Among the several places where this year’s Eid-el-Fitr prayers were observed in Kwara State on Sunday, that of Sultanate Central Mosque, Adewole, in Ilorin West Local Government Area, stood out.

Just as the Imam ended the prayer, some worshippers were surprised when the Imam at the end of his sermon, thanked Zion Baptist Church.

“We are very grateful to Zion Baptist Church for opening their gates for worshipers to use as a car park while they walk down to the Mosque to pray,” the Chief Imam, Murtador Sultan Abdullahi Kamaludeen Al-Adabiy, said.

Mr. Jamiu Ogele, who prayed at the mosque, told Daily Trust that “I initially thought I didn’t hear what was said until another Muslim brother confirmed it to me. This is very instructive in promoting religious tolerance among the two religions.”

Mrs. Ismiyyat Nurudeen said she was very impressed with the development when she heard the Imam’s pronouncement.

“My family had been praying here for long but this is the first time that we will be aware of such action by the church. It is a really positive development,” she said.

It was gathered that because the Eid coincided with Sunday, the church directed that a special arrangement be made to allow the Muslims use the facility in a way that will not disrupt the service and also allow them free access.

The development was responsible for the free flow of traffic that was experienced by worshipers.

Further checks by Daily Trust revealed that the church, a stone throw from the Mosque, had been offering such gestures for years anytime the Mosque is having social or religious functions without any publicity.

Daily Trust learnt that the leadership of the mosque visited their church counterpart to thank them.

A worshipper, Engr AbdulSemiu Odenike, in a chat with our correspondent, said the gesture breeds good neighbourliness adding that it had a historical backing in Muslim traditions.

“During the time of the Caliphate of Umar Al-khattab, the second Muslim leader after Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the Coptic Christians in Egypt offered him their church to pray.

“So, once there is sincerity in the act, it is very much encouraged and promotes good neighbourliness among Muslims and Christians as members of a community”.

Abdulmalik Imam Fulani, the Muazim and Legal Adviser of the Mosque, described the action of the church as a show of profound act of tolerance and good neighbourliness that will foster peaceful and healthy living among the two religions.

“This act has been forthcoming that anytime we want to have Eid-el-fitr or Eid-ul-Adha, we do have traffic gridlock and we have the Zion Church a few poles from our Mosque.

“This has been their attitude anytime we are celebrating Sallah to accommodate worshipers by throwing their gates open to use their expansive church premises as a car park for the Muslims”.

He added: “They go beyond that to oblige us with some of their security personnel to assist in directing traffic.

“This act shows their resolve to promote religious tolerance and they have been here with us for over a decade now. Yet, we never had any quarrel whatsoever. This has strengthened our coexistence and solidified the peaceful and harmonious relationship between the mosque and the church.

“Though this is strange to some people, what Islam preaches is love and tolerance to your fellow humans and those of other religions including your enemy. So what our Christians brothers have displayed is what Almighty Allah encourages us to do.

“This kind of action cannot happen in some other places with these two worship facilities. The Church may even look for a very powerful microphone to disrupt the Eid but what we discovered today is that the Zion Church did not even use their speakers to allow us to observe the two rakat prayers peacefully. This is really worth appreciating”.

He urged others to emulate what the Church had done, which discourages religious disparity and promotes humanity and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians irrespective of their faiths.

“The Quran says every person belongs to his own religion, there is no compulsion. As long as there is no negative action from any of us, there should be no cause for alarm and even if there is any issue, we should iron it out harmoniously.’’

The Chief Imam, Sultanat Central Mosque, Adewole, Ilorin, Murtador Sultan Abdullahi Kamaludeen Al-Adabiy, said the Mosque met the church in the community and in the last over eight years, they have not only been opening their gate to accommodate the Muslims to pack their cars, they also made available their security men to assist in directing traffic.

“This will foster unity between the two religions and promote human relations because we all came from Prophet Adam (AS).

“This is a very great gesture. If they don’t do what they did, our Mosque premises will not contain cars and worshippers at the same time and the free movement we experienced today, despite being Sunday when they are holding their church service, would not have been possible.

“We want our Muslim brothers to learn from their act of great kindness from our Christian brothers because the Prophet SAW accommodated Jews and Christians and never showed them bitterness or hatred,” he said.

Responding, the Pastor of the Church, Reverend Dr. Festus Oluade Alade, said as a Christian community living in this neighbourhood, they believe in accommodating their Muslim brothers.

“We have been doing it for over 10 years since the Mosque was established.

“Three days ago, my security came to inform me that it’s likely the Sallah will be held on Sunday this time and whether we should allow the Muslims into our premises and ‘I said why not?’. I only said it should be managed in a way that we will not disturb each other.

“This is what Christ taught us to love everybody including your enemy. Fortunately, the Muslims are not our enemies but our friends. This is not the first time and not new to us. We continue to embrace them and love each other by the grace of God.

“If everybody will understand that we are one and all Nigerians, why are we fighting each other, nobody can fight for God and the best thing is to accommodate ourselves. In my family, I have a lot of Alhajis, will I now disown them, same thing for Muslim families with pastors among them. So we should be able to relate together as one body and family which is what can bring about the unity we crave in the country. It is when we work together that we can make progress in the country.

“I hope this will be replicated across the country to bring about great transformation. This is going to be continuum, Muslim and Christian worshippers should be able to relate and talk together,” he said.

Deacon Paul Kehinde Oyediran, the chairman of the church Diaconate, said: “God has given us the grace to do this. Some of those you see parking here are aware of this opportunity but some are not. However, seeing their fellow Muslims driving into the church to park where their vehicles are even more secured, they follow suit. It has been sustained over the years because we have not witnessed any act of sabotage or regret from the Muslims over this.

“The message is that we should unite together because that is when we can take the country to a higher level rather than disagreement and disparity

For Deacon Samuel Okikiade, the former chairman of the Diaconate, said the decision was approved by the Church’s council.

“This is what Christianity preaches and I am sure that we would not have anything that we want to do and sought their permission to use their premises that they will not oblige..

“We would continue to do this and promote love and harmony as exemplified by Jesus Christ to move the country forward, which will help the society at large.” (Daily Trust)