NIGERIAN Muslims have been urged to be good ambassadors of Islam if indeed they want to be seen and respected as followers of Prophet Muhammad.
The president of the National Council of Muslim Missioners (NACOMM), Alhaji Rasheed Bakere, made the plea at a special programme organised by Mushin Ajina/Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye branch of the body to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (Eid-al Maulud).
Alhaji Bakere also described true Muslims as those who promote peace and love in the land and not those whose behaviours have become liabilities to Islam and its prophet.
He called on Nigerians to live in peace and promote love for the greatness of the country.
“Peace and love are important to build a great nation. We cannot claim to be good Muslims if we don’t love our neighbours. Throughout his lifetime, Prophet Muhammad lived in peace and love with people around him and that is why the world is celebrating him today.
“He is the best of human beings and he was integrity-personified. He didn’t lie; he didn’t steal; he didn’t gang up against another man; he was transparent and he was accountable. In fact, he warns in one of his sayings that whoever does not like for his neigbour what he wants for himself is not a Muslim,” the NACOMM president stated.
Bakere noted that the formation of NACOMM had deepened the propagation and understanding of Islam, particularly in the Mushin area of Lagos, called on Muslim leaders and politicians to promote peaceful coexistence and use their positions to better the lot of the society.
Earlier, the chairman on the occasion, Alhaji Yusuf Ayinla, popularly known as Anobi Mushin, urged Muslims to emulate Prophet Muhammad and try to be best versions of themselves anywhere they find themselves.
“Today, all over the world, Prophet Muhammad is being celebrated because he contributed positively to humanity. That was many years ago and he played his roles well. We are here today, we should also live for posterity by touching lives and doing all that is good,” he said.
The guest lecturer at the event, Sheikh Jamiu Ami Olohun, called on Muslims to always put their hope in Allah as help comes only from Him.
“Today, we talk about hustling as if that is what brings blessing to us. Anybody that makes it in life makes it not because he or she is hard-working but because Allah, in His infinite mercies, wants to lift such a fellow.
“We should shun any act that could make us associate partners with Allah and submit our lives totally to the one God that created heaven and earth,” he said.
The chief host of the event, the chairman of Odi Olowo/Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area, Mr Rasak Ajala, gave an address on behalf of himself, Honourable Adeyemi Ali representing Mushin 1 Constituency in the House of Representatives and Honourable Nureni Akinsanya of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
He said their presence at the event was meant to express gratitude for the support they got from the Muslim community during the last general election and to assure them of their commitment to delivering dividends of democracy to them.
“Last year, we joined the Muslim community in Mushin for this celebration as contestants, but today, we are here as honourable members in various cadres of government.
“While we are appreciating our fathers in Islam and the entire Muslim ummah, I want to assure this gathering that we remain committed to the cooperative scheme which we are putting in place to support our people at the grassroots,” he said.