As Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola signs the cremation bill into law,there are conflicting voices that greets it. Some religious leaders have distanced themselves from it, saying it is in conflict with what the holy books say about how to dispose of the dead.
The Rector, Markaz Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Agege, Lagos, Sheik Habebullahi Adam-al-Ilory, notes in a telephone interview with our correspondent that Islam does not support such an idea.
He says, “Islam does not support cremation. There is a verse in the Holy Q’oran that says it is from the land that we came from, and there we will return and it is from there, we shall be called up again.
“But Nigeria is a secular state. It is multi-cultural and multi-religious. It is now left for those who want to cremate their dead to do so. It is voluntary.”
On his part, the founder of Heal The World Mission Incorporated, Pastor Tola Olukilede, also shares the above view, using The Holy Bible as the basis of his argument.
