The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and eminent Islamic scholars including the Grand Mufti of Ilorin, Sheikh Sulaiman Faruq Onikijipa and the Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Sheikh Ridwanullah Jamiu have admonished Muslim parents to be of exceptional character to their children and role models in the society.
They gave the council at the 15th annual hijrah lecture/prayers organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday under the theme: “The Increasing wave of moral decadence in the society.”
In his opening remarks, Chief host and speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa stated that hijrah is about propagating the goodness of Islam in society.
He said, “When we come together to celebrate hijrah, what does this stands for? Annually, we do thanksgiving and invite eminent personalities from across the state, this is to promote Islam. We must come together to elevate Islam and spread the message of the prophet of Islam.
“This is for a purpose and that is to spread the message of peace with the aim of curtailing vices and societal ills. Today’s theme is the increasing wave of moral decadence in our society. As parents and leaders, we need to look inward. Who we are reflecting in our children. How is our children behaving out there? This should be our concern. The essence of Islam is to differentiate Muslims from non-Muslims.
“No matter the challenge we have in the country, we must be united and distinguish ourselves as Muslims. We have challenges and finding lasting solutions to these challenges start with us. It starts with our clerics and followers. When this is done, we can then take it to the society. Hijrah is about propagating goodness to the society.”
In the first lecture delivered by Sheikh Jamiu, he disclosed that the value of man lies on three things. This, he identified as knowledge, strength and honesty.
He added, “Allah has given us the Qur’an which is the manual to guide us on earth. The Quran is a comprehensive guide which Allah has given to us to earn Aljanah. The value of a man lies in three things. These are knowledge, strength and honesty. If the first one is missing, forget about the last one and if the second is missing, then forget about the other two.
“Allah forbids indecency and injustice among His creatures. For a society to progress and develop, we must uphold justice. Justice is giving people their right. You must observe your duties towards everybody. As a father you have a duty towards your wife and children and vice versa.
“As an employer and employee, you have duties towards each others. Islam wants us to do our duties before you ask for your rights. Allah wants dutifulness. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Everybody has the right to be angry but when you are angry, what you do determines the level of your moral uprightness.
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“Kindness to every one is another. Allah commands kindness and generosity to your relatives. You always wish well for others. Tolerating people irrespective of their ethnic or tribal affiliations. Allah has forbidden indecency. Things that are dirty like fornication, adultery, corruption, homosexuality, nudity, gambling all more. Allah has not left us to determine these for ourselves. He has determined it for us. He forbids indecency. Allah has given us the Qur’an which is the moral code for both males and females. When you inflict harms on others, that is wickedness.”
On solutions to the increasing moral decadence, he said, “The solutions to moral decadence are in three ways. The first one is personal, another is parental and lastly, government. The best in character is the best in faith. The best in character, the prophet says will be with him in Janah. As parents, we need to be role models for our children. Parents are the first teachers of their children. Create time for your children because they are vulnerable. Be careful of social media. Don’t give them phones until they are adult.
The third is government. We have laws and these laws must be enforced. We need to curb unethical practices through legislation. Why should we have organisations that promote indecency if we have laws?
Importantly, the government need to eradicate examination malpractices if we want our children to be morally upright. This is moral contradiction. Let’s use this to do our hijrah. Let us abstain from all the vices the Quran has forbidden for us.”
In the second lecture, Sheikh Onikijipa reiterated good character as the determinant of the kind of person an individual is.
He said, “If good character is missing, everything is missing in human and the society. If three things are missing in the leaders, the country cannot be good. If the wealthy are not good the society cannot be better and the clerics, if they are not good, the country cannot be good.”
He also advised the lawmakers to legislate on regulation of the social media, indecent dressings and cybercrime. This, according to him, causes more harm than good.
On the planned nationwide protest, he advised the youths to be patience with the government and shun protest.
He said, “Instead of getting angry and destroy valuables and state assets, let us turn to Allah in prayers and pray for our leaders. Going the way of violent protest won’t solve the challenges confronting the country.”
In attendance at the lecture were members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), representatives of religious organisations and members of the public.
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