The National Amir of the foremost Islamic group, Jama’atul Izalatul Bid’a Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), Shiek Bala Lau,in this interview with MOHAMMED ISMAIL,revealed reasons why the group organises prayer sessions for President Muhammadu Buhari in the ongoing Ramadan fasting, among other issues.Could you tell us the rationale behind the prayer sessions organised by your group for the success of the incumbent administration?There is no denying the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari assumed the mantle of power on the crest of popular votes of Nigerians. Our religion has taught us to fervently pray for our leaders because such prayers will come around to affect our fortunes positively. It should be stressed that praying during the month of Ramadan is important as any prayer offered by a fasting Muslim is automatically accepted.It is important to pray for leaders because if they are good, the goodness will transcend to every citizen of the country and if otherwise, the consequences will be felt by all and sundry. It is in this respect that the foremost scholar, Ahmad Bin Hambali said, if he has only one prayer thatwill be accepted, he will not pray for himself but will offer the prayer to the leadership, because if he prays for himself,only him will get the benefits but if he prays for the leadership, everybody will get the benefit. If a leader is in good health, and spirit, it will affect all in the country. We have organised such prayers across allour mosques in the country so that Allah will continue to enrich the president with the required dose of wisdom and benevolence to steer the ship of our great country to the promised land especially against the backdrop of the successes his administration has recorded in its fight against the dreaded Boko Haram sect which consumed many lives and properties of innocent Nigerians. It is an established fact that now peace and normalcy have returned to the beleagueredcities that were pulverised by those callousagents of destruction. So we need to pray for the prevailing peace to be engendered in the region.I will also use this opportunity to call on Niger Delta Avengers and all other groups fomenting trouble to desist from such actions as they are capable of setting the country to perdition. Nigeria is the only country we have and we must salvage its problems together. I must also state here that whether we like it or not, Christians and Muslims must coexist together in the country as that was a design of God.There is profound mutual suspicion between adherents of the two major religions in the country occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, what call do you have on the need for all parties to embrace the spirit of reconciliation?You are quite right that the Boko Haram has left in its wake mutual suspicion and distrust between people that were hitherto living in peace. My call on all and sundry is that, everyone should know that Boko Haram was neither created by Muslims or Christians but created by the enemies of the country in order to set the country on a war path. To buttress my point, it was on record that both adherents of the two religions have been badly afflicted by the insurgents because these insurgents have killed quite a huge number of Muslims, destroyed their properties and burnt down their worship centres like Christians.So people need to understand that neither Muslims nor Christians were the problem but those who want to set the country ablaze and they cut across all religious divides. I am calling on Muslims and Christians to put whatever happened in thepast and forge a new relationship. I call on all of us to respect each other’s religion because respect is reciprocal and usually leads to enduring peace and tranquillity.We are also in the know that your organisation has organised a package for the orphans in the North East. What is the wisdom behind that?The wisdom was to ensure that those orphans are giving a sense of belonging and training so that they will grow to become responsive and responsible members of the society. Lack of this type of social welfare was one of the reasons associated with the current insecurity challenges we are facing. So to have an enduring and lasting peace, every conscious Nigerian must ensure that social security schemes such as the one we are doing are promoted. For the programmes to succeed, we set a target oftaking care of five thousand orphans in each state with the exception of Kano which was given higher target. We are alsoencouraging other bodies to assist such orphans especially from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe so as to help them pick the pieces of their lives. It is important to stress that Muslims should copy the philanthropic disposition of the holy prophet who gives to the needy without hesitation or looking back.In fact one of the morals of Ramadan fast is to ensure that the high and the mighty who can afford the luxury of food also get a mite of what the masses who could not afford food are going through. So Muslims should embrace the spirit of assisting the less privileged members of the society.It is in that regard that our organisation recently donated prosthetic legs and hands to amputee members of the society including Christians and are also in the habit of freeing prison inmates whom fate brought into the facility.
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