President Muhammadu Buhari in his Eid El-Kabir message to Muslims in the country admonished the believers of the Islamic faith to avoid extremist ideas that give the religion a bad name.
He said the greatest commitment to Islam is for Muslims to put its good virtues into practice, and by making justice and righteousness the guiding principle of their everyday life.
In the message, President Buhari said: “Islam is a religion of peace and we should avoid violent extremist ideas that give Islam a wrong name because our conducts leave more lasting positive impressions than what we say by word of mouth.”
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He regretted that “violent extremism is the greatest challenge facing Islam today and the only way we can neutralise its evil influence is to distance ourselves from the activities and teachings of those who preach indiscriminate violence against innocent people. And this flies in the face of the teachings of Islam.”
Buhari, however, advised parents to “protect their children from the deadly exposure to violent extremists who manipulate and exploit those children for their own evil agenda.
He also pointed out that “Boko Haram became a deadly force and a major security scourge because Muslim societies were indifferent from the beginning to the activities of extremist preachers who manipulate innocent and gullible followers.’’
