It is another festive period for Christians, and there has been controversy regarding wishing those who celebrate this festival a Merry Christmas, with many people pointing to those who hold the belief of not celebrating them as extremists.

Are these people extremists? No!

Firstly, Islam teaches Muslims to respect and do good to people irrespective of their beliefs. In fact, Prophet Muhammad enjoins us to be good to human beings and even to animals. A good Muslim should be good to all mankind — respect them, show love to them, commiserate with them when they are bereaved, and grant an invitation when invited to a halal event. But there are limitations. Every belief has this. When there is a conflict in belief, then Muslims stay back.

Christians believe in the Trinity, while Muslims believe in monotheism. So, it is part of my belief and principle not to associate myself with anything that goes against my belief. It is just like our politicians. Some are in APC, and others are in PDP. When there are core principles that do not go with APC, will PDP abide? Does that mean PDP hates those APC members? No! When Akeredolu died, all of them, irrespective of the party, commiserated with his family, but they did not celebrate Akeredolu when he won at the tribunal. I hope you see the angle I am coming from.

So, people should stop tagging Muslims who do not celebrate non-Muslim festivals as extremists. They are not! They are acting based on their beliefs and principles. They are not extremists.