AL - 'ILAAJ EDITORIAL BOARD, MSSN UCH, IBADAN

“The ideal suture material is one that allows secure knot tying without slippage, provokes little tissue reaction, does not increase the risk of infection, retains enough tensile strength until the healing process has laid down sufficient collagen and connective tissue to restore tissue integrity, and can be wholly reabsorbed by the body. Such a material does not exist.” But what if an ideal greeting were to exist? In our education, we have encountered many “ideals” that exist more in theory than in practice, the ideal suture material, the ideal gas, the ideal conditions for countless scientific principles. These ideals serve as benchmarks and aspirational standards against which reality is measured, yet they remain perpetually out of reach. Now, as debates intensify about greeting customs, especially in our part of the world, to prostrate or not to prostrate, to kneel or not to kneel, it is worth asking what would constitute an ideal greeting. And like the ideal suture material or the...

That month is almost upon us again. The month of the Qur’an. The month of the Night of Majesty. One month to rule them all. A month in which we are enjoined to increase in good deeds, and rewards are multiplied beyond measure. Charity is elevated. The recitation of the Qur’an becomes a daily companion. The stillness of the night is broken by sincere midnight prayers. We leave food and drink for the sake of Allah, restrain our desires, and consciously avoid transgression. Ramadan is a school. It retrains the soul, disciplines the body, and softens the heart. And yet, my friend, do not let the label of being called a “Ramadan Muslim” deter you from becoming anew in this month and beyond. Rather, let Ramadan be the beginning. Let it be the spark that ignites consistency, not a temporary performance. Let this blessed month wash you clean, just as snow, frost, and hail wash away impurities. Hasten towards excellent deeds. Be kinder to your neighbour. Maintain the ties of kinship. Lower your...