The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NASFAT

  • Elections: NASFAT holds special prayer Feb. 3

    As part of its commitment toward ensuring peaceful co-existence and harmony in Nigeria, the Nasrul lahi l faith Society (NASFAT) said it would hold a special prayer to ensure hitch- free, peaceful and non violent polls.

    In a statement on Wednesday, signed by the Publicity Secretary of NASFAT, Mr Banji Busari said that the special prayer for peace would hold on Feb. 3 at NASFAT Islamic Centre Klm 35, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

    He said that the prayer entitled, “Oh Allah Let This Election Bring Peace and Progress in Nigeria” would focus on interceding to Allah for Peace and prosperity to reign in Nigeria, before, during and after the election.

    “The Special prayer is also intended to offer prayers towards emergence of credible candidates with the genuine capacity to use the instrumentality of their political positions to bring progress to our country.

    Read Also: NASFAT calls for political will to end Almajiri practice

    “Towards this event, the Chief Missioner, Imam Abdulazeez Onike will be leading over forty NASFAT missioners from Lagos and Ogun States to offer special prayers for the nation and the candidates.

    “The candidates contesting the elections which cut across several political parties have been invited, which will also be used to admonish them on the need to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.

    “The event will be attended by over 100 branches representing three zones of NASFAT Society namely Lagos Zone one, Lagos zone two and Ogun zones.

    “It will also be attended by the entire leadership of NASFAT led by its President Engr Kamil Bolarinwa. The Special prayer will hold simultaneously in the all the 16 zones of NASFAT both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

    “This is not the first time that NASFAT will be holding special prayers to herald the conduct of elections in the country and our prayers and that of other Nigerians have been answered.

  • NASFAT calls for political will to end Almajiri practice

    Chief Missioner of Nasrul-Lahi-L-Faith Society ( NASFAT ), Alhaji Abdulazeez Onike, has called for political will to end Almajiri practice used in exploiting children in parts of Northern Nigeria.

    Onike made the call while speaking with journalists at a news conference organised by NASFAT to end violence against children in Nigeria.

    “Regarding Almajiri, we want to say unequivocally that it is exploitative and is unIslamic; Almajiri is not part of Islam, exploitation is not part of Islam.

    “Some people have made it a source of their income, so it may require government efforts to nip it in the bud.

    “I repeat again, it is not part of our religion and can never be part of our religion,” said the Muslim cleric.

    Earlier in his sermon, the NASFAT leader said Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) demonstrated so much love for children that on one occasion, remained in prostration position for long period for his grandchild to enjoy riding on his back.

    He said that NASFAT was collaborating with various organisations to win the fight against violence against children.

    He appealed to state governments to domesticate the Child Rights Act so as to make the nation safer for children.

    The President of NASFAT, Alhaji Kamil Bolarinwa, called for enforcement of existing laws as well as strengthening laws to end violence against children.

    “NASFAT is ready to work with states and national legislators to fashion out new bills that will prevent violence against our children,” he said.

    He said that NASFAT’s campaign focussing on ending violence against children, which began last year, was yielding a positive result in Lagos and Calabar, adding that new advocacy started in December 2018 would run for four months.

    He commended USAID and UNICEF, who were NASFAT funding partners, for providing veritable platform in the onerous task of wiping out the menace out of Nigeria.

    In her speech, Alhaja Babalola Ganiyat, NASFAT- End Violence Against Children Campaign (Endvac) Focal Person, said six out of every 10 children in Nigeria were “experiencing one or more forms of physical, emotional violence before they reach 18″.

    “More than 70 per cent experience this violence repeatedly.

    “One out of two suffer physical violence such as punching, kicking, whipping, burning, chocking, trying to drown, threatening or hitting with a weapon.

    Read Also: Five killed in Air Force helicopter crash

    “One in four girls and one in 10 boys have experienced sexual violence; one in five boys and one in six girls suffer emotional violence,” she said.

    She noted that the violence usually happened in environments that should keep children safe such as the home, neighbourhood and schools.

    She explained that in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s call to end violence against children by 2030, NASFAT was partnering with local and international organisations against the menace.

    She said NASFAT was including training and some agreed guidelines on parenting with UNICEF in its advocacy to change attitudes towards children.

