Oluwo, Olurode, don urge Muslims to embrace Qu’ranic knowledge

The Oluwo of Iwo land, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Lai Olurode and a lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Lagos, Lagos, Dr. Muhammad Bashir Abdulraheem have stressed the need for Muslim faithful to acquire Qu’ranic knowledge in order to be well-rounded individuals.

They made the call during the 25th anniversary Ramadan lecture, with the theme, ‘Miracles of Al-Qur’an’ held in honour of the first Muslim monarch of Iwoland, the late Oluwo Muhammad Ayinla Lamuye at The Wings Schools Central Mosque, Iwo, Osun State.

Other prominent Nigerians present at the event included a former Secretary to the Osun Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, the President of Osun State Customary Court of Apeal, Justice Wasiu Oladejo Akanbi, and others. Oba Akanbi said it was essential to inculcate the knowledge of the Qu’ran in the children at the tender age.

The Oluwo said:” The knowledge of the Qu’ran is very important. Let’s ensure that our children imbibe it. As Muslims, let’s involve our children in using more of Yoruba Qu’ran.”

Dr. Abdulraheem, who was the guest speaker, said the Qu’ran is a miracle, adding that everything recorded in the Holy book had been scientifically proven to be right by physicists, scientists and scholars like Galileo Galilei and others.

The don pointed out that knowledge of the Holy book would ensure peace in the society. On insecurity, the lecturer said: “Insecurity is rife because there is no justice. There is disorderliness because of injustice. If you are pious and clean but operating in an environment of corruption and injustice, there will be issues. The main cause of insecurity is lack of justice. We created this problem by ourselves because of injustice.”

Speaking on the essence of the lecture, Olurode, who is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos, said it was to enlighten and bridge the religious divides between the Christian and Muslim faithful.

The professor urged religious preachers to preach peace. Prof. Olurode said: “The Imams should preach peace and let people know that their security is not for security agencies alone. The primary justification is that there is so much illiteracy around the Qur’an. Quite many people, both Muslims and Christians, know very little about the Qur’an. The Bible is not so much far away from them. You can come across many Muslims who also understand the Bible. But you can hardly come across any Christian who has read the Qu’ran. So, we thought of bridging the gap between religious divides, considering that the more you know about the Qur’an the more you are likely to be peaceful in your orientation. You are likely to see the similarities between the Qu’ran and the Bible. No other way other than public enlightenment and lectures.”