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Happy Eid-el-Kabir
By Sun News Publishing
Friday, November 27, 2009
It is yet another season for the celebration of the Muslim festival
of Eid-el-Kabir or Eid-el- Adha, commonly referred to as Sallah
in Nigerian parlance. This festival observed by Muslim faithful
every year is characterized by the climbing of Mount Arafat by pilgrims
to the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia.
The occasion will witness the killing of rams and other festivities
by Muslims. It is a symbolic replication of what Prophet Ibrahim,
the Father of Faith, did many years ago by electing to sacrifice
to Almighty Allah his only son, Ismail, in obedience to Allah’s
injunction.
But before Ibrahim could do it, Allah replaced his son, with a ram,
and asked him to slaughter the ram, having found him faithful and
obedient to Him. Following this, Muslims, the world over, have since
been killing rams to mark the great historic and religious event.
The festival is anchored on faith and reenactment of Ibrahim’s
sacrifice to Allah. It affords the faithful ample opportunity to
rejoice and share the slaughtered meat with friends and neighbours.
But beyond the ceremonial observance of this religious injunction
is the need to internalize the spiritual significance attached to
obedience, faith and sacrifice, especially sacrificing something
of great value as Ibrahim did. As Nigerian Muslims join their counterparts
all over the world to mark the festival, we enjoin them to use the
occasion to reflect on their conduct and relationship with Almighty
Allah and their fellow human beings.
The lessons of Sallah should be brought to bear on their businesses,
places of work and daily activities. For the politicians among them,
the event calls for sober reflection on the way and manner they
profess both their faith and the calling of politics. Unfortunately,
worthy examples from our political leaders in this regard are in
very short supply as most are preoccupied with things that satisfy
self than those that would satisfy people they swore to serve and
protect. REGRETTABLY, our leaders in political offices behave as
if religious injunctions and rules are not for them, hence there
are many cases of unbridled corruption and unconscionable sleaze
in ourpolity.
It is annoying that most of those that perpetrate these atrocities
profess one religious faith or the other, and yet do the opposite
of what the faith stands for. The nation’s leadership class
parades characters that do not have the interest of the toiling
masses at heart, hence there is so much suffering and poverty in
the land despite our enormous human and material resources. Therefore,
let our leaders use the occasion of this year’s Sallah to
turn a new leaf and offerpersonal sacrifices that would ensure that
the generality of Nigerians enjoy better living.
If our political leaders have been faithful to their various religious
injunctions in the conduct of the affairs of the land, the country
would have been the better for it and the citizens would have fared
better. It is, indeed, a sad story that after almost 50 years of
independence, Nigeria is still grappling with the problem of providing
its citizens the basic necessities of life already taken for granted
in other lands, including fellow African countries that look up
to Nigeria for leadership examples.
While wishing ourMuslim brothers and sisters happy Sallah, we enjoin
them to imbibe the spirit of obedience and sacrifice exhibited by
Prophet Ibrahim and let it to rub off on their daily lives, their
relationship with their neighbours and adherents of other religious
beliefs. That is the basic lesson of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Let all Nigerians use the occasion of this festival of sacrifice
to effect attitudinal changes in their lives that would contribute
positively to spiritual as well as national development. The spirit
of the festival requires that all Nigerians should be able to live
in peace and harmony in any part of the country irrespective of
the faith
they profess.
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