AL - 'ILAAJ EDITORIAL BOARD, MSSN UCH, IBADAN

 One fateful evening in the year 323 BC, a man lay dying from a disease that can easily be cured with antibiotics today. All his wealth and all his power could not save Alexander the Great from what was likely typhoid fever. Humanity has come a long way since then. We now have the upper hand in our war against microbes that cause diseases capable of killing many people at once. We have better understanding of these pathogens, we have improved sanitation and perhaps most importantly, we have antimicrobial drugs. Most people know the famous story of the discovery of penicillin. Sir Alexander Fleming was growing a bacteria colony on a petri dish. Unknown to him, the dish had been contaminated with penicillium mould which secreted a substance that inhibited bacteria growth. Fleming named this antibacterial substance penicillin and the rest, as they say, is history. Antimicrobials have quite literally revolutionized modern medicine. A cut, a scrape, stepping on a rusty nail and many oth...

Yesterday I went to the shrink and I wasn’t diagnosed as mad. She just said, “You’re tired from holding your storms too long, from pretending the thunder is applause.” I laughed, because in my head I’d already rehearsed a thousand verdicts of madness. But she smiled and said, “It’s okay to cry without reason, to rest without guilt, to talk before you break.” She didn’t hand me pills or labels. She handed me silence and told me to fill it with truth. Yesterday I went to the shrink and I learned that healing isn’t weakness. That you can walk into a room with heavy thoughts and walk out lighter, not because they vanished, but because you finally shared their weight. So if you ever feel like your mind has become a maze of noise, go. Not because you’re mad, but because you deserve peace. In a world where physical health gets applause and mental health gets whispers, visiting a therapist often carries the weight of stigma. Many still believe that walking into a psychiatrist’s office means yo...

Have you ever noticed how some people stay in the same spot for years, not because they lack ideas, but because they never move? They wait for perfect conditions that never come. It is like living in balance, yet never breaking free. Chemists have a name for this balance. It is called Le Chatelier’s Principle. The principle states that when a system at equilibrium is disturbed, it shifts in a direction that counteracts the disturbance and restores balance. Add more reactants, and the system produces more products. Change temperature or pressure, and it adjusts to restore stability. This law not only applies in laboratories but also plays out every day in our lives. We all live in a kind of personal equilibrium. Our habits, comfort zones, and routines create a steady state. But this same balance can also keep us from growing. I once knew someone who always had access to funds she could borrow for business. She had good ideas but never acted on them. She only borrowed when emergencies ca...

 On the 12th of Rabiul Thani, 1447 AH (4th October 2025), sisters from MSSN UCH, Agodi-Gate Area Council, and beyond came together for a truly radiant experience. The theme of this year’s MSSN UCH/AGAC Sisters’ Seminar was “Az-Zahraa”, the epithet of Fatimah Az-Zahraa (RadhiyaLlahu anha), the daughter of the Prophet  ﷺ . It was held at the UCH Central Mosque, with over 300 attendees present. The programme began with the memorisation of a verse from the Qur’an, Surah An-Nur, verse 35, where Allah says: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly white star lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.” The keynote speech, deliv...

Paediatrics 1 was a ghetto of postings. And it wasn’t even about the people; they were mostly nice. I remember us discussing that they were just very principled, and as long as you did at least the minimum expected of you, you should be fine. But that minimum—Lord help you if the consultant ward round was on Monday and you “locked out” during the weekend. By the time you came back to your senses, it would be 9 a.m. on Monday, and the consultant would be asking, “Whose patient is this?” Usually, the probability of being asked to present your patient was highest if your patient happened to be the first reviewed. That often depended on how much of a hurry the consultant was in. You could even risk answering “yes” to having clerked the patient and get away without being asked to present. But Lord help you if the consultant had enough time in the world. “Tell me about your patient.” My story was a crazy one. Three of us were assigned a patient. Two of them decided to split the clerking pres...

Nigeria has celebrated yet another Independence Day. As everyone and every organisation sent out their flyers with pictures of the green and white flag flying high and proud, I sat and imagined the perspective of a seventy-year-old man on all of this. He must have been there, a starry-eyed young lad, as the nation officially gained independence from the British colonisers. He must have witnessed the birth of a country with its name, its flag, its coat of arms, and its freedom. As a teenager, he must have lived through the country’s golden age. He must have marvelled at Cocoa House, built from the revenue of Nigeria’s thriving agricultural exports. He must have watched as the discovery of oil toppled everything over. He must have seen the time when a good income, a house, and a nice car were almost guaranteed for every graduate; when people stood tall and proud and happily called themselves citizens of this nation. He must have witnessed the transfer of power from military rulers to ele...

During the time of the Prophet ﷺ and the early pious predecessors, Tawheed (the absolute Oneness of Allah)   was fully understood. Later on, it became necessary to explain it in terms of its components. From the essence of Tawheed is Ar-Rububiyyah , which is the firm belief that Allah alone is the Creator of the universe and its Designer. He gives life and death as He wills. He is the Provider, the All-Powerful, and the Possessor of infinite strength. “And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: Allah. How then are they turned away (from the worship of Allah, Who created them)?” [Surah Az-Zukhruf: 87] “Say: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Great Throne? They will say: Allah...” [Surah Al-Muʾminūn: 86-87] None denies Allah’s Lordship except the atheist, who claims to reject His existence while knowing deep down that He exists. They may substitute terms such as “nature,” “force,” or “the force of nature” to mask the truth. This denial is not b...