By Ahmed Ajikobi
The Imam of Kwara state College of Education Central mosque, Ustaz AbdulAfeez Hameen Ibrahim has tasked the Muslims who are embarking on the holy pilgrimage to be of good conduct and perform the hajj rites in accordance with the dictates of Allah to earn the desired reward.
The Imam who made the call during the Friday Jummat service before the two Rakat prayer, said the pilgrims should not give in to the whisperings of the Shaytan during the hajj exercise
Ustaz Ibrahim, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies, said hajj is one of the pillars of Islam which attracts the reward of paradise form Allah when performed rightly.
According to him, hajj signifies the unity of Islam and provide opportunity for familiarity of the Muslims from different countries of the world to know each other and promote relationship that is beyond complexion, height, language and ethnicity.
“The hajj exercise testifies to the oneness of Allah and unity of the Muslims in most of the acts of worship like five daily solat, fasting in Ramadan, paying Zakat among others.
“This exposes the fact that Islam is one and no other religion has its qualifications worldwide. While going for hajj we must have good intention to do it for Allah alone as the main reason. Business is secondary though permissible.
The Imam added that Allah raised the status of man in the midst of angels during hajj and urged the Muslims going to the Holy Land to see the exercise as an avenue to worship Allah purely rather than using it for jamboree.
“Observing Solat in Makkah and Medina is more is rewarding several thousand times than in other mosques and hujaj (pilgrims), must avoid vain talk and recite the Qur’an a lot”, he submitted.
