The Fidau at Epe

By Haroon Balogun

Bismillahi-Rahmani-Raheem

Last Friday’s Mosque bombing was one of the most bizarre we have ever seen. As over 500 worshipers gathered in the most populous mosque in Kano, Emir’s Mosque for their Friday worship, the forces of evil had other ideas; bombed the worshipers and took away many lives.

This senseless killings of innocent persons highlights not only the bankruptcy of of the Boko Haram’s idiosyncrasies which is killing with reckless abandon but also highlights utter mystification of the warped Islamic orientation they think or people believe they have. Muslims not only in Nigeria but all over the world have continued to say that these devils are not Muslims, not even a bit of it. The fact that they speak Arabic, read the Qur’an does not entirely make one Muslim especially with this satanic mindset of destruction.

Muslims have been the major victims of Boko Haram attacks since 2009. If you take a cursory look at the data since the devils began their operations in the Northern part of the country, one will marvel at the rate with which Muslims lost their lives especially those who spoke against their ideals.

Blood-stained carpets are seen in the central mosque in northern Nigeria’s largest city of Kano on November 29, 2014, a day after twin suicide blasts hit the mosque during weekly Friday prayers. At least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers at the mosque, a week after the emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, of one of Nigeria’s top Islamic leaders called on northerners to defend themselves against Boko Haram Islamists that have been carrying out deadly attacks and seizure of territory in the northeast. AFP PHOTO

But the Christian propaganda have given erroneous impressions not only about Muslims but about the activities of the terrorists in the Northern part of the country, albeit with the complicity of some of the media men. When hundred Muslims are killed, the pogrom does not make the headlines, but when   a few Christians usually in the single digit are killed, it becomes a big story with several angles to it, – they want to Islamise Nigeria and exterminate the Christians, the Muslims kill in order to buy heaven, it is a religion of violence and other nonsense.

Only few appreciate the fact that once there is an attack anywhere in that part of the country, the Muslims have their own share of loses. Even with the last head count in the country, the Muslims are more in number in that region than the Christians. So, it follows that an attack in any part of the area will also affect the lives of Muslims.

In one one episode in no too distant past, the devils had stormed a village in Kudunga killing hundreds of people who had gathered for prayers. Reports from victims said the insurgents stormed the village before the dawn prayers and went to a Mosque, call out people for prayers. As soon as the came out for prayers, they were all massacred. Not all the deaths were reported.

Recently too, a displaced Muslim cleric narrated how he escaped from the hands of terrorists in his village. He stated that in one of the house to house attacks, he hid himself in a dungeon and asked his wife to cover him with mats. When the terrorists came, the wife told them they had killed her husband in one of their attacks and he had been buried pointing to the dungeon. They smiled and left but not without raping the poor woman to death.

In most part of the world too, Muslims have been the major hit in the appellation “Islamist terrorists” attacks. Apart from the September 11 attacks which mainly killed non-Muslims in America. The vast majority of what they called Sunni Islamist terrorist attacks have killed mainly Muslims. Often, Muslims are the main victims of many ‘Sunni or Shia Islamist terrorist attacks’ in countries like Iraq and Pakistan.

In Syria, then Alewives and the Shia are targeted based on sectarianism. Sunni Muslims are also killed for being loyal to the government of Syria. In fact in cases of forceful conversion in that country, Muslims have laid down their lives in defense of that crude manner of conversion, just as the Qur’an clearly stated that there is no compulsion in religion. However, irrespective of the Muslim sect as it were, it is clear that Muslims are the main victims of terrorism.

Going by the misdemeanor of the Boko Haram activities and what the leader of the group had been saying, a rational being would be able to juxtapose the activities of the terrorists sect with the tenets of the religion they seem to profess. That is why Muslims all over the world denounce them as true adherents of the religion.

For the worshipers who lost their lives in the Kano Mosque bombing, they have ended up very well, they are the martyrs and the shall be in bliss in the hereafter. May Almighty Allah forgive their sins and grant them eternal bliss in Al-janah Firdaus. We also pray that Allah grant their families the strength and wherewithal to bear the loss. Amin.

Now, coming back to the bombers, it is only God that can give the appropriate punishment for causing hundreds of innocent people and families to suffer. Even if we have a government that has lost control of security to the insurgents, we have a God that knows how best to deal with the evil-doers, mischief makers and sat ans in the garb of human beings. We have rescinded our fate to Him and whether now or later, justice will be done.

Hamzah Balogun’s burial

We thank Allah for all the mercies and blessings on us. It is a great blessings to live a fulfilled life, and it is much greater blessings to be honoured in death. Our beloved father was fulfilled and honoured in death. There is nothing as honourable as having Muslims to attend the burial rites of another Muslim. We were overwhelmed by the turn out of people both at the burial and the fidau prayers. HRM, the Olu Epe of Epe, Oba Adewale Olatunji, Eshinlokun Bamgbopa I was very supportive including many others. Even those who could not make it to Epe bombarded us with calls and text messages. May Almighty Allah reward and honour you all.