President Goodluck Jonathan has returned to Abuja, Nigeria, from a private trip to Germany which, putting to rest, the media report that he went for medical attention. Some newspapers and online media had floated an idea that President Jonathan suddenly fell sick shortly after he declared the National Conference closed on Thursday and had to be rushed to a German hospital. However, the Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati had since dipelled the rumour, saying that the President made similar trip to Germany last year. He described the media report as unfounded, even as he said one of the newspapers that flew the news of the President phanton sickness is owned by a man seeking for the Presidential position in the opposition political party. It would be recalled that while in Germany, President Jonathan visited Nigeria’s female football players, the Falconets and their handlers, as they prepared to take on German team in the final of the FIFA female world football tournament.
President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the Nigeria’s under-20 women football team, the Falconets, that Nigerians are proud of them for their highly spirited and patriotic performance in the final of the just concluded FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Tournament in Canada. The Falconets lost to German side on Saturday night, by lone goal in the extra time and came second with silver medal. At the end of the tournament, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala was voted top scorer and Most Valuable Player. President Jonathan, who stayed awake till 0300 hours (local time in Germany) to watch the match with his aides as he promised the girls during his chat with them on Saturday, believed that the Falconets have shown the world that with their innate skills, strength, resilience and determination, they can remain a great force in women’s football globally for many years to come. “Nigerians remain proud of the skillful performance of the girls. On behalf of myself, the Federal Government and the people of Nigeria, I congratulate you and assure you that despite your loss in extra time to your German counterparts in yesterday’s very keenly contested final, we are all proud of you.” The President commended them for outplaying the Germans for long periods in the final, with greater ball possession and a higher number of goal attempts. President Jonathan assured the Falconets and their trainers that they will continue to receive all the support and encouragement they require from the Federal Government to fully actualize their world-beating potentials. He said that he is waiting to honour them with a reception at the Presidential Villa on their return from Canada. [myad]
Minister of Trade and Investment Mr-Olusegun Aganga
The fourth WorldStage National Electricity Power Conference 2014 is set to look critically into the challenges of post-privatization in power sector, bearing in mind the huge N750 Billion some banks in Nigeria have invested in the sector. This is coming against the background that as much as about 30 million households in Nigeria are still without access to electricity at the dawn of a new era in Nigeria’s liberalized electricity power sector. According to the President/Chief Executive Officer of the World Stage Limited, Segun Adeleye, organizer of the conference, in a statement today, the conference, will hold at the Lagoon Restaurant, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, between September 25 and 26. It will bring the policy makers and the private sector together to review the new development in electricity power sector, address new challenges, deliberate on critical issues and chart the way forward for the realization of privatization objectives. Adeleye said that the conference will attract participants from the Presidency, Ministry Power, Ministry of Finance, NERC, National Assembly, BPE, GENCOs, DISCOs, NIPP, IPPs, State Governments with IPPs, Oil and Gas Firms, Banks, Insurance Firms, Local and Foreign Investors, Media and Other Relevant Stakeholders. He said that the conference will feature presentations from top government officials, industry experts and panel discussions on, Challenges of Electricity Generation Post Privatization; Transmission and Distribution Challenges; Alternative Energy Sources/ Energy Conservation; and State Governments’ Promoted IPPs. “The challenges that surfaced with the new dispensation are numerous but not un-surmountable.” He listed the challenges to include the rising activities of vandals who burst gas pipelines and other power transmission equipment; high level of power theft and by–passing metering; gas supply limitation; revenue collection; transmission wheeling capacity; funding model for transmission; expected declaration of Transition Electricity Market; lack of accurate data on power demand of the entire country; non-alignment of the entire value chain of power generation, transmission and distribution; security of investment; right pricing and efficient usage of available electricity; paucity of funding transmission and aging 132KV lines. “As Nigerian banks invested about N750 billion in the power sector since its privatization, it’s imperative that the security of this huge exposure rests squarely on every efforts to ensure the success of the privatization process,” he said.
