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The Chief Imam of the University of Abuja, Prof. Taofiq Azeez, has said that the suspension of Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque, Abuja, Shiekh Nuru Khalid was not surprising.
The erudite Islamic leader however, urged the suspended cleric not to be discouraged by his present ordeal.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that Sheikh Khalid was suspended after delivering a sermon on insecurity on Friday.
Prof Azeez said this while speaking as a guest speaker on Sunday in Abuja at 19th National Unity Ramadan Lecture organised by the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, with the theme: ‘Ramadan: Shaping Leadership’.
He said “The Hadith of Prophet Muhammad on changing wrongs with hands; with tongues, but should not join in the evils because he was being patronized or honoured; and to change the wrongs with their mind and to also pray that they changed for the better is apt here.”
He, however warned that if the leaders failed to act right and become hard-hearted, they (scholars) could explore the option of Prophet Musa (Moses), who sought Allah’s wrath against rebellious leaders.
He added “I knew that they would suspend him, he should not be discouraged, he should not be surprised. We are not surprised. He should continue doing the good work.”
“So, my message to Khalid is that he should not be discouraged, that should not make him go down, that should encourage him to do more.
“Scholars should be prepared for this kind of things, you may be suspended, you may even be attacked; you may be killed. Leaders, scholars, religious leaders, prophets have been killed before, this should not discourage anybody from doing that.
“However, when you want to criticize you must have your facts. You must not be partisan; you must not be echoing street talks. You must talk based on facts and truth, be objective. You must not be talking about hatred, maybe somebody sponsors it. Sometimes, some of these politicians sponsor some religious leaders to speak against their opponents, you must not be this cheap.”
He also blamed the religious leaders for much of the societal problems over their failure to act as expected of them, especially what they preach in mosques and churches,
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