- Buhari, Sultan Pray For God’s Intervention, Peace In Nigeria
- Christian Clerics Promotes Inter-Religious Unity
The Sultan of Sokoto, President-General Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has announced the beginning of the Ramadan fast today (Saturday) April 2, 2022.
The day, he said is equivalent to the first day of the holy month of Ramadan 1443 AH, which signifies the beginning of the Ramadan fast.
The Sultan announced that the moon was sighted in many cities including Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Plateau, Kaduna, and Kano among others.
The Sultan called on all Nigerian Muslims to work towards peaceful coexistence with all in the country.
He also called for prayers for the nation and leaders of the country for God’s intervention in the affairs of the country.
He asked leaders to imbibe the fear of God in the discharge of their duties and also make effort to end the heightened insecurity in the country.
He urged citizens to love one another and work for the peace, unity, progress, and development of the country.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the beginning of the Ramadan fast.
In a statement signed by presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, the President said the period offers a unique opportunity to “feel the hunger experienced by the poor so as to feel what it is like to be deprived and marginalized.”
“Muslims,” the President said, “should seek greater personal discipline, which is necessary for the realization of a great nation.”
He advised the Muslim elite against food waste and extravagant spending while others face hunger and destitution, urging that they should care for their neighbors, the poor, and the marginalized.
He also called for prayers for peace in the country and beyond, and for healing and harmony throughout the world.
He wished all Muslims a successful completion of the 30-day fasting period.
Meanwhile, in a show of unity and promoting inter-religious tolerance, a Christian cleric and the former Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan last year shared iftar to almost 2,000 Muslim faithful at the Al-Habibiyah mosque in Guzape, Abuja where they had gathered to perform prayers before breaking their Ramadan fast together with Christian visitors.
Iftar is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.
Onaiyekan, while handing out the platters to the Muslims, said: “We are doing our best to spread an attitude of openness because we believe that God does not want his children to kill each other. He wants us to live in peace. So anything we can do to promote peace, we must do.”
Meanwhile, Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Fuad Adeyemi, said: “People see that the food we eat was given to us by Christian clergy, a cardinal that everyone knows.
“This is not an underground clergy. It shows that we can really live together, that we can be friends, and that we can live in peace.”
The clergy also prayed for peace in Nigeria which has been hit by a spate of kidnappings targeting schools in recent weeks and attacks on army and civilian targets by Boko Haram.
The event was also graced by the presence of Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong and Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) Mohammed Buba Marwa.
“Here today we have many Muslims and Christians breaking fast together, we must encourage this kind of religious harmony,” Lalong said. “Our prayer is that God will use this union to answer our prayer so that there will be peace in Nigeria and all over the world.”
Similarly, some Christian scholars in Kaduna joined their Muslim counterparts in breaking the fast in the spirit of Ramadan so as to strengthen religious tolerance, peace, love, forgiveness, and better understanding among them.
Speaking during the Iftar breakfast, the Leader of the team, General Overseer of Christ Evangelical and Life Intervention Ministry, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, Pastor Yohanna Buru, said for the past 11 years, he has been joining top Nigerian Islamic scholars in breaking interfaith Ramadan Iftar breakfast to promote religious tolerance across the 36 states of Nigeria, Niger Republic and other neighboring countries.
Buru said the visitation is aimed at encouraging Christian-Muslim relationships in the state, to further strengthen peaceful co-existence and ties, religious tolerance, and forgiveness among Nigerians, and also to spread the message of peace and unity to shun all forms of ethno-religious, political, and regional differences.
Pastor Buru, was accompanied by Reverend Paul and John Moses, and other church members to the house of Mallam Rilwanu Abdullahi at Kakuri-Makera, Kaduna south.
They pointed out that Iftar gives them the opportunity to promote interfaith activities and spread the message of peace and better understanding, so as to live in peace and harmony with all mankind.
Buru said “every year he usually visited top Nigerian Islamic leaders and scholars including the Sultan of Sokoto, Dr. Sa’ad Abubakar, Shiekh Dahiru Bauchi, Shiekh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, Shiekh Salihu Mai-Barota, Shiekh Ibrahim Yaya, Alaramma Abdulrahman Mohammed Bichi during the Ramadan.
“We came with our clerics so as to build good relationships with Muslims and our religious teachers.
“We must love our Muslim neighbors, that is why we are here to join them in celebrating the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan and to urge them to rededicate their lives to the worship of Allah,” he said.
The Matrix is wishing all our Muslim readers, Happy Ramadan.
