The Osun State Muslim Community on Sunday held a reception in honour of the Deputy President-General (South), Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sakariyau Olayiwola Babalola (OON), in Osogbo, Osun State, which was graced by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, NSCIA, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III as SpeciaL Guest of Honour with Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, as Chief Host. Others in attendance were the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith, who was chairman of the occasion, Attah and Paramount Ruler of Ayede Kingdom Ekiti State, Oba Alhaji Abdul-Mumini Orisagbemi and very many other eminent Muslims from across the country.
Officiating the prayer session at the instance of Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari, Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said, “One of the reasons Muslims don’t celebrate prayers is that they pray always. Every Muslims who does not pray always, who is not conscious of Allah every moment of his life, he is not a Muslim to be trusted. That is why Muslims distinguish between worship and prayer.
“Muslims worship Allah and when Allah says, La’abudu mota’buduun, wala antum a’biduuna mo a’budu…Lakum deenukum waliyadeen, meaning, I will not worship that which you worship and you will not worship that which I worship, your religion for you and mine own religion for me. Allah in that case let you worship according to your religion while I worship according to my religion. That does not stop you from praying together.
“If you are all in need, if you are all in a situation like we are in Nigeria, Atiamoun minju’in wa’amonoun minkhaof, that verse of the Qur’an is not restricted to the Muslim, is not restricted to a religious community because hunger knows no religious boundary, threat does not have religious demarcations and that is why in Suratu Quraysh we are talking about ‘Allazi atiamoun minju’in wa’amonoun minkhaof’ meaning, He Who feeds them when they are hungry, He Who provides security when they are under threats and I believe, all of us who are in this great country of ours know that when you do this prayer, you have prayed for everybody in this great country of ours that Almighty Allah would save us from hunger, that Almighty Allah would provide security for us against all threats and it is in this light that I call on all of us here present, Muslims and non-Muslims alike to surrender themselves to Allah in prayer.
“And we start this by praying specially for the President of this great country of ours, President Muhammadu Buhari. May Almighty Allah grant him the happiness of this world including good health; may Almighty Allah Who knows very well that all right thinking people (and repeated), all right thinking people are anxious for his safe return to Nigeria. Of course anybody who is corrupt would not want him to come back. Shaytan is already talking to some people and they mistake Shaytan for God telling them that God has told them that he would not return but we know definitely that Shaytan, at times, talk to people and disguise as being God.
“We pray that Almighty Allah will see him back safely, will grant him the strength, the wherewithal, the knowledge, the justice to run this great complex country of ours.”
Oloyede then prayed for Nigeria, “We pray that Almighty Allah will be with this great country of ours, will continue to make this country prosper, greater as a demonstration of the pleasure of Allah.”
Similarly, he led the gathering in prayer for Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Oloyede said of Aregbesola, “When somebody was mentioning what he has done for Muslims, I was not impressed because he is not doing anything because he is a Muslim, he is doing it because he is just. Were our Christian brothers, even those you call traditional worshippers to enumerate, this was not where they were before he became the governor of this state.
“Some of us who are his friends are not happy about some of his steps. But, I do not speak Hausa but I know that in Hausa there is a proverb that whoever takes money from a leper must barb the head of the leper. Anyone of us who steps forward to the political leadership of this complex country will not satisfy only the Muslim community. He would be a misrepresentation of Islam if he does not step forward to do some things that you and I would not like. In secret I call him and tell him that I don’t like certain things that he is doing but I pray for him. And I pray for him because he represents Islam very well.
“Islam can live with disbelief but Islam cannot live with injustice. A Muslim who gets to power and he seizes that power to further the interest of Islam to the disadvantage of other stakeholders does not represent Islam.
“Almighty Allah tells us in Suratu Kahf where you read it canonically, you read it every time as if it is incantation without listening to the contents, look my friend, you think are promoting Islam but Allah says in this Surat of the Qur’an that you have lost out completely. You are like somebody who takes basket to the river to fetch water, your load is heavier but no content. The basket has stored more water and therefore the basket is heavier but no content therein.
