The Guardian (Nigeria)

NASFAT calls Muslim elites to duty on Islamic propagatio­n • Empowers youths with entreprene­urship skills

- By Sulaimon Salau

THE Nasiru llahi- l- Fathi Society of Nigeria ( NASFAT) has enjoined the Muslim elite to take up the duty of religious propagatio­n.

The society made this call during the Webinar symposium to celebrate the 70th birthday of its pioneer president, who is now the Chairman, Board of Trustee, Alhaji Abdullatee­f Wale Olasupo.

The Guest Speaker at the event, former Lagos State Commission­er for Home Affairs, Abdulhakee­m Abdullatee­f said: “Islamic propagatio­n is not meant for the Alfas and Imams alone, but for everyone who intends to succeed.”

He called on Muslim elites to use thier wisdom, riches, power, and intelligen­ce to call people to the way of Allah.

“No matter your position in the society, let them know that you are a Muslim and you are a preacher,” he said.

He said it is Allah who gave the power, intelligen­ce, the riches and others, hence the need to use the position, wealth and connection­s to invite people to the path of Allah.

Abdullatee­f said: “You should command what is good and forbid what is bad. The best user of his tongue is he who uses it to invite people to the right path.”

He enjoined the religious institutio­ns and mosques to do more in dawah and explore the modern tools and mechanism in propagatin­g Islam.

Challengin­g the role models to also engage in religious propagatio­n as they gain better attention of the populace, Abdullatee­f said the preachers should always practice what they preach.

The Chief Missioner, NASFAT, Abdul Azeez Onike, described Olasupo as a paragon of humility, perseveran­ce and contentmen­t.

Onike observed special prayer for the cele

NASFAT Zone II Zonal Women Affairs Secretary, Alhaja Mulikat Oriloye ( left); NASFAT Women Affairs Secretary, Alhaja Suwebat Kupolati; 2020 NASFAT Coordinato­r 1, Alhaja Omolara Bankole, at the graduation ceremony in Lagos. brant and applauded his contributi­ons to the growth of NASFAT.

The Deputy Governor, Ogun State, Alhaja Noimot Salako- Oyedele lauded NASFAT for the initiative, urging them to further strengthen their horizon.

Second Guest Speaker, Dean Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Prof Afis Oladosu, stressed the need to celebrate the personalit­ies who have contribute­d immensely to the developmen­t of Islam in Nigeria.

He also emphasised the need to incorporat­e the young generation in the religious propagatio­n agenda.

According to him, the young generation should be encouraged to read and realise that they have to give what they have in order to receive more from Allah.

Oladosu said Islam do not support forceful conversion, brutality and destructio­n of properties. He said Islam is attestatio­n that Allah is one and cannot be duplicated: observing five daily solar; doing good and forbidding evil, among others.

Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculat­ion Board ( JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, expressed his happiness in celebratin­g the pleasure of Allah in the celebrant and enjoined more Muslim personalit­ies to contribute immensely to Islam.

The Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji

Yusuf Ali challenged NASFAT on reorientat­ion of Muslim leaders who are in position of authority.

He stressed the need for standard moral uprightnes­s as a requisite for flying the banner of Islam up high.

Meanwhile, the group has also empowered about 1,000 Muslim men and women across the country with entreprene­urial skills to enable them have financial liberation.

The National Women Affairs Secretary, NASFAT, Alhaja Bola Suwebat Kupolati, at the National Women’s week empowermen­t programme graduation ceremony held in Lagos, said the Islamic organisati­on is passionate about empowermen­t to enable Muslims gain financial stability.

She said the graduation was part of the NASFAT Women Week, which involves several other programmes including disburseme­nt of palliative­s, fasting by all women with prayers for the nation, and virtual lectures on balancing career and family, among others.

She said: “Empowermen­t is one of the many things that NASFAT is keen about. We need to empower our women. We need to engage our women. We need to continue to look at what we can do to enable us sustain our family,” she said.

Kupolati urged women to learn more trade and support their husbands in creating a wealthy family.

The National Empowermen­t Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Olasunkanm­i said empowermen­t is pivotal to living a better life.

Noting that the programme was in line with the four cardinal points of NASFAT which is tagged: HELD, meaning Health Education, Livelihood, Dawah, he said empowermen­t creates better livelihood for the people.

He said the beneficiar­ies are also well equipped with digital marketing skills, to be able to showcase thier products online. He enjoined the beneficiar­ies to engage in further training on their areas of specialisa­tion and diversify their source of income. He said more training are going to be done by NASFAT to ensure that the people are financiall­y liberated.

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