Reconciling with God
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- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by M. U. Ndagi
- Hits: 725
During the week ending today, I had a musing session over the most populous black African nation, Nigeria, which seems over the years to defy every solution proffered to tackle problems militating against her progress and development. I compared Nigeria to other countries that attained independence almost the same time with her, like Ghana (in 1957), and discovered that they are better placed than Nigeria. There are countries with fewer natural resources than Nigeria including one of her close neighbors, Benin Republic, yet, they have better atmosphere of peace and stable democracy than Nigeria. I thought population was the biggest challenge. I then remembered India, which has nearly a quarter of the world’s population but is today among the fastest developing economies in the world and has a stable democracy. Today, Nigeria which is just ten percent of India’s population is one of the largest importers and consumers of Indian made products including pharmaceuticals, automobiles and electrical appliances.
The blessings in Nigeria’s human and material resources have rather been turned by bad leadership in to curse. I guessed whether the presence of two revealed religions in Nigeria (Islam and Christianity) is the problem. But I quickly remembered that there are countries like Lebanon where there are sharp divides between Muslims and Christians; yet, they live in harmony. When it became impossible for me to trace the problem to a particular source, I thought of listing Nigeria’s problems, perchance, that could give me a bearing. I began by reflecting on the education sector and ended up with a 4-page list of problems confronting it.For the benefit of doubt, problems listed in the first paragraph of the 4-page paper include: dearth of teaching and learning materials, dilapidated structures, ill-equipped laboratories, obsolete library facilities, untrained teachers, unpaid salaries and allowances, incessant strike actions, policy inconsistencies, unstable academic calendar, half-baked graduates, curriculum summersault, alarming failure rate in national examinations, moral decadence, examination malpractice, cultism, window dressing interventions, etc. I gave up the option of listing Nigeria’s problems because if it took me four pages of foolscap sheets to enumerate some of the challenges from which education in Nigeria today suffers, attempting to do same for all sectors of the nation’s economy is better imagined.
I want to believe that something fundamental must be wrong with the people called Nigerians. This column is prompted to look at the problem from a spiritual perspective. Given the unfortunate and highly regrettable situation of the Nigerian society fifty years after independence, it is apparent that Nigerians have failed as leaders, followers, statesmen, fathers, mothers, guardians, religious leaders, traditional rulers, teachers, opinion leaders, community elders, intellectuals, professionals and even as ordinary citizens. Perhaps, the Nigerian situation could be a manifestation and an affirmation of Qur’an 30:41 which says, “Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the sins) that the hands of men have earned, That God may give them a taste of their deeds in order that they may turn back (from evil).” We could infer from this verse that the deplorable state of affairs in Nigeria is the dividend of our collective and individual injustice as well as wickedness, for which we are being made to jointly taste of the consequences so that we may repent. It is not good enough to just repent but it is desirous that the repentance is done sincerely and accompanied with remorse.
While Nigerians may differ in other sins, they appear strongly united in the monster called corruption. They forget that their dictionaries have phrases like religious bigotry, ethnic sentiments and zoning formula when it comes to fraud and financial crimes. If it were not for God’s mercy, the sins boldly and brashly committed by Nigerians today are heinous enough to earn them total destruction as was done to some sinful nations in past generations. The sins of such destroyed generations have become the rule rather than the exception in the life of contemporary Nigerians. However, Allah’s promise of preserving sinners of the ummah of the seal of prophet-hood, Muhammad (SAW), until heir appointed time of death shall not be reversed. This is a golden respite for this depraved generation of ours. Unlike earlier generations, we have an opportunity to repent from our sins which we commit today as if the hereafter is for people other than us.
We do not claim by any stretch of reason that all Nigerians regardless of religious affiliation are bad. But it can be argued to a great extent that many if not most Nigerians have and maintain unhealthy and polluted relationship with God, their creator. Many have offended and still do so in their actions and thoughts almost on daily basis. Those you ordinarily expect to be models in their naturally assigned duties have been found guilty of criminal activities. It is also sad that many Nigerians today misrepresent the orthodox teachings of their religion. If God were to, for instance, gather His creatures today and ask each to write out his wrongdoings; I guess Nigerians would ask for extra sheets because they would have so much of their misdemeanors to record. They are guilty of very many grievous sins, the greatest of which in the opinion of this column is injustice. This, in essence, demands that Nigerians should individually and collectively reconcile their dented relationships with God.
Allah (SWT) accepts repentance from His servants and forgives sins. Whatever the sin we may have committed, Allah’s mercy is open to sincere repentance, at all times, until the decree of condemnation issues. Allah (SWT) mentions in Qur’an 6:4 “When those who believe in our signs come to thee, say: ‘Peace be unto you: Your lord has inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy: verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance and thereafter repented; and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”. May Allah (SWT) guide us to repent from our sins and reconcile our relationship with Him so that He (SWT) would grant us relief from the bitter taste of our evil deeds, amin.
