It is incumbent upon us to stand against the perpetrators of violence forno one has the right to take the life of anyone.And as Muslims, we do believe that if we save a single life it is as if we have saved the whole of humanity and if we take a single life, it is as if we have taken the lives of the whole of humanity.Considering the seriousness of the acts committed by some individuals in the name of our great religion, we must rise above board and start distancing ourselves from such atrocities just as we should kick against all those engaged in the unlawful killing of Nigerians.Those who are committing murder under the guise of religion must be identified and made to reform since what they concocted as the basis for their unjust fight against the state is baseless and has no religious relevance. Our learned men must not be silenced by the murderous behaviours of these self-anointed jihadists and come out in unison to enlighten them on the virtues of Islam and how to propagate the religion through non-violent ways.Our religion, Islam, stands for peace and it was through our conduct and behaviour that it was able to penetrate into all societies and acquire more adherents and acceptance. The manner in which our bloods are cheapened by these blood hounds does not in any way create a good impression about us nor does it have the means to convince non-believers to accept our religion.For any group to demand for unrealisable pursuit under the circumstances in which we find ourselves is objectionable and should not be tolerated, no matter the danger posed by their advocates. We live in a state that allows for our freedom of worship and we must understand that Allah gave humans the free will to decide so that we account for our deeds in the hereafter.We may not like some actions and behaviours of some people in our society, but we cannot personally claim any responsibility for their conduct even though we may detest such and maintain our distance from them. Knowledge originates from Allah and our faith will only be increased by learning and understanding the teachings of the holy books and not through the use of force. Islam came as the final call to mankind and the followers are blessed with knowledge which is used in furtherance of improving human life in all the sciences and the arts.It was on record that our religion encourages the acquisition of knowledge and so it would be detrimental for any group to halt our progress in the comity of nations by objecting to modern means of improving society and ironically use the same means to perpetuate their reign of terror against our society.We must open up and call those hardened adherents to understand the need to live and let live, the need to accommodate others who are different from us, we must change our attitude for it is the way others see us that will eventually make them to appreciate us and accept our ways.If our belief does not impact on our non-believing neighbours, then our so-called jihad has failed. Just by killing and destroying those who are opposed to our belief will not attract them to accept our religion.There is more blessing in giving than in taking, by giving love, by giving life and not taking it, by sharing our happiness and sadness we will create a conducive atmosphere by stopping our moral double standards. The culture of our silence must be broken in order to get our brothers to understand self-restraint and make our society achieve peace with itself, with its neighbours and stop the hate culture.We must ask Allah for protection and peace at all times, we must try to right our wrongs so that Allah will forgive us and begin our life in a clean state. We must forgive and ask for forgiveness and where we seek for justice, we must learn to direct our demands to the appropriate authorities for adjudication. Let us give peace a chance and pray for peace in Maiduguri, Borno State and Nigeria as a whole.May Almighty Allah guide and protect our people from the evils of those who foment trouble and expose all those who hide behind their selfish desire to unleash terror on the good people of Maiduguri, Borno state and Nigeria as a whole.Finally we hope that the Yusufiyya sect members would accept to come to terms our common purpose and accept the peace entreaties offered them by government for the sake of their fellow Muslim brothers and humanity as a whole.Shuwa, a former Maiduguri-based journalist, sent this piece from Holbeck, Leeds, UK.
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