The Muslim community on Twitter is buzzing with excitement after a video surfaced online showing faithful in an Igbo community in Enugu State observing Eid prayers as part of this year’s Sallah celebration.
Muslims across the world celebrated Eid-El-Fitr on Friday, April 21, 2023, to mark the end of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan and Nigeria Twitter has been awash with photos and videos from various Eid grounds.
While posting Eid images has become an integral part of Sallah culture on the microblogging site, the sight of Muslims converging in what looked like a rural Igbo community isn’t something frequently experienced.
This may have elicited the sort of reactions recorded after a man, Ustadz Alh Sirajugwu NwaNsukka, that led the sermon, posted a video of him addressing the congregation in the Igbo language.
Captioned, “21/04/23. 01/10/1444. Eid prayer ground in Alor-Agu Muslim community in Igbo Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State,” the video attracted about 5,885 likes, 2,500 retweets, and 429 quotes as of the time of filing this report.
Due to the rarefied nature of the video, fellow faithful thronged the comment section to express their admiration for the worshippers and also spared some commendation for them.
A tweet, Mudashiru Temitope said, “First time seeing an Igbo Muslim(s)… Masha Allah. May Allah S.W.T accept our Dua.”
But another user, The Comrade, who was not so taken aback by the scene said “It’s possible, Nsukka borders north central, so you have communities spilling from Kogi and Benue.
“Also, the guy’s Igbo sounds artificial, like something he is still learning…The flow is missing, so can’t ascertain he is truly one.”
While Muktar Bagudo said, “Nop! It’s just the Qur’an. Once you have a lot of it in your mind and brain, even your Hausa or English changes in accent,” Bolaji Williams believed that it is a beautiful and very rare thing, liking it to seeing a bat fly at noon.
Bagudo also asked, “Who can lead the cause to raise funds for them to build a mosque?”
Meanwhile, Amaka Ogili said, “My uncle died a Muslim. We are one with no discrimination. Izu umunna bu ofu,” but another tweep, Daddy Evra, expressed shock and said “Really? I can’t believe it. Do you know I used to think about it? So there is Igbo Islam? Allah Akbar.”
Another tweep, Phanini said, “First time seeing a Muslim from the east,” just as Abdul-Afeez said, “This right here is very new to me, well I’m not surprised because of what God said in the Quran.”
While most of the reactions were complementary, some tweeps were less than convinced that the worshippers are native Igbos.
Onyelichukwu said, “The only thing that I don’t like with all this Igbo pretending to be Muslim is known that it’s a pretence because Igbo can’t be Muslim, it’s not in our DNA. Secondly, while you are pretending to be, please remember we are Igbos, we have our attires, put them on and stop.”
But, Joseph Onuora corrected such notions when he said, “Am really surprised that some educated Nigerians didn’t know that there is very size-able population-of Muslims In the east – Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi should have maybe upto 50-100k each, probably more!
“Not visitors o – Natives – Like real sons of the soil On that note we can say thank you Suraj for bringing it to light with this Eid messages Those religious issues are not the real problems of the average South Easterner who just wants a peaceful working system so that business can thrive and everybody making money.”
However, one Oscar opined, “You can practice your religion in peace, no problem. But we will not tolerate Emir in our land.”
