Sheikh Musa Ibrahim Faskari, a Katsina State-based Islamic cleric, has charged communities ravaged by banditry to take up arms and defend themselves. In a Friday sermon…
Daily Trust reported that the scholar said Islam encouraged people who were being attacked to defend themselves.
He said, “We have seen how our towns and villages are flooded with security agents, but we are still being attacked on a daily basis, we are being killed and robbed on our roads, our brothers have become slaves in their own lands, they work for others on their own farms, this humiliation is unacceptable.”
He said in Islam, communities are allowed to take up arms in order to defend themselves for religion, lives, wealth, dignity and family.
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“We make noise more on social media rather than actions. The most patriotic amongst us is the one who posts on social media that we are under attack,” he added. “We need to meet our leaders if they lack the wisdom and courage to call us, we will draw a red line so that whoever among the terrorists crosses into our territory will be dead.”
“But the problem is that each one of us wants to live, we don’t want to die. We failed to contribute with our energy, wealth, wisdom and connections to bring an end to these problems.
He quoted a prophetic narration which “says whoever is killed in the course of defending his life, his family, his wealth, his dignity and his religion is a martyr,” adding that if the affected communities will go all out with such good intention, victory will be theirs.
He continued “When you have an encounter with terrorists, deal with them in such a way that it will serve as a lesson for those who will come after them.”
