In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Join the Premium Times WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all worlds, Who sees the hidden secrets of the chest and records every word uttered by the tongue. We send peace and blessings upon the Master of Prophets, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), who warned his Ummah against the destructive nature of the tongue and the violation of sacred symbols.
Dear brothers and sisters! President Bola Ahmed Tinubu performed the Ibadah of Umrah, the lesser Hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in late October 2026.
During the Umrah trip, President Tinubu and members of his delegation had the rare honour of entering inside the Noble Ka’abah to pray, following a privilege extended by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The Nigerian delegation included selected Muslim governors, led by Nigeria Governors’ Forum Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu, industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu, as well as various ministers and government officials.
During the spiritual exercise, President Tinubu prayed for lasting peace, national unity, security, economic progress, and stability in Nigeria. He also urged Nigerians to embrace national diversity as a source of strength.
President Tinubu subsequently departed Saudi Arabia after concluding the visit.
Stay Ahead with Premium Times
Dear servants of Allah! Know that this world is a fleeting shadow, and politics is but a shifting game played within its temporary borders. Leaders rise and fall, nations shift, and political allegiances evolve. Yet, there remain certain constants that a Muslim believer must never compromise: the sanctity of acts of worship, the reverence due to the rituals of Allah, and the absolute danger of letting political animosity corrupt the spiritual heart.
A dangerous trend has crept into our discourses—where the sacred is weaponised for worldly rivalries, and the spiritual journeys of individuals are subjected to the mockery of the public square. Specifically, we observe the tongues of many targeting the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage of our leaders, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This sermon is a clarion call, a solemn warning, and a heart-softening admonition to those who let political fervor blind them to spiritual boundaries: To Be careful!
The first and most critical reality to understand is that the Ibadah of Umrah is not a political rally; it is a sacred response to a divine invitation. When a human being—regardless of their political office, their shortcomings, or your personal opinion of their governance—puts on the white sheets of Ihram, cries out “Labbaikallahummah Labbaik”, Here I am, O Allah, at Your service, and circumambulates the Ka’abah, they are engaging in a foundational ritual of Islam.
Allah Almighty states clearly in the Noble Qur’an:
“That is so. And whoever honours the symbols of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.” [Qur’an, 22:32]
Conversely, treating these symbols with flippancy or using them as punchlines for political memes borders on a spiritual catastrophe. When you mock a Muslim believer’s presence at the Ka’abah, are you mocking the man, or are you trivialising the place? Are you criticising his policies, or are you scoffing at the act of a servant standing before his Master, Allah?
The tongue is a small organ, but its harvest can drag a person face-down into the fire. Regulate your political speech so that it does not spill over into cosmic arrogance.
Human nature often tempts us to judge the intentions of others, especially those we dislike. In politics, it is easy to dismiss a leader’s pilgrimage as “PR,” “photo-ops,” or “hypocrisy.”
Let us recall the profound ascetic teaching from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his companions. During a battle, Usamah Bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) faced an enemy soldier who had killed many Muslim believers. Just as Usamah raised his sword to strike him, the man cried out, “La ilaha illallah”, There is no god but Allah. Usamah, believing the man only said it to save his life, struck him down anyway.
When news of this reached the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), his face changed with grief and anger. He turned to Usamah and repeatedly asked:
“Did you split open his heart to see whether he said it sincerely or not?” [Sahih Muslim]
If the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) rebuked a beloved companion for questioning the shahadah and testimony of an active enemy on the battlefield, what gives any commentator, any blogger, any politician, or any citizen the right to peer into the heart of a pilgrim in Makkah and declare his worship invalid? Remember, you do not own the keys to acceptance; Allah Almighty does.
Political dissatisfaction is a right, and holding leaders accountable is a civic and Islamic duty. Islam encourages speaking truth to power and demanding justice. However, when political frustration mutates into blind hatred, it darkens the intellect and ruins spiritual discernment.
Allah the Most High warns the Muslim believers. He says:
“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.” [Qur’an, 5:8]
Psychologically, when you mock someone’s prayers or pilgrimage, you are training your mind to view them as sub-human or entirely devoid of good. This is a deception of Iblis, the Satan. A person can be a flawed leader, make economic policies that cause hardship, or govern in a way you deeply disagree with—yet still have a spark of faith that drives them to tears in front of the Ka’abah.
Do not let your political stance rob you of your spiritual objectivity. If a leader goes to seek guidance, forgiveness, or strength at the House of Allah, the mature response of a Muslim believer is to pray that they find it—because a guided, righteous leader benefits the entire nation, while a broken leader leaves everyone vulnerable.
