The Amir (National Head) of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Nigeria, Alhaji (Barr.) Alatoye Folorunso Azeez has condemned all forms of corruption in various institutions including religious bodies, describing it as an act of ungodliness.
Barrister Alatoye made the submission during an interview with pressmen at the National Headquarters of Ahmadiyya Community in Ojokoro Lagos.
Asked about his views on corruption which has become a global problem, Amir said: “corruption is an offshoot of an act of ungodliness, the Promised Messiah who is the founder of Ahmadiyya community states that anyone who commits theft does not rely on God Almighty but on his own intelligence and it is shirk, so all our Muslim brothers who work with the government or are working in private sectors and are manipulating things need to know that it is an act of shirk.
Continuing, the Amir said: “A Muslim must never be involved in any act of corruption, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) detest it so much and preached against it, thus no Muslim brother or sister should involve in such act.”
On members of the organization taking part in politics, Amir said members are being encouraged to participate in politics, adding that: “In the Jama’at we have had a former governor who was the first military governor of Ogun state, we also have people in the National Assembly, we encourage our people to go into politics and reform the government positively.”
Objectives of the 67th Annual Conference
Speaking on the aims and objectives of the forthcoming Annual Jalsa Salana (Annual Conference) of the organization which is slated to hold at Ilaro, Ogun State, the National Head highlighted the seven cardinal points which the gathering aims to achieve, one of which is closeness to the Creator and behaving in a Godly way.
The second objective, according to him is to improve the morality of members as well as doing the right thing at the appropriate time. The third cardinal point, he said was the complete obedience to the commandments of Almighty God, the institution of Khilafat and all the constituted authority. He also said respect for everyone is a must for all participants irrespective of ethnic groups, language, and culture, noting that it will bring about the atmosphere of peace and love for one another.
According to the Amir, “the fifth obligation which we intend to improve on is competence. We want to focus on being competent which is actually one of the teachings of the Holy Quran, the best person hired is the one that is competent.’’
He continued: ‘’Trustworthiness is the sixth and this is affecting us in this country today, the act of trustworthiness is something I think we need to work on in all spheres of our lives.’’
The last cardinal point he mentioned is prayers and seeking Almighty Allah’s help. He believed Nigeria is endowed with resources both human and mineral resources, stressing that: ‘’something is still missing and that is divine support and help, we need to call on God Almighty for this.’’
On his general admonition for the government and the masses on the economic advancement of the country, Barrister Alatoye emphasized: “My key message to the Nigeria government and the populace including the Muslims is that we should avoid interest, as it is dangerous and tantamount to declaration of war against Allah, it is indeed killing us.’’
