The 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II says greed, selfishness and envy are “much greater sins” than unlawful sex, homosexuality and gambling.
Sanusi spoke on Sunday as a guest lecturer during a virtual Ramadan lecture titled “Some dimensions of the concept of ibadah”.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said part of the reason there is a social disorder in the country is that some Muslims forget that they will give an account of their actions before God.
He said people observe prayers and fast but keep committing evil “because our hearts are not Islamic”.
Sanusi alleged that a governor of a Sharia-implementing state in Nigeria stole funds and bought a hotel in Lagos.
While he did not mention the name of the governor, Sanusi said his state remained a “most serious example of backwardness”.
“How do you get a Muslim to become a minister or governor and all he is thinking of is how he is going to steal public funds to build a big house for himself or have billions for his children and deny people?
“We even have had state governors who said they were practising sharia, they were leading the implementation of sharia and they were stealing money and buying hotels.
“There was a governor implementing sharia in a sharia state who stole public funds and bought a hotel in Lagos. And he says Allahu Akbar.
“Meanwhile, his state was left with no education, with no health care, with one of the most serious cases of security, most serious examples of backwardness.
“Greed, selfishness, wickedness, envy. These are much greater sins than zina (illegal sexual intercourse), homosexuality, and gambling. The sins of the heart are greater than the sins of the body. We are focused so much on the external things.
“The purity of our hearts, the love for humanity, the fear of Allah, the knowledge that we are accountable to Allah, all of that is missing.
Sanusi also said the misinterpretation of some teachings of Islam “has been the cause of some of the problems that we are facing today”.
He encouraged Muslims to serve as examples for those in the coming centuries to look up to.A Governor Practicing Sharia Stole Public Funds, Bought Hotel In Lagos – Sanusi