THE Chief Missioner, Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society (NASFAT), Imam Abdul-Azeez Onike, has condemned the recent killing of an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Goni Aisami, describing it as “a clear demonstration of man’s inhumanity to man.”
He described the murder of Aisami in Yobe State on Friday, August 19, as “a clear demonstration of man’s inhumanity to man.”
According to him, it is a deprivation of Muslims of Islamic scholarship, which the murdered scholar was reputed to have been endowed with.
Onike said that the sacredness of life could be attested to by Allah’s statement in Quran 5:32.
“….He who slays a soul, unless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief on earth, shall be as if he had slain all mankind; and he who saves a life shall be as if he had given life to all mankind,” the chief missioner quoted Quran as saying.
Onike said that it was more painful if someone considered the vacuum and the negative consequences of snuffing the life out of the innocent scholar.
“Allah does not withhold knowledge by snatching it away from his servants, but rather He withholds knowledge by taking the souls of scholars, until no scholar remains and people follow ignorant leaders.
“Islam places so much premium on lives to the extent that the punishment for whoever intentionally takes the life of a person is to have his own life taken when not forgiven by the closest relatives of the person he killed.
“This punishment will prevent others from committing such dastardly act.
“The essence of the retributive punishments in Islam is to promote law and order, serve as deterrent, prevent spread of evil and give relief to the families of the victim.
“The punishment is not for revenge or quenching anger, the penalties for murder in Islam is both here and in the hereafter,” NASFAT chief missioner said.
He said that the failure to judge according to the dictates of the Creator is responsible for some of the acts of man’s inhumanity to man being experienced.
“Sentencing someone to jail for some offences is not going to give the offenders the deserved punishments as deemed fit by Allah,” Onike said.
He urged the government to ensure that the perpetrators of the killing of the revered scholar were made to face the music, irrespective of their status, religion or ethnicity.
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