GREETINGS TO MY MUSLIM BRETHREN

GREETINGS TO MY MUSLIM BRETHREN

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

My heart longs for you in Nigeria as you celebrate the holy feast of the “Eid ul-Fitr”. This year 2013, reminds me of my early days when the desire to sight the moon was like a competition. For true believers, the value of this feast goes beyond food and drink. To many in the context of our corporate existence, feasting after the Ramadan is an outward sign of that generosity that goes with a heavenly reward. Sharing food within a community of believers and with people of other faiths symbolizes the actual life of the peaceful co-existence that defines a true African. The Ramadan after so much prayer and fasting is believed to manifest in an exceptional way the African value for life that should be an act of faith in the community that has the capacity to give the joy that can heal a broken and wounded heart. In spite of the hunger that may attend fasting, the Ramadan must never be a period for the tears that is deliberately caused by human agents. This is a practical demonstration of our proverb “that those who eat together from the same dish and drink from the same cup sign a covenant of love and vow never to do harm to each other and to one another.” This I believe is the contextual and spiritual meaning of the agape that marks the end of Ramadan.

The Muslim youths have rekindled this memory in me by marking the Ramadan with a seminar on “Religious Re-education” on Saturday July 27, 2013 in the National Mosque, Abuja. Let me use this medium to therefore address them: “Beloved brothers and sisters accept my hearty congratulations! It was really interesting that you saw the need for the collaboration of the office of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in the preparation for this Ramadan seminar. That the Muslim and Christian youths can come together at this time gives a lot of hope for the future of our nation. That you got me involved in the planning and preparation of the seminar gives me more inspiration and encouragement that one day, religious mutual suspicion shall be history. That one day, we shall be so liberated that the feeling of being strangers to one another shall vanish with the winds. It is my hope that one day, it will be impossible for any body in any position and in any situation to use you as agents of destruction while their children work and walk about freely in foreign countries without fear of tragic death. I believe that a day will come when you will deliver religion from our Nigerian “Machiavelli”. When that day comes religion will bring us together and will never be a cause of opposition. Then we shall see one another as children of one Nigeria.”  Yes, I believe that one day we shall reclaim the mark that will make us proud Nigerians wherever we go in the world. 

May I use this opportunity to thank Prof. Ishaq Oloyede who on behalf of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) played a fatherly role in this initiative of the youths to come together for the common concerns that would be beneficial to Nigeria and the whole world! I am particularly grateful to the paper presenters who accepted the invitation at a very short notice. The presentations of John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Imam Fuad Ademola Adeyemi, Imam Abudulahi Karshi and Fr. Andrew Anana demonstrated that our nation can be great when the youths are properly directed with sound and proper education.

We can draw a SWOT analysis from this seminar that our strength is awareness through education; that our weakness is mutual suspicion; that our opportunity is the space and courage to come together as a family to talk heart to heart while our threat is the “dragon” and enemy of progress who often uses religion as a weapon of mass destruction.

The participants in the seminar with their contributions have demonstrated that the future of our great nation cannot be compromised or sacrificed on the altar of ignorance especially when some of our children are technically conditioned to remain at the level of perpetual illiterates. Progress or scientific advancement can not be separated from the proper education and formation of the youths who deserve to grow gracefully and be formed to be fully alive. Some Nigerians need religious re-education to be debriefed of all forms of indoctrination and brainwashing. Our youths deserve freedom from mediocrity and idleness. They need the capacity to identify their potentials and genuinely engage in a struggle for survival with the weapon of the “word” and not the “sword”. The word of God is the sword of salvation. Given that it is those who lack intellectual powers that recourse to physical violence, religious education should be made obligatory in our secondary schools. Nigeria is a unique country that should teach the outside world the African values that can not be separated from morality and religion even though the constitution defines Nigeria a secular state. The word “Secular” does not mean profane and lawlessness. 

It is unfortunate that we experienced a serious bomb blast in Kano during this 2013 Ramadan. May the souls of the innocent victims rest in perfect peace! It is incomprehensible how bitter tears can be given the audacity to flow like the drizzling rain in a holy month that is dedicated to God. The July 29, 2013 Kano bomb blast is an abomination and a serious “haram”. Perhaps we need Abraham at this time to intercede for Nigeria like he did for Sodom and Gomorrah. For the sake of only a righteous person, God was ready to forgive and restrain his anger from destroying the cities. May God save Nigeria for the sake of those who mean well for Nigeria, and who irrespective of religious differences, strive to promote peaceful coexistence through studies, prayers and fraternal exchange. 

My beloved Muslim brothers and sisters, you celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha every year. Eid-ul-Fitr follows the month of Ramadan while Eid-ul-Adha occurs during the month of Zil-Hajj in commemoration of Abraham's attempt to sacrifice his son. As you celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr this year 2013, may your fasting for a whole month not be in vain. May your call to show a common goal of unity to the world be realized in all practical sense and purpose! May your Salat of two Rakats be taken to God by an angel of good tidings who can transform the universe into a “Jama’at” of perfect love, peace and unity! May your zakat and fitra like the sacrifice of Abel make your “Eid prayers” rain on us the peace and love of God!  Brethren, happy feast day!

Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja; and Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City (comonokhua@hotmail.com).