How Oyo TMC trekked to welcome Ramadan

MEMBERS of The Muslim Congress (TMC) in Oyo State welcomed Ramadan 1440 in style with a trek, last weekend, across some parts of Ibadan. The walk was used to impress on the residents of the city, the imminence of the coming of the Month of Mercy – which began the world over on Monday. The walk, tagged “Trek to Welcome Ramadan,” was a byproduct of the organisation’s “Trek for Life,” a quarterly programme which is based on a firmly held belief established by a hadith that “a strong believer is better and dearer to Allah than a weak one.” TMC usually ties the trek to important national and global events, and this time around, Ramadan.

The trekkers, who took off from Mapo and marched through Molete and Dugbe and terminated their journey at Sabo Central Mosque, carried placards that bore various inscriptions that affirmed the uniqueness of the holy month of fasting. The participants were guided during the trek by members of a department of TMC known as Congress Guards. A highlight of the trek was the “Feed the Needy” initiative which saw the presentation of food items to members of the public as the trekkers moved along in some areas.

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The Wali (Coordinator) of the faith-based non-governmental organisation in the state, Alhaji Dawud Oladosu, said the decision to package the trek this way this time was to make it have far-reaching effects on the society by way of preparing the public for the arrival of the Month of Mercy.

Oladosu urged every Muslim to embrace Ramadan spiritually, mentally and physically and fast as prescribed by Allah and according to the dictate of Prophet Muhammad.

He added that the decision of the group to incorporate the “Feed the Needy” programme into the trek was “to remind well-to-do members of the society of their duty to the underprivileged at this period of Ramadan.”

He implored the faithful to use the special month to earn maximum rewards from Allah.

Also, the state secretary of the organisation, Alhaji Abdul Azeez Bamigbade, said, “The essence of the feeding programme is to pass the message that as a Muslim, you don’t think about yourself alone; you have to realise that there are people out there that are not comfortable one way or another. You should know that some people find it difficult to have even one meal per day and one of the objectives of TMC is to provide succour for the people.”

He noted that one of the contemporary issues in the country at the moment “is security and the religion of Islam does not joke with security.”

He, therefore, advised all Muslim organisations to focus their Ramadan lectures and tafsir on the role of Islam in securing the lives and property of the people.

“Islam doesn’t encourage killing. Islam doesn’t encourage terrorism. Islam doesn’t encourage disruption of the peace of the society. So, in most of the lectures that will be delivered, I implore the lecturers to talk about what Islam has to say about the security situation in the country,” Alhaji Bamigbade said.