It has come to our attention that many Nigerian top dallies including those who claim professionalism, carried a particular propaganda divisive message of hate and bigotry against Muslims.
Whereas these dailies screen articles from many neutral authors, they all carried this distasteful message.
The caption was “Zaria community wants Shi’ites probed” in PremiumTimes and “Ban El- sect, Zaria residents beg FG” in TheNation, and the article was distributed by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.
The bottom line of the article read,
“We are Muslims, but we discovered that Shi’ites’s activities are contrary to Islam.’’
(NAN)
It is unfortunate to see the Nigerian media getting involved in promoting sectarian strife and bigotry.
If the other group wrote a similar article in which they declared that the agents of the State and so-called “Sunni” sect are not Muslims, would the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN and these same dailies publish it, is the question we must all ask.
While NewsRescue subscribes to no sect, we believe in freedom of intellectual discourse devoid of slander and false and baseless claims of arrogance which lead to terrorism by the arrogant who think they know it all and own it all. This terrorism and oppression gets worst when the State and agents of the State are involved.
Religious articles should be so and political articles should be so and never secretly mixed to subvertly push religious intolerance political agenda.
We will like to point out that while the “Sunni” argue with Hadith supporting their sect, so also the so-called “Shia” argue with Hadith supporting their sect. The government should not play any role in promoting the oppression of one group over the other. Indeed, NewsRescue has published articles by notable scholars like Dr. Zakir Naik declaring both Sunni And Shia sects as Haram “divisions” of Islam.
So-called Shia are 12% of Nigeria’s 80 million Muslims, this is 10 million. The Nigerian arms of government and government media should stop provoking this peaceful group and trying to import Middle East sectarian strife sponsored from Saudi Arabian monarchs to Nigeria.
Reference
It is narrated in Sahih Muslim as well as many other sources that:
Someday (after his last pilgrimage) the Messenger of Allah (S) stood to give us a speech beside a pond which is known as Khum (Ghadir Khum) which is located between Mecca and Medina. Then he praised Allah and reminded Him, and then said: “O’ people! Behold! It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. Behold! I am leaving for you two precious things. First of them is the book of Allah in which there is light and guidance…The other one is my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. I remind you in the name of Allah about my Ahlul-Bayt. (three times).”
Sunni Reference: Sahih Muslim, Chapter of the virtues of the companions, section of the virtues of ‘Ali, 1980 Edition Pub. in Saudi Arabia, Arabic version, v 4, p1873, Tradition #36.
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It was narrated that Jaabir ibn Samurah said: I entered upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) with my father, and I heard him say: “This matter will not end until there have been among them twelve caliphs.” Then he said something that I could not hear, and I said to my father: What did he say? He said: “All of them will be from Quraysh.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (no. 7222); Muslim (no. 1821).
