The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned individuals who kill innocent people in the name of religion, insisting that such acts have no connection with Islam.
Speaking on Thursday at the first triannual meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Abuja, the Sultan said violence and terrorism should not be linked to any religion, describing perpetrators as criminals rather than religious representatives.
The meeting was attended by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Daniel Okoh, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
According to the Sultan, many violent acts wrongly portrayed as religious conflicts have contributed to suspicion and division in the country.
“Let us get the narrative right. It is not about religion. Let us stop bringing religion into it,” he said.
“Let us call them what they are – criminals. Not Muslim criminals, not Muslim terrorists, not Muslim bandits. Even if someone claims to be Muslim, what they do goes against Islam.”
The Sultan also linked extremism and violence to ignorance and misuse of religious knowledge, warning against individuals falsely presenting themselves as religious scholars.
“The fact that you understand Arabic does not make you a Sheikh. Arabic is just a language. So literacy is very important,” he said.
He further condemned attacks carried out in the name of religion, stressing that anyone who takes innocent lives while invoking God would face divine punishment.
“Somebody can go to the market, blow himself up, kill people and shout ‘Allahu Akbar’. Yes, God is great, but you are going to hell. They will suffer for taking innocent lives,” he stated.
The Sultan called for greater understanding among religious groups and urged Nigerians to reject narratives capable of fuelling division and mistrust.
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