All Muslims following Reno should understand his unequivocal agenda on Islam. That is, pushing for a narrative that Islamic practices and beliefs were simply directly copied from Ethiopian ancient religious practices.
This clear narrative, which he has been pushing for a long time in many of his posts, implies that Islam did not actually receive revelation directly from the Almighty God to guide their practices and beliefs, which by extension means that Islam is not a true religion, but Christianity through Isa (A.S.) and Judaism through Musa (A.S.) are the only authentic paths to follow.
In other words, he does not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad (S.A.W.) nor does he believe that the Qur’an was a revelation from the Almighty God to Muhammad. His disbelief in the prophethood of Muhammad is no surprise at all because he is a pastor who strictly follows prophet Isa (A.S.) and by extension believes in the prophethood of Musa (A.S.).
Someone who follows his posts would question, what about Omokri’s tons of articles defending Islam and Muslims despite him being a pastor?
Yes, it’s true that pastor Omokri goes out of his way to defend Islam and sometimes to the detriment of his faith which is Christianity even though he does not accept being labelled a Christian. This act attracts to his social media handles a huge Muslim followership and I am one of them.
Here is my take. Muslim readers of Omokri’s posts pertaining to Muslim practices and beliefs in particular should not take his words as the Gospel truth. Rather, they should scrutinize such posts to the fullest using their Islamic background and knowledge and consult Islamic scholars where necessary.
Despite Omokri’s vast knowledge of Islam, he is NOT an Islamic scholar. In fact, my current conviction of his agenda toward Muslims after a careful review of his posts siding with the Muslims against Christians is that he is subtly hiding under his defense of Islam and Muslims to indirectly disqualify Islam as a true religion that the Almighty God sent prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) to propagate.
He embodies the true definition of what the Hausas call Ɗan Mission or Mission Ɓadda Musulmi or Orientalist. He is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Despite his being Ɗan Mission, I still read his posts daily because I learn a lot from them but his Muslim followers should understand his agenda on Islam which is to strip Islam of all authenticity and originality thereby casting doubts on its adherents which can ultimately lead to Muslims deserting their religions and becoming Christians.
I had initially thought that pastor Reno Omokri was truly a bridge-builder between Muslims and Christians and had written on this in a 2-part series in September last year, 2023. Little did I know that his bridge is unidirectional whose goal is to convey Muslims (i.e., convert them to Christianity) from one end to the other end of the bridge where Christians reside.
Non-Muslims reading this article should know that all Muslims believe in the prophethood of Isa (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), i.e. Jesus Christ. We believe that he was one of the most distinguished prophets, and did many miracles during his time. A whole chapter (Surah) was dedicated to his mother Maryam (Mary) in the Qur’an, wherein his story was narrated.
You cannot be a Muslim and disbelieve in prophet Isa (A.S.). No way! Hence, Muslims don’t need to be converted to Christianity before they accept the prophethood of Isa (A.S.).
But pastor Omokri should desist from trying to rewrite Islamic history in a way to deceive Muslims into believing that he is an authority on Islam, hence, everything he says on Islam is nothing but the truth. He is simply Ɗan Mission Ɓadda Musulmi. Muslims should be careful!
It may surprise you to know that pastor Reno Omokri has started translating some of his posts into the Hausa language alone to strategically capture the attention of the Muslim North.
To appear more appealing to the Muslims, he crafts a special message or video clip every Friday wishing Muslims happy Jumu’ah, but he never does the same thing on Sundays.
* Salihu Lukman is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia
