Tasks govs to tackle poverty
By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Jema’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has declared street begging by children, popularly known as Almajiri, un-Islamic and charged state governors to address the menace of poverty and hunger.
Addressing the pre-Ramadan meeting of JNI’s Central Committee, held at the JNI headquarters yesterday in Kaduna, the Sultan charged government, particularly, at the state levels to take responsibilities of ensuring welfare of every citizen in their domain.
The event, which was presided over by the Sultan, is an annual meeting meant to set modalities and guidelines for moon sighting and general Muslims conduct in the holy month.
The Sultan said the meeting would be discussing issues that affect Muslims and Islam in Nigeria and other parts of the world, while disclosing that, the issue of Almajiri would be among the challenges to address at the meeting.
The Sultan said: “Almajiri does not represent Islam, but hunger and poverty and must, therefore, be distinguished from Islam. Islam encourages scholarship and entrepreneurship and frowns at laziness and idleness as exemplified by itinerant Almajiri.
“Therefore, attempt, must be made to stop the practice of Almajiri system of begging among Muslim faithfuls,” he said.
He also charged the state governments to strengthen the institution of ‘zakkat’ and endowment to address wanton poverty and hunger among the people.
Prominent traditional rulers and Islamic scholars were in attendance at the meeting including the Shehu of Borno, the Emir of Zazzau, among others.