“Anybody who is a Muslim must aspire to be just. When you are given trust, you must discharge the responsibility and for whatever imperfection, Almighty Allah will forgive you.
“I pray therefore for my brother the Governor of this State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, members of his family, that he will continue to discharge the responsibility of this state with the fear of Allah has placed on him. At times when I see him and the Deputy, I will be mistaking the Deputy Governor for my sister the wife of the governor because they look alike and because Almighty Allah has given him the wisdom to manage the two women in his life.” And all went aglow in laughter as Oloyede continued his prayer, “May Almighty Allah be with him, continue to guide him, continue to make him model for the righteous.”
The prayer session did not end there. Prof. Is-haq who is former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and currently Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, got to the point of praying for the Sultan and he said:
“To His Eminence, I believe he doesn’t like people specially praying for him but that is why I am not looking at his side because anybody who deserves to be prayed for, whether you pray for him or not, Almighty Allah will grant him the content of the prayer. He has been a bridge builder. He has been somebody who has not just the interest of this country at heart but the interest of humanity. If Oloyede can work with somebody, you know that that person is very simple. You know Oloyede is one person that normally quarrel with everybody. But this is a person you cannot quarrel with not just because he is the leader but most of the times he acts like the servants of the people.
“If not for that, how many times, in fact, it has become so common that I now see some of our Kabiyesi (Obas) eating in public. It is a taboo here Kabiyesi to eat in public but now, when you put to Sultan, like the governor said yesterday that the Sultan should come and eat in his sitting room and there and then you find the Sultan in the common dining room eating. And when you say the Sultan does not eat in public he said, ‘Yes, you are my true enemy. It is my enemy who does not want me to interact with the people I lead.
“May God continue to be with him, may God continue to strengthen him, may God continue to give him everything that he requires to lead this complex community. As he goes about leaving his own immediate family, leaving his own immediate community and becoming the Sultan of Nigeria because he is not just the Sultan of Sokoto, may Almighty Allah take care of Sokoto for him, may Almighty Allah take care of his own family, may Almighty Allah provide everything that he needs so that he will be our leader in this world and in the hereafter. He will not just be a follower, he will also be a leader. I pray that Almighty grant him everything that he will need to do in this world that will secure him the leadership position in the hereafter,” he prayed for the Sultan.
Before he moved on, the Professor, who is chief scribe of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, said, “I was wondering what is important in the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs?” He answered straight away, “I believe the issue is the Sultan. Ten, 15, 20 years ago when you talked of Supreme Council, many people would just want to go, they would say they are only sighting the moon. But it is because you have a dynamic leader that even the servant in paradise becomes a better person than a king in hell. It is because of the leadership who has made the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to be relevant. That is why people believe that the Supreme Council is important,” Oloyede posited.
He then moved on to the man of the day, Babalola, and said, “Many people have spoken about our Baba, S. O. Babalola. I will pray for you but before I pray for you, when people are talking about you, yes, you exceptional, you are generous but for me, you are yet to pass the test. I know you do a lot of things for the development of Islam in Nigeria. I know so many things you do. But when I will respect you the more is when is when I see what you do with the Lagos Central Mosque. When I see that you continue to pump your resources to the Lagos Central Mosque, I believe at that time, it will be clear to everybody that you are exactly what and what we think you are. I pray Almighty Allah will make that possible for you.” Oloye told S. O. Babalola at the event and then prayed for him for Allah to grant him the wisdom and strength with which he would steer the Muslim Ummah in the Southern part of Nigeria as Deputy President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
Oloyede however pointed it out that Alhaji S. O. Babalola had a lot of responsibility representing the Sultan in Southern Nigeria which, according to the university don, means that Muslims who were having litigations among themselves in Rivers State would need to be a duty that Babalola would look into and that he would ensure that Muslims are in good order from Port Harcourt to Lagos and Enugu to Ibadan. He then prayed that Allah would give the strength to achieve success in all the responsibilities.
