Friday Worship

UNLIKE other 11 months of Muslim lunar calendar, the holy month of Ramadan offers Muslims opportunity to build up righteous deeds, erase all wrongdoings and earn superfluous blessing of the Almighty.

The essence of exercise for healthy life was recently exhibited by some Muslims in Lagos, as they preached peace and good governance in the country.

MANY people can’t get through a workday without their morning coffee, much less a meal, but with the holy month of Ramadan in full force, millions of Muslim employees across the country will go about their days without food or drink for more than 14 hours at a time.

Tariq Ramadan, a distinguished scholar of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, writes in his ground breaking work – Western Muslims and the Future of Islam – that “In the West, the idea of Shari’ah calls up all the darkest images of Islam….It has reached the extent that many Muslim intellectuals do not dare even to refer to the concept for fear of frightening people or arousing suspicion of all their work by the mere mention of the word.”

BRETHREN, this year’s Ramadan is now over a week old. The month has come at a time most Nigerians are seeking answers to questions which border not only on the future of this assemblage of ethnic contrarieties called Nigeria but equally on the destiny and the destination of our existence on terrestrial earth.

MUSLIM scholars across the country have been urged to focus on the real exegesis of the glorious Qur’an which depicts love, kindness, fear of Allah (SWT), good neighbourliness, honesty, among others in their respective tafsir (lecture) sessions during the Ramadan season.

AS Muslims across the country join their counterpart across the world in the yearly Ramadan fasting, some reputable Islamic scholars have urged the faithful to uphold the culture of discipline in their daily endeavours.

Brethren, I thought today’s sermon should address an issue which we often gloss over or pay little attention to during the blessed month of Ramadan.

THIS sermon today is concerned with the exploration of newer paths towards a successful and more rewarding fasting season. Perhaps this should begin with the call for early preparation for the month of Ramadan.

On February 72008, Dr. Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury gave a lecture to the Temple Foundation at the Royal Courts of Justice (in United Kingdom) on the subject of “Civil and Religious Law in England: a religious perspective”.

The fear of the Ultimate and creator of heaven and earth, they say is the beginning of wisdom, and may therefore mark the begging of the success of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mohammad Buhari, as he clocks 15 days in office.

With no deep reflection, someone may wonder how do you relate the pleasure of life, most sought after with seeking forgiveness of Almighty God. The two are not only connected but well interlaced. Rain, the source of our water uses come down from the divine firmament. Science and technological devices are not yet harnessed to…