Endorsing Christian court ‘ll relegate Nigeria, MSSN to lawmakers

BEING THE SPEECH OF THE AMIR OF MUSLIM STUDENTS’ SOCIETY OF NIGERIA, LAGOS STATE AREA UNIT, MALLAM SAHEED ASHAFA, AT THE FORMAL OPENING OF 102ND ISLAMIC VACATION COURSE HELD AT THE HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (HCDC) ON MONDAY, 26TH OF DECEMBER 2016.

I seek refuge in Allah, the Lord of Incomparable Majesty. He is Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

As-Salam Alaykum Waramatullah Wabarakatu.
All thanks and adoration are due to the Creator of the Universe, Allah (SWT). May His Infinite Blessings be upon the noblest of mankind, Muhammad bn Abdullah (SAW), his households, companions and the generality of Muslims (Amin).

Brothers and Sisters in Islam, I speak with you this morning with the highest sense of humility, hope and encouragement. This year, we are gathered to address an important theme – In the Shade of Islam. It is pertinent to note that it is an extension of the 100th IVC (الأساس ).This year’s theme was specifically chosen to correct our shortcomings as humans and proffer relevant solutions to the challenges confronting us as individuals, groups and as a nation.

The choice of this theme should raise many questions in our minds. For me, I asked “Why did we, Muslims, allow ourselves to be misled up to this stage?” At a point I was forced to ask myself whether we have representatives of Islam in the governance of our dear nation. Well, these are questions for all of us to ponder upon. Specifically, the guest speaker of today, Ustadh Ridwanullah Muhammad Jamiu, is the lecturer is an erudite scholar whose judgement on issues can be trusted. I implore us to pay rapt attention as he speaks to the theme of this year’s camp.
Before you leave this camp, I have some things to tell you! I have come to learn that we Muslims have a lot of roles to play that we have neglected. We seem to join the blame game instead of creating the games for others to follow. It is high time, I must say, we began to tackle issues as youths before the government ruin the nation beyond repair. Human form of leadership has definitely failed us; hence, there is a need to seek for Allah’s Shade.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, almost everyone here is a part of the youth, therefore we must subject our entire life to the shade of Islam. In our youthful age, it is important that we pay attention to Islam and stand firm to combat oppression. I understand the humiliation and embarrassment you go through in your schools for wearing the Hijaab, I share the pains you go through and the punishments you face as outstanding Muslim students. Though we do not deserve the condemnable maltreatment melted on us, we must not relent in striving to get a slot in the shade of Islam.

When we leave this camp, we want us to go and put things in the right perspective anywhere we find ourselves. Brethren, it doesn’t matter if we are the only one. What matters most is shaping our environment and community to align with Allah’s shade. For Nigeria to develop, our system of government must follow that of Allah. We cannot stop suffering from the effects of recession and our policies will not beget favourable outcomes if we do not stop operating an economy that survives on interest – Ribaa. We have to apply Islamic principles of accountability, governance and law for us to witness economic rejuvenation. Government must also know that attempting to initiate certain laws is an embarrassment to this nation and mockery of the collective intelligence of the over 170 millions Nigerians in the country. It is ridiculous to see Nigeria lawmakers waste our resource to deliberate on establishing a Christian Court and endorsing the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEFOD) bills. Either or both of these bills, it should be noted, will relegate the little progress Nigeria has made so far, destroy our legal framework and damage completely our value system.

Leaving government out of this, we youths are vibrant tools for Islam. As much as we need Islam, Islam needs us too.

During this time, we should dedicate ourselves to the service of Allah with all our might. We should be careful as this is the time a lot of people want to take control of our life, expose us to a lot of temptations and bad orientation. Think in the way of Allah and not the way of the West. Don’t let the challenges of recession push you to doing wrong things or dictate your way of life for you. You are in a very critical stage, and what you invest your time in matters. Never forget that without Allah, life is not worth living; with Allah, life is what dying for.

Dear delegates, I am impressed by your turnout in this phase of the camp. I salute our courage to leave our comfort zones not to go to the world’s most beautiful places but an uncompleted camping venue.
May Almighty Allah be with you.

Saheed Ashafa,
Amir,
MSSN Lagos.