Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu
The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has called for peace and reconciliation in the face of current challenges of multiple dimensions.
He said this in his Eid-ul-Adha message to Muslims, which falls tomorrow. The occasion, he said, offers Muslims an opportunity to reaffirm their faith in Allah.
God, he quotes from the Holy Quran, said in Chapter 22 vs 37 that “he is not interested in the flesh and blood of the animal sacrifice on the day of the Eid but in our commitment to piety,” emphasising that the occasion is not only for celebration but reflection.
The Chief Imam said the virtues of the Eid will be fruitless unless they have the capacity to guarantee attitudinal change and cleansing, as well as moral ascendancy in our society.
This, according to him, calls for attitudinal change from negativity to positivity in the supreme interest of society.
Eid-ul-Adha, he said, is the moral backbone of interfaith harmony among members of the Abrahamic fraternity.
He referred to the Divine order of God to Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as the genesis of the Eid-ul-Adha, adding that this is the point of convergence among members of the Abrahamic faith.
To members of the Abrahamic faith, he called on them to regard the Eid-ul-Adha as another opportunity to reaffirm commitment to interfaith harmony, a bedrock of national unity and stability.
Continuing, he said that in darkness of socio-religious adversities, interfaith harmony serves as light that has brightened the path to prosperity.
On the global stage, he pointed with dismay the myriad of threats, which he added ranged from genocidal impunity to moral decadence.
He called for an end to the atrocities arising from the war in Iran and other areas of conflict.
“We cannot surrender our God-given humanity to modern-day barbarism in the name of supremacy,” he cautioned.