The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned the killing of innocent people in the name of religion, warning that anyone who commits such acts while shouting “Allahu Akbar” would end up in hell.
The Sultan made the remarks on Thursday during the first triannual meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council in Abuja, where he spoke alongside the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Daniel Okoh, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
Speaking on the rising insecurity across the country, Sa’ad Abubakar III said many violent acts wrongly described as religious are often carried out by criminals who do not represent Islam.
“Let us get the narrative right. It is not about religion. Let us stop bringing religion into it,” he said.
According to him, people who kill innocent citizens and attempt to justify their actions using religion are going against the teachings of Islam.
“Let us call them what they are – criminals. Not Muslim criminals, not Muslim terrorists, not Muslim bandits. Even if someone claims to be Muslim, what they do goes against Islam,” the Sultan stated.
The respected monarch also blamed ignorance and false claims of religious authority for worsening extremism and violence in society.
“The fact that you understand Arabic does not make you a Sheikh. Arabic is just a language. So literacy is very important,” he added.
Delivering a strong warning to perpetrators of violence, Sa’ad Abubakar III said no religious justification could excuse the killing of innocent people.
“Somebody can go to the market, blows his or herself up, kill people and shout ‘Allahu Akbar’. Yes, God is great, but you are going to hell. They will suffer for taking innocent lives,” he said.