Articles
Reconciling with God
Category: Philosofaith Written by M. U. Ndagi Hits: 725
During the week ending today, I had a musing session over the most populous black African nation, Nigeria, which seems over the years to defy every solution proffered to tackle problems militating against her progress and development. I compared Nigeria to other countries that attained independence almost the same time with her, like Ghana (in 1957), and discovered that they are better placed than Nigeria. There are countries with fewer natural resources than Nigeria including one of her close neighbors, Benin Republic, yet, they have better atmosphere of peace and stable democracy than Nigeria. I thought population was the biggest challenge. I then remembered India, which has nearly a quarter of the world’s population but is today among the fastest developing economies in the world and has a stable democracy. Today, Nigeria which is just ten percent of India’s population is one of the largest importers and consumers of Indian made products including pharmaceuticals, automobiles and electrical appliances.
The blessings in Nigeria’s human and material resources have rather been turned by bad leadership in to curse. I guessed whether the presence of two revealed religions in Nigeria (Islam and Christianity) is the problem. But I quickly remembered that there are countries like Lebanon where there are sharp divides between Muslims and Christians; yet, they live in harmony. When it became impossible for me to trace the problem to a particular source, I thought of listing Nigeria’s problems, perchance, that could give me a bearing. I began by reflecting on the education sector and ended up with a 4-page list of problems confronting it.For the benefit of doubt, problems listed in the first paragraph of the 4-page paper include: dearth of teaching and learning materials, dilapidated structures, ill-equipped laboratories, obsolete library facilities, untrained teachers, unpaid salaries and allowances, incessant strike actions, policy inconsistencies, unstable academic calendar, half-baked graduates, curriculum summersault, alarming failure rate in national examinations, moral decadence, examination malpractice, cultism, window dressing interventions, etc. I gave up the option of listing Nigeria’s problems because if it took me four pages of foolscap sheets to enumerate some of the challenges from which education in Nigeria today suffers, attempting to do same for all sectors of the nation’s economy is better imagined.
I want to believe that something fundamental must be wrong with the people called Nigerians. This column is prompted to look at the problem from a spiritual perspective. Given the unfortunate and highly regrettable situation of the Nigerian society fifty years after independence, it is apparent that Nigerians have failed as leaders, followers, statesmen, fathers, mothers, guardians, religious leaders, traditional rulers, teachers, opinion leaders, community elders, intellectuals, professionals and even as ordinary citizens. Perhaps, the Nigerian situation could be a manifestation and an affirmation of Qur’an 30:41 which says, “Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the sins) that the hands of men have earned, That God may give them a taste of their deeds in order that they may turn back (from evil).” We could infer from this verse that the deplorable state of affairs in Nigeria is the dividend of our collective and individual injustice as well as wickedness, for which we are being made to jointly taste of the consequences so that we may repent. It is not good enough to just repent but it is desirous that the repentance is done sincerely and accompanied with remorse.
While Nigerians may differ in other sins, they appear strongly united in the monster called corruption. They forget that their dictionaries have phrases like religious bigotry, ethnic sentiments and zoning formula when it comes to fraud and financial crimes. If it were not for God’s mercy, the sins boldly and brashly committed by Nigerians today are heinous enough to earn them total destruction as was done to some sinful nations in past generations. The sins of such destroyed generations have become the rule rather than the exception in the life of contemporary Nigerians. However, Allah’s promise of preserving sinners of the ummah of the seal of prophet-hood, Muhammad (SAW), until heir appointed time of death shall not be reversed. This is a golden respite for this depraved generation of ours. Unlike earlier generations, we have an opportunity to repent from our sins which we commit today as if the hereafter is for people other than us.
We do not claim by any stretch of reason that all Nigerians regardless of religious affiliation are bad. But it can be argued to a great extent that many if not most Nigerians have and maintain unhealthy and polluted relationship with God, their creator. Many have offended and still do so in their actions and thoughts almost on daily basis. Those you ordinarily expect to be models in their naturally assigned duties have been found guilty of criminal activities. It is also sad that many Nigerians today misrepresent the orthodox teachings of their religion. If God were to, for instance, gather His creatures today and ask each to write out his wrongdoings; I guess Nigerians would ask for extra sheets because they would have so much of their misdemeanors to record. They are guilty of very many grievous sins, the greatest of which in the opinion of this column is injustice. This, in essence, demands that Nigerians should individually and collectively reconcile their dented relationships with God.
Allah (SWT) accepts repentance from His servants and forgives sins. Whatever the sin we may have committed, Allah’s mercy is open to sincere repentance, at all times, until the decree of condemnation issues. Allah (SWT) mentions in Qur’an 6:4 “When those who believe in our signs come to thee, say: ‘Peace be unto you: Your lord has inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy: verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance and thereafter repented; and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”. May Allah (SWT) guide us to repent from our sins and reconcile our relationship with Him so that He (SWT) would grant us relief from the bitter taste of our evil deeds, amin.