MAY 9, 2018 – The Non-Interest Banking Group of Sterling Bank Plc has entered into a partnership with Nasrul-lahi-li Fathi Society of Nigeria towards helping Muslim faithful to fulfill their holy pilgrimage obligation to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
According to a statement on Monday, the bank has introduced a savings plan for Muslims aiming to go on the holy pilgrimage. It said towards creating awareness among the over one million members of NASFAT, the bank had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TAFSAN, the investment arm of NASFAT.
The statement quoted the Divisional Head, Institutional Banking, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Tunde Adeola, as commending NAFSAT and TAFSAN for the novel savings plan which, he said, would make Hajj pilgrimage more accessible and easier for intending pilgrims to achieve.
According to Adeola, the idea of the Hajj savings plan is to help Muslims address the rising financial implication of embarking on Hajj on a yearly basis, which has made it difficult for some Muslims to go on the holy pilgrimage. Speaking on the benefits of Hajj, Chief Missioner of NASFAT, Alhaji Mahroof Onike, said it was one of the five pillars of Islam and Allah commanded that every Muslim should go on Hajj at least once in their lifetime.
He encouraged Muslims who had not gone on Hajj to take advantage of the savings plan to set a future pilgrimage date for Hajj (major pilgrimage) or Umrah (minor pilgrimage). Onike thanked Sterling Bank for introducing the savings plan to create opportunities for those who intend to perform Hajj at a future date.
He enjoined everyone present at the event to be advocates of the savings plan by helping to create awareness about it so that a lot of Muslims could benefit from it. The Group Head, Non-Interest Banking, Sterling Bank Plc, Dr. Basheer Oshodi, who gave details of the Hajj savings plan, said it would make it easy for prospective Muslim pilgrims to choose the year they want to perform Hajj and plan their contributions, either weekly or monthly.