    Other stakeholders took turns to proffer solutions on incest and other forms of violence against children, urging victims’ parents to speak out and get help.

  • NASFAT seeks peaceful polls

    NASRUL-L-FAITH (NASFAT) Society Worldwide President Kamil Bolariwa has urged politicians to conduct themselves responsibly to facilitate peaceful elections next month.

    He spoke at the association’s 2018 International Conference in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

    Over 200 missioners attended the conference from 350 branches worldwide.

    Bolariwa said it was imperative for politicians to allow peace to reign and ensure peaceful conduct of 2019 elections for the country’s betterment.

    He said: “Our politicians need to understand that there is no position anybody holds, if not given by Allah, it cannot be giving to anybody. Therefore, if you get there, it means it pleases Allah that you are there.

    “You must also know that Allah will ask you what you do with that position because you are given in trust to hold it over the people.  Allah will ask you what you do with that position and people will also ask.”

    NASFAT Chief Missioner Imam Onike-Morufu Abdul Azeez said the conference was to educate the missioners on the changes in the world and how to address the challenges facing Islam.

  • NASFAT trains Muslims on good inter-faith relations

    A faith-based organisation, Nasrulahi-l-Fatih Society (NASFAT), has trained 200 Muslims in southern Nigeria on sound inter-faith relationship and peaceful co-existence.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five-day training for southern Nigeria Muslims, which began on Dec. 21, was held at TAAS Group of Schools, Apata, Ibadan.

    The eighth edition of the annual religion camp was aimed at enlightening and empowering Muslims on true understanding of Islam for spiritual development and welfare of mankind.

    NAN reports that the facilitators of the programme tagged, ‘Understand your Religion Training Camp’, were drawn from Islamic Education Trust and Dawah Institute of Nigeria in Minna as well as NASFAT.

    Imam Abdul-Azeez Onike, the NASFAT’s Chief Missioner Worldwide, said the objective of the training was to inculcate the concept of good inter-faith relations and peaceful co-existence in participants.

    ‘‘As a faith-based organisation, NASFAT, through this programme, intends to make participants to see themselves as Muslims by choice and not by chance.

    ‘‘To develop their understanding of Islamic religion to be able to come up with counter narratives to some misconceptions about Islam, especially, the notions that Islam is a violence-driven religion,’’ he said.

    He asserted that the programme would expose participants to the critical thinking tools in Islam, known as the principle of Islamic Jurisprudence.

    Onike said this related extensively to the objectives of Shariah, ethics of disagreement in Islam, cultural imperatives and Islam as well as the lawful habits and prohibitions in Islam.

    According to him, participants are also exposed to Islam with purpose, innovations and creativity in Islam, generous tolerance in Islam and handling a new Muslim.

    ‘‘Others are female genital cut and Islam, clearing of misconceptions about women in Islam among other issues’’.

    Alhaja Samiat Mumuni, NASFAT Global Women Affairs Secretary and Dr Rahmat Adisa, 2018 Training Programme Coordinator, expressed satisfaction with the impressive turnout of participants at the programme.

    Mumuni said the organisers’ expectation was that participants would leverage on the basic and advanced knowledge acquired during the training in their daily religious obligations.

    ‘‘We hope participants will exhibit the knowledge acquired in their inter-personal dealings with people around them irrespective of differences in religion, creed or tribe,’’ Mumuni said.

    Adisa, who is also NASFAT Global Education Affairs Secretary, expressed satisfaction with the turnout for the edition, saying it showed appreciation of the value derived by participants over the years.

    The event, which ended on Tuesday, attracted more than 200 Muslim faithful comprising women, youths and Imams, NASFAT and non-NASFAT members from all walks of life across southern part of Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the NASFAT management has said that the second leg of the programme designed for participants from across the Northern part of the country would begin immediately on Tuesday in Kano.

  • NASFAT trains 1000 missioners in agric business

    The Nasrul-Lahil-il-Fath Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) has   trained 1000 members of the mission board on agric business.

    The society has also registered a cooperative society known as Green Migration Agric Cooperative Society.

    The cooperative society has subscribed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ programme designed to provide assistance to cooperative farmers.

    Green Migration is entering into land leasing agreement with a CBN approved anchor borrower company, BSA, which would provide large expanse of land for planting in Ogun State.

