The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mosque

  • Attack on Kano Mosque heinous, says Jonathan

    Attack on Kano Mosque heinous, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with the people and Government of Kano State over the attack on the Central Mosque in Kano on Friday which he described as heinous.

    In a statement reacting to the incident in which scores of persons were killed, President Jonathan commiserated with all the families who lost their loved ones.

    He called on relief agencies and medical personnel to deploy every possible effort to assist the injured, and the general public to heed the call for the donation of blood by the hospitals where the injured are being treated.

    The President further directed the security agencies to launch a full-scale investigation and to leave no stone unturned until all agents of terror undermining the right of every citizen to life and dignity, are tracked down and brought to justice.

    He reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestation is a despicable and unjustifiable threat to our society and reiterated the determination of the government to continue to take every step to put an end to the reprehensible acts of all groups and persons involved in acts of terrorism.

    He urged calls Nigerians not to despair in this moment of great trial in our nation’s history but to remain united to confront the common enemy.

    According to him, no terrorist act against fellow citizens will destroy the Nigerian spirit to remain positive, resolute and united in the quest for lasting peace and security in the country.

  • Functions of Mosque

    Functions of Mosque

    Mosque in Islam has both temporal and spiritual functions none of which should be taken for granted. The word Mosque is the corrupt English pronunciation of ‘MASJID’ (pronounced ‘Masgid’ in Egyptian dialect) which means a place of prostration.

    In Islam, mosque is not meant for SALAT alone. It serves many other purposes each of which has a fundamental significance. For instance the very first mosque established by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Medina was a multipurpose one. That mosque named the ‘Mosque of Qubah’ did not serve as a place of worship alone, it also served as a school, a library, a clinic, a court and even a parliament for the Muslim community. And, ever since, the Mosque has continued to serve all those purposes throughout the Islamic world.

    That was why the very first University ever established in the world, the University of Cordoba in Spain , started as a Mosque. And, it will be recalled that even the three oldest Universities in the world today: Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia all started as Mosques.

    Using the above yardstick to judge what the Mosque is in our society as against what it ought to be, one will sincerely conclude that our Mosques are grossly underutilized.

    Hardly can we find in our society today, a Mosque that is used as a court, a library, a parliament and a hospital. Whereas Islam is a dynamic religion and the Mosque is supposed to be a symbol of that dynamism, this is rarely considered when it comes to establishing Mosques in our society.

    Today, we need Mosques in our societies more than ever before. We need Mosques for training and good orientation for our children. In fact, we need Mosques as a backup for homes in reforming our society.

    That is why we must provide in every Mosque those amenities mentioned above if only to give our children the best education they deserve, as our own little way of making our society a worthy place to live in.

    In our Mosques, we need Computer training Centres; tutorial classes for our Imams and Muadhdhins as well as to coach our secondary school boys and girls; good libraries for reading and research; modest clinics as well as arbitration courts where civil and matrimonial conflicts can be settled without any recourse to the Western Courts where Qur’an and Sunnah play no role in adjudication.

    For Islam to continue to play its dynamic role as originally designed, enabling environments must be created for our Mosques so that so that Muslims can occupy befitting positions in the society.

     

  • Insurgents kill 44 inside Borno mosque

    Insurgents kill 44 inside Borno mosque

    Suspected Islamic militants have killed 44 people who were praying in a mosque in Konduga, about 35 kilometres outside Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    The Associated Press (AP) quoting security sources, said the bodies were counted yesterday, although the killing took place on Sunday morning.

    The killing it said, was perpetrated by militants. Along the way from Maiduguri to Konduga, civilian activists encountered ‘fierce resistance from heavily armed terrorists’, said Usman Musa of the civilian vigilance group.

    Four people from the civilian group were also killed after responding to calls for help.

    No one has taken responsibility for the incident. Police said they have not excluded the possibility that Islamist organisation Boko Haram was behind the attack.

    Boko Haram has been fighting to create an Islamic state in the North. The group, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” has turned on civilians in the area.

    The group has been targeting Christians outside churches, as well as teachers, schoolchildren, and moderate Muslim clerics who have spoken out against extremism.

    Government declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states on May 14, in a bid to tackle the insurgents.

  • Functions of Mosque

    Mosque in Islam has both temporal and spiritual functions none of which should be taken for granted. The word Mosque is the corrupt English pronunciation of ‘MASJID’ (pronounced ‘Masgid’ in Egyptian dialect) which means a place of worship.

    In Islam, Mosque is not meant for SALAT alone. It serves many other purposes each of which has a fundamental significance. For instance the very first Mosque established by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Medina was a multipurpose one. That Mosque named the ‘Mosque of Qubah’ did not serve as a place of worship alone, it also served as a school, a library, a clinic, a court of law and even a parliament for the Muslim community. And, ever since, the Mosque has continued to serve all those purposes throughout the Islamic world.

    That was why the very first University ever established in the world, the University of Cordoba in Spain, started as a Mosque. And, it will be recalled that even the three oldest Universities in the world today: Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia as well as other Islamic Institutes of Higher Learning all started as Mosques.

    Using the above yardstick to judge what the Mosque is in our society today as against what it ought to be therefore, one may tend to conclude that our Mosques are grossly underutilized.

    Hardly can we find in our society today, a Mosque that is used as a court, a library, a parliament and a hospital. Whereas Islam is a dynamic religion and the Mosque is supposed to be a symbol of that dynamism, this is rarely considered when it comes to establishing Mosques in our society.

    Today, we need Mosques in our societies more than ever before. We need Mosques for training and good orientation for our children. In fact, we need Mosques as a backup for homes in reforming our society. That is why we must provide in every Mosque those amenities mentioned above plus playing facilities if only to give our children the best education they deserve, as our own little way of making our society a worthy place to live in.

    In our Mosques, we need Computer training Centres; tutorial classes for our Imams and Muadh-dhins as well as for coaching our secondary school boys and girls; good libraries for reading and research; modest clinics as well as arbitration courts where civil conflicts can be resolved without any recourse to the Western Courts where Qur’an and Sunnah play no role in adjudication.

    For Islam to continue to play its dynamic role as originally designed, creating enabling environments for our Mosques is a sine qua non so that Muslims can occupy dignifying positions in the society.

  • 10 escape death in grenade attack on Jos mosque

    10 escape death in grenade attack on Jos mosque

    Ten worshippers escaped death in a mosque in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State at the weekend after a grenade thrown into the mosque failed to explode.

    It was not immediately clear who the brains behind the failed attack were.

    The grenade, described as 36 hand grenade, was later taken away by the Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis.

    An eyewitness, Danjuma Bala, said, “The incident occurred at about 8:30pm on Friday. About 10 people were in the mosque preparing for the Ishai prayers when the grenade was thrown inside by unknown persons.

    Media and Information Officer of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, confirmed the incident, sayin, “there was an attempted explosion at a mosque located along Bukuru express way in Jos South Local Government Area on 1st March, 2013 by 0830pm.

    “Miscreants threw a 36 hand grenade into a mosque but it failed to explode. Thereafter, they fired shots into the air and escaped. No arrest was recorded.”

    Captain Musptapha said operatives of the JTF cordoned off the area to avert a breakdown of law and order.

    He enjoined people to be vigilant and report any suspicious objects, persons or activities in their area to security agencies while investigation into the Friday incident is going on to apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

    In a separate operation, security agents in the state discovered two un-identified corpses during a raid of suspected criminals’ hide out in Shendam and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas of the state.