A veteran journalist, Dr Femi Abbas, has lamented what he called the poor reading culture among Muslims, saying it portends danger for the Muslim community.
He made the remark in Ibadan, Oyo State, while delivering a lecture on media and Islam in contemporary Nigeria at the 14th biennial conference of the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA), Ibadan chapter.
Abbas said it was high time Muslims cultivated the habit of reading so that they could become well informed and more knowledgeable about Islam.
“The reality on ground is that Muslims don’t read. The percentage of Muslims that read is 10. It is very unfortunate and without reading, you cannot be informed and without information, you cannot be knowledgeable. Let Muslims read. They should not wait until an issue affects them before they start reacting,” he said.
Abbas, who is a newspaper columnist, said the media and Islam should not be viewed from the perspective of either friend or foe but be seen like in a competition where a party expects the other to advertise or sell its products.
“There is no question of friend or foe. You can not be in a competition with somebody and you expect him to advertise your product. You have to build your own publicity in your name and by yourself,” he explained.
He called on Muslims to patronise and at the same time invest in media as it remains a veritable tool even for the propagation of Islam.
In a remark, the chairman of the occasion, a former provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, Dr Tirimisiyu Oladimeji, expressed the belief that the media had not been fair to Islam in terms of objectivity and unbiased reportage.
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