Consider this a final, moving narrative for the soul. The classical scholars of Islam—the ascetics and the righteous—used to fear talking about the sins or spiritual states of others because of a terrifying spiritual law: What you mock in your brother, Allah may test you with before you die.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim wrote that criticising others for their spiritual vulnerabilities or mocking their relationship with Allah is a sign of self-righteousness. When you look at a leader’s Umrah and sneer, you are implicitly saying, “My worship is pure, but his is fake.” This arrogance destroys your own good deeds.
Imagine standing on the Day of Judgment. You expect to see your prayers, your charity, and your fasts. Instead, you find your scale empty because your good deeds were transferred to the politician you mocked. You handed over your eternal capital in exchange for a few likes, posts, retweets, or laughs in a political WhatsApp group. What a miserable bankruptcy!
Respected brothers and sisters! Let us draw a firm, unbreakable line between political critique and spiritual transgression.
● Express frustration over governance? Yes.
● Mock the sacred acts of worship, judge intentions, or ridicule a human being standing at the House of Allah? Never.
Turn your tongues away from the sacred boundaries of worship. Protect your own scales of justice. If you see a leader at the Ka’abah, let your heart-softening reminder be:
“Ya Allah, if he is seeking Your face, guide him to justice for the sake of the millions he leads. And if he is lacking, reform his heart, for the reform of the leader is the reform of the Ummah.”
Fellow Nigerians! In recent times, a deeply troubling affliction has manifested within our public discourse—an ailment born of political rivalry that has breached the boundaries of faith. We have witnessed individuals, driven by political differences, resorting to mockery, sarcasm, and ridicule regarding the acts of worship performed by others. Specifically, the spectacle of turning the sacred journey of Umrah—undertaken by leaders, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—into a jest for political scoring is a dangerous transgression that requires an immediate, heart-softening warning.
Politics is a worldly endeavour, a sphere of governance, debate, policy, and critique. Critique policies as you wish. Demand accountability as you must. But when you cross the threshold of secular criticism to mock a Muslim believer standing before their Lord in the Haram of Makkah, wallahi you are no longer playing politics. You are playing with your hereafter, your Akhirah!
Allah, the Exalted, issues a severe warning in the Glorious Qur’an regarding those who turn signs of faith or devotion into objects of ridicule. He says:
“If you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only conversing and playing.’ Say, ‘Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?’ Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief.” [Qur’an, 9:65-66]
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) taught us that a person’s heart is a sanctuary known only to the Creator. When a Muslim believer puts on the Ihram, declares “Labbaikallahummah Labbaik,” and circumambulates the Ka’abah, they are answering the call of Prophet Ibrahim (AS). They are standing as a beggar at the door of the Almighty Allah. To reduce that profound spiritual submission into a meme, a punchline, or a weapon of political warfare is to display a terrifying lack of Taqwa and Allah-consciousness.
Remember the words of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him):
“A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He does not wrong him, he does not fail him, and he does not humiliate him. Piety is here”—and he pointed to his chest three times—”It is enough evil for a man to humiliate his Muslim brother.” [Sahih Muslim]
Consider the spiritual psychological cost of your actions. When you mock an act of worship, you cultivate a disease of arrogance within your own chest. You convince yourself that your political alignment makes you spiritually superior, or that your disdain for an earthly leader gives you the right to judge their standing before Allah. This is the very arrogance that led Iblis to destruction.
Let the history of our righteous predecessors serve as a moving narrative and an ascetic teaching. They would tremble at the thought of speaking ill of another person’s secret worship. They understood that a leader’s account is with Allah, and a servant’s devotion is private. If you believe a leader is falling short, the Prophetic remedy is sincere supplication and Du’a for their guidance and rectification, not public ridicule of their prayers.
Dear Muslim believers! This is a clarion call par-excellence to purify your hearts. The digital age and the political coliseum have desensitised us. We post, tweet, and share without weighing the weight of our words on the Day of Judgment.
Imagine standing on the Day of Resurrection, a day when every hidden deed is brought to light, and discovering that your good deeds have been transferred to the account of the very politician you despised—all because your tongue and your fingers could not refrain from mocking their pilgrimage. Is a transient political victory worth your eternal ruin?
Turn back to Allah in sincere repentance. Remove the poison of political malice from your spiritual practice. Let us critique with civility, hold to account with justice, but guard the sacred boundaries of Islam with absolute reverence.
Dear brothers and sisters! The Ka’abah is the absolute anchor of the human spirit, a terrestrial mirror of the celestial realm, and the immutable center around which the Muslim believer’s life must revolve. It is not merely a structure of granite and silk; it is the physical manifestation of divine oneness (Tauhid) and the ultimate focal point of human devotion.