The Presidency has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to set aside a N50 billion mechanization intervention support fund towards speeding up the full establishment of the 1,200 private sector driven Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHE) in all the states of the Federation. Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo gave this directive while commissioning and flagging off the 100,000 metric tons grains Silos at Sheda in the Federal Capital Territory and the Agricultural Equipment Hiring Centers in Nigeria. The Vice President stressed the necessity for Nigeria to expand food storage capacity and reduce post-harvest losses. “The development of strategic grains reserve is central to our policy of stabilizing food prices for consumers and assuring guaranteed minimum prices and market access for farmers. “That is why I launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda in 2011, with the goal of producing an additional 20 million metric tons of food by 2015.” Vice President Namadi Sambo said that current records indicate that 21 million metric tons were produced by Nigerian farmers, surpassing this target and achieving increased food production in the past three years. According to him, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has completed a total of six silos with a capacity of 250,000 metric tons since November 2013 with a further 625,000 metric tons silos to be completed by December 2014, making a total of 875,000 metric tons silos capacity, completed within two years. The Vice President expressed satisfaction that the Agricultural Transformation Agenda is achieving great strides in government’s efforts to turn Nigeria into a self sufficient country. “Our Growth Enhancement Scheme and e-wallet system for reaching farmers with fertilizers and improved seeds through the mobile phones, have reached 14 million farmers by 2014.” He said that Nigeria is the first in Africa to develop the e-wallet system, now being replicated in several African countries. “With the Agricultural Enterprise Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs) being launched today, the agricultural mechanization program will be driven through a public private partnership, involving private sector manufacturers of tractors and agricultural machinery, service provider operators, financial institutions and government.” He commended the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina, the Minister of State, Asabe Ahmed and their team in the ministry for the impressive progress achieved under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.” Earlier, the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adesina said that private sector investments in agriculture are expanding, adding that small-holder farmers are witnessing a new dawn in the country. “Our food import bill has declined from N 1.1 trillion ($ 6.9 billion) in 2009 to N 684.7 billion ($4.35 billion) by December 2013 and continues to decline in 2014.” The minister said that despite the gains, certain challenges remain, one of which he said is the low level of mechanization of the agriculture sector. “Farmers still toil with rudimentary implements; the high cost of land clearing is a major disincentive for the expansion of cultivated area; while the high cost of mechanization, from ploughing to harvesting, pose great challenges to farmers across the country.”
A 6.0 magnitude quake in California’s San Francisco Bay area, the strongest in 25 years, is reported to have rendered hundreds of the residents homeless, even as workers began the assessment of the damage it has caused.
Reports said that no life was lost in the quake which started fires, cracked roads, caused gas and water leaks and left dozens of buildings uninhabitable, but that scores of people sought medical care after it occurred, hitting four miles from the town of American Canyon.
The city of Napa was said to be one of the worst affected areas, with fire-fighters tackling some six blazes, as well as dozens of burst water mains and gas pipes.
Rescuers were seen still checking buildings overnight for anyone who might be trapped even as the clear-up gathered momentum from dawn today.
The Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa reported treating 172 people, although many were for minor injuries. This was even as a man is said to be in critical condition, while a 13-year-old boy is seriously ill after being hit by debris from a fireplace.
Nola Rawlins, a resident of a mobile home park hit by a fire, said: “There were some explosions, and it was burning. Everybody was out in the street. I didn’t get anything out of the house.”
David Gadlin, manager of an olive oil shop in Napa, also said: “It could have been a lot worse if it happened when customers and workers were inside. We will get through this.”
City public works director, Jack LaRochelle said the major concern in Napa was the water mains system.
He said that teams are working in 12-hour shifts to restore water, but that the roads are not seriously damaged and bridges are “in pretty good shape.”
Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown has already declared s state of emergency in the affected area even as President Barack Obama has been briefed on the earthquake. [myad]
The Nigerian Military has vowed to soon mount a special operation to retake the Gwoza, in Borno state, presently occupied by members of the outlawed Boko Haram even as it laughed off the claim by the sect declaring Gwoza the seat of what it called Caliphate.
the Director of Defence Information, Major Gen Chris Olukolade, made clear in the Defence Headquarters twitter handle twitter.com/DefenceInfoNG, that the military would not allow any part of the country to be ceded to the insurgents.
“Appropriate military operation to secure that area from the activities of the bandits is still ongoing. Any group of terrorists laying claim to any portion of the country will not be allowed to get away with the expression of delusion and crime.”
He said that the claim by Boko Haram, to making Gwoza a part of phantom Caliphate is empty, adding: “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact.
Leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, had earlier said in a video that the Boko Haram insurgents would not leave the town of Gwoza which they captured, as they had made it the seat of an Islamic caliphate. [myad]
Misunderstanding, misconstruing or fusing some traits of the extremists with, or as, the general features of Muslims, often with an unmistakable intent to slur them, not only discriminate the whole Muslims but also provides a cheap cover for the extremists, in addition to falsely enlarging their base and creating an imaginary solid base for them within the Muslims. This has provided a big cover, also, to criminals who understand that all they need to do is to give their operations a Boko Haram look, and all will believe it is “them.” I was shocked when a commentator, among the “intellectuals,” subtly seem to opine that whenever issues like the Gaza Genocide arises, as heated debate ensued, the likes of Shekau comes to his mind. He seemed to be equating any anti-west or pro-Islam activity as extremism informed by lack of “good understanding” of Islam. This is an amazing display of complete ignorance about our extremists and the greatest unfairness meted to the Muslims. The extremists have a completely different understanding of Islam with the Nigerian Muslims. They have different fiqh, different worldview, almost completely different understanding of the scriptures with the Nigerian Muslims. The obvious confusion going on in the minds of many “intellectuals”, which made it difficult for them to spot the stark difference, is unfortunate. The “intellectuals” seem to be much in a hurry to find a derogatory name for people they ought to be actually enlightening. There is a disparity in definition of the term “extremism” between the Islamic perspective and the western perspective. Not that some of them are not very much aware of what they are doing, but one can understand if non Muslims in Nigeria, especially those from the south, are confused about extremism or even mix up things, given the daily misinformation churned out from some newspapers that can go to any level of unprofessionalism to attract buyers or gain readership. They could also be excused for ignorance of the reality given the dishonourable conduct of our politicians, who are all out to exploit the nation’s woes to get votes, to the extent that a monster that seeks to finish all is falsely painted as a political gimmick from opponents, citing incoherent and laughable evidences. This is compounded by the manipulation of some international media that churn cleverly crafted misinformation about Muslims which are gulped hook line and sinker as absolute truths by some. But it is inconceivable that a Muslim “intellectual”, who put it upon himself to publicly discuss issues affecting Muslims, whom he must have been living with for the better part of his existence, will indulge in unsubstantiated branding of people as extremists, and even attempt to connect them to the Shekaus of this world, unless he is on a mission. Many wonder, as one honest man inquired, why do so many groups around the world at present have a tendency to misinterpret the message of Islam. Why do Boko Haram, al-shabab, ISIS, the al-Nusrah Front, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb etc all understand and interpret the message of Islam differently? What makes a multiple groups in different parts of the world to all fail to understand the true message of Islam despite the fact that their leaders claim to some form of religious scholarship? Why do the members of all these groups fail to understand that Islam does not permit them to kill innocent people even if they are defending themselves against western hegemony? As I pointed earlier, we must understand that the extremism embraced by different organizations like Boko Haram, that claim to be Islamic, is based on a specific ideology, imbibed by them, which is different from that of the rest of Muslims. It is developed from a completely different jurisprudence, different understanding, and different evidences from which these groups get their stimulations. Anybody who takes a good look at these extremist groups will find out that they have specific philosophy, perspective and jurisprudence on which they base their activities. They heavily rely on verses that are not entirely clear (mutashabihaat) and ignore verses of commandments (Al-Ahkam), they incline towards the branches (Juz’iyyaat) and overlook the whole (Kulliyaat), they hold on to literal meanings and abandon the purpose or intent, just as they shun verses and ahadith that contradicts their stands. Most of the time, they put the verses and hadiths where they do not belong (quoting out of context) and, in the process, they badly disfigure the meaning and/or sequence. They also, comfortably rely on commentaries or explanations of some Islamic scholars, who wrote, bearing in mind their times (not ours), and the prevailing situation and circumstances they found themselves in. They simply read those books or are told their contents and/or the Fatwas of those times, given by high profile scholar(s) who are/is respected and of unquestionable integrity and educational background. Some of these are backed with verses of the Qur’an and the sayings or actions of the prophet (SAW), which are subject to interpretations, thus even if those Fatwas were well-suited with that time (they are mostly at war), they are not meant for all times and applicable everywhere. It is a known rule that Fatwas are given with special consideration to time, place and the people. As pointed out earlier, they quote verses and ahadith out of contexts and when confronted with verses that contradict their stand they say it was abrogated. The issue of abrogation is problematic and they also use that from a very flawed and contradictory perspective. They do not respect the Jihad