Popular Islamic scholar and Former Lagos Commissioner of Home Affairs, Honourable Dr. Abdul Hakeem Abdul Lateef has cautioned the Federal Government and other relevant agencies for supporting alcohol and gambling industries, saying that they are handicraft of Satan.
Hon. Abdul Hakeem made this disclosure at the 2020 Annual State Public Lecture of The Muslim Congress (TMC) held recently at Eti-Osa LCDA frontage, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Sangotedo, Lagos, with the theme, “Drug Abuse and Gambling: Manifestation on an Ailing society”.
The Guest Lecturer said Islam provides Muslims with code of conduct, behaviour, ethics, and social values, which help them in tolerating and developing adaptive coping strategies to deal with stressful life events.
.“Most of the problems we face today were cause by ourselves. Seek the life to come by means of what God gave you,” he said.
He said intoxicants gambling are handicraft of Satan and Muslims should careful about the instigations of the mortal enemy.
“We are told in the Holy Quran that drugs gambling are prohibited in Islam. They are unlawful and we must abstain from it because they generate enmity and hatred among people,” he said.
AbdulLateef urged Muslim to shun gambling and intoxicant because under the influence of these social ills many offences are committed.
He advised parents to go back to effective parenting, the social problems we found our selves is due to recent collapse of parenting which led to increase in political corruption.
He urged the government to wake up because it is the duty of the government to control drugs circulation in the country.
“If we follow the step of Allah our problem will be resolve. People with alcohol disorder and gamblers perpetrate stealing and they lack concentration’ he said.
The Waali of The Muslim Congress (TMC) in Lagos State, Alhaji Mikail Oriolowo Animashaun, faulted the government’s support for gambling industry and the lapses in the area of drug control.
“It is rather disturbing that the dangerous rise of gambling and drug abuse may not be unconnected to the government’s subtle support for the gambling industry and its liberal policy that are too weak to checkmate the free-flow of trafficking prohibited drug and substances,” he said.
He said gambling and drug addiction is a sort of disorder, which is tearing apart the moral fabric of the society.
“It is rather ironical that our efforts to achieve the longstanding vision of a better future is still, in part, being hampered by the pervading social ills, particularly, gambling and drug addiction”
Animashaun said that the social ill is predominant among the youths that the future depends.
“Although these social vices cut across all generations, it is especially prevalent among the youths and particularly damaging to them on whom our future depends. Today, there is an epidemic of gambling disorder and drug addiction in our country and no one is safe from it”.
He added, that as a result of the growing scourge of gambling and drug addiction more people are going bankrupt.
