Shaمsu

As a Muslim, my allegiance to Allāh and His Messenger ﷺ comes before any nation, government, tribe, ethnicity or worldly identity. This is foundational to our faith. Allāh says: “If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allāh and His Messenger, and striving in his cause, then wait until Allah executes his command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people”.(Qur’an 9:24). The Prophet ﷺ said: “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 15). So, let us be clear: I love Nigeria, pray for Nigeria, contribute to Nigeria and want the best for Nigerians. But Nigeria is not above Islam to me, and the Nigerian state is not my ultimate moral authority. My faith is not subordinate to my nationality. If Nigeria today issues a law to ban women from wearing hijabs, my allegiance would definitely stand with İslam, and not the Nigerian law being passed. And this is where the hypocrisy becomes glaring. Some of the same people attacking Muslims for declaring that their allegiance to Islam comes before Nigeria have no problem with people declaring allegiance to Biafra, prioritising ethnic identity over Nigerian nationality, or insulting Nigeria daily. When it is tribal nationalism, it is freedom of expression. When it is separatism, it is a political opinion. But when a Muslim says his religion comes first, suddenly, he is a threat to the nation? You cannot condemn a Muslim for prioritising his faith while excusing competing loyalties simply because they are not Islamic. My identity as a Muslim is not up for negotiation to satisfy nationalistic sentiments, bigotry or Islamophobia disguised as patriotism. And let me make something else clear: our commitment to Islam does not mean we hate Nigeria. Quite the opposite. We want Nigeria to prosper, its institutions to work, its people to live in dignity, its injustices to end and its future to improve. Why? Because Allāh commands us to uphold justice. Allāh says: “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives.” (Qur’an 4:135). Allāh says: “Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness.” (Qur’an 5:2). And Allāh says: “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” (Qur’an 13:11). These principles guide our commitment to building a better society. We defend Nigeria when it is unfairly maligned, criticise it when justice demands it, and work towards its progress because we believe in responsibility, justice and the betterment of its people. We want the best for Nigeria, but we will never place Nigeria above the One who created us or Nigeria itself. How could I be more loyal to a nation than to the One who created it, when He can bring it into existence or cause it to disappear simply by saying, “Kun” (“Be”)? Allah says: “When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” (Qur’an 2:117). That is the Islamic standard. Our loyalty is first, to our Creator, before anything else which he created, which includes family, nation, tribe, or any other affiliation which only exists because Allâh allowed it. So, if you can declare that you are Biafran before you are Nigerian, champion your ethnic identity, or criticise Nigeria daily without being accused of betraying the country, you cannot reasonably demand that Muslims conceal or dilute their religious identity to satisfy you. You are entitled to disagree with Islam and hold your own beliefs. But you are not entitled to rewrite ours. I am a Muslim first, and I make absolutely no apology for that.