guidelines, the treaty processes, the processes and stages of enjoining good and prohibiting bad (Amr bil Ma’aruf wan nahy anil Munkar), the rights of non combatants, the sanctity of human lives, and loads of other issues fully discussed and clearly stated in Islamic books of jurisprudence. They kill innocent people because they believe that the current governments, across the Muslim world, are unislamic and anti-Islam that need to be replaced, forcefully, with Islamic ones. Therefore, as they are illegitimate, all Muslims must, as a religious duty, reject them. Failure to do that and even participate in the processes of elections or working for them makes the people equally guilty and legitimate targets. They based this on a rule that he who does not renounce an unbeliever (the government in this case) is also an unbeliever. Understanding this will provide answers to many questions about the extremists. It will also give an insight to why they do what and actually believe they are doing Allah’s work. Notwithstanding the fact that all the verses, hadiths and other scholarly works they rely on to perpetrate their atrocities are all in and within Islam, it is absolutely insufficient and roundly illogical to insist, either by them or any other person, that that is Islam. The simple fact that there are capacious evidences in the teachings of Islam that contradicts their stand is enough to make this cogent. Long before this time, the Khawarij, Az-Zanj, the Qaramidah, and many more deviant sects have made far worse devastating atrocities across the Muslims world, ironically in the name of Islam and against Muslims. But the truth prevailed, and the real and true message of Islam is still intact. The question, usually, on the lips of many is how we confront this. It is my belief that you can never win an ideological battle with a gun or bomb. The best way to tackle this is for the ulama to engage the ideologies that stimulate this and shred it with superior argument. The best way to soften a hard heart is to talk to it with the language it understands and with a caring and brotherly approach. This has been done in recent times by some scholars and organizations like jama’atul Jihad, which was among the most violent of such extremist organizations, came to realise that it was actually wrong on many of its stands. The organizations revised itself and even wrote 12 books retracting many of its erroneous stands from the Islamic viewpoint. It is, therefore, doable in this country, if the ulama will take the baton, or continue with their enlightenment activity as they have been doing. This is just one among the many ways to confront this situation, in my humble opinion.
Muhammad Mahmud meinagge@gmailcom 08065880423
[su_heading size=”12″ margin=”40″](The Views expressed in this and other opinion articles are strictly personal and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Greenbarge Reporters)[/su_heading]
Striking Nigerian doctors have agreed to return to work immediately, suspending their two-month-old strike.
The decision to suspend the industrial action was taken at an emergency delegates meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) just concluded in the country’s capital, Abuja.
“All doctors are to return to work immediately,” the NMA Chieftains announced. [myad]
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim has said that government agents are going round the country to collect the signatures of Nigerians who want President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 Presidential election for his second term in office.
Anyim, who spoke yesterday at the South-West zonal rally of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) held at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium (former Liberty Stadium), Oke-Ado, Ibadan, said that the signatures compilation for Jonathan’s return for second term is an ongoing exercise.
He said that similar rallies would be held in all the geo-political zones of the country before the presentation of the “overall documents in Abuja next month”
The SGF received collection of booklets from the Chief of Staff to the President, Jones Arogbofa. Over 1,800,000 people were said to have appended their signatures, asking President Jonathan to run again for the 2015 Presidency
Anyim commended the people of the zone for the love and support they have clearly demonstrated for President Jonathan.
At the rally, the Ekiti State governor-elect, Peter Ayodele Fayose, and some of the ministers from the South West geo-political zone were conspicuously absent and no reason was given for their absence.
Before presenting the booklets to the SGF, Arogbofa described the South West zone as a home to Mr. President, recalling that the zone was the first to adopt him ahead of the 2011 election.
He called on the people of the zone to join hands to give PDP resounding victory during the 2015 elections holding in February, noting that Jonathan had proved himself a performing and transforming public servant since his election in 2011.
“I want to call on my people to let us work with unity of purpose and I can assure all of us that if we work together, the reward will be superlative. We worked for Mr. President in 2011 and we all can see that there is no regret and this time around, we will not regret but have more and better reward.” [myad]
There are strong indications that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has began intensive consultations towards declaring to contest the 2015 Presidential election under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
Sources close to the speaker, said that he has already set up Tambuwal Presidential Project (TPP) to work out the modalities for the realization of his ambition. Membership of the TPP is said to be drawn from top politicians in the North, members of the National Assembly, as well as APC chieftains.
