These two are being paid $50,000 each to watch the entire World Cup games in this glass room without coming out and also be watched by people as they do so. You fit run am? Staying inside one room for 5 weeks 👀 ?
Watch the moment the husband of Mrs. Rachael Alamu, the principal abducted by bandits in Ogbomoso, breaks down in tears while pleading with Governor Seyi Makinde, who visited Oriire LG, to hasten the rescue operation for his wife and others.
The original question was whether a Muslim can be Yoruba and whether Islam diminishes Yoruba identity, and I think you're treating permanence as though it automatically grants primacy. As though it is supposed to be the highest loyalty because it is immutable.
The fact that I did not choose to be Yoruba does not necessarily mean Yoruba identity should be the highest identity through which I understand everything else. I did not choose to be male either. I did not choose the era in which I was born. I did not choose my family. I did not choose my biological characteristics. Many things about me are immutable. That fact alone does not make them the supreme source of meaning, morality, purpose or allegiance.
Now, you ask why a Muslim should care about Yoruba interests if Islam is his primary worldview. The answer is simple, in that it is still because he is Yoruba. Muslim-first does not mean anti-Yoruba. It means Yoruba interests are pursued through an Islamic moral framework rather than through ethnic self-interest alone.
A Muslim still wants security, prosperity, justice, education, stability and flourishing for Yoruba people. He simply does not believe those goals should be pursued at the expense of truth, justice or other human beings merely because they are Yoruba. In fact, one could argue that Islam provides a stronger basis for serving one's people because it places ethical restraints on tribal loyalty.
The more fundamental issue is this: what exactly are Yoruba interests? If Yoruba interests simply mean preserving language, history, culture and collective wellbeing, I see no contradiction. If Yoruba interests mean supporting something because it benefits Yorubas even when it is unjust, then we differ here, and this is no doubt because that is obviously injustice at the expense of other tribes.
You also mention that people can leave Islam, adopt another religion or embrace no religion at all...that's true. But the fact that something can be abandoned does not mean it is less important than something that cannot. Back to the first point, maybe. A person can abandon truth for falsehood. He can abandon morality for immorality. He can abandon knowledge for ignorance. The possibility of abandoning something says nothing about its significance.
More importantly, from the Muslim perspective, Islam is not merely one ideology among many competing ideologies. We believe it to be revealed from the Creator of entire mankind and the universe itself. So the Muslim is not choosing Islam over Yoruba identity in the way one chooses one political philosophy over another. He is submitting to what he believes to be a divine truth.
The real disagreement, then, is not about whether one can be Yoruba and Muslim simultaneously. Millions are. The disagreement is about whether ethnicity should be the highest organising principle of human life, and I simply do not see why it should be.
I am so grateful to say that I have graduated from @Harvard University with a Master’s degree in Education and Analysis! My time spent in Cambridge was nothing short of exceptional, and I will forever be grateful for the time I spent here and the people I met. From my professors to my peers, the relationships I cultivated are ones I cherish and will continue to stay in touch with. I also extend my sincere gratitude to the @followKWSG@RealAARahman for their immense support. As a @Kwarastatepoly and @KwasuOfficial alumnus, I am beyond excited to be inducted into the prestigious Harvard Alumni community.
#latepost