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Many Nigerians have taken the day of independence commemoration as a day of lamenting the problems of Nigeria and then end their talks with raining of curses on the country. A national day like this is supposed to be a day of sober reflection and prayer for forgiveness and mercy of Allah. Out of frustration, some Nigerians, while praying, will say: “Oh God, No matter what Nigeria turns to, just bless me in Nigeria. Even if a cup of rice is sold for a thousand naira, just let me be able to cope.”
First, there is nothing like ‘coping’ in a nation with a rapidly deteriorating economy and security. Every single being in it will eventually be affected. Moreso, this type of prayer is not only selfish, but a sign of weakness of Faith and lack of the ethics of supplication. Such person is seeing Allah as a God who can only solve his own problem while Nigeria’s problem is too much for Him to solve. Hashalillah. Fellow Muslims, let us know that Allah who can bring something into existence from non-existence can actually repair a destroyed entity; Surely, Allah has power over all things. (Q2:20 and 19 other places in the Qur’an).
Respected brethren in the Dīn, the act of prioritizing a prayer for the well-being of our nation is a sign of love for the nation. To love the nation even when one is being tormented inside it is something we should emulate in the ways of our beloved Prophet Muhammad and the companions.
When the Prophet had to leave Makkah, his home town, he was very sad. In Q28:85, Allah promised him a sure and victorious return back to the town. Today, everyone wants to leave Nigeria! Despite the promise, he (PBUH) still look back at the town and said; “how sweet of a
land you are to be and how beloved! If it were not that my people expelled me from you, I would not have lived in other than you” (Jami‘ Tirmidhi Book 49 Hadith 4305).
The companions too loved Makkah. It was a bitter experience for Abubakar when he and the prophet had to hide in caves from the persecutors who are now hunting them around.
Even after the Muslims had left the beloved town of Makkah for them. Q9:40 contains a response to Abubakar’s severe sadness in that occurrence.Bilal bn Rabah and Abubakar would start chanting poems of missing Makkah whenever they have fever in Madinah and start praising Makkan herbs and valleys (Muwatta book 45 hadith 1614).
To show that the love of a nation is important not only in the home town but also extends to loving the new place of one’s residence at a given time, when prophet Muhammad saw how his companions were missing Makkah, he supplicated saying: “Oh Allah, Make us love Madinah as we love Makkah or even more than that” (Sahih Bukhari vol 3 book 30 hadith 113).
The prophet (PBUH) used to invoke Allah’s blessings and healing power into the soil of his town (Sahih Muslim hadith 2194). How on earth will someone be cursing the soil upon which he resides and walks, and still believes that he will be blessed on the same soil? Praying for a personal success in the middle of a troubled nation is not only a joke but a sign of selfishness and a derailment from the path of prophets. Prayers for nations in the Qur’an as said by the Prophets of Allah often come in generic expressions and plural pronouns. We are talking about our nation; where our children and grand children are supposed to live. Do you still think praying for Nigeria is less important? Prayer for the nation does not exclude the non-believers. Accountability to Allah is a business of the hereafter. Here, everyone deserves to live in some comfort. Prophet Ibrahim was not given the right to exclude non-believers from his national prayers (Q2:126). Fellow brethren in the Dīn, let us reduce our lamentation and put more effort in prayers.
Let us know that Nigeria is still very much repairable. When that hope and faith is applied in praying for the nation, it will insha Allah bring the full divine merciful intervention which we desire from Allah for our nation. Let us know that the pain we are going through and the fact that all known solutions have failed has made us mudtarrīn (totally poor and distressed) and prayer in that condition is promised by Allah to be answered (Q27:62). Most Merciful, we pray for our nation to remain tolerant and loving, remove prejudice from our hearts, and allow us to love our brothers and sisters in humanity.
Allow our Government to remain accountable to the people, give them vision and wisdom, as they take decisions affecting peace in our world so that they may uphold peace in the world, advance the welfare of our nation and deal kindly and justly with all our communities.
An Excerpt From The Minbar Of Darul-kitab Wa Sunnah College Of Arabic And Islamic Studies.
Welcome Mubarak