By Faatimah Adetunji

Undoubtedly, last week Thursday was a significant day in the history of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria: Akinyele Area Council and University of Ibadan Branch, to be precise. It was on this remarkable day that Muslim students on campus to serve as executive members of 1441A.H regime were announced; both Council and Branch. While it came as a huge shock for some to hear their names mentioned as new executives; those who knew the trend felt mildly surprised because having deduced from the trend and some other factors, they already had ideas about how the event would go and what to expect . Yes, being appointed for one executive post or the other is an honourable thing. What is there to feel more honoured about other than being called upon to serve Islam? To offer selfless services aimed towards the betterment of lives of brethren in and outside the campus and contribute significantly to the development of the Ummah as a whole? Indeed, it is a sacred affair. Here, I offer a heartfelt congratulation to the new executives by saying, “Baarakallahu lakum wa ‘alaykum”. Members of the Central Executives Council, CDC, secondary school coordinators, hall Imams,  Orientation Week Commitee , AlHuda Business Committee and others, may Allah make the work easy and rewarding for all..

Indisputably, humans will always be humans in all their imperfections which make it essential that they submit themselves to the Lord of Perfection and seek His Guidance and Forgiveness when they stray. At times, we tend to do things for the wrong reasons which if care is not taken, those wrong reasons may be the cause of one’s eternal ruination. Thus, I implore you, O dear newly appointed members of the executive cabinet, to consider this a little advice from a concerned fellow ‘human’.

We all are aware of the indispensable contribution of the moral act, ‘sincerity’, to our deeds… yes, I mean al-Ikhlaas. Any deed found lacking this act is as good as nothing in the sight of  He who rewards, He who has power over all that exists: yes I mean the All-knowing and the Just. Hence, it is necessary that we make the reason behind our happiness and willingness to take up the assigned executive posts stem from al-Ikhlaas. To be sincere, it is no child’s play to be given a task by Allah as undoubtedly, He is the One that has assigned the posts to every one of us. As the noblest of mankind has said that: when Allah loves a slave He gives him a work (the sacred opportunity to do something in His Cause). Leadership positions are to be feared as one shall be called to give account for how one had handled the sacred work by He who has given one the duty and shall be duly rewarded. Thus, it is of utmost importance that we evaluate our intentions and ask ourselves the reason why we are willing to serve Him under the umbrella of MSSN.

 Is it so that you may be known to be a gallant member of the society and get praised by others? Or so that you may have the right to enforce and have a say in matters that affect a significant number of brethren exerting your selfish will on them? Perhaps, it is so that you may get to be more popularly known and highly regarded by people?  Whatever ulterior motive that may exist in our minds that we know, let’s simply discard it and change it to the right one. The one and only reason you should be eager is as a result of gratitude to Allah who has afforded you the opportunity to serve Him more while hoping that you derive His pleasure and incomparable rewards for all the sacrifice and strife.

Let’s remember always the Hadith where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) narrated the story of some slaves who would stand in front of Allah with supposed enormous good deeds and would end up being thrown into Jahannam because of their impure intentions. They have simply failed to do those deeds wholly for the sake of Allah; and  as stated in the narration, they shall be told to seek their reward from those other things other than Allah they offered the ‘good’ deeds (showoff, worldly recognition, exaltation by people ,etc) which unfortunately they would be unable to do. May Allah not render our deeds useless on the Day of Accountability (Aamiin).

Again, dear executives, let us realize that we are the ‘face’ of the Muslim students on campus. As much as possible, let’s do away with ignoble acts; vices that may cause disrepute to the society. In actions and speech, utmost care should be taken. Although nobody is without blemishes but let us always be on a constant fight with our carnal souls and exhibit positive attitudes. Egoism, short temperament, selfishness, impudence, oppression, malice, slander, intermingling, harshness and other social vices which are frowned upon in Islam, should be abstained from. The All-Knowing is aware of all that we do and there are people also who are watching us; even those that are ready to use the negative attitude/act  they saw being displayed as an excuse for their own misbehaviour. A typical example is a brother saying that he has decided that there is nothing wrong in shaking a sister since he saw a particular executive member doing the same.

I will like to conclude by calling our attention to the fact that misunderstandings are inevitable. Occasionally, disagreements are bound to ensue between you and some fellow executive. Hence the need to have beautiful patience and tolerance. Unity and peace will exist when all are ready to live in love for the sake of Allah while overlooking the shortcomings of others keeping in mind that nobody is an epitome of perfection. Let’s cultivate the ‘forgive and forget’ culture, may Allah redeem us all. That we have been chosen is not a privilege, rather  it is a blessed opportunity. It is my sincere hope that this is understood more than it has been imperfectly written. As always, I pray that Allah make the respective assigned posts and the work that shall be done a source of hujjah for, and not against any of us on the Day of Reckoning and may He out of His infinite mercy, grant us success both in this world and the afterlife (Aamiin).

Ma’a Salaam