ED at @iserhnigeria | Director at @ABFarmsLTD | @atlascorps Fellow | @YALIRLCWAAccra Alum | EIEF at @PointsofLight | AmexLEAD Alum | Youth Education Advocate
If I die today, don't say "he dies before his time". Whenever I die is the actual appointed time for me to die. Whether I die as a young or aged person. That's what the Text of my faith says.
No one dies before his/her appointed and written (destined) time
History has a way of repeating itself. This story reminds me of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas. He was one of the ten companions that was promised Paradise. But there was this man in Kufa named Abu Sa'dah who stood up in a public gathering and lied against him. He completely assassinated Sa'd's character, telling everyone he was an unjust leader who didn't march with the army and didn't divide wealth fairly.
Sa'd did not let this go. As you know the pain of a ruined reputation is a very big thing. He raised his hands and made a terrifying supplication. He said, O Allah, if this servant of Yours is a liar, and stood up for showing off, then prolong his life, prolong his poverty, and expose him to trials.
Years later, people would see that same man wandering the streets of Kufa. He was terribly old, his eyebrows falling over his eyes, living in severe poverty, and bothering women in the streets. When people asked him what went wrong with his life, the old man would just say... I am an old man, afflicted by the curse of Sa'd.
What does this story have to do with this Yoruba woman? The fact that Islam is a practical religion. It aligns with human nature and the raw reality of our emotions. When someone strips you of your dignity, the religion does not force you to smile and suppress your pain. It recognizes that betrayal hurts... and it gives you a legitimate outlet.
This brings me to the verse in Surah An-Nisa where Allah validates this human experience:
لَّا يُحِبُّ اللَّهُ الْجَهْرَ بِالسُّوءِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ إِلَّا مَن ظُلِمَ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا
"Allah does not like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged. And Allah is ever Hearing and Knowing." (Quran 4:148)
When you connect the dots, Imagine what she would have had to bear for her to come to such a sacred place to do that. People spend their entire life savings to get there to beg for Jannah and for peace. She bypassed all of that. The betrayal was so suffocating that she stood in front of the House of Allah just to seek justice for her name.
And what she did as far as I know is valid. Imam Al-Qurtubi, when explaining the verse above, stated clearly that the oppressed person has the right to pray against their oppressor. You are allowed to ask Allah for a justice that matches the injustice done to you.
Even though Haram is a sanctuary of peace, however, it is also the highest courtroom of the Master of the Worlds. Taking your case there only amplifies the weight of your request.
Having said this, scholars do remind us that taking the higher road and choosing to forgive elevates your rank in ways we cannot comprehend. But if the pain is too much and a person cannot let it go just like the woman in question, then asking for strict justice is their God-given right. No one can force them to forgive.
We type things online, we forward voice notes, we spread rumors... and then we go to sleep. Meanwhile, the person we lied about is awake at 3 AM, or standing right in front of the Kaaba, handing our name over to Allah.
Ali Bn Abi Talib said:
لا تَظلِمَنَّ إِذا ما كُنتَ مُقتَدِراً
فَالظُلمُ مَرتَعُهُ يُفضي إِلى النَدَمِ
تَنامُ عَينُكَ وَالمَظلومُ مُنتَبِهٌ
يَدعو عَلَيكَ وَعَينُ اللَهِ لَم تَنَمِ
“Do not oppress when you are capable.
Because the pasture of oppression leads to regret.
Your eye sleeps and the oppressed is awake.
Praying against you, and the eye of Allah has not slept.”
May Allah protect our tongues and keep us far from being the source of someone's tears.
Oh Allah! Kindly protect me from eyes that are secretly not happy to SEE ME WIN IN LIFE. I've faced so many TRIALS in life & never doubted that they all came from You. Indeed, You're the only One Who can successfully TRY me. Kindly never send me a TRIAL You won't help me Overcome
Oct. 2023, my farm lost over N100m in investment & got shut down. Reopened in May, 2024 through support from friends. Sold off all my properties, except the farm, as Islam forbids interest-based loans. I'M GLAD IT HAPPENED 'cause it unmasked everyone around me. Still ROUGH but 🙏🏼
We got shut down in October 2023, after losing over N100m in investment. Reopened in May 2024 with just 1k birds. Despite our failure to meet our customers' eggs demand, they still stand and stay with us
Now appreciating them with a token of Business Capital Support
📸Mama TITI
A budget on paper means nothing if it doesn’t show on the ground.
From unfinished roads to under-equipped hospitals but we must keep tabs on where our money goes.
Accountability starts with us🥳.
Kindly like, retweet and follow @Webfalainitiat1#GovTrackerContest#WebfalaContest
@iserhnigeria management & IAAs are glad to congratulate our Youth Affairs Center's Director @OlayemiSaheedA on his appointment as an Asst. Lecturer at the Mathematics Dpt, @UNILESAOfficial
May this be a step towards the realization of your academic goals
Signed,
@AbayomiRaheem
On Sun Jan. 5, our IUS Class 14 Scholars had their first class on PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE, facilitated by @AbayomiRaheem, @iserhnigeria Chief Servant
Was this lecture transformative?
Did our Scholars learn new things?
Let's read from them as they share the lessons learnt
God Willing, I'll be on a mentorship assignment tomorrow to engage the youths of NASFAT Osun State Zone @OsunNasfatYW at Odeomu. May the Lord spare our lives. Looking forward to a success-leading mentorship and an addition to the pool of my mentees' list 🥰❤️💐🥰
Applications for the online tuition-free ISERH Undergraduate Studies Class 14 is now on. This is open to all African undergraduates, graduates & post graduates of Polytechnics, Colleges of Education/Health, Monotechnics & Universities. Apply 👉 https://t.co/eg2YFNyqUA
Dear SoJo Plus Cohort 2 Applicants,
You can now visit our portal to check your admission status and follow the instructions provided therein. Click https://t.co/zdA2bjWfpX
To the intending applicants, the portal is still open for applications, click https://t.co/30TLS50C0n
Providing a source of livelihood, gifting a car or building a house for an enemy can never make him/her HAPPY. The only source of enemy's HAPPINESS is to see/hear BAD NEWS about one
Oh Lord! Kindly deny my enemy every form of happiness over my life, affairs& all that concerns me
Treat every identified parasitic enemy like a soldier ant. Whenever it crawls on your body unnoticed, you're cool, but the moment it stings you, it meets with its Creator
Even, if you're the WISEST human in the universe, your wisdom can neither ALLOW nor PREVENT from happening, whatever good/bad Almighty God has WRITTEN in your DESTINY
May we not be unfortunate and may our Lord grant us the best HERE and the HEREAFTER (Aamen...)
🤲🏼❣️🤲
Oh Allah! Kindly preserve my mother upon good. Let her live more years in sound health, proper care, & in submission to You
Keep blessing me in order to make her happy every second. Don't let me earn Your Annoyance through her. Let her ending be that of Your most pleased servant
Dear Pal,
Kindly jettison the thought of suicide as an option. Surely, you'll overcome this and shall live to tell the stories
Though, majority don't join one prepare for a battle or win it, but they wanna take a lion share of the booty
Please, stay alive to share the story🙏
On Sat. July 13, our Scholars had a class on PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE: IMPLICATIONS ON NATION BUILDING facilitated by @AbayomiRaheem, @iserhnigeria Chief Servant
Was this lecture transformative?
Did our Scholars learn new things?
Do they have feedback on it?
Let's read from them..