Happy Eid-el-Kabir

Muslims all over the world will tomorrow, Friday, celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir (Greater Festival), also referred to as Eid-el-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice). The festivities will officially commence with the two rakaat prayers. This particular Eid, which is usually celebrated on the 10th of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja, is celebrated to commemorate the readiness of Prophet Ibrahim to use his only child then, Prophet Ismail, for a sacrifice, in obedience to God’s command.

Just as he was about to apply the knife, the Almighty rescued the child by providing a ram in the place of the child. The Eid-el-Adha is usually preceded by millions of the Muslim faithful standing on Mount Arafat on the 9th of Dhul Hijja. These are the ones who have been fortunate to travel to Mecca for the Hajj, itself one of the major pillars of Islam.

In Nigeria, the federal government has declared Thursday and Friday as public holiday in commemoration of this solemn festival. The celebration usually involves durbars, exchange of gifts, visits, greetings and other forms of merriment. Sadly, though, some states in the North have cancelled the durbar and all elaborate celebrations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This measure is understandably to prevent the spread of the deadly disease that has so far infected a total of 41, 804 people and killed 868, while 18, 764 people have recovered. To ensure trouble-free festivities nationwide, the police and other security agencies have made elaborate security arrangements.

We wish to particularly enjoin our Muslim brothers and sisters across the country to take necessary preventive measures against the ravaging coronavirus disease while they celebrate the Sallah. We urge them also to use the period to engage in sober reflections and prayers for the peace and progress of our nation. We further appeal to the Muslim faithful to imbibe those lessons that can be learnt during this period, especially drawing from the complete subservience of Prophet Ibrahim to Allah, which teaches us to be patient, tolerant and obedient to God and the constituted authority. Besides, Muslims are enjoined, during this period, to be nice to fellow human beings, most especially the poor, the needy and wayfarers, whether or not they belong to the same faith. This should encourage us to show concern for the plight of fellow human beings through the sharing of food and other gifts, thereby inculcating in us the virtues of kindness, compassion, love, tenderness, warmth and affection, all of which negate all forms of hostility, conflict and aggression that are now prevalent in the Nigerian nation

Beyond the call on the Muslim faithful to thoroughly imbibe the spirit of patience, tolerance and obedience to constituted authority, we seize this opportunity to urge our leaders at all levels of governance to eschew all forms of corruption and injustice that have smeared Nigeria’s image globally, and have been at the root of the insurgency and other forms of criminality we are witnessing. While calling for self-restraint among all and sundry, we wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in Nigeria and the world over happy Eid-el-Kabir festivities.