    Speaking at a seminar for the missioners, NASFAT Chief Missioner Imam Maruf Onike Abdul-Azeez said clerics have no excuse to engage in untoward practices in order to make ends meet.

    He said the empowerment programme would boost their financial buoyancy and enhance their capacity to meet their obligations.

    He said: “The mission of NASFAT to develop and enlighten Muslim society nurtured by true understanding of Islam for spiritual development and welfare of mankind.

    “If the Imam is not financially independent, how will he be able to carry out his assignment? That is why we have made it part of our duty as the headship of the mission board to ensure that our missioners are financially empowered.

    “We have set up many initiatives; one of it is called missioners in Agric. The initiative is to acquire land somewhere for missioners, introduce them with the best practices in farming, access funding from government agencies and then let them operate as farmers.

    “Imams and missioners go to the same market, send children to schools and have other financial obligations to discharge too like non- clerics of the society.

    “Therefore they need to be empowered in order to bring out the best in them and to turn them away from turning themselves to beggars and engaging in untowards activities,”.

    At the seminar, many agriculture firms and government agencies including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) were on ground to educate the missioners on best practices in farming.

     

  • Plateau killings: NASFAT sues for peace

    An Islamic group, Nasrul Lahil-Fatih Society ( NASFAT ) has condemned the violence and killings in some parts of the country, especially the June 24 killings in Plateau, and called for peace and harmonious co-existence everywhere in the country.

    The President of the society, Mr Yomi Bolarinwa, made the group’s position known in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

    He stated that “the recent killings in Barkin Ladi area of Plateau, where many people were
    murdered, raised grave concerns and disquiet about security situation in the country.

    “We believe that the solution is not in trading blames, but in expressing outrage and finding lasting solutions that will bring an end to such horror.”

    Bolarinwa urged government to take immediate steps to address the situation, stressing that “there is no running away from the reality that peace and security are threatened in the country: unless we deal with them, there can be no meaningful progress and development.

    “We call on Mr President to deploy the country’s security to get to the root of the violence and to bring to account all those fuelling destruction in the country.

    Read Also: NASFAT  canvasses religious harmony for national progress

    “We also want to call on Nigerians and the media to avoid actions and inactions that can further polarise the country.

    “We call on leaders to be cautious in their pronouncements on matters that border on peace and security.
    It also behoves on the media to help in reducing tension in the country by avoiding sentiments that may further fuel violence in their reportage.”

    The NASFAT boss then appealed to aggrieved Nigerians to seek redress through legal means, rather than taking the laws into their hands.

    “We appeal to all aggrieved parties not to take the law into their hands but explore legitimate means of seeking redress.

    “Human life is sacred, and nobody has the right to take it, it is a crime against man and God,” he said.

  • NASFAT canvasses religious harmony for national progress

     The Chief Missioner of Nasrul-Lahil-l-Fath Society (NASFAT), Imam Onike Abdul-Azeez, on Thursday urged Nigerians to promote religious harmony, peaceful co-existence and tolerance in the nation, to sustain development.

    Abdul-Azeez, who gave the advice in an interview in Lagos, noted that no country could achieve  meaningful development in an atmosphere of religious chaos and uncertainty.

    The cleric said that peace and religious co-existence was a vital element to the development of the nation.

    “We must come together as one, even at this particular point of Nigeria’s transition; we do not need violence, bloodshed, acrimony and hatred.

    “The Quran and the Bible teach love; we should eschew our differences, forget all our biases, our hatred, and all those things that militate against our well-being,’’ he said.

    Read Also: NASFAT gets Chief Missioner

    According to him, peace is fundamental to the development and sustainability of the country, and people should always verify information before disseminating it.

    “We should be sincere with ourselves; in recent times, we realised that some people are fanning the embers of discord. I don’t know what they will gain by doing that.

    “We should be patient, cautious and peaceful; we should not peddle rumours; we should verify any news before spreading it. People are deliberately distorting information,’’ he said.

    Abdul-Azeez urged religious leaders to teach their adherents the importance of peaceful co-existence, noting that NASFAT was educating their missioners on the need for peace.

    “You can only obtain peace when you educate people on the importance of peace. NASFAT has taken it up to educate its missioners on the need for peaceful co-existence and the need for good interfaith relations,’’ he said.

