Happy Eid-el Kabir

 

Muslims all over the world are now in a festive mood, celebrating the Eid-el Kabir (Greater Festival) also referred to as Eid-el Adha (Festival of Sacrifice), which officially commences today with the two rakaat prayers. This particular Eid, which is usually celebrated on the 10th of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja, commemorates the readiness of Prophet Ibrahim to use his only child then, Prophet Ismail, for sacrifice, in obedience to God’s command. But the Almighty rescued the child by offering his father a ram instead.

The Eid-el Adha is preceded by the standing on Mount Arafat on the 9th of Dhul Hijja by millions of faithful who have been fortunate to travel to Makkah for the Hajj, itself one of the major pillars of Islam.

Although the Eid-el Kabir is usually marked here in Nigeria, just like in other parts of the world, with durbars, exchange of gifts, visits, greetings and other forms of merriment, we wish to particularly enjoin our Muslim brothers and sisters across the country to use the period to engage in sober reflection and prayer for complete transformation of our nation. This is more so as this year’s feast of sacrifice comes at a time of utmost trial for Nigeria, as the level of insecurity in the country has continued to rise.

It is estimated that since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east of the country has claimed over 3,000 lives.

We appeal to the Muslim faithful to imbibe the lessons of Eid-el Kabir, especially drawing from the complete subservience of Prophet Ibrahim to Allah, which teaches us to be patient, tolerant and obedient to God and constituted authority. Besides, Muslims are enjoined to be nice to fellow human beings, most especially the poor, needy and wayfarers, whether or not they belong to the same faith. This goes further to encourage us to take notice of 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.

We also seize this opportunity to urge our leaders at all levels of governance to eschew corruption and injustices 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 by all and sundry, we wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in Nigeria and the world over happy Eid-el Kabir festivities.