Islamic Cleric Harps On Religious Tolerance

Amid rising religious intolerance in the country, Nigerians of different faiths have been urged to imbibe the culture of mutual trust and sincerity to ensure freedom of religion.

The chief missioner of Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society (NASFAT), Imam Abdul-Azeez Onike, gave the admonition in his goodwill message to Nigerians as Muslims set to celebrate Sallah.

He said only the culture of mutual trust and sincerity to one another would guarantee good interfaith relations and peaceful co-existence, stressing that the continuous accusation and counter accusations of religious persecution and intolerance will not do the nation any good.

Citing the presentation of Prof Usman Yusuf who represented the president of Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar Sa’ad, at the 2nd Annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington DC on June 28-30, 2022, Onike said: “The situation where the religion of Islam is painted as the aggressive party, violators of peaceful coexistence and religious freedom by people who profess other faith, will not assist our resolve to fight our common enemy: those who are involved in banditry, kidnapping and other vices.

“As the people of faith, we are not expected to fan the embers of discord and heat up the polity by feeding our members and the outside world with distorted facts about the insecurity situations in the country, which evidently does not discriminate on the basis of religion or ethnicity.

Both Muslims and Christians and their worship centers have fallen victims to the dastardly acts of haters of peace, and we all should work together to defeat the enemies of peace. We need peace, security, love and tranquility, our Noble Prophet (SAW) says.”