Discipline and organisation

By Mallam AbdulGaniyy Ibrahim

FORM a strong organisation for propagating religion and make a concentrated and collective struggle to establish Islamic order. This is a directive from Allah. Wal takun minkum ummatun yad'una ilalkhairi wa ya'muruna bal marufi wa yanhauna 'anil munkar, meaning, And there must exist at least a group among you which should call people towards goodness, enjoining good and prohibiting wrong and evil.

Al-Khair denotes all that is naturally good and which has always been regarded as good by human nature and which has been attested as good by the revealed books. A comprehensive and systematic form of all that is good and virtuous is the religion of God which the Apostles (p.b.u.h) have been transmitting to the world in every successive epoch and whose final, complete, authentic and fully preserved form are Qur'an and Sunnah which the Holy Prophet Muhammad ( p.b.u.h) bequeathed to the Ummah.

To call people towards this good and to enrich the world with virtue, it is imperative that Muslims should form a party and perform this duty in an organised manner. They should forge strong and well-knit front and launch a well-organised and concentrated struggle to eliminate the wrong and evil from every sphere of life.

Allah describes this unity and strength of the Muslims with appreciation and praise and lauds their collective and concentrated struggle. Innallaha yuhibbuladhina yuqatiluna fi sabilihi saffan kaannahum bunyanum marsus, meaning Verily God loves those who fight His cause arrayed in ranks as though they were a structure cemented with molten lead. Make Islam the foundation of your unity and organisation as the distinguishing feature of an Islamic organisation is nothing but total submission to Allah. Any organisation, unity or alliance based on the foundation of Islam and Islam only. Anything other than Islam cannot cement relations of brotherhood and unison. It will rather disperse and disintegrate the people and instead of forming a powerful and well-knit unit and organisation with singularity of purpose and procedure, they will be divided into several sects and faction.

If you form a party, the only objective before you should be to establish the rule of God and all your struggle and efforts should devoted achieve this goal only. Wa'atasimu bihablillahi jami'am wala tafarraqu wadhkkuru n'imatallahi 'alaikm idh kuntum a'ada'an fa-allafa baina qulubikum fa-asbahtum bin'imatihi ikhwana (3.103). The Holy Qur'an affirms: “And hold fast all of you together to this rope of Allah and do not separate. And remember Allah's favour unto you how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye become as brothers by His grace. The rope of God, means Islam , the 'Religion of God.’ According to the Holy Qur'an, it is Islam which forms the basis of the unity and organisation for Muslims.

Anything else will only divide them into a number of factions instead of uniting and unifying them. Love those working for the cause of Islam from the core of your heart and consider this connexion as the most important and the most inestimable of all connexions. Describing the characteristics of the believers, the Holy Qur'an affirms: La tajidu qauman yuminuna billahi walyaumil akhiri yuwadduna man had-dallaha wa rasulahu wa lau hanu aba-'ahum au abna-' ahum au ikhwanahum au ashiratahum. (58.22)

Extend support and good counsel to your colleagues in the party and keep alive the sprit of mutual guidance and advice in your party life, for this is the real key to success. Wal'asri innal insana lafi khusrin illalladina' amanu wa amilussalihati wata wasau bil haqqi wa towasaubissab. By the time, surely man is ever in a state of loss except those who believe and do righteous deeds and exhort one another to preach truth and exhort one another to be steadfast.

Observe party discipline with full care, and do not consider it only a means of strengthening your party, but see it as a religious duty. God affirms: Inamal mo'minunal-ladhina amaniu billahi wa rasulihi wa idhu kanu am'ahu ala'amrin jami'in lam yadh-habu hatta yasta'-dhinuhu. Innalladhina yast'dhinu-naka ulaikalladhina yo'minuna billahi wa rasulihi.

The only true believers are those who believe in Allah and His messengers and when they are with him on some common errand go not away until they have asked leave of him. Lo ! those who ask leave of thee, those are they who believe in Allah and His messengers. Extend sincere co-operation in all the good works that are being carried out by the party and exert yourself to the maximum in the effort. Do not stain the purity of your moral character by entertaining any evil sentiments such as selfishness, or personal and self-glorification.

Wata'auanu alalbirri wattaqwa. And cop-operate with each other in good works of piety and God-fearing.

MURIC charges FG on journalists’ welfare

By Adebayo Waheed

From left: An Islamic preacher, Sheikh Ibrahim Ayede,
Dr. Tajudeen Lawal, Commissioner for Industries in
Oyo State and Alhaji Busari Alarape who represented
the Olubadan of Ibadan at the 34th anniversary of the
Young Muslim Brothers and Sisters(YOUMBAS)
recently in IbadanTHE Federal Government has been urged to establish a special fund for the welfare of victims and orphans left behind by journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty. The director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Dr. Is-haq Akintola, who gave the charge in a statement in Lagos said such orphans should enjoy scholarship from primary to university level while the welfare package should include accommodation for the family left behind.

Commending the leadership of the NUJ in Nigeria for its courage to uphold the truth, to redress wrongs and to affirm the Allah-given and fundamental human rights of mankind, he stated that past years had witnessed ugly incidents in the profession of journalism. According to him, many journalists were detained, some were beaten up and traumatised by “thugs” in police uniform.

He, therefore, called on the government to build and strengthen its partnership with the press. “We charge governments at all levels to evolve means of providing better welfare and adequate protection to journalists.

‘Pay compensation to victims of religious disturbances’

Nigeria Inter Religious Council (NIREC) has called on government to compensate victims of religious disturbances. Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, NIREC’s Executive Secretary, in a communique after a meeting in Borno State, said the council resolved to caution reckless religious preachers who conduct inciting sermons.

The communique called faith-based organisations to build a systematic platform for peace and religious harmony. It also called for capacity building for religious organisations to enable them embark on peace and confidence- building measures across the faiths.

``Government should provide measures to curb small arms in the society which create a culture of violence and major source of rising crime in the society”, it said. It also called on the government to accelerate attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the enlistment of Muslims and Christians to help tackle corruption.

`It commended government's efforts in addressing the food crisis and called for long term measures to increase production for food security.

NASFAT strategises for next level

THE Chairman of Nasru-lahi-il- Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) Ibadan branch, Mr. Tajudeen Akinbode, has called on members to chart a new course towards taking the society to the next level.

Akinbode, while speaking at the 2008 retreat of the society with the theme “Taking NASFAT to the next level” in Ibadan, identified six-point strategic plan of action for the society.

The plan include: Revitalising Asalat; building the future of NASFAT; developing Asalat grounds, empowering members, improving internal cohesion and external cooperation and converting NASFAT clinic to a primary health centre.

Towards revitalising the Asalat, he said efforts would be made to develop the missioners, discover and tap their talents, make them comfortable and recruit more missioners.

According to him, “the society will commence Arabic classes for Muslim children, establish a model college and organise seminars for members so that they will have knowledge about happenings around them.

He said that members would be empowered through capacity building, ensuring that, at least, 50 per cent of unemployed members were given jobs.