Islamophobia did not start today hence every Muslim should know the fundamentals of the Deen!
This morning, I was with an octogenarian, Alhaji Isola Adepoju ( Mallam Yusuf Adepoju’s father). May Allah preserve him on khayr. Ameen. I’ll write what Baba said below and my own interpretations;
Baba said, “When we were young, a senior of mine was given a scholarship from secondary school to university level (Britain). He was a Muslim but his name was changed to Gabriel. He is now dead” – my take : The hereafter is better for you than this Dunya.
Baba said, ” They tried same with people like me but they did not succeed” – My take : Parents should be good ambassadors of Islam. If Baba compromised and also became a Christian, would Mallam Yusuf Adepoju be a church elder or pastor today? اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم!
Baba said, ” Then, our teachers (Christians) do say we have two religions, Christianity and Mohammedanism. We were always happy because if Christianity is from Christ, our Muhammad is also relevant” – My take : Ignorance is a disease. An ignorant person does not know he does not know because he does not know he doesn’t know what he does not know.
Baba said, “At a point, we refused to be Muhammedans! No! No!! Our religion is Islam and we are Muslims. We told them that we are not Muhammadans and we do not practice Muhammadanism” – My take : Seeking knowledge is very important and there is no other way to cure ignorance than seeking knowledge.
Baba said, “When we told them, they smeared prophet Muhammad (SAW). They said he (pbuh) held a Qur’an in one hand and a sword in another hand to force people into Islam” – My take : The unbelievers will not be pleased with you once you know your onions as a Muslim.
Baba said, “That was too cheap a point! There was no printing press at that time, so, how come the prophet (pbuh) held a copy of the Qur’an to force people into Islam?”
My take : This was the same stunt Mr Albert Afeso Akanbi was trying to pull this morning when he asked me if I know how Islam entered West Africa and Nigeria. He asked if I know about “Usman dan fodio” and I asked him to tell me about him.
If we were to agree to disagree that at some points Islam was spread by sword, force and coercion, when those who forced them died, why did they continue with Islam and their children? Who spread Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia using sword?
87 Christians just embraced Islam in Akure (correct the 86, there was a revert offstage) yet Mallam Yusuf Adepoju did not hold a sword. We have seen the likes of ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda that lay claim to Islam, why are they giving people negative thoughts about Islam when they have the weapons to “convert” people to Islam?
Why are they not converting people into Islam like Sheikh Ahmed Deedat did, like Dr. Zakir Naik or Mallam Yusuf Adepoju?
Bashir Lucas Samson Lukman
English 