From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri
Borno state Governor, Kashim Shettima yesterday said bad interpretation of the Holy Qur’an was responsible for the emergence of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.
Governor Shettima who, strongly condemned the activities of the Boko Haram, made the remarks, while receiving winners and officials of the Board for Qur’anic Education who represented the state in the 2004 National Qur’anic Recitation Competition held in Dutes, Jigawa state.
Shettima noted that the insurgents made negative interpretation of the Holy Qur’an and Islam, which they wrongly used to unleash terror on the citizens.
He explained that Islam is a religion of peace which does not condone killings and destruction under whatever form.
“Distorted translation of the holy book by the insurgents landed us in this mess; if we have had good understanding of Islam, we would have been in a better place. There is no room for extremism in Islam.
“We need to go back to Islam as practised by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), when Islam encouraged Muslims, Jews and Christians to leave in peace with one another”, he declared.
“We are presently in a day where some lunatics claiming to be crusaders of Islam are killing innocent people, burning mosques and churches. It is bad interpretation of the holy book by the insurgents that caused all this”, he added.
Shettima congratulated the participants for the successes recorded in the competition, tasking them to maintain the tempo.
He also donated N10 million to both the participants and the officials.
