Leaders of Muslim organisations in Nigeria have showered accolades on Muslim News, Nigeria’s most authoritative Islamic newspaper as it celebrates its second anniversary of existence.
The medium, created in August 2018, was founded to serve as a mouthpiece for Muslim achievers and Islamic events while covering the gap of bias reportage tilted against the Muslims.
Reviewing its operations two years down the line, top religious leaders and scholars passed a vote of confidence on the medium that has trumpeted Islamic events, achievements and stories overtime.
The medium is fighting the scourge of Islamophobic reportage – Amir TMc
Dr. Lukman AbdurRaheem, Amir, The Muslim Congress (TMC), also gave a pass mark to Muslim News, stressing that it has been able to amplify the voices of all Muslims regardless of the sect or leaning.
He also noted that the medium has been able to tackle the scourge of Islamophobic reportage in the mainstream media, adding that this feat has made it gain wide acceptability.
“Well, for somebody who has been observing the reportage of Islam and Muslim events/activities in Nigeria, it could be said that the media is dominated by non-Muslims. And most times, they underreport Muslim events, news and of course, matters. And that’s borne out of the fact that there’s this Islamophobic tendencies among the reporters who are non-Muslims, and even the Muslims among them have to follow the dictates of the organisations where they work. If they don’t follow the dictates and biddings of the organisations, of course, they would be sacked. So, most of them write about Muslim events, but they don’t have power to get them published. All these are issues affecting Muslims essentially.
“More importantly too, the Muslims who are wealthy don’t invest in media because it is not a business that brings income as quickly as possible. So, most of them go into core businesses, construction, et cetera. These are my reflections on the under-reporting of Muslim activities in Nigeria.
“With regard to Muslim News, it has actually provided a platform for Muslim organisations, irrespective of their leanings. So far, Muslim News has been so balanced. It has actually avoided the dichotomy of Salafi-Ikhwaani. It gives a balanced reportage to everybody, whether The Companion, The Muslim Congress, MURIC. And that’s a very good plus for it.
“More importantly, because of this unbiased approach, it has actually gained acceptability. You can see the number of endorsements from leading clerics, Imams across organisations. So, that’s very good for Muslim News. Unlike before, people would tag it Lagos Area Unit affairs and what have you. Although it is independent, they would still want to attach Muslim News with the organisation where the promoters belong”.
The Varsity Don also urged Muslim to support the Islamic medium so that it won’t die untimely, observing that the newspaper is surviving mostly on volunteerism.
“Yes, I mentioned earlier on that it has provided platform for all organisations. Is it Waqf events? Is it Zakat and Sadaqat events? Is it MSSN events? Is it MURIC events? Is it The Companion events? Many. It has given unbiased platform for everybody who wants to get their events publicised and disseminated to the global community.
“So, I think that is a plus for Muslim News. What we need to do as Islamic organisations is to provide moral, financial and logistical support for the medium so that it won’t die prematurely like others in the past. Where is Al-Hikmah Awareness? It’s no more. It’s gone into oblivion. Some others, though, are still in existence, they have not been periodical in sequence like Muslim News.
“Muslim News is still surviving today due mainly to volunteerism. Most of the journalists working there are volunteers who are not been paid. They can’t really continue like this because they have to put food on their table. So, Muslim organisations and philanthropists need to rally round Muslim News so that the medium would not die prematurely,” he added.
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