BY NKECHI NAECHE—-Muslim faithful in Insurance practice converged recently for the annual Ramadan Tafsir (Lecture) organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).
The event, seventh in the series, provided the platform for exchange of ideas on issues pertinent to sociocultural and political harmony.
The Cheif Imam, Igbarere Central Mosque, Magodo, Ikeja, Imam Abdul-Aziyz Ibrahim Olaniyi, has charged Muslims and Christians as well as other religious sects to live in unity, noting thT there are more things that unite us than the diversity.
Speaking at the 2019 Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN) Ramadan Lecture in Alausa Central Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, noted that, God knew there will be different religions as referenced in the Quran, meaning that , Allah recognised all religions.
According to him, “From different quranic verses cited earlier, it becomes clear that Allah (God) does not belong to Muslims alone. He does not reject anyone on the basis of differences in their manners of worship. Whichever way you have adopted provided you believe in Him and the Day of judgement and you neither antagonize others nor associate partners with Him in worship, you are His people. Therefore His people should be united.”
Speaking on what is currently causing disunity in the world, he said: “Most of the troubles in the world today are caused by the political and religious leaders and blind followership. Politics is essentially composed of vying for the monopoly and control of very scarce but valuable resources of the society. Usually, vying for something entails unhealthy competition (ie Petty rivalry) The political strategy of “divide and rule” comes very handy in this situation. The Politicians, in order to win, create dissention among the populace to distract them, gain their sympathy and support, thereby turning them against the others.”
He stressed, “The effects of these aforementioned tools cannot be overemphasized and are not unknown to us all. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our enemies can no longer use our religious differences to destroy our relationships and continue to enjoy the benefits of their dastardly deeds, while we suffer the consequences. Unity is the only viable panacea to cure disaffection among the people. Unity helps to build and develop the society while the struggle for supremacy only destroys the beautiful community built by God.”
President CIIN Eddie Efekoha applauded the past president of the institute, Fatai Kayode Lawal,for introducing the event to the institute.
He promised to sustain the event yearly as it is helping the spiritual well-being of members.