It would be recalled that speaker Tambuwal was, a couple of weeks ago, in Otta, the country home of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for a private meeting with the former leader.
It was gathered that barring any last minutes change of plans, Tambuwal will contest the 2015 Presidential elections under the banner of APC as he is seen as the as the most acceptable among Northern politicians. His choice as a presidential material, according to inside sources, is to represent the loud call for the return of power to the North in 2015.
It was learnt on good authority that those in the North who are following the emerging politics, are of the opinion that Tambuwal, coming from Sokoto State, a key North Western state of the country, would be in better position to slug it out with President Goodluck Jonathan in the event that the President emerged the PDP presidential candidate.
Already, top echelons of APC, who are not particularly comfortable with Buhari running for the Presidency on the party’s platform, are currently said to be holding clandestine meetings to convince the Speaker to join the party and contest the Presidential ticket of the party.
It would be recalled that Governor Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto State recently decamped to APC.
However, Tambuwal cannot leave the PDP now, as he would forfeit his seat in the National Assembly under the new electoral law.
Although, he has not acceded to the APC’s overtures yet, his close associates said his body language is encouraging, but that as a politician, he has to calculate well before deciding on what to do. [myad]
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President Goodluck Jonathan has returned to Abuja, Nigeria, from a private trip to Germany which, putting to rest, the media report that he went for medical attention.
President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the Nigeria’s under-20 women football team, the Falconets, that Nigerians are proud of them for their highly spirited and patriotic performance in the final of the just concluded FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Tournament in Canada.
Why Muslim “Scholars” Turn Extremists…And, Terrorists, By Muhammad Mahmud
Misunderstanding, misconstruing or fusing some traits of the extremists with, or as, the general features of Muslims, often with an unmistakable intent to slur them, not only discriminate the whole Muslims but also provides a cheap cover for the extremists, in addition to falsely enlarging their base and creating an imaginary solid base for them within the Muslims. This has provided a big cover, also, to criminals who understand that all they need to do is to give their operations a Boko Haram look, and all will believe it is “them.”
I was shocked when a commentator, among the “intellectuals,” subtly seem to opine that whenever issues like the Gaza Genocide arises, as heated debate ensued, the likes of Shekau comes to his mind. He seemed to be equating any anti-west or pro-Islam activity as extremism informed by lack of “good understanding” of Islam. This is an amazing display of complete ignorance about our extremists and the greatest unfairness meted to the Muslims. The extremists have a completely different understanding of Islam with the Nigerian Muslims. They have different fiqh, different worldview, almost completely different understanding of the scriptures with the Nigerian Muslims. The obvious confusion going on in the minds of many “intellectuals”, which made it difficult for them to spot the stark difference, is unfortunate.
The “intellectuals” seem to be much in a hurry to find a derogatory name for people they ought to be actually enlightening. There is a disparity in definition of the term “extremism” between the Islamic perspective and the western perspective.
Not that some of them are not very much aware of what they are doing, but one can understand if non Muslims in Nigeria, especially those from the south, are confused about extremism or even mix up things, given the daily misinformation churned out from some newspapers that can go to any level of unprofessionalism to attract buyers or gain readership. They could also be excused for ignorance of the reality given the dishonourable conduct of our politicians, who are all out to exploit the nation’s woes to get votes, to the extent that a monster that seeks to finish all is falsely painted as a political gimmick from opponents, citing incoherent and laughable evidences. This is compounded by the manipulation of some international media that churn cleverly crafted misinformation about Muslims which are gulped hook line and sinker as absolute truths by some. But it is inconceivable that a Muslim “intellectual”, who put it upon himself to publicly discuss issues affecting Muslims, whom he must have been living with for the better part of his existence, will indulge in unsubstantiated branding of people as extremists, and even attempt to connect them to the Shekaus of this world, unless he is on a mission.
