One of the long lasting wars any man can fight in life, is a war of perception. It is not something
you can touch or diagnose in the microscope. It is psychological. That was why
it took him just a night to take them physically out of the land of Egypt. But,
over forty years it took him to get Egypt off their minds. This is why everyone must be careful how he
lives. What do people say about you? Who do men say I am? This was asked by the
Holy one. When and where does praising the name of God become a crime? Why must
I be given a second thought because I belong to a particular faith?
This became
an issue on board, when a gentle man on an Enugu bound Arik aircrafts stood up
boldly in the midst of other passengers on board to praise his God. He shouted
Allahu Akbar! It Might be that he just won a lottery or his wife just put to
bed. Which I believe he could not hold it to himself alone but to shout Allahu Akbar. He must have probably expected others
to join him
as people do normally whenever the shout of Halleluiah is heard on
buses. But to his surprise, he found himself being bundled by other passengers
including his Muslim brothers, the pilots on board shouted MAY DAY to the guys in
the safety tower, and before he could say Jack Robinson, he found himself in
the SSS net. Hmmmm! What a poor man.
The fear of terror is raging all over the world especially
in the Middle East and down to Africa. Boko haram in Nigeria, Mogadishu in
Somalia, Alshabab will never allow an average Kenyan to rest, Taliban is raging
in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Shiites are ready to kill in Iraq at any time and
while al Qaeda will not allow the Western world sleep pills. This is what happens when ignorance is
allowed to thrive in the midst of people. When leaders fail in their responsibility,
especially in our religious settings, our followers are tempted to carve a
portion of our Holy books to carryout wicked and selfish interest in order to
end the lives of innocent ones, without taking adequate study and research on
what the portion of the book actually talking about.
It is a lesson to everyone in leadership especially in our
religious settings. What, where, when and how we pass our message to our
audience are as important as the message itself if not more. Why should I be
scared when someone says Halleluiah or Allahu Akbar by my side? When leaders keep silent or politicized serious
issues, the aftermath effect will affect the innocent ones including our family
and loved ones as we are witnessing today. This is why the true leaders of
Islam must continue to talk to their followers, and disassociate themselves openly
from those guys that are tarnishing the image of Islam if it truly means peace
as it is professed. We have Muslims as friends, in-laws, teachers, customers,
bosses, business partners etc. This must
be a joint fight including other religious bodies. We must not allow these little foxes to destroy our
vines.
I do not know how this perception will last but I believe
when we begin to address issues properly without bias and sentiment, it will be
erased from our minds one day. Then shouting Allahu Akbar will not indicate a security
threat in our schools, malls, on the plane and in our meetings. God bless
Nigeria.Thanks. Pls ahare.
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