MUHAMMADU Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, has urged Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to stop insulting one another, saying religious tolerance remains essential to peaceful coexistence.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Sultan made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the International Conference on National Security for Socio-economic Development, organised by Jama’atu Izalatil Bidiah wa Iqamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS Nigeria) in collaboration with the Muslim World League of Saudi Arabia.
The Sultan said Nigerians must be honest with themselves and recognise that peaceful coexistence could be strengthened if Christians stopped insulting Muslims and Muslims equally stopped insulting Christians.
“We must be honest with ourselves that Christians can stop insulting Muslims. Muslims can stop insulting Christians. And that’s how we live in peace,” he said.
The Sultan also stressed that Muslims and Christians should not consider themselves superior to one another, noting that all human beings are equal before God.
“We are not here to say we are better than anybody. We are not better than anybody. He [God] is the creator of us all. He will determine who is better. And he knows how to do it. So I am not here to say I am better than anybody,” he said.
His remarks came after an Islamic cleric, Yahaya Jingir, said over the weekend that Christians would consider themselves superior to Muslims if not for the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Although the Sultan did not directly refer to Jingir’s remarks during his speech, he maintained that no religious group should regard itself as superior to another.
“We are not here to say we are better than anybody. We are not better than anybody,” he said.
The traditional ruler further urged Nigerians to revive the culture of caring for and looking after their neighbours, irrespective of religious or ethnic differences.
“Allah created your neighbour for you. Whoever is your neighbour, you know what is required of you to do for your neighbour,” he said.
The Sultan also expressed concern over growing abuse on social media, saying some Nigerians make false and disparaging statements about their leaders.
He warned that people who knowingly spread falsehoods about presidents, governors, senators and other leaders would ultimately be accountable to God for their actions.
The monarch also urged Nigerians to channel their energies towards solving the country’s challenges rather than advocating for its disintegration.
He cited the case of Abubakar Abdullahi, the late imam who sheltered over 200 Christians in his mosque in Plateau State during a crisis, describing the action as an enduring example of humanity that should not be forgotten.
In his remarks, Cornelius Omonokhua, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), said human beings were not created as Muslims or Christians but first and foremost as human beings.
Omonokhua said the council had demonstrated the true essence of religion, which he identified as mercy, adding that the cooperation between Christian and Muslim leaders showed clearly that the two faiths were not at war with one another.