Muhsin Ibrahim
@muhsin234
I have not been busier, more disturbed, or more unorganised for a very, very long time than I have been in the past few days. Life is often
a trial, futile and temporal. Thanks to Allah for creating us the way we are: oxymoronically
determined, forgetful and seldom ignorant of what is going on around us and
beyond. It’s His mercy. Otherwise, life would be uninteresting, tiring, and perhaps worthless.
The Trial
We ‘celebrated’ this Eid-el-Kabir with literally
empty pockets. Most of us thought the September salaries would be paid on the 24th, the day it fell, when salaries are typically paid. It wasn’t. Moreover, it is known to all that wages are paid before the due date if the time coincides with any feast, such as Eid or Christmas. More so, being President Muhammadu
Buhari is Muslim, some people thought, erroneously though, that he would ‘favour’ his fellow faithful and pay the salaries. He
didn’t. They (we, in fact) now wait for the 25th December to see
whether or not the President truly belongs to nobody. I hope you understand me.
The Temporal
It’s no longer news that hundreds of Hajj pilgrims have died in two separate accidents in Mecca and Mina. To my firm belief,
none was avoidable. The blame game between the Saudis, Iranians and Africans
should stop! First, the Saudi minister was dead wrong for blaming Africans for the Mina stampede. That was very heedless, insensitive, and condemnable. He should ASAP offer us an unreserved apology. Second, the
Iranians have just discovered a niche to launch their subtle, bloodless counter-offensive on the Saudis as the latter continue to pound Houthi militants, the
former’s ally, in Yemen. Everyone knows that the two countries are as opposite
as black and white on absolutely ideological grounds: Sunni vs. Shi’ism. Thus,
as other issues were ultimately ensconced, this too would be. Third, to us
Africans, we should not be intimidated by that untoward comment by the silly Saudi
minister. We should not, equally, partake in those countries’ centuries-old, though banal, verbal fight. It will not help us in any way. Above all, let’s
pray to Allah to prevent the recurrence of such accidents and have mercy on the
deceased.
The Temporal,
again
En route to Kano from Bauchi for Sallah visits, my amiable, 18-year-old sister, with a 4-month-old pregnancy, and her husband died in a fatal car crash two days ago (i.e. on 26/09/2015). They got married
less than 5 months ago while my wife and I, her elder sister, were in India. The
wedding was even postponed once or twice so we could return. Thus, the coming was
more ours as we didn’t meet since we came back two months after the wedding. We
were, in a word, devastated, and we are still in shock. People from near and
far sympathised with us because of the unexpectedness of the deaths. May Allah rest
your souls, amin. Till we come.
The Futility
Nigeria’s uniqueness as a country is incredible.
At a risk of sounding pompous, I do read
a lot. I have also travelled across India for two years and know a bit about Egypt, too. But I have yet to see a country as easily polarised as Nigeria on
typically trivial, non-issue issues between the largely Muslim north and
predominantly Christian south. Although no bloodshed has recently occurred, the
cyber-war is raging virtually daily. Simply check the trending
issues every day on Twitter and Facebook. You will be stunned. The focal point today is our enviable emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, over his alleged “secret marriage” to the physiologically
mature 18-year-old princess of
Adamawa.
Our predominantly Christian countrymen should know that our
religion and theirs are not the same. They simply can’t be. Ditto what we
perceive as our cultural rights and values. Hence, expecting us to have the
same or similar worldview is, to say the least, a practically embarrassing and unthinking display of unawareness. Not only that, but we should appreciate
and respect our differences. As one Facebook commenter intelligently noted, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, should be their role model. During his just finished visit to the US, he blessed President Obama, although the latter has recently done a very anti-Christian thing: legalising same-sex marriage in the US. The Pope knows his limits.
Hey, wait. What’s all the fuss about her age? Isn’t
18 (and below, in some countries) a so-called legal age of marriage across the
world? Our world. This world. Besides, the Virgin Mary, upon whom be peace,
gave birth to Jesus, upon whom be peace, at a much lower age of 13 or 14. With
all this, our non-Muslim countrymen and women, and perhaps some so-called
activists among the Muslims, yet spew their vituperative comments on the emir.
Hmm. We know the prime target, nonetheless, that it isn’t him. It’s his
religion of Islam and our beloved prophet, Muhammad, upon whom be peace. But
that will NOT harm it. Allah, the Exalted, has vowed to guard it and
so He does.
Enough!
Life is very temporal. Neither that lovely, young
couple nor the Hajj pilgrims had inkling that their lives would end that way,
and that suddenly. This should re-awaken us to the realisation of how life
really is. No doubt we all will go to our graves with many unaccomplished
desires and unfulfilled promises, but we shouldn’t be that forgetful and that
ignorant of the realities of life. We plan, God disposes. We should not forget
the essence of our creation: worship. We should also be forgiving,
accommodating and more persevering. That’s why, without the salary, with the
unbecoming nitpicking of our dear religion, and the losses of those precious
lives, I can forge ahead. I hope you can do the same, or better.
Comments
Post a Comment