END OF RAMADAN 1440AH (2019G) FAST AND ‘IDUL-FITR CELEBRATIONS

۞يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِۖ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجَّ
“They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj.”(Al-Baqarah 2: 189)

هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَۚ  
“It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and account [of time].” (Yunus 10:5)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُۚ لَا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلَا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ 
“And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.” (Fusilat 41:37)

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alh. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, felicitates with the entire Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and all over the world on this year’s Ramadan Fast. The Council prays that the Almighty Allah accept it from us as an act of Ibadah. Amin.

Following the advice of the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC), the President-General enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Shawwal 1440 AH immediately after sunset on Monday, June 3, 2019 equivalent to Ramadan 29, 1440 AH. If the crescent is sighted by Muslims of impeccable character on the said evening, His Eminence would declare Tuesday, June 4, 2019 as the first day of Shawwal and the day of ‘idul fitr.

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DENOUNCING THE TRAGEDIES IN SRI LANKA AND GOMBE

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, is devastated and depressed by the horrific and dastardly attacks on Christian worshippers on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

It was a most reprehensible, barbaric, callous and inhuman act to launch such savage attacks on a faith community or any group of people at any point at all, not to talk of the time of their communion with the Almighty God. That about 300 people were gruesomely killed with more than 500 others sustaining various degrees of injury is an affront against civilisation and a crime against humanity. There is no moral, religious or political justification for such an outrage on the global psyche. Therefore, all hands must be on deck to ensure that the perpetrators, whoever they are, are severely punished by the Sri Lankan authorities.

It is a sad commentary on the state of the world that at a time everyone is recovering from the severe shock precipitated by the attacks on Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019, these gruesome attacks borne out of extreme hatred and religious bigotry happened in Sri Lanka, a country that has witnessed some stability after the end of its Civil War some years ago.  

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SHA’BAN PRESS RELEASE

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alh. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, wishes to inform the Nigerian Muslim Ummah that there was no positive sighting of the crescent of Sha’ban, 1440AH on the 29th of Rajab, 1440AH, equivalent to April 5, 2019. Therefore, Saturday, April 6, 2019 is the last day of Rajab, 1440AH.

In line with the above, His Eminence, the President-General of NSCIA and Sultan of Sokoto, has approved Sunday, April 7, 2019 as the 1st day of Sha’ban, 1440AH.

The Council hereby enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to continue to promote peaceful coexistence and unity among all the citizens of the country.

Signed
Prof. Salisu Shehu
Deputy Secretary-General
NSCIA

WE CONDEMN CHRISTCHURCH TERRORISM AND TERRORIST TARRANT

On Friday, March 15, 2019, all the civilised citizens of the world were horrified by the dastardly attack of a Christian terrorist and Australian citizen, Brenton Tarrant, on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, as Muslims converged for the worship of their Lord. In a gripping and carefully orchestrated plot that was intended to shock and awe the world, the terrorist live-streamed the video of his horrific massacre.

In the terrible attack that was unprecedented in the annals of the country, at least 50 Muslim worshippers across various nationalities were gunned down while more than 40 others sustained various degrees of injury. While many right-thinking people and governments across the world have expressed outrage at such a heinous crime and mass murder of various nationalities, there are those whose hearts are blotted by hatred and bigotry to the extent that every crime against Muslims is welcome. A typical example is the Australian Senator Fraser Anning who still blamed Muslims for being attacked!

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the leadership of its President-General, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, strongly condemns this brazen act of terrorism on the defenseless Muslim worshippers in Christchurch. The Council also totally condemns the enabling environment created by racists, supremacists and left-wing extremists that allows Islamophobia to fester all over the world.

Corrosive anti-Muslim rhetoric and bigoted media reportage have led to a spike in hate-motivated and terror-induced attacks on Muslims across the world in recent years. From the Imam and his associate killed in the US in August 2016, the murder of six Muslims at a Quebec City Mosque, Canada, in January 2017, the killing of a 58-year old Muslim after a night prayer in London in June 2017 to the recent one, among many others, many Muslims have died and are still dying because of the monstrosity of Islamophobia.

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