The Ogun State Muslim Council (OMC) has called on Christians see Christmas beyond mere celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, rather a period of reflection on the essence of Christianity and the teachings of Christ.
The Council also asked to “embrace, cultivate and adapt to the Christ-like way of life, depicting affection, good neighbourliness, truthfulness, goodness, kindness, devotion, good conduct and other living virtues that promote peace, progress and good nationhood.”
This was contained in a statement issued by the council in Abeokuta, on Friday, while felicitating with their Christian counterparts as they celebrate Christmas.
The Council in a statement by its Secretary-General, Alhaji Kamaldeen Akintunde, admonished adherents of both faiths “to co-habit by embracing the Biblical exhortation ‘You should be your brother’s keeper’ and the Prophetic (Islam) saying that ‘You are not yet a Muslim until you wish for others what you wish for yourself’”.
The Council also noted that both the Christians and Muslims in the State, being stakeholders, their harmonious relationship would enhance the realization of the “building our future together Agenda” of the Dapo Abiodun administration in Ogun State.
“The Council underscores religion as a veritable ingredient for development, just as it charges the adherents of the major faiths in the country to eschew religious rivalry under the pretext of evangelism and propagation.
“It enjoins them to sustain their supplications and prayers for the country to overcome its multiple challenges,” the council said.
The Council also quoted the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, to have cautioned against “the ugly trend, manifesting in forms of communal clashes, ethnic hostilities and cleansing, resource control and restructuring.”
According to the statement, the monarch who is the apex head of the Ogun State Muslim Council further “counselled Nigerians against using the agitations for self-rule and other separatist tendencies as alternative means of livelihoods and development.”