Every day, every hour, and every minute, more Nigerians are pushed in to poverty. Inflation in the past few years has pulled out more Nigerians from the imagined middle class, which had in recent years remained more or less an academic terminology among social scientists. The hope of getting over this economic misfortune was lately dashed when the World Bank in its recent Africa’s Pulse Report released during its recent Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where it said more Nigerians will experience poverty by 2027.
As believers who trust in Allah’s omnipotence, we are hopeful and prayerful to Allah that this freightening economic projection shall never materialize even beyond the bank’s forecast for 2027. According to the World Bank, poverty in Nigeria will increase by 3.6 percent over the next five years, rising through 2027.
There can be no better time when people need to be their brother’s keeper than now when living in today’s Nigeria clearly affirms and epitomizes Darwinian’s social theory of the survival of the fittest. When the ‘going’ was good in Nigeria, it was the vulnerable class of Nigerians that was generally thought to be in need of support from others. Today, even a man or a woman riding in his own car has become as impoverished and helpless as those conventionally defined as vulnerable. He simply cannot afford to fill his car’s petrol tank even by half of the liters required to take him to and fro his workplace.
Sadly though, affluent Nigerians including those who have been able to retain their upper-class identity do not seem to be as forthcoming as expected. They are unwilling to offer assistance when and where necessary to fellow citizens especially in situations of distress. We have ethically derailed as a people that the mind of an average Nigerian is no longer prepared to share in the grief or travails of others. This is the height of self-centeredness. Some of us have become so mean that our attitude does not make us look better than lower animals. It is animals, not mankind, that watch their kind suffer and die from remediable predicaments.
Indeed, the lack of patriotism among most Nigerians and our collective deviation from our virtuous past is tragically alienating us from the rich ethical values of the traditional African society. The 21st century Nigerian society is a nation of human beings whose minds are grossly in short supply of kindness, compassion, courtesy, hospitality, brotherhood. Rather, they hold hearts that are filled with hatred, malice, unwillingness to help others; yet, with a graceless love for money.
Nowadays, only a few want to care for and support the sick. At accident scenes, the belongings of victims are stolen by some of those who should be there for rescue purposes. The same negative attitude manifests when buildings are gutted by fire or houses submerged in floods. Under such tragic situations, ‘mischievous sympathisers’ who pretend to be offering help steal from the property of the victims. What a heartless act of criminality! Where there is nothing to steal, sich people remain spectators when others suffer from disasters.
As people who may have, in one way or the other, benefitted from the sacrifices and inconveniences of others, we should have no reason to refuse to inconvenience ourselves for others. Let us remember that other people have as much right to happiness and the good things of this life as we do. Let us accept to bear (once in a while) one another’s burden through acts of kindness. It requires little thought to realize that we have to depend on each other at every turn of our life.
A mind that cares for others is a wealthy mind; full of tangible and intangible riches. The Prophet (SAW) said, “Have mercy on those (who live with you) on the earth, the One in the heaven will have mercy on you.” A stingy heart that lacks a space for empathising with others is a heart afflicted with poverty of the mind. A mind consumed by the poverty of compassion is a drained mind.
Imam Muslim relates on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA) who reports in the thirty-sixth hadith of Annawawi’s collection of forty traditions that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever dispels from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah would dispel from him some grief pertaining to the Day of Resurrection. Whoever makes things easy for someone in difficulties, Allah would make things easy for him both in this life and the next. Whoever shields a Muslim, Allah would shield him both in this life and the next. Allah is ready to aid any servant so long as the servant is ready to aid his brother.”
There is a lesson to be learned from one of the three events of the voyage of Prophet Musa (AS) in company of Khidhr, his spiritual guide. They came upon a town and found a wall on the verge of collapse. Khidhr set it up straight even though Musa (AS) could not understand why Khidhr did such a favour to a people who refused them minimum hospitality. Khidhr who was granted blessed knowledge from God’s own presence later explained to Musa (AS) as contained in Qur’an 18:82 that beneath the falling wall was a treasure buried by a righteous man before his death for his two little children. Khidhr set the wall straight because Allah desired that the two orphaned children should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure.
Khidhr re-built the wall even though he was not in any way related by birth, marriage or fosterage to the owners of the treasure. The impolite behavior of the people towards them (Musa and Khidhr) did not dissuade Khidhr from showing kindness. Acts of benevolence should not be limited to only those we know. Abu Hurayrah (RA) reports in the thirty-fifth hadith of Annawawi’s collection that the prophet said, “Do not envy one another; do not vie one another; do not hate one another…A Muslim is a brother to another Muslim. He does not oppress him nor does he forsake him nor deceive him nor despise him. Piety is here,” and he pointed to his chest. May Allah (SWT) enrich our minds with kindness, love for others, tolerance, and contentment, amin.
