Bishop Kukah’s message a poisoned arrow fired at the heart of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria – Jama’atul Nasirul Islam

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The Jama’atul Nasirul Islam (JNI) has described Bishop Matthew Kukah’s Christmas message as a poisoned arrow fired at the heart of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria.

JNI in a statement on Wednesday by Dr. Khalid Abubakar, the Secretary-General of JNI, said that the message was disguised to deceive the innocent.

“The bishop’s statement was a prepared address considering the occasion and the audience, one cannot but agree that it was a calculated attempt to insult Islam which is typical of him.

“His veiled insinuation that Muslims have a pool of violence to draw from is disgusting, disheartening, as well as condemnable.

“Responsibly, Christmas homilies should come with messages of hope, unity, mercy, forgiveness of the Supreme Being and resilience through prayers, especially in this trying time.

“The bishop’s message was however a clear deviation from the well-established norm across the globe. Kukah is the Bishop of the Sokoto diocese located at the seat of the Caliphate and the heart of Islam and Islamic scholarship, culture and practices in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Despite the status of Sokoto to the Muslims and Islamic history, Bishop Kukah was warmly welcomed, accepted, accommodated and accorded respect deserving of his position as a religious leader.

“Across the length and breadth of Northern Nigeria, Kukah has friends and associates among the Muslim society.

“Without fear of any contradiction, he is most accepted and accommodated Christian clergy to the leaders of the Muslims in the north.

“They accorded him all the support he needed, despite some reservations from some quarters about his tendencies to bite the fingers that feed him.

“In spite of the liberality, congeniality and the camaraderie extended to Bishop Kukah in Sokoto and all over the Muslim north, he throws all sense of decorum and common sense to the wind and fired invective salvos on the Muslims and Islam without any justification.

“How can the Muslims ever trust a man who smiles at their faces in the day and hold dagger against them in the night?

“How can the Muslims continue to be hospitable to the one who proves to be ingrate many times over?

“How can the Muslims be comfortable in associating with a bitterly vindictive person disguised in the garb of religious clergy?

“Muslims in Nigeria cannot be charged and be held responsible or accountable for the actions or inactions of Government just because it is headed by a Muslim.

“The Bishop cannot pretend to be attacking President Buhari and end up punching Islam and the Muslims. We will never accept to be used as a punching bag of the vindictive Bishop.

“It is mind-boggling to imagine why Bishop Kukah is always keen in pushing at the National fault lines; religion, tribe and north-south divide? His fiery and equally violence-inciting speech at the burial of the late Governor Yakowa of Kaduna State is still fresh in our memories.”