Dear sir,

IT is hard to resist participating in the ongoing conversation regarding the blasphemy charges raised against one of our very own son of Egbaland, the author and pastor Joseph S.S. Hopewell who is the author of the soul conversation series of books which are available nationwide and on Amazon worldwide. It intrigued me to dig a little deeper as to why the outcry against him as a blasphemer grows louder and has inspired a Charlie Hebdo style of violence mentality in the land. Why are they asking for his head? What has he said that has got many screaming blue murder? What is the big deal, I wonder.

So, I decided to investigate by buying one of his books,  the one titled: Preparing and Connecting The Heart Of Nations, published in October 2009 by Kingdom Gems Publishers, with ISBN: 978-151187823.

The book left me flabagasted due to the bluntness of the author’s style of conversation and the raw manner of jabbing at people and at issues which are so thorny and controversial. No wonder some people are so offended and rattled.

Did he transgress intentionally? I doubt it. Did he intentionally spit at Jews, Christians and Muslims? Perhaps unintentionally but there is no doubt that so many Muslims are angry at his portrayal of their religion. In this book, he suggested somewhere that God or Allah did not tell any prophet to start a religion at all. If he is to be believed, that would make Moses, the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) a liar or did Jesus lie too when he said “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.” Is church not a religious house? So, Joseph Hopewell will have to explain his theory to the rest of us. If there is no religion and Allah did not demand religion and did not demand our submission in Islam then what is our Jihad in this life?

This author is also a pastor as we already know but does he preach the things he writes? Does he truly believe in Allah at all? Is he truly a follower of Jesus (PBUH)?

In a season when the world has become more divided and polarised, opinions held by Joseph Hopewell if not challenged, watered down or shut out  may lead to serious anarchy and cause more riots which the extremists, opportunists and religious trouble makers can exploit to cause mayhem in the nation. As it is,” his life is in danger and there are threats against him, his family,  and grand children. He will be wise to keep his loved ones safe, away from those gunning for him.

To the faithful, I urge restraint and to our leaders and elders, there is need to resist the call for more fatwas against the author. Let rage be restrained.

In the meantime we call upon the author, Joseph Smart Hopewell to humble himself and issue a genuine apology to all Muslims. He must and should withdraw all his inflamatory books from the market forthwith.