By Ahmed Ajikobi
The Imam Olorunsogo Central mosque, Ilorin, Kwara State, Ustaz AbdulAfeez Olayiwola has tasked Muslims who are embarking on the holy pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia to be good ambassadors of Islam by engaging in good deeds and perform meritorious acts that will earn them reward from Almighty Allah.
The Imam who made the call at the Juma’at service during his Khutba (sermon) advised the pilgrims not to allow devil (Shaytan) distract them from carrying out Allah’s injunction during the exercise and against engaging in sinful deeds that will not earn them anything than His wrath.
According to him, Hajj is highly rewarding in both this world and the hereafter, stressing that Almighty Allah established it to serve as avenue to favour His obedient servant who performs it the supreme pleasure which is paradise.
Ustaz Olayiwola noted that the holy pilgrimage is to promote the oneness and unity of the Muslims from different parts of the world irrespective of tribe, ethnicity, complexion, height and languages to understand we are all descendants of Prophet Adam and Hawau (Eve).
“The method and language of observing prayers in the Holy Land is not different from how it is done by every Muslim in other countries.
“This is to point to the fact that Islam is one and no other religion has its qualifications worldwide.”
He added that, anyone going to hajj should have the mind that he or she is going to worship Almighty Allah with good intention.
“Have a good niyat for the journey, have it in your mind that the main reason is to worship Allah and then any other one may follow such as doing business which is also allowed. On the day of Arafat, Almighty Allah will be using His servants as pride to His angels.
He urged the Muslims going for the pilgrimage not to miss any of their daily prayers as the rewards is much bigger than those prayers observed at home and advised the pilgrims not to engage in arguments or vain talks throughout the exercise.
