To say that Dr. Abdul-Lateef, the 2016 Amirul Haj, is a revered Islamic scholar and a brilliant academic with a Phd. in law, is to state an obvious fact.
Not only that, he is a generous man full of wits and wisdom, and is at peace with his intelligence.
At mount Arafat during this year’s Haj, where more than 2000 pilgrims from Lagos performed the important prayers of the Haj, the story this year was different from the past.
In previous years, immediately after the Arafat prayers and Uthubat, Lagos pilgrims would go into a kind of frenzied and jubilation. They will scatter in different directions singing, throwing banters and congratulating one another. But this time around, Dr. Abdullateef changed the game. For the first time, he confined all the Lagos pilgrims to a big round of marathon prayer never seen in this reporter’s twenty (20) consecutive years of Haj.
The Amirul Haj with Imams, coordinators and others, subjected all pilgrims to an unprecedented four hours of prayer, all standing. Only the weak or the very aged sat down; the rest stood up throughout the prayers. From the Holy Book (Holy Quran) came special prayers which were highly spiritual and emotionally rewarding.
As the prayers were being fired, unknown to Lagos pilgrims, pilgrims from NASFAT, NAHCON and other states, whose tents were close to the Lagos tent, were drawn in the way magnets draw iron particles. They could not help but join the Lagosians in the special (extra) prayers.
The prayers did not end until about 6p.m local time when the road to Musdalifah opened.
Lagos pilgrims, hitherto used to small parties after the Arafat prayer, this year, were all compelled to go extra mile spiritually. No wonder this reporter regards this year Haj as the most spiritually rewarding of the twenty (20) Haj trips he had so far made. Kudos to Abdul-Lateef.
…Preaches ‘change begins with me’ at Mount Arafat…Alhaja Uzamat Yusuff enjoins youths to shun greed, disobedience
The National Orientation campaign, “Change Begins with Me,” launched by President Muhammed Buhari in Abuja, has surfaced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia courtesy of Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Amirul Haj, Dr. AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef.
The initiative is aimed at educating and enlightening pilgrims to appreciate the value of accountability and integrity.
Dr. AbdulLateef enjoined the pilgrims to key in to the campaign. He urged them to be the change they want. Nigerians, he said, should support the government by living up to expectation through adopting the principle of good citizenship.
He noted that if every member of the society plays his/her role, the country will be better for it.
He urged the pilgrims to pray for positive change in the country and be good ambassadors during and after the pilgrimage.
This, he said, will change the perception of the world about the country.
“We are from a great country with good people. We should always exploit that good character in us to other people of other nations,” he said.
AbdulLateef’s counterpart, Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile Yussuf, enjoined Nigerians, especially the youths, to eschew greed, disobedience and emulate the virtues of Prophet Ibrahim.
In his sermon, Abdullateef Abdulhakeem recalled how Allah’s favour was distributed to everyone, for creating us, for sustainability, protection over us and His covenant.
He also asked the pilgrims to pray for their misdeeds and ask for repentance over their sins. He also enjoined them to pray for the nation, President Buhari, National Assembly, Judiciary and all our M.D.A’s. He said that pilgrims should pray for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for providing good medical team and a brand new ambulance. He asked them to pray particularly for Medview boss Alhaji Muniru Bankole, who provided aircraft that brought us to Medina with choice plane, and also for providing free gifts for all the pilgrims in Makkah.
In a statement she issued on Mount Arafat in Makkah, Mrs. Akinbile Yusuf said, “Prophet Ibrahim, on whose sincerity and outstanding worship to Allah the Eid-il Adha is celebrated world wide, should be emulated Nigerians in order to enjoy enduring prosperity.
“I also want to urge the youths to empower themselves to attain self-reliance in order to reduce the rate of unemployment in the county.”
“When our youths are self-reliant, it would reduce the burden of providing job opportunities on government. This would enable government to concentrate on other spheres of human and social development.”
The Chief Imam of Makkah, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, led the multitude of pilgrims gathered on Mount Arafat in prayers after delivering the Haj sermon.
Al-Sudais called on Muslim leaders to work together to solve the many issues that are confronting the community.
The Imam said, “Terrorism doesn’t belong to any religion or nation.” He also asked pilgrims to avoid politics during the Haj. He called for the Unity of the Muslims and warned against deviant ideologies.
He reminded parents, teachers and scholars about their responsibilities in nurturing the youths away from deceptive messages.
Makkah Governor, Prince Kahlid Al-faisal, sat with worshippers as he listened to the sermon. The Sheikh said that scholars are the inheritors of the prophets and that they should speak the truth always and be good examples to the people.
Al-Sudais also enjoined those in the media to show responsible reporting by avoiding “sensationalism and rumours” and using their efforts to aid unity.