    The Imam advised the country’s leaders to promote peace through their words, actions and deeds, as they were also models for the citizens.

    NAN

  • NASFAT gets Chief Missioner

    NASFAT gets Chief Missioner

    Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT) has announced Imam Maruf Onike AbdulAzeez as the new Chief Missioner.

    Imam AbdulAzeez replaces Sheikh Abdullahi Akinbode, who stepped down after 17 years in office.

    NASFAT President Alhaji Kamil Bolarinwa announced the emergence of AbdulAzeez at the Sunday Alausa weekly Asalatu of the society.

    Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was in attendance.

    Bolarinwa said AbdulAzeez‘s emergence was sequel to series of painstaking and rigorous interviews by both external and internal panels organised for the seven candidates that applied for the vacant position.

    He added that the Board of Trustees and  the Council of Elders ratified the selection report based on the integrity of the panellists and transparency in the selection process.

    Prior to his appointment, Imam AbdulAzeez was the Acting Chief Missioner of the Society, a position he held for six months in line with the constitutional provision following the exit of the former Chief Missioner in April.

    AbdulAzeez joined NASFAT about 21 years ago and was the Deputy Chief Missioner to the former Chief Missioner.

    He holds a first class honour degree in Islamic Studies and currently a Ph.D student in Industrial Engineering at the University of Benin.

    He is a certified trainer of Islamic Education Trust/Dawah Institute of Nigeria.

  • NASFAT felicitates with Nigerians

    NASFAT felicitates with Nigerians

    The leadership of Nasrul Lahil Fatih Society (NASFAT) yesterday expressed its felicitations and gratitude to Almighty Allah over the safe and healthy return of President Muhammadu Buhari from United Kingdom (UK).

    In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Banji Busari, the President of NASFAT, Kamil Abayomi Bolarinwa, an engineer, said the fact that the President came out of this health challenge hale and hearty was a testimony to Allah’s acceptance of the volumes of prayers offered by Nigerians and other well-wishers of Nigeria.

    Bolarinwa added that the Almighty Allah, who grants profound health and long life, will further bless the President with faster and speedy recovery. He prayed to God to grant President further recuperation, vitality and protection from any open or hidden illness that could hinder him from his drive and commitment to putting the country on the path to economic prosperity and political prosperity.

    The NASFAT president used the occasion to further state that the society will not cease from praying against any form of divisive tendencies or hate speeches, which are capable of dividing the country along ethnic or tribal lines.

    He urged Nigerians to “show compassion for the President in this healing period to enable him gain full recovery and recharge himself for consolidation of the gains of the dividend of democracy”.

  • Cleric cautions youths against dating on social media

    Cleric cautions youths against dating on social media

    A cleric, Sheik Mustapha Abdusalam, has cautioned youths on the dangers of dating on social media platforms.

    Abdusalam gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Omu-Aran on Thursday.

    According to the cleric, some youths go into relationships on social media just to look for people to marry.

    The cleric said that it could be very risky and condemnable to be dating someone whose family, religious, and behavioural background was surrounded in secrecy and mystery.

    “The kind of friendship and courting toward a good marital life as prescribed by the Allah in the Holy Quran transcends beyond the ones being practiced on different social media platforms.

    “Quite a lot of distrust and falsehood are being perpetrated with impunity by these social media partakers in form of age falsification, character ingenuity, and facial transformation to deceive their followers.

    “This is not a good foundation toward achieving a reliable, trusted and solid marital engagement as commanded by Allah and championed by holy Prophet Mohammed and his companions during their lifetimes,” he said.

    He said there was the need for the youth, especially Muslims to be vigilant and prayerful in choosing their life partners, saying marital engagement was an issue which goes beyond social networking.

    Abdusalam, also the missioner Nasirullahi-Li-Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Omu-Aran chapter said intending couples needed ample time to study their characters, goals and aspiration to remain compatible.

    He attributed the flagrant disregard for laid down rules and regulations on marriage by couples as responsible for the high rate of social unrest and incessant marriage break-ups across the country.

    Abdusalam urged the youths to explore and consult widely before choosing their life partners, adding that having full understanding of marital implications was a major and important criteria in choosing a life partner.

    He described marriage as a strong Sunnah (deeds) of Prophet Muhammed which required certain procedures, urging youth to always conduct their affairs in accordance with Islamic injunctions.