In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, may the blessings and peace be upon our beloved master Muhammad, the last of Prophets, on his family, and all his companions.
Dear brothers and sisters! The above headline in today’s piece captures an Islamic principle of trusting in divine justice and avoiding excessive confrontation with someone who has invoked Allah’s name. It implies that the sin of a false oath is so grave that the individual’s accountability is best left to Allah alone, rather than engaging in a futile human dispute and argument.
A false oath is considered a major sin in Islam, as the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) indicated. This act is so serious that it has no worldly expiation and requires sincere repentance.
Muslim believers are commanded to leave matters involving oaths to Allah, trusting in His divine knowledge and justice.
Responding with patience and reliance on Allah demonstrates strong faith, trusting in His ultimate judgment.
The story of Imrul Qais and a litigant demonstrates this principle. When a property dispute came before the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and Imrul Qais lacked witnesses, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) suggested his opponent take an oath. Concerned about a false oath, Imrul Qais was told by the Prophet about the severe consequences of swearing falsely, including being denied Divine Mercy and facing dreadful punishment on the Day of Judgment. Hearing this, the litigant abandoned his false claim. This story emphasises the power of fearing Allah’s judgment over any worldly gain.
Respected brothers and sisters! The world witnesses that, Bello Matawalle, former governor of Zamfara State, has sworn by the noble Qur’an, the words of Allah, that he has no connection with bandits.
And as we all know, The Qur’an is the noble book for Islam and Allah’s words, a faith which the governor professes.
At that time, while receiving an award conferred on him by the Centre for Qur’anic Reciter, in Nigeria, Matawalle called on all the people of Zamfara State to swear, too, that they have no connection with the bandits terrorising the state. He said:
“As I’ve been mentioning, the issue of insecurity is not just for federal government, governor or other security agencies; the issue of insecurity is for all of us, and we should not politicise the issue of insecurity. I have sworn with the noble Qur’an that if I know, or if I am part of, or I know anybody who is coordinating this banditry, or with my hand or any of my family, may Allah not give me in this life. I dare all the people from Zamfara state, from our father, Aliyu Gusau to Yariman Bakura and all the cabinet members, right from the inception of the political dispensation of the state, to take this oath as I did.”
The former governor said in taking up the challenge, it will be easy for residents to identify those behind insecurity and ensure peace is restored in the state.
He said as chief security officer of the state, he will do everything possible to provide a secure and peaceful environment.
He added that it is important for residents to be able to go about their lawful business without fear of anyone harming them.
And also, if you can remember, In 2019, Bello Matawalle dethroned some traditional rulers in the state over their alleged involvement in banditry.
Also at that time, the Zamfara State police command redeployed its divisional police officer (DPO) in Kaura-Namoda following allegations of conniving with bandits terrorising the area.
Even recently, in his interview with DCL Hausa, Bello Matawalle, former Governor of Zamfara State and current Minister of State for Defence, has swears again by the Qur’an, he said:
“I swear on the noble Qur’an that if I ever had any role in insecurity or knew those sponsoring it, may Allah deny me whatever I seek in this world.”
Dear brothers and sisters! We would like to underline that swearing on the Qur’an is a binding oath, because the Qur’an is the Speech of Allah, and speech is one of His Divine Attributes. The Hanbali book Al-Iqna‘ reads:
“If the person makes an oath on the Speech of Allah, the Qur’an, the Mus-haf (copy of the Qur’an), a chapter or verse of the Qur’an, or the refined status of the Qur’an, then that is a valid and binding oath, and breaking it entails the due expiation of breaking an oath.”
And you bear no sin for taking such an oath, as taking an oath is permissible.
My beloved people! With all these, unfortunately and sadly, due to the bad and dirty politics we found ourselves in, due to our hypocrisy, and due to the envy, jelousy, hatred and enmity, still some people, for their disrespect to the book of Allah, The noble Qur’an, are grumbling about this issue.
Wallahi, we have to say the truth, support the truth, stand by the truth and be with the truthful ones, anyhow bitter it is. Yes, I know, the truth can be bitter and unpleasant to hear, but it is always better to be honest than to hide behind the veils of falsehood. It doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t want to hear the truth, and prefers to spawn lies upon lies to protect their food and their worldly possessions, you should always be honest and truthful in your speech and in your writings.
May Allah keep us all under His mercy. May Almighty Allah keep us steadfast upon His religion and upon the truth, ameen.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Prayers, peace and mercy are upon our beloved master, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah (Peace be upon him), his family and Companions.
Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene’s Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761 or +2348024192217.
