IMMUNIZATION AS A WEAPON OF MODERN JIHAD

Procreation is a divine design by Allah, the creator, in order to ensure continuation of

generations. To this end, He made the care for our children an obligation on every parent
and indeed a trust (Amanah) from Him to us, one for which we shall account for on the
day of judgement. The Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) said in this regard: “You are all
shepherd and all of you are responsible for the flocks placed in you care”

Parents in Islam are therefore challenged by the nature of this trust to ensure total
protection, care and guardian of their children from all foreseen and unforeseen
circumstances to the best of their ability. Failure to do this may result in great
consequences in the hereafter from the owner of trust (Allah). Therefore, children must
be protected against harmful diseases that may likely attack them, which may either lead
to deformity or even early death.

Immunization is aimed at eliminating or reducing the chances of children being attacked

by deadly diseases that has claimed several lives over the years and deformed many more
children for no fault of theirs. The argument over the status of immunization in Nigeria, I
am aware, has been going on for some time now. And a lot of efforts have been advanced
by the proponent of immunization to win over the confidence of the sceptical and the
antagonists as well. But more worrisome and alarming is the global impression being
created by these so called antagonists for the image of Islam and Muslims.

For example, here in Nigeria, the greatest resistance to immunization is coming from the
Northern part of the country, according to the statistics of health workers, which is
predominantly a Muslim community. This attitude is becoming a burden on the image of
Islam and Muslims, because it creates an impression of a people who are reluctant to
embrace modern scientific and technological changes, discoveries and advancements. A
people who like to see things remain primitive and undeveloped, and who take pride in
always going against the tide no matter the situation.

This impression is contrary to the known fact that Islam is the foundation of knowledge,
particularly scientific knowledge, where many biological, medical and mathematical
experiments and discoveries were being made by early Muslim scholars. History can
testify to this and many more intelligent strides by Muslims which led to the general
perception that Islam is the citadel of civilization and human development. Islam
recognises knowledge, research and scientific discoveries that will make human existence
less in danger. Stagnation and primitiveness of knowledge and ideas is definitely anti
Islamic.

Over time, it has been discovered that many innocent and unsuspecting people are being
mislead by some mischievous few in the community, who unfortunately, are wrongly
believed by their people to posses the knowledge to give them direction and focus. Some
of them are believed to have knowledge on everything because they were perceived to
have understanding of the religion of Islam. But they often abuse their privileged position
by misinforming and misdirecting their people without any proof whatsoever, and in
some instances, twisting of facts to suite their ill intentions.

Some do it because they could not admit their limited knowledge or ignorance on the
subject matter, since it has been wrongly assumed that any one called Mallam or Alfa,
suggesting he reads and probably understands the meaning of the Holy Qur’an, must be
expert in all field of human endeavours and can pass comments on any subject matter, no
matter how specific and professional it may be. I will discuss this wrong notion at a later
date, God willing.

The Qur’an described people that mislead and misguide others thus: “those who hinder
(men) from the part of Allah, and would seek to make it crooked, and they were
disbelievers in the hereafter”. Chapter 7: 45. Why are they disbelievers in the hereafter?
Because they were mistaken to be believers in this world by their followers, which makes
whatever they say to be easily accepted unchallenged. But Allah knows they have no
knowledge or proof for what they are saying.

How can my brothers in the North forget so soon that similar thing happened in the past
when western education came to our shore some decades ago? Some self appointed
Muslim leaders told our people not to embrace the western education because they said it
will make us to become Kaafir. And some parent believed and obeyed without raising
eyebrows. But are we not still paying the price till today? The other parts of the country
are far ahead of us in terms of social, cultural and economic empowerment simply
because of their advantage in western education. On the contrary today, we have found
out that one can actually combine western and Islamic education to become even better
educated, more exposed and intellectually sound than sticking to only the Islamic
education.

