Islamic News

Muslims have been implored to shun unscrupulous politicians who may wish to entice them with money during the 2011 general election in the country.

Delivering a lecture organised recently by the Muslim Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (MUTAN), Lagos State Education District 6, the Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society (ADS), Ipaja, Alhaji Abudul Rasheed Ibrahim Akinsanmi, said Muslims should only vote for credible people in order not to mortgage their future.

He also dispelled the notion that Muslims should not take part in politics, saying Islam was a complete way of life, which made provisions for politics and other endeavours.

According to him, the consequence of abandoning politics will be rule by misguided people with no fear of Allah.

He listed the roles of Muslims in the democratic governance in the country to include defence of the country’s democracy, educating others on the necessity of continuous existence of democracy in the country, discouraging tribalism and encouraging people to vote for only the right people.

Akinsanmi, who is also a retired school principal, admonished Muslim youths not to allow themselves to be used as political thugs during and after the 2011 elections.

THE Dean of Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Professor Murtada Bidmus, has lamented Muslims' lackadaisical attitude towards acquiring education, noting that education is the foundation of the five pillars of Islam and calls for an attitudinal change in the Nigerian Muslim Ummah.

Delivering a lecture entitled "Muslims and Education"  recently in Ibadan, Professor Bidmus stated that instead of bracing up to the challenges of educating their children, many Muslims in the country devoted their attention to things that were not so important.

Bidmus, who is also the Chief Imam of UNILAG, noted that most of Muslim children out of school were from polygamous homes, which he said was as a result of many Muslims giving priority to polygamy but were not ready to take up its responsibilities, submitting that monogamy was the rule in Islam, while polygamy was only an exception.

"If you look at the number of Muslim children out of school, you will discover that the majority of them are from polygamous homes. Many Muslim men take pleasure in marrying many wives, hinging this on the Qur'anic verse that permits marrying up to four wives but do not bother to understand the concluding part of the verse which says that if they cannot afford to be just, they should marry a wife," he said.