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Nigerian embassy in Saudia Arabia has commenced moves to secure freedom for Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a Nigerian convert to Islam who has been in Malaz prison for the last two months, to learn Arabic and propagate Islam in southeastern Nigeria.
Nigerian embassy in Saudia Arabia has commenced moves to secure freedom for Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a Nigerian convert to Islam who has been in Malaz prison for the last two months, to learn Arabic and propagate Islam in southeastern Nigeria.
Speaking to Arab News from prison, Lawal said he was hoping to promote Islam in the predominantly Christian part of southeastern Nigeria where he comes from. With that end in view, he was learning Arabic at the Badiya Islamic Center.
He said officials from the Nigerian Embassy contacted him to inquire about his welfare. They are also believed to have written to the Saudi Foreign Ministry to secure his release from prison. A response is still awaited. Lawal was imprisoned in June this year when the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice found him inside an apartment with a 63-year-old woman, who he had admitted earlier at the Badiya Hospital.
Lawal said he had gone to her apartment to inquire about her welfare. 'Such an action on their part sends a wrong message about Islam, the religion of humanity," he said. However, the commission contests his claim and says that it was more than a courtesy call. Meanwhile, the publication in Arab News of Ibrahim Lawal's detention has raised concerns among people in the Kingdom about whether they should help neighbors in distress.
Shahid Hussain, a teacher at the Bangladesh International School, told Arab News that a close friend of his telephoned him from Dammam, where he had gone on an urgent visit, and requested him to bring medicine for his wife who had suddenly become ill. 'Knowing what happened to Lawal, I didn't want to take any risk. So I went to her house along with my daughter who had come here on a visit visa. Now my daughter has left," he said. 'Next time, God forbid, if I receive another call from my friend or someone else, I cannot do anything. Such restrictions prevent us from helping our neighbors in an emergency situation.
They go against the teachings of our Prophet (peace be upon him) who said a good Muslim should help his neighbors irrespective of religious or other considerations," Hussain said. He pointed out that Islam permits even the eating of pork to save one's life in an emergency and that the kind of restrictions enforced by the commission mean that a humanitarian act is ruled out under any circumstances if it contravenes the Kingdom's local traditions.