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‘Why NASFAT is celebrating 21st anniversary’

By Editor
22 January 2016   |   4:06 am
IN a couple of weeks from now, the Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) will clock 21. And to mark this milestone in the life of an organization believed to have touched lives and contributed immensely to the upliftment of humanity generally, the leadership has lined up series of events, which kicked off last Sunday with…
NASFAT President, Engr. Kamil Bolarinwa (middle) and other officials at the unveiling ceremony of anniversary logo and flag last Sunday at Alausa, Lagos

NASFAT President, Engr. Kamil Bolarinwa (middle) and other officials at the unveiling ceremony of anniversary logo and flag last Sunday at Alausa, Lagos

IN a couple of weeks from now, the Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) will clock 21. And to mark this milestone in the life of an organization believed to have touched lives and contributed immensely to the upliftment of humanity generally, the leadership has lined up series of events, which kicked off last Sunday with the unveiling ceremony of the anniversary logo and flag.

NASFAT President, Engineer Kamil Yomi Bolarinwa who conducted the ceremony praised the Almighty for series of achievements the society has been privileged to realized in the last two decades of its existence.

“With fear of Allah in my heart, I would like to say since NASFAT came into the Nigerian society, the visibility of Muslims has increased. The understanding of who the Muslims are has increased positively. In the education sector, we have also made an impact. From nursery, primary school to secondary and to a university, we have made an impact. On a yearly basis, we made contribution to health, and regularly we also do preventive screening for our members. We also have empowerment programme such that you have Muslims who are self-employed. You have women who have gone into one business or the other because NASFAT makes it possible. We do not only give them training, we also make fund available to enable them to be self sufficient, thereby supporting their families strongly. In totality, you look at an organization that has been able to create jobs, wealth and peace. Therefore, we have made tremendous impact, may Allah continue to make it easy for us.”

On fostering peaceful co-existence among followers of other faiths, Bolarinwa said, “this is achieved through promoting understanding of one another. And if you are a true Muslim with proper understanding of the Holy Quran, you have no reason not to respect, for instance, Prophet Isa (Jesus) because he is a prophet of God, you must respect the Bible as a Muslim, and most importantly, our religion enjoins us to love our neighbours, to be at peace with our neighbours. And that we have successfully preached to our members, so, anywhere, our members are of best behavior, because they live the saying of the Prophet (SAW) that the best among you is one with best conduct. This concept is even reflected in the motto of the society and that is why we are what we are.”

He debunked the insinuation that Muslims are not walking the talk as far as promotion of peace is concerned with reference to insurgence going on in different part of the world, and in Nigeria especially.

“The allegation that those of us who know the religion are not walking the talk is not true. Have you come to our corner to see what we are doing? Have you followed us? Certainly, it is not a one-way thing. We need to make people realize that those who go into terrorism are not Muslims, because engaging in terrorism is like violating the injunction of Allah.”

Alhaji Bolarinwa canvassed the need for Nigerians to exercise patience with the government as they try to fix the country. “We need to be patient in this country. From day one when this country came into being, we have had issues, and you can’t solve the myriad of problems confronting us as a nation at a go. You need to take them one after the other. And the people need to be patient. But we seem to be in a hurry. The current government is less than one year and we expect that everything would be solved, it is not so. It has never happened anywhere. Every country has security problem, economic problem, employment problem… it is the understanding between the leadership and followership that determine success. If this country is going to be peaceful, economically buoyant, we must look inward individually what can we do for ourselves?”

And from Monday, January 25 to March 21, the anniversary committee team will embark on media visitation, radio, television and print publicity; world press conference is slated for March 17; Walk for dawah, free medical test, Women Biennial Conference/FUO documentary come up on March 26; and anniversary asalatu/ FUO documentaryon March 27.

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