Nigerians now better informed, prepared for Hajj –JNI Sec-Gen

“I think that we are graduating form the unwanted attitude to a polite, decorous kind of attitude; people are now studying and understanding the imperatives of this important religious journey; a visitation to the sacred places in Makkah.“Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an: ‘And complete the performance of the rites of pilgrimage and the lesser […]

“I think that we are graduating form the unwanted attitude to a polite, decorous kind of attitude; people are now studying and understanding the imperatives of this important religious journey; a visitation to the sacred places in Makkah.
“Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an: ‘And complete the performance of the rites of pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage without any other consideration but for the sake of Allah.’ Before people looked at Hajj as a show, an eye-service, pomposity, a pride, that ‘I have been there’. But how can you spend almost a million naira, a life’s saving for most, to go to this place just for vanity. It is not a jamboree, it is not a game. It is an all-important spiritual journey of a life-time for the Muslim.
“Hajj is one of the five fundamental principles of Islam and, according to the Ulama, it completes the perfection of the religion where Allah says to Prophet Muhammad (saw): ‘Tell them today I perfect for you your own religion. And complete my favour upon you.’
“Preparatory to pilgrimage, at the state level, the JNI leads the committee of screening under the ulama for those fit to perform this spiritual journey. There are also preaching sessions designed to prepare the pilgrims for the Hajj. Different scholars talk on issues that have to do with the perfection of the performance of the Hajj. What is expected is for the person to be a changed person after he performed the Hajj. Before, you found people who didn’t know what to do or how it is done. People now know what Hajj demands: from the issue of improving the spirituality and moral angle of the pilgrim himself; the performance of the hajj, source of finance and the responsibilities one should discharge at home before departure. The Prophet (was) says, ‘Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any obscenity or transgression shall return [free from sins] as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him.’”
On the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
“There have been stakeholders meetings, among them one in Abuja under the leadership of His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saadu Abubakar III, the permanent Amirul Hajj, who this year graciously granted the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, to lead the delegation from Nigeria to the Hajj. At the occasion, the head of the Medical Team, Dr Kana, discussed the issue of Ebola. The point of attention of the state delegations, their medical teams  and the leadership was toward understanding the causes, symptoms and prevention of the Ebola.
At the forum, a decision was taken that each pilgrim will be seriously tested and anybody with the Ebola symptom will not be allowed to undertake the pilgrimage this year.
And of course there is a segment of the delegation in the performance of hajj, at the National Hajj Commission, the delegation of ulama which is saddled with the issuance of legal decisions, fatawa, on issues that affect the pilgrims so that issue is also stressed. That His Eminence chaired the meeting shows its importance.
Stake holders fora activities
“A press statement we issued recently contained what were discussed in the following perspective:  Drawing the attention of the Nigerian Muslims to the Ebola scourge, even though it is in the South West and some states in the South East but we hope Allah (swt) will protect this area and also bring quick succour and relief to those affected. The effort of the Federal Ministry of Health is commendable in this direction as they try to nip in the bud the spread.
“That Indeed our health and hygiene habit must improve. In Islam you perform ablution five times a day. This helps protect your heath as you wash your hands, rinse your mouth, wash your face and feet. The imams of our two congregations – the daily prayer congregations and the Friday prayer congregations – were also impressed upon to take necessary precautionary measures. Also during the session of ta’alim (teaching and preaching session), we called on Muslim scholars to educate the congregation to uphold basic hygiene, that our individual and community environments must be clean.
Alhamdu lillahi, the Saudi Arabian government deserves commendation because every year they study the operation and make improvement.
From the point of view of Islam, preventive measures are very important to be taken by Muslims not only during epidemics. There are very many passages, for example in the Holy Qur’an, where Allah (swt) enjoined us thus: ‘Don’t kill yourselves while Allah is merciful to you,’ meaning don’t get involved in scenarios which will jeopardise your health while Allah is merciful to you. For example, Islam gives exemption to people with  issues in terms of performance of acts of worship. In a Hadith Prophet Muhammad (saw), said when there is an epidemic in an environment a person should not go there and the person who is already there he should not come out and go to places where people do not have those medical conditions that threaten life.
And by the way in Islam, some of the animals that are said to be cause of the EVD are prohibited to be eaten. It is forbidden for a Muslim to eat monkey, bats and the so-called bushmeat.
In terms of food and drinks, we have passages from the Glorious Qur’an where guidance is spelt out.