The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has vowed that whosoever kills innocent people with shouts of “Allahu Akbar” would go to hell and suffer dearly for the terrible crimes. The denunciation was delivered by the monarch during the inaugural triannual meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, held in Abuja where he spoke alongside the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Daniel Okoh and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
The Sultan, co-chair of NIREC, said that a lot of the violence typically portrayed as religious is being misinterpreted, fuelling fear and mistrust among Nigerians. He asked individuals to cease connecting criminality with any faith and called for a reset in how the country views its issues.
According to him, “Let us put the record straight. It’s not a religious thing. Let’s not get religion into this. Let’s call them what they are – criminals. Not Muslim criminals. Not Muslim terrorists. Not Muslim bandits. “Even if a person calls himself Muslim, his actions are against Islam.”
The Sultan discussed religious fanaticism, linking it to ignorance and warning against false claims of religious authority. He stressed that “just because you know Arabic, does not make you a Sheikh. Arabic is only a language. “So literacy is very important.” He also condemned suicide bombs and attacks against innocent individuals, adding that there is no theological justification for such acts of terror. “Some person can go to the market, blows himself or herself up, kill people and cry, ‘Allahu Akbar’. Yes God is great but you’re going to hell. They will pay for taking innocent life,’ he said.
The Sultan also played down suspicions of a religious agenda in Nigeria, saying that Muslims are not out to kill Christians. “I am here today to re-emphasize that Muslims are not in a hurry and are not in any way planning anything like decimating the population of Christians in Nigeria. There’s nothing we can do to get Christians out of Nigeria. No it’s not,” he said. He highlighted the importance of both faiths living together in an environment of stability, respect and understanding, and called for a return to dialogue, saying that was the only way forward that would succeed. “We believe in dialogue at NIREC. We believe in discussion no matter how horrible things are. When you speak, you must understand each other, not merely suffer each other. If you don’t trust me, what can you do? You can’t open my heart, To see what’s inside. “Now we have to trust each other.”
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