A prominent Muslim cleric has attributed Nigeria's worsening insecurity to the failure of Muslims to adhere to the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and Hadiths, urging a return to Islamic principles as the solution to the country's challenges.
Sheikh Umar Faruk Haruna, Deputy Chief Imam of the University of Benin's Ekenwa campus, made these remarks while addressing journalists after the two rakkah prayers marking the 2025 Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Islam Built on Peace and Divine Guidance
"The essence of Islam is to have the fear of Allah, love and peace. If we Muslims can actually behave as the Qur'an directs us and follow the Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, there will be no insecurity," Sheikh Haruna emphasized.
The cleric lamented that many Muslims have abandoned divine guidance in favor of self-made rules, stating: "It is because we have put the Qur'an and the Sunnahs of the Prophet aside, and we have decided to legislate for ourselves that is why we are having all these pockets of insecurity here and there."
"This cannot stop and will never stop until we retrace ourselves by actually believing what the Quran says and the Hadiths of the Holy Prophet Muhammad."
Muslim Involvement in Security Challenges
In a candid assessment, Sheikh Haruna acknowledged Muslim involvement in Nigeria's security problems, noting: "The issue of insecurity you are seeing in Nigeria today is that you cannot wash the Muslims' hands off of it. We are participating."
He pointed out the irony that regions once considered Islamic strongholds have become epicenters of violence: "Is it kidnapping, banditry, the Boko Haram. You can see today that where all these things started, we can even call them the Islamic states. But unfortunately these are supposed to be the last places where all these kinds of things are supposed to have taken place."
"As long as we have continued to disobey God, you can see that we have even started getting our rewards here on earth before getting to the day of judgment," he warned.
True Spirit of Eid-el-Kabir
The Imam emphasized that Eid-el-Kabir is a purely Islamic celebration meant to uphold religious principles, not an occasion for "immorality, illegality and those things that are completely forbidden in the sight of Allah."
Regarding the sacrificial animals central to the celebration, Sheikh Haruna stressed that sacrifices are only acceptable to Allah when acquired through legitimate means: "We say even the ram we are struggling to get, you cannot strangulate, inflict pains or hardship on another person for you to get money to buy one."
"You cannot go and sin or cause pain on another person because you want to buy a ram. We say getting a ram is through your legal earnings, that is the only way Allah will reward you for it," he added.
The cleric's message resonates at a time when Nigeria continues to grapple with various security challenges across different regions of the country.
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