By SAKARIYAU O. BOLARINWA
THE Holy Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) in the Holy Quran stated, inter-alia: “Man, seek knowledge, even if you have to trek to China”. The Holy Prophet was a believer in education, whether Western or Eastern knowledge. Also, in the same Holy Book of the Muslims, the Prophet cautioned man that “there is no compulsion in religion, meaning that you can not forcefully convert another person to your own faith.

Religion is a personal thing in which man should have a personal relationship with God, no matter your perception of that Great Deity”.

Nigerians are extremely religious people who refuse to adhere to the spiritual laws set in motion by Almighty God, who in His infinite mercy and love has been sending various prophets to different nations in order to guide man, “the prodigal son”, back to the kingdom of  God, where there is bliss.

God is neither feminine nor masculine. God is just and fair. Those who are stealing billions of naira and go to church for thanksgiving will eventually account for their deeds. God has absolute patience.

Futhermore, the Almighty God, the uncreated, creator of the universes loves and cares for all His children equally. The various religions in the world today are the various routes or paths to Godhead and have their respective holy books – the Holy Bible for the Christians, Holy Quran for the Muslims, Bargavad – Gita, for Hindiusts or Hare-Krisna movement, Grail Message, volumes one and two, which was revealed to Abdrushin, Shariyat-ki-Suginad.

Books one and two for the Eckists, followers of Eckankar(Religion of the Light and Sound of God) that teaches universal Spiritual Law of Love. There are also other religious paths like Taoism, Judaism, Buddhism and even Ifa corpus. God is love and we too should exhibit this love in our dealings with one another.

The Darwin Theory of Evolution only brought to fore the three stages of man’s evolution but did not mention the last stage which is “Homo-immortalis” whereby man is able to realise himself as a spirit immortal. At this stage, man can say: “I and father are one”.

This stage of God-realisation was attested to by one of the ancient philosophers, Socrates who said: “Man know thyself”. All mankind were created by one God, our father, who is neither a Christian nor a Muslim. To buttress this statement also, readers should go to the internet and read a new book titled, “God is Not A Christian” by the venerable Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Through my search for the knowledge of the heart and man’s purpose in the cosmic scheme of things, I have come to realise that no religion or prophet has ever propagated the killings of fellow human beings or commission of suicide (suicide bombing) as a way of salvation.

In fact, all the various scriptures stated clearly that man has no right to take his/her life. It is one of the greatest “sins” to take one’s life. The Holy war or Jihad that was fought by Prophet Mohammed and his followers was in self-defence

In Nigeria today, religion has taken on political colouration, producing political assasins and looters of treasuries. They are the ones who are more religious than their  respective prophets. They utilize religion as a mask to unleash mayhem on the innocent citizens.

The Sharia laws as enshrined in the Holy Quran cannot be implemented in their entirety in this age of ICT. A society devoid of justice and adequate education cannot implement Sharia. Sharia laws are based on justice and that was the reason for the prophet to have warned that: “A leader should first of all establish a JUST society before he can implement the LAW”.

Our former President succinctly put a  tag on the Sharia law in Nigeria by calling it “Political Sharia”. There was a governor in the Northern part of country, who introduced the Sharia laws in order to curry the followership of the impoverished and illiterate masses.

We also knew a governor who married an under-aged girl but sent his own children of the same age to a prestigious institution. We also knew a governor who had no “front” but kept the government money in the state house to be spent on women of easy virtues and wine.

The same governor organised and cut an innocent hungry man’s hand in the name of religion. The man later confessed how he was given money for the charade (poor man!).

Suffice to say that Boko Haram is a social problem, an unintended consequence of our inconsistent social policies, sustained by the visionless and greedy leaders. Therefore to stem the tide, our enlightened Islamic scholars like Professor Ishaq Akintola, Dr. Adegbite and his security committee in partnership with the Northern Emirs and relevant ministry should not sit on the fence or be docile.

They should enact a concrete and relevant education policy for the masses in  the North who are being used to foment trouble (can a true Muslim say that he would  make a country ungovernable for a leader because that leader won an election). Islam means peace and total surrender to the will of Allah. If you lose an election today, you can win, next time.

Enough of this tomfoolery and mind colonisation by the elite and the Oligarchy in the North, whose mineral resources (political power) had been taken from them, through the ‘divine’ zoning arrangement. The masses should be educated on the teachings and sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (S.A.W). Their mother tongues or the three major languages could be utilized in reaching the masses.

Mass media are a veritable tool for the dissemination of information for re-orientation. People should be taught to be conscious of their thoughts, words and actions as all negative and positive deeds will be automatically recorded and to be paid for, either here or hereafter, man must reap what he or she sows.

*Mr Bolarinwa is Security Psychologist and wrote vide [email protected]

The Law of Karma is an immutable law which is an  aspect of the Law of Love. God does not punish anybody. Also, nobody has ever taken one kobo to the world beyond and nobody can fight on behalf of Almighty. He does things in His own way and in His own time. Ignorance of the poor masses in the North is being exploited by the political elite and the only antidote is adequate and relevant education. Time to act is now.