Many wonder, as one honest man inquired, why do so many groups around the world at present have a tendency to misinterpret the message of Islam. Why do Boko Haram, al-shabab, ISIS, the al-Nusrah Front, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb etc all understand and interpret the message of Islam differently? What makes a multiple groups in different parts of the world to all fail to understand the true message of Islam despite the fact that their leaders claim to some form of religious scholarship? Why do the members of all these groups fail to understand that Islam does not permit them to kill innocent people even if they are defending themselves against western hegemony?
As I pointed earlier, we must understand that the extremism embraced by different organizations like Boko Haram, that claim to be Islamic, is based on a specific ideology, imbibed by them, which is different from that of the rest of Muslims. It is developed from a completely different jurisprudence, different understanding, and different evidences from which these groups get their stimulations. Anybody who takes a good look at these extremist groups will find out that they have specific philosophy, perspective and jurisprudence on which they base their activities. They heavily rely on verses that are not entirely clear (mutashabihaat) and ignore verses of commandments (Al-Ahkam), they incline towards the branches (Juz’iyyaat) and overlook the whole (Kulliyaat), they hold on to literal meanings and abandon the purpose or intent, just as they shun verses and ahadith that contradicts their stands. Most of the time, they put the verses and hadiths where they do not belong (quoting out of context) and, in the process, they badly disfigure the meaning and/or sequence.
They also, comfortably rely on commentaries or explanations of some Islamic scholars, who wrote, bearing in mind their times (not ours), and the prevailing situation and circumstances they found themselves in. They simply read those books or are told their contents and/or the Fatwas of those times, given by high profile scholar(s) who are/is respected and of unquestionable integrity and educational background. Some of these are backed with verses of the Qur’an and the sayings or actions of the prophet (SAW), which are subject to interpretations, thus even if those Fatwas were well-suited with that time (they are mostly at war), they are not meant for all times and applicable everywhere. It is a known rule that Fatwas are given with special consideration to time, place and the people.
As pointed out earlier, they quote verses and ahadith out of contexts and when confronted with verses that contradict their stand they say it was abrogated. The issue of abrogation is problematic and they also use that from a very flawed and contradictory perspective.
They do not respect the Jihad guidelines, the treaty processes, the processes and stages of enjoining good and prohibiting bad (Amr bil Ma’aruf wan nahy anil Munkar), the rights of non combatants, the sanctity of human lives, and loads of other issues fully discussed and clearly stated in Islamic books of jurisprudence.
They kill innocent people because they believe that the current governments, across the Muslim world, are unislamic and anti-Islam that need to be replaced, forcefully, with Islamic ones. Therefore, as they are illegitimate, all Muslims must, as a religious duty, reject them. Failure to do that and even participate in the processes of elections or working for them makes the people equally guilty and legitimate targets. They based this on a rule that he who does not renounce an unbeliever (the government in this case) is also an unbeliever.
Understanding this will provide answers to many questions about the extremists. It will also give an insight to why they do what and actually believe they are doing Allah’s work.
Notwithstanding the fact that all the verses, hadiths and other scholarly works they rely on to perpetrate their atrocities are all in and within Islam, it is absolutely insufficient and roundly illogical to insist, either by them or any other person, that that is Islam. The simple fact that there are capacious evidences in the teachings of Islam that contradicts their stand is enough to make this cogent.
Long before this time, the Khawarij, Az-Zanj, the Qaramidah, and many more deviant sects have made far worse devastating atrocities across the Muslims world, ironically in the name of Islam and against Muslims. But the truth prevailed, and the real and true message of Islam is still intact.
The question, usually, on the lips of many is how we confront this. It is my belief that you can never win an ideological battle with a gun or bomb. The best way to tackle this is for the ulama to engage the ideologies that stimulate this and shred it with superior argument. The best way to soften a hard heart is to talk to it with the language it understands and with a caring and brotherly approach. This has been done in recent times by some scholars and organizations like jama’atul Jihad, which was among the most violent of such extremist organizations, came to realise that it was actually wrong on many of its stands. The organizations revised itself and even wrote 12 books retracting many of its erroneous stands from the Islamic viewpoint. It is, therefore, doable in this country, if the ulama will take the baton, or continue with their enlightenment activity as they have been doing. This is just one among the many ways to confront this situation, in my humble opinion.
Muhammad Mahmud
meinagge@gmailcom
08065880423
[su_heading size=”12″ margin=”40″](The Views expressed in this and other opinion articles are strictly personal and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Greenbarge Reporters)[/su_heading]
[myad]