Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria): Adekunle Afolabi, a former Pastor and founder leader of Apata Adura Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Ekute, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State in Western Nigeria announced his desicion to embrace Islam and also to convert the church he headed for years into a mosque.
In Nigeria, particularly among the Yoruba tribe where religious tolerance is most noticed, it is a regular occurrence to see muslims convert to Christianity. Hardly do we see a Christian turn to Islam. However, Adekunle Afolabi, founder and leader of Apata Adura Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Ekute, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, broke that jinx and converted fully to Islam, the Daily Sun reported.
Adekunle Afolabi, now Alfa Abubakar Afolabi, practised Christianity for over 25 years and even risen to become the General Overseer of his church, which have branches across Ekiti State.
Ekiti is a state in Western Nigeria, declared a state on October 1, 1996 alongside five others by the military under the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. The state, carved out of the territory of old Ondo State, covers the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State.
In an interview with the Daily Sun's WOLE BALOGUN, Alfa Abubakar spoke extensively on his decision to embrace Islam.
"Rendering spiritual help is given to all men by God for their own use, so the wisdom of it is given to me by God, he didn’t take it away from me because that is different from religion. It is a way of livelihood so, if any one falls sick, wants to give birth, is having stillbirth, stagnation at work, that is all what we use that for. He showed me places in the Bible where many prayed to God in Islamic way. By this praying, I mean to kneel down and bow down your head and face down", he said.
In reply to a question he said, "The only person who at a time opposed it was my wife because she was a Christian when I married her. She said she would quit the marriage and I said it is okay and that I don’t want to die a Christian but would rather die a Muslim.
"But after a while, she discovered that we haven’t been worshipping any idol, that we have always been worshipping God. She came back and accepted me this way. Also, my children are supporting me and have joined me", he added.
Talking about how he converted the church he headed for years into a mosque, he said: "I had over 150 members in the church before but they have all left now. My church before has now been converted to a mosque and it is being attended by many muslims now that I cannot even count them. An Imam is currently running the mosque while I am also there as an Alfa, learning more about the religion."
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