Prominent traditional rulers from the North including the Sultan of Sokoto, who doubles as President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Mohammed Saad Abubakar; and the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, were amongst eminent personalities that gathered in Ilorin, Kwara State on Saturday to offer special prayer for the progress of Nigeria.
The prayer, which was led by the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Mohammed Bashir Salihu, formed the major highlight of the 10th Annual Usman Danfodiyo Lecture.
Other eminent personalities in attendance included the representative of the state governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Justice AbdulLateef Kamaldeen who is also the Grand Kadi of the state; and Malaysian, Dr, Zakir AbdulKarim Naik, who delivered the 10th annual Usman Danfodiyo’s lecture on ‘The Concept of God in Major World Religions’.
The NSCIA Secretary General, Prof. Is- haq Oloyede; Profs. Badamas Yusuf, Abubakar Aliagan; the Mutawali of Ilorin, Dr Alimi AbdulRazaq; and the Zanna of Ilorin, Engr. Yusuf Sagaya were also present.
The Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Mohammed Bashir Salihu, led others in praying to God to prosper Nigeria and restore peace to the troubled parts of the country.
After the prayer session, the Sultan asked adherents of Islamic religion to seek knowledge about people of other faiths in other to promote peaceful co-existence in the country.
He also admonished Muslims to acquire “knowledge about words of God and work with them in other to become better human beings”.
The Sultan said that the purpose of the annual Usman Danfodiyo lecture was to encourage Muslims to acquire knowledge and share such to strengthen Islam.
“Sokoto Caliphate was founded on knowledge and not on illiteracy hence it an obligation on all Muslims to seek knowledge, bequeath such to their children and spread the right knowledge about Islam to check the trend of fake news”, he added.
He said the choice of Ilorin for the lecture was deliberately to demonstrate that Muslims are “one big family.
“Why Ilorin, somebody may ask that question. It is because we are one family and it is important to share knowledge and educate peoole across the globe.
“We are here to educate ourselves about what our forefathers did to strengthen Islam .They didn’t bring Islam to the world, they follow the words of God and strengthened it”.
The Sultan praised the choice of the guest lecturer, who he described as an international scholar of repute and urged the attendees to share the knowledge acquired and work with the words of God.
“It is one thing to hear the word of God, it’s another thing to work with it. I’ m asking us to work with the words of God so that we can become better human being”, he said.
