Where are the Books?

The two religions have the Qur’an and the Bible as their Holy Books revealed by Allah (SWT) through Angel Jibril (AS) separately to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Prophet Isa (or Jesus, AS) in their respective capacities as messengers sent by the Creator of the heavens and the earth, to humanity in the case of Muhammad […]

The two religions have the Qur’an and the Bible as their Holy Books revealed by Allah (SWT) through Angel Jibril (AS) separately to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Prophet Isa (or Jesus, AS) in their respective capacities as messengers sent by the Creator of the heavens and the earth, to humanity in the case of Muhammad (SAW), and to the Israelites in the case of Isa (AS). These Holy Scriptures are perfect compendiums of a life that leads to prosperity on earth and bliss in the heavens.
There is no aspect of man’s social, political, economic and cultural life that has not been captured by the Glorious Qur’an and illustrated by the teachings of the Prophet (SAW) either in words or in actions. Allah (SWT) says in Qur’an 6:38 “…Nothing have we omitted from the Book…” The Glorious Qur’an contains injunctions not only on the relationship that should exist between man and his Creator but also on the kind of mutual interaction between man and other creatures of God including the physical surroundings, animals (domestic and wild), and fellow human beings. Even the way a believer should walk, talk, laugh, cry, sit, stand, and sleep are all detailed in the Qur’an. Virtuous qualities that define the character of sincere believers have all been explained in the Qur’an and exemplified by the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). In essence, the general behavior of believers is supposed to reflect the teachings of the Qur’an. This means that when we see a true believer, we should actually be seeing “Holy Books in action”. But this is not the case with contemporary believers.
The attitude of most people today including followers of these two revealed religions (Islam and Christianity) is as they are a generation without revealed scriptures. Their utterance and actions in private and public life are in complete violation and contradiction of the provisions of the Glorious Qur’an and the holy Bible. Many people pretend to be holy without any holiness in their character. They claim to be men and women of God without any trait of Godliness in them. Others profess piety, but in reality are closer to the devil in their dealings than to Allah (SWT); remaining at the farthest distance from the mercy of God.
One most disturbing attitudinal phenomenon among Nigerians today is the shameless brand of dishonesty that transcends gender, age and ethnicity. Some people have little regard or no value at all for the priceless virtue called honesty. The Nigerian society, itself, is unfortunately making the survival of honest people difficult. Many people are ready to tell lies and also betray the trust and confidence bestowed on them; for the pursuit of personal interest. Worse of all, the dishonest is prepared to distort truth or discredit it for the sake of power, wealth or women.
Recently, an elderly-man that should, by his physical appearance, be over 70 years of age did what I thought should have been the imaginative thought of a young man in his 20s, or at most, 30s. He works at a construction site as a night watchman in a small Muslim community. After consultations, the community decided to exploit the man’s seemingly good rapport with the construction company. The community mandated him to talk to the company chairman to help them construct a 100-worshipper capacity mosque. The request was graciously granted and the following day, the foreman was on ground to ask the community for the site of the proposed mosque.
After the foreman had left, the 70-year-old man told the leadership of the community that there was a caveat to the approved project. “What is it”, they asked. The night watch-man replied, “The community will pay for the cost of the labour”. When they asked to know how much it would cost them, the watchman told them in a cackle but authoritative voice “Just forty thousand naira”; and then added, “If you agree, work will start tomorrow”. The short meeting ended between the watchman and his kinsmen even though the later kept wondering at a construction company chairman who would be generous to build a mosque but yet ask us to pay for the sweat of the labourers. In the opinion of the community, the N40, 000 being asked for in lieu of labour comparatively sounded too meager for a man that accepted to build a whole mosque. This casted some doubts in the minds of those to raise the money for the labour.
On the same day they had a meeting with the watchman, two members of the community (one of them being the liaison officer between the community and the watchman) casually saw the foreman somewhere in the village. To clear the doubts on their minds; they went close to the foreman, greeted and thanked him for the company’s gesture to the community, and quickly added “We are already making arrangements to pay the N40,000 by tomorrow morning”. In a very surprising but anticipated manner, “Which N40, 000?” the foreman asked. And within few minutes of interrogations, these two members of the community were able to confirm that the N40, 000 which their own kith has asked them to provide as cost of labour was neither with the knowledge and consent of the donour of the mosque nor the foreman. It was simply the old man’s style of ‘chuwa-chuwa’. An old man playing pranks of this nature? Like the elderly watchman, many people today prefer to survive on dishonesty and betrayal instead of honourably earning their living through credible acts of sincerity and trustworthiness. Many of us as leaders and followers are culpable of this criminal tendency. The poor, the illiterate, and the elderly are as guilty as the rich, the educated and the young. Cheating, which should be abhorred, is rather celebrated in the day-to-day activities of workers, couples, leaders, followers, and even among some men of God.
The question now is: Where are the Holy Books? As prophesized by scholars, virtues exhorted by Allah (SWT) in his Glorious Books as perfected in the last and universal message brought by the Qur’an shall, towards the end of time, remain literal expressions in the Holy Books and not in the character of believing men and women. When vices take over people’s life, the world would have been set on the path of coming to a close. May Allah (SWT) guide us against becoming stooges to our sixth sense, amin.