A Nigerian faith-based organisation, The Muslim Congress (TMC) has called on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to cancel the Jeddah World Festival, saying it is not only shameful but antithetical to the beliefs, values and ethics of the Islamic faith.
The National Secretary of the Society, Alhaji Abdul Wasiu Bamgbala made the call today at the July edition of its quarterly press conference held in Lagos.
The controversy surrounding the music festival and its timing was among the 10 agenda points addressed by the TMC, an Islamic organisation with male professional and artisanal members.
Alhaji Bamgbala said it is important for the Kingdom, whose leader is the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, to stop the event slated for Thursday, July 18 because it is scheduled to hold at a period Muslims around the world would be seriously preparing for the Holy season of Hajj, the fourth pillar of Islam.
According to information provided at jeddahworldfest.com, some of the world’s most popular performers will be jetting to Jeddah, which is just about 85.9km from the Holy City of Makkah, for the Saudi music festival, one of the biggest ever staged in the Middle East.
Ustadh Bamgbala, while addressing the press at the TMC Secretariat, said the festival would only bring about moral and spiritual decadence, coupled with the huge funds it would gulp.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to put a stop to this festival out of respect for the billions of Muslims who feel assaulted and offended by a festival that does not represent the ethos and mores of the religion of Islam, especially when it is taking place in the land housing the Holy Mosques of Islam.
“At a time when the Muslim Ummah is busy preparing for the Holy season of Hajj, the Saudi authorities are busy preparing for a music festival that is blasphemous to their faith.
“The July 18 Jeddah World Festival, which is expected to be beamed live to a global audience in more than 100 countries, is shameful, condemnable, and antithetical to the beliefs, values and ethics of Muslims all over the world.
“This is indeed tantamount to disrespecting the season of Hajj by the very people who are supposed to be its protectors. The festival can only bring moral and spiritual decadence, coupled with the financial profligacy it represents,” he said.
Other pertinent issues addressed by TMC at the press conference include the RUGA suspension, the Senator Elisha Abbo assault, recurrent pipeline explosions, the ISI Hijab saga and the incarceration of Shiekh Ibrahim Zakyzaky, the leader of Shiites in Nigeria.
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