The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu, has reiterated peace, unity and stability are necessary variables for development to thrive in the region.
He has thus called on leadership of the various Islamic sets in the area to preach peace and unity among the youth whilst holding their sermons in this holy month of Ramadan.
“Every living soul wants peace and in peace we find good health and every socioeconomic activities move on well for us all. Each one of us fast in this holy for forgiveness, mercy and abundant reward from Allah; when you know this then you must uphold peace and unity” he intimated.
The Minister discouraged hate speech amongst the clerics and further urged them to avoid attacks on personality and maligning one another.
“I send this message to our Imams and our fathers that we can hold these sermons and interpretations of the Quran without attacking each other’s character. We must not speak with hate for one another and using intemperate and unprintable language on each other despite the divergent views” he advised.
In an exclusive interview with Mohammed Gadafi, correspondent of THE CUSTODIAN, the Minister maintained it is imperative for the religious leaders to tolerate each other’s views having in mind the responsibility of preaching the word of Allah.
He noted religion is individual choice and persuasions and as Muslims, “Our different opinions don’t make us disbelievers”.
“I want to pray for all those who are fasting and those who unable to fast due to reasons of old age and or health grounds. I thank the major mosques in the region and the general public for the cooperation and I wish everyone a successful Ramadan” he added.
Meanwhile, various Islamic clerics and preachers organize annual sessions to run commentary and interpret the Quran. This is normally aired on various electronic media in the northern region.
However, some of these clerics used the opportunity to condemn other Islamic sets and attack personalities. This necessitated the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to caution the religious leaders against the abusive language on the airwaves.
