-Islam society of Nigeria, Naiwa-rud-deen society of Nigeria, zumratul Islamiyyah society of Nigeria, NASFAT, Fathu Quareeb, FOWMAN, The Criterion, The Companion and many others emanated from Lagos.

     

    Prayer

    It is our prayer that ALLAH should preserve the souls of those who have died among the innovators Ramadan Lecture as well as the originators of the above mentioned Muslim organizations and grant them everlasting bliss while guiding the only living one amongst the inventors of Ramadan Lecture towards further progressive efforts in projecting Islam in Nigeria.

     

    RAMADAN KAREEM!

     

  • Travelling in Ramadan

    Travelling in Ramadan

    By Femi Abbas

    Islam and Muslims are like Siamese twins or even like the snail and its shell. None of them can survive without the being in the company of other. There is nothing in the life of a Muslim that this divine religion called Islam does not touch effectively in the lives of Muslims. For instance, in Islam, travelling is not just a part of education. It is rather a form of education. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) realized this early in his prophet-hood years and emphasized it. He said: “Seek knowledge even if you will have to travel to China”.

    In retrospect

    At the time the world map, as it is today, had not been crafted, China was considered the farthest place from Arabia.

    In accentuation of the Prophet’s instruction that Muslims should seek knowledge, even as far away as China, a renowned Arab poet came up with a stanza which translates thus:

    “There is no permanent, resting place for a sensible, learned person; therefore, move from city to city and adapt to any new environment in which you may find yourself;

    Travel out from your immediate environment and meet new contemporaries similar to those you may have left behind at your embarkation;

    Interact with diverse people because human comfort and prosperity are mostly attainable through interactions…”

    Islam regards for travellers

    The respect which Islam has for travellers is such that they (travellers) are described as wayfarers in the Qur’an. And by virtue of their journey, Muslim travellers are not only permitted to reduce their four rakats of (Dhur, ‘Asr and ‘Ishai) to two rakats each, they are also excused from fasting while on journey (although they will make up for the missed fasts later). Not only that, they are also listed among the groups qualified to receive Zakat; the proviso, however is that such a journey must be justifiable and legitimate.

    Journey by necessity

    Judging by the laid down proviso, as presented above, it becomes understandable that a Muslim journey in Ramadan must be one of necessity and not of mere pleasure.

    The rule is that the journey must not be less than 48 miles or 80 kilometres. On such a journey, a travelling Muslim may break his fast and shorten his Salat. But that rule was formulated at the time when donkeys and camels were the means of travelling.

    Today, when it is possible to travel from Lagos to Kano within one hour in a comfortable aircraft or from Ibadan to Lagos in a fully air -conditioned car, within the same period of one hour, it may rather be unnecessary to break the fast and reduce Salat especially when the traveller must make up for the fast broken after Ramadan.

    Exception

    There is hardly any rule without exception. The modern exceptions to the rule of travelling in Ramadan have transcended those of the donkey age.

    However, this does not mean that any Muslim traveller in Ramadan who wishes to follow the primordial rule of the donkey years cannot shorten Raka’ats of his salat and break his fast. Nevertheless, if that rule is followed, the conditions surrounding it must equally be followed.

    Ramadan Karim!

  • Neighbour’s Rights

    Neighbour’s Rights

    By Femi Abbas

    Generally, neighbours are neighbours, Ramadan or no Ramadan. They are the people with whom one interacts closely, on a daily basis, in the same vicinity. Neighbours are co-inhabitants in the same residence, area, office, farm or market. Some of them are permanent. Others are temporary. This is not a matter of Ramadan alone. It is a general Islamic norm that all Muslims are supposed to follow.

    Impotance of Neighbours

    In Islam, neighbours are so important that they are perceived as next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them that they are like family members. According to Bukhari and Muslim, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was reported to have once sworn by Allah three times saying: “He does not believe in Allah”!, He does not believe in Allah”!, He does not believe in Allah”! Whoever creates fear or restlessness in his neighbours”.

    Prophetic emphasis

    In another Hadith, also reported by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet was quoted as saying that “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day should treat his neighbour nicely and respect his guests”.

    New Toga

    In the month of Ramadan, a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He should double his good deeds to his neighbours by extending generosity to them and by cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He should genuinely give them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

    It does not matter whether the neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives.

    No Discrimination

    The Prophet did not discriminate in his Hadith when he was admonishing on relationship with neighbours. And that is the inalienable position of Islam on neighbourhood.

    Whoever, had quarrelled with his neighbours, therefore, let him go and settle the quarrel. Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and sexual intercourse within specified periods, during the sacred month of Ramadan, a good Muslim must also mind his relationship with people around him, especially neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure.

    Not In Half Measure

    Whoever wants to receive full rewards for his religious activities in Ramadan should treat his neighbours well. And, when Ramadan is over, the good deeds must continue.

    RAMADAN KARIM!

     

  • Three segments of Ramadan

    Three segments of Ramadan

    By Femi Abbas

    At the beginning of this sacred month, 11 days ago, an analysis was done in this column classifying the 30 days of Ramadan into three segments. The first segment was said to contain the first ten days during which the blessings of Allah come to the faithful Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with faith and good intention, there is no working for the blessings therein. That segment ended yesterday paving way for the second segment that begins today.

    As from today, Sunday, May 25, 2021, fasting Muslims, all over the world, will start working for the master key to their final abode (Al-Jannah) through forgiveness. That is the essence of this second segment of the month of Ramadan. During this period, Muslims are expected to intensify worship (Ibadah) by spending their days and nights repenting on their misdeeds and iniquities while seeking Allah’s forgiveness through the chanting of Istighfar. But such forgiveness is neither automatic nor free.

    Usually, there are conditions attached to it. One of such conditions is that one must admit his misdeeds and repent on them. The second is that he should voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness. And the third condition is for him to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness during that time, a Muslim should follow the guidance of Allah as exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who reportedly said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And, if you want Allah to speak to you recite the Qur’an”. No one who abides by the above conditions and follows the Prophet’s counsel will ever be disappointed. Allah is both promising and fulfilling. He never reneges on His promise. In Qur’an 2:186 He promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of all who seek my favour if they pray to me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect my favourable response and trust in me so that they may be rightly guided”

    The second ten days segment of Ramadan is not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days. It is also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last ten days when they are expected to be fully liberated from the evil manacles of satanic forces. For genuinely dedicated Muslims, in this sacred month, the prayer for that liberation in any language and in a condition of purity is a sine qua non.

    RAMADAN KARIM!