‘Why Nigerians should continue to pray for the nation’

A reputable Islamic organization, Lutful-lahi International, has organized a special prayer for Nigeria to commemorate the beginning of the New Islamic Year in Lagos.

Speaking at the prayer session, the founder, Sheikh Mohammed Robiu Adebayo Abdul Malik congratulated Muslims on the celebration of the Hijrah 1439 and charged them to continue to pray for the Nation.

According to him, Hijrah has a great significance in Islam because it brought about the calculation of the Islamic calendar. “Without Hijrah, we would not have what we know as day, month and year today. It shows the importance of Islam, migration of the Prophet and his companions to establish a place where they were free to practice their religion.”

He said the lessons from the Hijrah are countless and Muslims would continue to reflect upon it forever. “It was a turning point in history. It was the start of a period when the Prophet would go from being the oppressed man of Makkah to the one who returned as a benevolent ruler of the world. The prophet would have to slip away in the night avoiding murderers and would come back years later victorious and while glorifying Allah. In fact, even during the time of the Prophet, towards the end of his life, Allah reminded the believers of the Hijrah and of how Allah had helped him through it.”

Sheikh Abdul Malik, therefore, called on the Muslim faithful to intensify on prayers for the nation against all manners of afflictions that we seem to be currently undergoing in term of economic hardship and insecurity, praying for Allah’s intervention. No matter how cumbersome a problem can be, it can never be compared to the one encountered by the prophet.

He admitted there are forces militating against Nigeria’s progress and unity. “It is prayer that is repelling these forces. So, we should intensify our prayers.” The cleric itemized some challenges confronting the country to include corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, political instability, disregard for law and order, weak public institutions, poor public policies, weak leadership, and poor quality and inadequate provision of public services.

“Nigeria as Giant of Africa, if it has problem, certainly, all other African countries are also in trouble. We must all join hands to pray for the country and our leaders, God should touch their hearts to deliver on their promises. We cannot say one is good or bad because we are not there but the person doing good Allah knows likewise the one doing bad, and they shall be rewarded accordingly.”

He decried politicians manipulating poverty among the populace to get away with their excesses. He warned, “If the politicians, regardless of their faith, do not desist from punishing the poor masses, they are expecting the wrath of Allah.”

He charged religious leaders too, saying “We are the one closer to the poor, we are the one that know what people are going through. We should always speak truth to the power…”

He admonished political class to ensure that justice and fair-play prevail in their actions and utterances saying, the Change Agenda led by President Muhammad Buhari administration should start from the political leaders. “How many government officials are in support of the change agenda we are talking about? Apart from the president and few government officials, majority of the political class have failed to key into the Change Agenda given the volume of scandalous activities being reported daily in the media.

“It is important to remind this government that they have launched ‘Change Begins With Me’ programme, let that manifest in all their actions. That is only way for the country to receive Allah’s blessing and prayers we are offering will be effective.” He concluded.