By Mohammed Baba Busu
The Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar has urged Muslims to emulate Prophet Ibrahim’s virtues of sacrifice, obedience and submissiveness to the will of Allah, in order to be successful in life.
Etsu Nupe made the appeal in his Sallah message to the Muslim Ummah in his domain and Nigerians to mark the Eid-el-Adhah celebration at the Usman Zaki Juma’at Mosque on Friday.
“Today’s celebration is a commemoration of total submissiveness and obedience to the will of Allah, as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail.
“It is also a lesson on the virtue of keeping our promises to Allah and to our fellow man,” Alhaji Abubakar said.
“Prophet Ibrahim made a vow to sacrifice his son to Allah, and when it was time to fulfill the promise, he didn’t back out. That is a strong virtue worthy of emulation.
“It was in appreciation of that gesture that Allah converted what would have been a human sacrifice to that of a sheep,’’ the Royal father added.
The monarch advised Muslims to shun societal ills and to always endeavor to do good, for the betterment of all.
“Societal ills like bribery, corruption, drunkenness and gambling do not do any good to man, society, or the Muslim faithful, hence all believers are enjoined to avoid them
He implored ‘Muslim Ummah’ in his kingdom and the country at large to reflect on the significance of the celebration, which bordered on encouraging piety, sacrifice and love.
The Etsu Nupe noted that without piety, sacrifice and love, no state or society could advance.
”The significance of the season should be beyond the festivities but the real essence is to encourage piety, total commitment to Allah, self-discipline and sacrifice, ’’ Etsu Nupe averred.
On the raging global Corona Virus Pandemic ( COVID-19), Etsu Nupe urged Nigerians to continue to pray fervently for urgent divine solutions, as well as strictly observe all the laid down protocols
The Royal father urged,” Nigerians should continue to use face masks, wash their hands with soup regularly , use hand sanitizers , drink water regularly, as well as maintain social distancing, among others
Alhaji Abubakar also admonished Nigerians to strive to live in peace with each other, irrespective of any religious , political, cultural and ethnic affinities.
According to him: ” We should also continue to be our brothers’ keepers, so as to collectively bolster peace, unity and the even socioeconomic development of the country .
” The Almighty Allah has created us in different ways, with varying potentials and faiths, cultures and ethnicities .
” But , our rich diversities should serve as our formidable unifying factors and not dividing ones. The Almighty Allah has not made a mistake by creating us together in Nigeria .”, Alhaji Abubakar stated further.
The Royal father, further appealed to Nigerians to shun all acts capable of breaching peace and unity.
” Peace is the veritable tool of national development and without it no nation could prosper to greater heights.
Alhaji Abubakar appealed to wealthy individuals in the country to assist the less privileged to enable all and sundry celebrate Idir Kabir Sallah celebration with ease.
He said, “God has endowed wealth on people not for themselves and their immediate family, but for the benefit of entire society.
“The present socio-economic predicament that we are now facing requires such assistance from well to do individuals in the country.”
The monarch charged Muslims faithful in the continue to pray to God to assist President Buhari and other elected and appointed leaders to overcome the current economic meltdown.
