‘I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.’ (John 14:6) ‘Verily, the religion with Allah is Islam.’ (Q3:19) ‘Do they
seek other than the religion of Allah, even though to Him submitted all
creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly? And to Him
shall they all be returned.
Say
“We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us. We have believed in
what was revealed to Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma’il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac),
Ya’qub (Jacob) and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus
and in what was given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction
between any of them. We have submitted to Allah. And whoever seeks a religion
other than Islam, it will never be accepted from Him. In the hereafter, He will
be one of the losers.’ (Q3:83-85) Allahu Akbar.
The
question is – what would it profit me to sit a Christian down (or tweet at one)
and begin to argue about Christianity? Why would I leave that which I know, and
begin to argue about that which I don’t? And most importantly, why would I seek
to explain every single thing I do in a bid to gain ‘approval’? Why would I
spend a large portion of my time trying to make anyone understand the ‘legitimacy’
of my faith? The silliest question I’ve ever been asked is ‘…but why are you a
Muslim?’ to which I replied ‘because I understand it.’ Isn’t that obvious?! In
secondary school, you choose to go to arts or science or commercial class; some
of us choose to be doctors, some engineers, some study Yoruba, some French,
some become lawyers, and some opt out entirely for vocational training.
Christians
would tell you that the narrow path leads to heaven, and that Christianity is
that narrow path. Well, for me, I believe Islam is what will get me there! Do I
owe anyone an explanation or an apology? I don’t think so. My grandfather,
Sheik S.B. Biobaku, was the Chief Imam of Gbagura Land and the
Secretary-General of the League of Imams and Alfas of Yorubaland, until he
passed away in April. He predicted his own death. He told us that he would
leave on Thursday, and be buried on Friday. He spent the last days of his life
in the hospital, and when the time came, he asked to pray Asr before ‘leaving’.
Nobody knew who he was talking to. Grandpa hadn’t left his bed unaided in over
a week, but he prayed, returned to his bed, conversed in Arabic, and breathed
his last.
This
was on Thursday, April 5, 2012. He was buried the following day. If that’s not
the spirit of God, then I don’t know what is. If you’re one of those who think
no one has a right to hold a contrary opinion, kindly ask yourself if you would
be swayed by anything anyone says about a case that you consider solved. If
you’re a judge that’s just convicted a felon based on irrefutable evidence,
would you still entertain doubts? Isn’t it so frustrating that the pagans don’t
destroy each other’s shrines or engage each other in senseless arguments? Would
all the time spent arguing not amount to a whole lot of good if we all spent it
doing what God actually wants? Helping the poor? Studying His Word? Remembering
God and fearing Him every single moment? What would it profit a man to argue
away all the time he could spend ensuring his salvation? I don’t understand! My
sister speaks in tongues; I do find it funny but then, it’s the same way she
finds it funny when I do the ‘head-knocking thing’! I understand that I’m
bowing before my Creator, she believes%20she’s communicating with Heaven.
Who
am I to argue?! When she talks about standing in the Holy of Holies, I don’t
understand it, but I do know that my time before God is the most valuable thing
to me. It baffles me - I swear it does - how people go on and on about things
they know virtually nothing about. If we paid half as much attention to how
we’re governed, would our country not be a lot better than it is now? If we
made politicians answer to us like we expect people of other faiths to, would
they still go ahead and steal us blind? If we guarded our sovereignty and unity
half as jealously as we do religion, would we be so divided today?
Fellow
Nigerian, waste your time on the things that won’t move us forward at your own
peril. If what you know is how to poke holes in other peoples’ beliefs, then by
all means, continue. You ought to know, however, that you’re ‘enjoying
yourself’ in a house with a burning roof – it’s best you put out that fire
before it consumes you; and you cannot put out that fire alone.
