THE MAN ASH-SHEIKH ALBANI ZARIA BY THE FORMER FCT MINISTER,( KADUNA STATE GUBERNATORIAL ASPIRANT) MALLAM NASIRU EL-RUFAI Sheikh Albani, a Salafist Islamic cleric was shockingly assassinated along with his wife and son yesterday in Zaria, Kaduna State. May their souls rest in peace, Amen. Who would want to kill an unarmed cleric and his family? The excerpts of an interview below that the late sheikh granted in 2011 sheds some light on his way of thinking, and advise to political leaders. I thank Professor Folarin Osotimehin for sharing the excerpt with some of us...... Sheikh Albani Interview - 2011 “A situation where government consults the clerics only when they need prayers should be stopped. Government should be sincere in its dealings with clergies...... Buying cars or houses for clergies is not what I am talking about. Building mosques, schools or bringing books with government stamp or feeding people during Ramadan is not what I’m talking about. Government should be consulting the clerics to know the needs and the problems of the people at the grassroots. Islam was revealed in order to solve the people’s problems and provide the needs of the people. But buying big jeeps for scholars and big houses is not the solution to what is happening now because when you do that, the people would even become enemies of the clerics. We have all seen what happened in April, where houses and cars of some scholars were burnt or destroyed. Some scholars were even killed because they were seen as agents of this government. Government should be involved in the running of religion in this country. Lastly, government needs to come closer to the clerics now being regarded as extremists. When I say close, I don’t mean to use SSS to be harassing them. They need to come to them to understand them and know what informed their perceived extremism. The government that is in constant war with its people or part of its people can never bring development”.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:16:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015