A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, have urged Muslims to emulate Prophet Muhammad’s shining virtues of compassion, tolerance and commitment to peace.
In two separate messages to Muslims on Wednesday, as part of festivities marking Eid-Maulud, the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet of Islam, the former Vice President reminded Muslims that the greatest honour they could do to Muhammad was to emulate his positive examples.
Atiku noted with sadness that the activities of some misguided elements around the world “are inconsistent with the virtues for which Muhammad was famous, such as respect for life, tolerance and avoiding violence against the innocent.”
He was quoted in a statement by his Media Office as saying, “deliberate aggression was never part of the virtues of the Prophet of Islam lived for and, therefore, Muslims have a binding duty to reclaim the good name of Islam by neutralising the pernicious influence of extremists.”
“The violent interpretation of Islam by a minority of extremists that espouse poisonous ideologies is giving the religion a bad name.”
He said, the Maulud celebration should be an occasion for sober reflection and a reminder “of our duty to be good ambassadors of Islam.”
As Muslims observe the occasion, the former Vice President advised them to rededicate ourselves to the noble virtues and exemplary life Prophet Muhammad.
Also, Saraki on Wednesday felicitated with Muslims on this year’s celebration of Eid-el-Maulud.
He also enjoined Nigerians to imbibe the teachings of Prophet Muhammad which, he said, were anchored on love, peaceful coexistence and harmony.
Saraki stated this in a goodwill message by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu.
He said just like the birth of the Holy Prophet in Mecca ushered in a new dawn for humanity, Nigerians should view the occasion of this year’s Maulud Nabiyy as an opportunity for a new beginning for the country.
He noted that the country has made tremendous progress in terms of security of lives and property since the last celebration.
He urged Muslim faithful to use the occasion to further seek the mercy and protection of Allah for all Nigerians.
Saraki said, “I believe that we will make progress towards the realisation of our shared vision of a strong, united and prosperous nation.”
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