Jumuat Mosques’ Imams Pray Against Insecurity

The Association of Jumuat Mosques Imams of Nigeria (AJMIN) has called for sustained prayers for divine intervention in Nigeria’s worsening security challenges and other difficulties confronting the country.

The association made the call at a one-day leadership seminar titled, “Leadership in Islam for National Peace and Divine Intervention”, held in Kano yesterday.

At the event, AJMIN national chairman and Chief Imam of Sheikh Ahmadu Tijjani Jumuat Mosque, Kano, Sheikh Muhammad Nasir Adam, said Nigeria was in serious need of prayers given the violence and other challenges affecting citizens across the country.

He said the association selected a state each year where its members deliberated on issues affecting the country, advised one another and prayed for peace and divine intervention.

“Usually every year, we select a state where we sit and deliberate on our focus, pray for the country and advise ourselves,” he said.

Sheikh Nasir, who said AJMIN was a duly registered body with the federal government, said praying for the country was part of the association’s responsibility and that it should not wait for the government or politicians to call on religious leaders.

“Nigeria is in serious need of prayer because of the predicament that deserves pity.

There is violence all over the country, but God has promised succour and intervention if people ask for His assistance,” he said.

He urged Muslims not to assume they were safe simply because insecurity had not yet affected their communities, warning that challenges in one part of the country could eventually affect others.

“Don’t think that because it has not affected your town or your state that you are safe. No, not ever,” he said.

The AJMIN chairman explained that the association also organised seminars to sensitise its members on their responsibilities as Imams and community leaders.

Sheikh Nasir urged Imams to distinguish between their personal opinions and Islamic teachings, saying they should not use their positions to promote personal ambitions.

“An Imam should be a symbol of goodness. Imams should refrain from discussing their personal opinions, not the ones professed by religion. Our work is not to promote personal ambitions but religious teachings,” he said.

Representing Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf at the event, his Special Adviser on Tsangaya Schools, Gwani Musa Hamza Falaki, said Imams had historically played important leadership roles in Muslim communities and continued to command respect in society.

He said the state government respected Islamic scholars and Imams and appreciated AJMIN for bringing the programme to Kano.

Also speaking, a Kano-based cleric, Sheikh Abdullahi Uwaisu Limanci, urged Imams to understand the peculiar challenges of the communities they lead and guide their followers accordingly.

“Every Imam must know the people he lives among and how he can lead them. How will he guide them to the right path? Imams should be a compass in both this world and the hereafter,” he said.

He added that because states faced different challenges, Imams should take these peculiarities into consideration when educating and sensitising their congregations to peaceful coexistence.