A distinguished Islamic scholar believes that only Muslims can be successful in fighting Islamic war and terrorism.

Kaduna-based Islamic intellectual Sheikh Ahmad Gumi expressed his view that as only Muslims can win the fight against terrorism done by other Muslims, it is imperative that believers of other faiths cooperate to attain this.

Gumi was a guest at the Kaduna Center for Study of Christian-Muslim Relations graduation ceremony where he delivered his message, reported Vanguard. He stressed that the ignorance of adherents of other faiths has kept them from understanding the religion and has tainted their opinions of Islam with biases.

The scholar was referring to the Nigerian government's decision to include the country in a network of Islamic nations led by Saudi Arabia to oppose terrorism. In 2016, Premium Times reported that majority of the Nigeria's citizens protested the move and expressed their opposition to be part of the coalition due to "religious concerns" as the country is not an Islamic nation.

"Saudi Arabia, which is the heart of Islam, wanted a coalition of Muslim state to fight terrorism," said Gumi. "Terrorism destroys Muslims more than any other people. This terrorism was mentioned 1,400 years before it happened," he added, in reference to prophetic words in the Qur'an.

The scholar then said that the war against terrorism will only be successful if done by Muslims.

"Fighting terrorism, I am telling you, can only be done effectively by Muslims themselves," expressed Gumi, adding, "So, when you see Muslims coming together to fight terrorism, and you hear Christian voices saying, 'Nigeria should not join this force because it means we are Islamizing Nigeria,' this is wrong!"

He then expressed his hope that Christians will be able to look beyond their biases against Muslims and cooperate with them so they can wage the war against Islamic violence. The sheikh then defended Saudi Arabia's coalition and went on to say that what the country is against are "extremism and fanaticism."

The scholar ended his speech by expressing his gratitude towards the center's goals in uniting the faiths and encouraged the students to utilize their "knowledge to advance the course of peace and harmony."