Argue less on what could divide us, ruminate on mission of holy Prophet -NASFAT Chief Missioner Onike

The Chief Missioner of Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih  Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Imam Abdul-Azeez Onike, has urged the Muslim ummah to ruminate more on the mission of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and argue less on the appropriateness or otherwise of the celebration of his birthday.

Onike said this in a message to commemorate this year’s birthday of Prophet Muhammad (saws)

Citing the scriptures, he said that the mission was encapsulated in the Holy Quran as the Prophet (SAW) being mercy to the entire mankind- “We have sent you forth as nothing but mercy to people of the whole world. (Q21:107).

He said the mission could also be seen to have been substantiated in the conversation between a companion of the Prophet who led the Muslim immigrants to Abyssinia (nowadays Ethiopia); Jafar ibn Abi Talib (RA) and the then King of Abyssinia; King Negus.

“Jafar had told the King “O King, we were a people in a state of ignorance and immorality, worshipping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating guests badly and the strong among us exploited the weak.

“We remained in this state until Allah sent us a Prophet, one of our people whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and integrity were well-known to us.

“He called us to worship Allah alone and to renounce the stones and the idols which we and our ancestors used to worship besides Allah”.

“He commanded us to speak the truth, to honour our promises, to be kind to our relations, to be helpful to our neighbours, to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from bloodshed. to avoid obscenities and false witness, not to appropriate an orphan’s property nor slander chaste women”.

“He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anything with him, to uphold Salat, to give Zakat and fast in the month of Ramadan”.

“We believe in him and what he brought to us from Allah and we follow him in what he has asked us to do and we keep away from what he forbade us from doing….”, the Chief Missioner stated.

Onike, therefore, enjoined Muslims to continue to seek more knowledge about their religion and know full well that, according to the British Fatwah Council (2022), “One may ask what is wrong with these celebrations? Is the praising and telling of stories about the Prophet (peace be upon him) haram? Is thanksgiving for the coming of the Prophet (peace be upon him) undesirable? The answer is obvious”.

He advised the British Fatwa Council: “Let us hold gatherings and conferences where the Scholars explain the contributions and the impact of Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) teachings on humanity. The birth of Mustapha (peace be upon him) undoubtedly heralded a new dawn for mankind and it marked the end of ignorance and the beginning of enlightenment”.

NASFAT Chief Missioner also prayed to God to bless the nation and the ummah.

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