David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, provoked controversy on social media on Saturday after sharing a video on Twitter that some of his followers deemed derogatory to Islam.
Davido in the tweet accompanying the video had said: “Allow me to re-introduce, @logosori with his new single “Jaye Lo”… Let’s do it once more! Let us conquer the globe.”
A group of guys in white ‘jalamiya’ are seen praying in the footage.
Many faithful Muslims had deemed the video offensive and had taken to social media to drag him.
To them, prayer mats hold deep religious significance as they symbolize the sacred act of Salah, a divine connection with the Almighty. As such, any action that could be interpreted as disrespectful or mocking of this holy practice is considered highly offensive.
Some urged Davido to take the video down and apologize, while others expressed their concern over what they perceived as a desecration of sacred elements.
Reactions
Former President, Muhammad Buhari’s aide, Bashir Ahmad wrote, “There are many reasons why every Muslim finds this content absolutely disrespectful, hurtful and offensive @davido. I assume you all know that we Muslims don’t mix our religion with jokes in any way, especially Salah (prayer), which is sacred and the second of the five pillars of Islam.
In Salah, Muslims remember our Lord, Allah, express our love and respect for Him, and invoke and strive to express our gratitude towards Him. The notion is that the Salah activity brings the individual face-to-face with God. That is what we believe, and that is our faith. Please respect it.”
Arewa Twitter: “We gave you the benefit of doubt, waiting for you to delete this video you posted out of ignorance but you didn’t. Please, everyone, let’s report this Davido’s post.”
Muslim News Association of Nigeria tweeted, “We Muslims don’t joke with our religion. Holy book, Quran, our Prophet, Muhammad & his Companions, Salat (5 times daily) & the Hijab. They are our red lines. We’ll never allow anyone to disrespect them for whatever reasons; as much as we respect other religious beliefs”.
In what seems like a response to the backlash, Davido took to his Twitter page to further promote the video.
Davido stated in one of his tweets that he didn’t want to fight.
“I wan make u show me, make we no dey fight”.
In another tweet, referring to his song ‘Unavailable’, Davido stated that he is yet to be unavailable.
“Una know say ‘Feel’ never start Abi? IN FACT ‘Unavailable’ never start!
No choice logos!! Them go feel am!! MEN MOUNT”.
