How to overcome challenges in Islam, by scholar

A former Commissioner for Home Affairs in Lagos State, Dr AbdulHakeem AbduLateef, has described gratitude and patience as two weapons to overcome challenges in Islam.

Dr AbduLateef stated this while delivering a lecture at during a special Juma’at prayer to commemorate the 60th birthday of a former chairman of Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, Afeez Ipesa-Balogun.

The special Juma’at service took place in the mosque built by his late wife, Monsurah Ipesa-Balogun Mosque, at Awoyaya, Lagos.

“Humans pass through four stages of existence. The first stage is when you are in your mother’s womb, second stage, when you are born to the world, thirdly, when you are in the grave and lastly, the Judgment Day.

“The most important of these stages is when we are born and staying on the earth’s surface. Why this stage is important is because it determines our afterlife, the Judgment Day,” AbduLateef said.

He noted that people went astray because they didn’t know that this world is a trial.

“So many people misinterpret success and failure. It is only Allah that determines who is successful and who is not successful.

“Some people gave themselves certificates of piousness, saying they are the pious ones. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an that only He knows who truly worships him. If we understand trial very well, we will not be running helter-skelter over trivial things,” the scholar said.

According to him, “trial is different from examination where questions are asked and you give the correct answer.”

He said: “Trial takes things from people by force, waiting for their reactions, to see if they will pass the test, and the greatest human enemy, Shaitan, will be on standby to mislead.

“The greatest mistake of humans is this prayer said by everyone, ‘God, don’t allow us to see trial’, whereas Allah created you with trial. The similitude of this popularly said prayer is that of a student who is praying for an exam to be cancelled instead of preparing for the exam. In such a situation, if the school eventually cancels the exam, another day will be fixed. So, praying not to witness trial is not a prayer, to overcome it is the actual prayer.

“All that Allah gave you is a trial, be it money, children, position and what have you. This is to let you know that we are already in, and how to overcome it is what we should be thinking of.

“There is nothing Allah can’t use to test us. Look at what is happening in Palestine. It is a trial from Allah. So many Muslim nations have been tested with war and with steadfastness they overcame it. People have been tested with death. Allah sees everything and there is a reason for everything.”

He said that if humans knew when they would die, they would never celebrate birthday.

“Just imagine a person was told he would die at age 61 and he clocked 60 years. Such a person would be in the mosque praying fervently asking for forgiveness instead of throwing a birthday party.

“We are not getting younger as we increase in age, because we don’t know when we will approach the end of our lifetime and this is a misery to us but best known to only Allah,” he noted.

Earlier, Ipesa-Balogun presented a book titled ‘Afeez Ipesa-Balogun, Mr Speaker…Exploration of the Archives’.

The book is a compendium of the odyssey of Ipesa-Balogun through birth, infancy, early school age, high school and tertiary institutions. Mostly centred on his dreams and accomplishments, it also chronicles the former council boss’ foray into the political landscape up to his diamond jubilee celebration.

The event featured the unveiling of the 60 winners of the Ipesa-Balogun@60 Scholarship Scheme, the presentation of the book, the book review and the cutting of the cake.

The celebrant said the book was dedicated to God, his parents – the late Alhaji Atanda Balogun and Alhaja Ramota Balogun (nee Akinboro) and his late wife, Monsurat Mosunmola Ipesa-Balogun.

“I want to thank my late parents for their inspiring sacrifices and my late wife for her dotting love,” he said.

Ipesa-Balogun appealed to Nigerians to be patient amidst the harsh economic situation.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu is a passionate leader who can never be happy with the situation of the country.

He described the economic situation as unfortunate but expressed optimism that the president would transform the country and improve the economy.

He said: “Nigerians should be patient with Mr President. He will improve their well-being because we have a lot we can export to generate foreign earnings. All the bottlenecks affecting economic growth will be removed; foreign exchange will be earned and the naira will be valuable again.

“I understand people smuggle our agricultural produce to neighbouring countries because of bottlenecks in our country. He will remove all the bottlenecks so that we can earn foreign exchange and at that point, we will begin to reduce pressure on the naira and naira will be valuable. You will start to see signals of good things happening after one year.”

He also advised the citizens to keep working hard and not give up.

“They should keep working hard, they should not give up. If one road is blocked, they should try alternative roads; that has been my life. As wrote in my paper, I wasn’t thinking about politics until my friend nominated me and I got to like it. Imagine a young man desperate to be an aeronautical engineer now a politician,” he said.

The book reviewer, Professor Olugbenga Akingbehin, said the book came at a time of severe dearth of politically stimulating books.

He said: “The book is a bright spark in the dark world of the Nigerian intellectual voyage. The book’s power and energy should, therefore, fuel the scholarly thirst of students, politicians, historians and future leaders. I hereby commend this invaluable book to the reading public.

“The book is a compendium of the odyssey of our own Afeez Ipesa-Balogun through birth, infancy, early school age, high school and tertiary institutions. Mostly centred on dreams and his accomplishments, it also chronicles the young man’s forays into the political landscape up to this day of the diamond jubilee celebration. The narrative is not devoid of his travails along the journey of life.”

A former chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, spoke of his connection with the celebrator as very important and that they have been together for a very long time.

He described Ipesa-Balogun as a good leader and a people-person who handles all situations excellently.

Fowler said: “Some of you might wonder about my connection with the celebrator. My first main meeting with him was when I was the Permanent Secretary/Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Revenue Service (LIRS).

“I was asked to monitor the Oshodi area but before I went, I was told that Oshodi was a very tough area. I got there with the chairman, he welcomed me so well. We had a little discussion about security and other measures. He handled everything excellently.

“I can tell you that during that exercise, there was no trouble, no problems. As we went around, you could see he knew exactly what was going on and the people loved him. That shows the type of leadership he gave in that area and since then, we became brothers and our relationships keep growing stronger.”

The Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, who was the chairman of the organising committee, described Ipesa-Balogun as a childhood friend.

Akinderu-Fatai said the book would serve as a good archive for generations.

He hailed the celebrator’s scholarship gesture, saying that the beneficiaries would cherish it for the rest of their lives.

The commissioner appreciated the guests for honouring their invitation.