By Rasheed Abubakar
NIGERIANS have been urged to develop the true spirit of love and cultivate the culture of praying for their country and the leaders.
The plea was made at a special prayer session tagged, “Muslims Pray for the Nation,” organised by The Muslim Congress (TMC) , Lagos State chapter recently.
Hundreds of Muslim faithful who graced the event in Lagos over the weekend prayed for Nigeria to overcome her current challenges.
Leading Islamic scholars in Nigeria including sheikh Moshood Jubril Ramadan and Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafii said one of the cardinal principle of religion and manifestations of love is to prayer for ones nation and its leaders.
“If the leaders are well guided and spiritually fortified, the nation too will be safe, peaceful and prosperous,” they said.
The clerics used the occasion to invoke Allah’s protection and guidance for the ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in London for medical follow-up.
The congregation also prayed for Lagos state, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary of existence.
Speaking with newsmen, the National Amir of the Congress, Dr Luqman AbdulRaheem said it is the responsibility of every religious organisation to be patriotic and show sincere love for the country.
As a responsible Muslim organisation, we felt that the love for our nation and president should be uppermost in our mind. That’s why we decided to dedicate this month’s Adhkar (prayer session) to pray for Nigeria and the president.
“This is not the first time TMC will be organising prayer for Nigeria. We do it everyday, either individually or collectively. This is what we do at our Adhkar (prayer) centres every month. We believe that we don’t have to go to Abuja or seek for political patronage before we can pray for our country. We believe that the success of Nigeria as a country is the success of her citizens.”
During the special prayer which lasted for 4 hours, attendees were seen reciting carefully selected invocation from the Qur’an and Hadith.
The Mufti of the Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafii said the love and prayer for one’s nation has established references in the Qur’an and Islamic history.
Sheikh Shafii cited instances in the Qur’an (Q2: 125-129) and (Q14: 35-40) when Prophet Ibrahim (AS) prayed for the city of Makkah to be secured and blessed with abundance of fruits and goodies.
He said, “The best of mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was quoted to have supplicated for Madina to be the best city in the world in several authentic narrations.
“Like the Prophet did, we are doing the same for our dear country, Nigeria. We also pray to Allah, the Giver and Taker of life; Giver and Taker of good health to remove all the illness in President Buhari’s body. May Allah give him wellness in the bone, blood and every part of his body”, he concluded.
The prayer conducted in a modest way without fanfare was attended by prominent Islamic scholars such as sheikh Tirmidhy Muhammad Jami’, sheikh Thaubãn Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory, Ustadh AbdurRazaq AbdusSalam, Ustadh Sherifdeen Ibrahim, Ustadh Salman Raji and Alhaji Mansour Adebayo.
Some central mosques imams in Lagos state were also present.
