An Islam scholar, Prof. Afiz Oladosu, has advised Muslim faithful to take advantage of the holiness of Ramadan to shun all corrupt practices.
Oladosu, a Lecturer at the Department of Religions, University of Ibadan, gave the advice on Sunday during a Ramadan lecture, organised by the Lagos State University Muslim Community and Prof. Ismail Balogun Foundation.
Delivering a lecturer titled, “Combatting Corruption: Duties of Muslims in a corrupt society,” Oladosu said that greed and and lack of God consciousness were mainly responsible for corrupt activities in our society.
“Ramadan is about law that does not sleep; it is about self accountability and transparency, and clears our minds of greed and selfishness,” he said.
He said that corruption was responsible for numerous social ills in Nigeria, adding that the scourge transcended material corruption.
“Corruption has cost Nigeria more than 380 billion dollars since independence in 1960; resulting to bad roads, poor education and health services and has caused insecurity and insurgency in some parts of the country.
“Corruption makes the poor poorer, creates uncertainty and increases crime rate, but it is not all about material corruption.
“Transparency describes corruption as misuse of power for private gain while Websters dictionary defines it as perversion of integrity in the discharge of public duties.
“There is a spiritual angle to corruption which we need to tackle before looking at material corruption,” he said.
Oladosu explained that the holy Qur’an sternly warned Muslims against partaking in any corrupt act.
“Corruption appears not less than 52 times in the Qur’an, with references to corruption, the corrupter, the corruptee and the corrupted.
“Muslims should strive to shun all these categories of corruption for the sake of Allah.
“The month of Ramadan provides a good opportunity for stock taking and a rebirth,” he said.
He advised governments and private employers of labour to always strive to meet their obligations to their employees to prevent them from being tempted into corrupt activities.