24th March, 2020
PRESS RELEASE:
CORONA VIRUS: MURIC PRAYS FOR ATIKU’S SON, OTHERS
Media reports yesterday confirmed that a son of former Vice-President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has tested positive to Covid-19. The young man reportedly arrived from a foreign country one week ago.
Reacting to the development, an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has called on its members throughout the country to pray for the young man. This was revealed in a statement issued by the director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Tuesday, 24th March, 2020.
“We are already in prayer sessions for the quick recovery of one of the sons of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. No young Nigerian deserves to go through this trauma, least of all the case under study. We urge all our members and indeed all Nigerians to pray for his early recuperation.
“The young man is our brother in faith. We feel his pain. Our sympathy goes to him, his father the former Vice-President of Nigeria and the entire Atiku Abubakar family. We pray that Almighty Allah will touch the young man with His special healing. Allah has said none can heal except Him (mon dhaa ladhii yashfa‘u ‘indahu ilaa bi idhnihi Glorious Qur’an 2:255). Medical doctors and nurses can only care. Healing is in the hands of Allah.
“Our special request to Muslims is that they should combine Aayat al-kursiyy with laqad jaaakunm (Qur’an 9:128 – 129) in prayer for him. In particular, we urge individual Muslims to recite these two powerful prayers morning and night to invoke Allah’s mercy on all Nigerians infected with Covid-19 and on our country Nigeria in this trying period.
“We counsel against the politicization of the illness of the son of the former Vice-President. We do not know those who will survive this pandemic. Covid-19 knows no political party or ethnicity. It knows no race, no colour. More importantly, it does not discriminate between a Muslim, a Christian or the adherents of any other religion. This is the time for all of us to forget our differences. Covid-19 is teaching us to come together to find solutions to our common challenges.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
