Sultan commissions new mosque in Osogbo

The spiritual leader and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Friday commissioned a magnificent mosque built by a business mogul, Asiwaju Olatunde Badmus, to mark his 80th birthday.

Represented by the Chairman of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria, Rasaki Oladejo, the supreme leader, formally commissioned the project in the name of Allah in Osogbo.

He called on Muslims to restore the mosque to its original role as a centre for education, justice, and social development, warning that its reduction to a place of worship alone has contributed to the backwardness of the global Muslim Ummah.

According to him, “The first mosque in Islam, Masjid Qubah in Madinah, established by Prophet Muhammad in 622 CE, functioned as more than a prayer ground.

“That Mosque was designed to serve Islam by accommodating such necessary institutions as School, Library, Treasury, Information Centre, Court of law, Mini Parliament and even Hospital,” he said.

“Unfortunately, because of Muslims’ diversionary penchant for accumulating material wealth, the Mosque gradually declined to the level of a place of worship alone”.

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“And that is the real cause of the backwardness or even retardation in which the global Muslim Ummah is entangled today.”

Commending Asiwaju Khamis Olatunde Badmus for building the edifice, Oladejo said the philanthropist was fulfilling a long-standing Islamic duty placed on him and other Yoruba Muslim leaders such as M.K.O Abiola and Aare Arisekola Alao, by the League of Imams and Alfas of Yorubaland.

He cited the Hadith promising paradise for those who build mosques for Allah, and referenced Qur’an 28:77, urging wealthy Muslims to “seek with the wealth which Allah has bestowed on you, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world.”

Oladejo also stressed the need for proper maintenance, quoting Qur’an 9:18, and advised Badmus to endow the mosque to ensure its upkeep.

“May I therefore strongly advise that the maintenance of the Mosque should be accorded top priority if we are to show appreciation and sustain the beauty of the edifice and maximise our reward from Allah,” he said.

He concluded with a call for proper understanding of Islam, saying true religious knowledge produces “disciplined, compassionate and enlightened Muslims who build peace and not destroy it.”

“Religion should transform us inwardly, turning intolerance into friendship, hostility into love and conflict into collaboration,” he said.