The Nigerian social media space has gone agog over a banner displayed at the gate of the Lekki Central Mosque in Lagos State, with the inscription, “Jesus Christ is not God. He is a Prophet and Messenger of God!”
The banner which many believe is provocative and capable of inciting a religious war, provoked condemnation across social media platforms from both Muslim and Christian faithful.
While some said the message behind the banner was blasphemous to the Christian faith, others believe there is nothing sinister to it as Jesus Christ himself did not ascribe himself as God.
A Muslim faithful and journalist, Ridwan Yusuf, who condemned the banner in a post on Facebook had this to say:
“This banner has caused fuss on X in the past 48 hrs. They said it is at the front gate of Lekki Central Mosque. While no single Muslim in the world disputes this scripturally-backed fact, I honestly feel in a society like ours, this act is so unnecessary.
“It seems to me like those behind it just want to ruffle feathers. Are we starved of beneficial messages for the Muslim Ummah that we now have to target Christians?
“The Holy Qur’an emphasises respecting the beliefs of others while staying steadfast in our own faith: “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion” – 109:6.
The post
However, former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, had a different thought on the banner as he went to great length to prove that the inscription on the banner is not out of place.
“What that mosque printed is true and violates no authentic Scriptural beliefs. It only offended church dogma, which are ideas that emanate from a congregation rather than Scripture.
“Yeshua, Whom you call Jesus, is not God. It is an abomination to call Him God. He is the Way to God-John 14:6. But He is not the Destination. There is only One God, and He has no equal or partner-Deuteronomy 6:4.
“It is that One God who sits on the Throne, and He is above Yeshua-John 14:28. Yeshua never called Himself God. John 1:1 does not mean He is God. He Himself prayed to God-Matthew 27:46, Matthew 26:39, John 11:41-42. Yeshua is also subject to God- 1 Corinthians 15:28.
“Finally, if you say, ‘I do not believe in prophet Muhammad’s message’, no Muslim will be offended. But if you insult their prophet, they may find out your true identity (your identity here is obviously fake), take action, and I will NOT condemn them!” – @renoomokri
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Social media influencer, Daniel Regha also weighed in on the provocative banner with this tweet:
“That banner at the Lekki Central Mosque gate is disrespectful to the core; It doesn’t matter what religion you believe in, respecting other people’s religion or beliefs is common decency.” – @DanielRegha
Other X users also had their say:
“Disrespectful” is actually an understatement. I hope we can all agree to keep our sacred spaces sacred and NOT turn them into theological billboards.
“Imagine if churches started with ‘Muhammad isn’t a prophet’ signs… WWIII in the pews? Let’s keep the peace, not the beef! We don’t need such drama this Christmas when chicken costs more than some people’s rent.” – @IamEriOluwa
“I am aware this is the banner at a prominent mosque in Lagos.
1. I like the bold concept at sharing their ‘truth’.
The powerful thing about Islam is their radicalism, their unfettered clarity of purpose, their reproductive capacity to raise children and families after their world view.
“Unlike Christians, true Muslims have no tolerance for political correctness or lukewarmness, they are indoctrinated to recite the Quran and taught to live their lives from the root of their beliefs.
“On the other hand, Christians are often weak about their faith, often political in reasoning, often lack the spine for doctrinal defense and often feel the need for inclusion without the courage for truth.
“2. Islamism has nothing to say without Christianity. If they don’t fight Christianity, they have no purpose of themselves.
“You won’t find Muhammad in the Bible, you will find Jesus in the Quran.
The writers of Quran were smart enough to take credibility from many bible accounts to solidify their religion and create a spirituality within it.
“Islam is a well formed religion that has woven itself properly into the fabric of mankind. Their festivals, their prayer routines, their dreams for Mecca, their attempts at holiness and for the extremists, their radicalism to kill others and themselves for their faith, are powerful combinations that makes the religion a self-thriving machinery.
“The Bible doesn’t recognize the Quran, clearly because the Quran is an aftermath religion created to react to Christianity, years after the ascension of Jesus and the massive expansion of the Christian faith.
“As it is with reactionary movements, they lack substance without the object to which they are reacting.
They spend most of their efforts debunking the incarnation, debunking the Godhead of Christ, the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ etc
“It doesn’t take long before you know which faith is the true faith and which one is a reaction to the true faith.
“3. The tolerance we speak about as elites is often exemplified in Christianity. You don’t hear of Christians killing Muslims today (though it is agreed that the Roman Catholic Church led crusades against Islamic worlds supposing their are fighting for God), what you hear is Muslims killing Christians, stoning us etc
“Christians don’t focus on Muhammad or Allah, we focus on the faith in Christ Jesus, same faith we have seen through the scriptures from our father Abraham, while Muslims are angry about that faith and do their best to invalidate it.
“Again, one is a reality, the other is a reaction to reality.
“If a major church dares put a sign invalidating Muhammad on their billboard, maybe some Christians would have lost their lives this morning but this is happening and nothing will ever happen because the Holy Spirit given to Christians is God’s Spirit of love and forgiveness.
“Again, it doesn’t take much study to know the true faith and the other ‘faith’ which is just a reaction to the true ‘faith’.
“In any case, Asalam Alekun to everyone in this season of Christmas ❤️🙏” – @Preacherrapper
“Lekki Central Mosque, you expect me to believe a book written over 600 years after the Word of God, the Bible, was written. You want me to ignore d testimonies of those who witnessed Jesus Christ. The scriptures provide numerous evidences that Jesus is God—He was God in the flesh.” – @peacegotzoe
“This is Lekki Central Mosque gate. A masjid. They post Jesus is servant of Allah that every conscious believes so. But you are triggered as a passerby and brought it on Twitter.
“Is either you are dumb or you are basically attention seeker. The last I checked, Jesus is in d Quran.” – @tosinraj
“There’s one thing I need Muslims to realise, even Yoruba Muslims
JESUS CHRIST & PROPHET ISA ARE NOT THE SAME.
“Christains believe that Jesus Christ is part of the TRINITY IN COUNSEL (GOD)
Muslims believe Isa is a prophet. This banner by the Mosque is very wrong & provocative.” – @Asakemijimi
“The Bible & Quran are not the same. Christanity & Islam are not the same. Christains & Muslims are not the same.
“There’s soo much difference between us. We will never be the same. And it’s perfectly okay. Muslims should learn to respect & leave other people’s religion alone!” – @Asakemijimi
“Islam does not even condone such behavior; anything that causes public disturbance is prohibited by Islam.” – baphacongo
“Islam doesn’t teach us to be a transgressor. Islam teaches us to mind our business. The Quran says: your religion is yours, whilst our religion is ours. There’s no justification for the Lekki mosque to put up that banner there. It’s very wrong by all metrics. No dey support rubbish.” – @IsoloShoemaker
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