Nigerians have been urged to meditate on the lessons surrounding the evolution and adoption of the Islamic Calendar by co-operating mutually to make the Nigerian Project a success.
The Chief Missioner of NasruLlahi-l Fatih (NASFAt), Imam Abdul-Azeez Morufu Onike made the call in a message commemorating the new Islamic year, Hijrah 1441.
Onike explained that as important and fundamental as the Islamic Calendar system is, it was only institutionalised seven years after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon him), and seamlessly bought into by Muslims up till today.
Narrating the history behind Hijrah, he said, “In AH 17 (638 AD/CE), Abu Musa Ashaari, one of the officials of the Caliph Umar in Basrah, complained about the absence of any year on the correspondence he received from Umar, making it difficult for him to determine which instructions were most recent.”
According to him, from the above history of the events leading to Hijrah, the decision to adopt the year was keyed into by both the followers and the leader without any bickering. He said, “There is a lesson in this for Nigerians.”
He therefore advised Nigerians to trust their leaders and imbibe the culture of resolving issues through dialogue and consultations.
He pleaded for patience with the present government which he said is making relentless efforts to take Nigeria out of the woods.
