WAKE UP: Why Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore deserves your respect not hypocrisy

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

One Agara Isaac posted something that called my attention to what happened between our great Military President of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Captain Ibrahim Traore, and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Where my problem stands with Isaac, who I know is seeing my post here, is in his surprise interest trying to interfere in the affairs of the Burkinabe people of that Sahel nation as to trying to question if the Military President is a true Muslim for him to reject an offer by Saudi Arabia to build 200 mosques in the country.

The news, according to African Hub @AfricanHub_ X handle is that, “The Burkina Faso’s President, Ibrahim Traore who is a Muslim declined an offer from Saudi Arabia to build 200 mosques in his country.

“Instead, Traore suggested that Saudi Arabia invests in schools, hospitals or businesses that would create jobs for the Burkinabe people.”

Reacting to the rejection and amendment of offer by Captain Traore, Agara Isaac, apparently a Christian, said:

“Such a carnal man, how are we sure that he is a core muslim?

“With this his action, we are very sure that he is an infidel.  How can you reject an offer of building 200mosques in your country?

“Building 200mosques in burkina faso will help alot of muslim scholars know their true worth.

“Does he not want the gospel of allah to spread all over his country?”

My response to Isaac goes this way:

I am very surprised that this is how much low-level in faculty that we can have of a non-Muslim who lacks the knowledge of Islam and the workings of the international politics with regard to African development but still pushes to be a speaker on such matters. Anyway, I might be the wrong person assuming that Agara Isaac is a mature person as Facebook social media network has enabled all manner of people to come on board and say things they, in physical standing, have no capacity of saying and standing for.

Otherwise, he should have known that President Traore is simply being a true Muslim to make such decision of not just rejecting the Saudi Arabian offer of building 200 mosques in his country but also amending the offer by inviting headquarters of Islamic World to rather invest in schools, hospitals or businesses to create job for his Burkinabe people.

First and foremost, the attitude that the 36-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traore has put to work as Military President of Burkina Faso in the few years that he assumed office is exactly the attitude of an ideal Muslim. He refuses to leave presidential life and turns down the idea of receiving the salary of a nation’s president but shows more contentment with what he takes home as Burkinabe Army captain. That should interest Agara Isaac not to delve into an arena of Muslimness that he knows nothing about.

Going forward, Burkina Faso is a predominantly Muslim country. Now, tell me, that country has history running into centuries old, are you saying that the President Ibrahim Traore’s country has no mosques that keep those people on the verge to know their world for this long that they now need Saudi Arabia to build 200 of such for them to be able to know their religion?

Islam is one religion that frees people without them having to move out of its fold. How do I mean? During the last Hajj of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from Madina to Makkah, he stood in Mount Arafat and said, “Those who here today, let them take my message to all the four corners of the world.” After which the unlettered leader of the world wrote four letters of same contents and gave one each to certain companions, respectively, to take to kings of then for major cities that held powers of the world.

By this, I have endeavoured to assure Isaac why the unsolicited sentiment he tried to create to disunite the Muslims globally against their sincere brother that is Military President of Burkina Faso cannot fly. Muslims in Burkina Faso no longer needs order from Saudi Arabia because the Holy Prophet of Islam already gave Muslims all over the world access to knowing Islam a very long time ago, over 1,000 years ago.

Why then is it so germane for Burkinabe Muslims or Muslim scholars to know their worth only when Saudi Arabia builds them 200 mosques? Your postulation along that oath is rather hypocritical and needs to be put to death on arrival.

I am a Muslim in Nigeria and by Nigerian citizenship. I have grown in age and experience of life to know what is required of Muslims even Christians, Judaism, all faiths that have scriptural proofs connection with Allah’s divinity. I know that Islam is practiced on the very ground of Qur’an and recorded Sunnah of Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad Bin Abdullahi salallahu alayhi wasalam that is peace of Allah be upon him.

So, in the country that I come and reside in, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I knew Islam aside I was born in it, decades before I was able to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That shows that you don’t need to know Saudi Arabia to be Muslim because the message of Islam, universal by nature, was long sent globally by the messenger that sent with it.

That is where the Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, is very vital to the Islamic World as the representative of the faith administering it in accordance with the dictate of the Qur’an as delivered by Rasulullahi Muhammad solallahu alayhi wasalam. It is the reason in Nigeria, over 100 million Muslims must listen to announcement by the Sultan of new moon sighting especially of Ramadan to commence and terminate fasting that is one of five pillars of their Islamic faith.

So, at this junction, let me help educate you, Isaac, by saying that Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore not Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman knows what, by need assessment, is required by his people. There are already mosques across Burkina Faso country and so, what is required now is how to keep the people stronger economically through effective jobs creation so they will not be driven out of their faith in Allah by poverty.

Moreso, President Traore cannot allow anyone to hide under religion and hand him over to enemies. No one is in doubt as to the connection that exists between the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the West that the major enemies of the Burkinabe leader at the moment. However, if Saudi Arabia loves their Burkinabe brothers and sister so well, they should come on other areas of needs as mosques is not in short supply to the country already. That is what he is saying not from the point of anti-Islam. And you are not qualified to handle that.

What in this is difficult to understand in this? All Africans should stand with Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore because, after we lost Mammaur Gaddafi to the evils of the West due to our mischieve in Libya, he is the man I believe God has lifted again to liberate the black race. Does it matter whether you believe or not? Once he gets it right with his country, I am good.