Economic empowerment and improved standard of leaving in this country now and for
years to come is still determined by the level of western education, while those that were
denied this opportunity found it difficult to cope despite having Islamic education. Those
who mislead them had no plan for their future. At best, most of them teach at Madrasat
or Islamic Schools across the country, feeling left behind by their contemporaries who
may not even be as intelligent as they were. I wonder why some people enjoy associating
Islam and Muslim with the least of everything in the society by propagating short focused
ideas and ideologies. Apparently, they were deliberately misleading people so that
majority can perpetually remain dependent on their goodwill, and continue to serve them
as event has turned out to show.

Ironically, children of these people have become opinion leaders and elites of our various
communities by virtue of their western education and exposure. Take a look at the rank
and file of our elites, emirs, political leaders, the rich and the wealthy and see how many
of them are not educated in the western way. Meaning while they were telling us not to
send our children to school their own children were busy in various schools at home and
abroad. Are we going to be fools for another time, and allow our children to become
destitute, lepers, and beggars owing to deformity caused by lack of immunization, while
their own children will come back more healthy, wealthy and famous, only for our
children to be queuing up in front of their gates and houses for peanut?.

Most of the reasons advanced by the antagonist of immunization has been found to be
baseless, watery and of no logic whatsoever. And more importantly, it was not intended to
serve any religious purpose nor seek to protect the Muslims as they may want to claim.
Only Allah will reveal their devilish intention for misinforming and misleading our
people. For instance, the celebrated fear of children being injected with a virus through
the immunization process, which they claim will make them impotent and unable to give
birth, so as to reduce Muslim population, has never been proven. They only played on our
people’s intelligence and took advantage of the predominant ignorance in our community,
which they deliberately created anyway.

As a child and with other children in my primary school days, we were severally
immunized and it has never had any negative consequence on any of us. All my children
are also being immunized as a matter of responsibility towards Allah, and I am sure the
children of those calling for the boycott of immunization are secretly being immunized.
Their must be a hidden agenda to their antagonistic posture, but Allah is greater than
them.

The early Muslims fought in battles along side the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and prosecuted
several Jihads in order that I and you will be proud to be Muslims, with our heads raised
high. So that we should not be persecuted, humiliated and discriminated against in our
various communities. So that we can be proud to say aloud that we are Muslims without
apology to anyone. That was the challenge of that time which necessitated their Jihad.
Not necessarily for themselves but for generations yet unborn.

In view of this, what do we seek to leave behind? Is it a handicapped, paralyzed, poor,

dejected, looked down upon, downtrodden, physically and mentally challenged Muslim
population? How do we face Allah to account for our actions and inactions? I believe the
fear of all this was what brought a genuinely concerned health worker out of her
retirement. She confided in me that the rate of Muslim population affected by Polio in a
recent statistic and particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria was so alarming that she
had to join in the campaign against this dreaded diseases.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, your opportunity to participate in this new form of
Jihad is here again. Take this sensitization and enlightenment to the villages and hamlets
where the most affected and who may not have access to Newspaper resides. The 25th –
28th January 2007 has been set aside for this immunization exercise for children
between ages 0 – 5 years old. Facility is accessible in all hospitals and health centres
Nationwide for free. Participate in this Jihad for the sake of innocent Muslim children
and the future of Islam.

Each Muslim that receives this information has a duty to ensure it goes further down to
the less privileged and the down trodden that may not have access to newspaper or may
be unable to read but are more affected. Education and sensitization is a natural calling
and a responsibility in Islam, Allah will surely ask what role you played in preventing the
sad consequences of lack of immunization of Muslim children.

We must know that those who are actually reducing the population of Muslims are those
misleading people against immunizing their children, because a child will have to grow
up and become an adult first before we can know if he/she can produce or not. And these
children are dying of avoidable ailment due to lack of immunization against measles,
convulsion, Hepatitis B and polio that result in paralysis. Let us stand up for Islam. “And
We sent not a messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might
make (the message) clear for them…” Qur’an 14: 4.