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President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Monday felicitated with Muslim faithful on the 2018 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations which comes up on Tuesday (tomorrow).
Saraki and Atiku made the felicitations in their Eid-el-Kabir message to Muslim faithful in the country
Saraki enjoined Nigerians to increase their efforts in charitable endeavours, perseverance and spiritual intercession for the nation. The Senate President urged Nigerians to further devote their prayers at the Eid praying grounds to the call on Allah to restore peace in all parts of the country, strengthen the unity and rebuild the economy.
Saraki also congratulated Muslims on the celebration of the 2018 Eid el-Kabir festival and described the special occasion as “a period that honours the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son to show submission to Allah’s command”.
“As we have read from the Glorious Qur’an, just when Ibrahim was about to kill his son Ishmael, Almighty Allah (SWT) put a sheep in its place. Muslims use Eid el-Kabir to celebrate Prophet Ibrahim’s complete obedience to the will of Allah and as a reminder of our own willingness to make sacrifices in obedience to Allah,” he stated.
Atiku in a similar vein advised Muslims across the country to take the center stage in promoting and spreading love among fellow Nigerians in order to consolidate our unity.
He explained that diversity is not the cause of Nigeria’s problems, but blamed the attitude of Nigerians towards one another instead.
According to him, “the common interests that unite Nigerians are by far stronger than those petty factors that divide us,” adding that diversity can be used to advantage.
Atiku said intolerance, extremism and bigotry, if unchecked, could threaten peace and unity in any country.
He noted that peace and unity are the greatest assets that should not be taken for granted by Nigerians.
According to him, interfaith dialogue would not go far enough if bigotry is allowed to defeat human reason and wisdom.
The former Vice President explained that all religions preach love of mankind, and urged Muslims to promote the beauty of their faith through positive personal conducts.
Atiku noted that societies founded on hate and bigotry are always exposed to conflicts, and said these negative emotions can only be defeated by the power of love.
While wishing Muslims successful Sallah celebration, the Waziri Adamawa advised Muslims to remain vigilant against the influence of violent extremism which has been used by misguided elements to portray Islam in bad light.
Recall that the federal government had earlier declared Tuesday and Wednesday as public holidays for the celebrations.