Adeyemi David 💫

Adekunle Gold wearing the Nigerian tracksuit at the finish line of Gumball 3000 in Mexico, ahead of the World Cup opening ceremony

I am first and foremost a Muslim. I am an adherent of Islam, an Abrahamic believer, and a Hanif before anything else. Only then am I Yorùbá. To those who have made it their mission to question the loyalty of Yorùbá Muslims, you may continue your attacks. But know this: for a true Muslim, Islam will always come first. It precedes ethnicity, culture, and nationality because it is the primordial covenant with our Creator. A Yorùbá Muslim is not conflicted in his identity. He was a Muslim in the divine decree long before he was conceived, and he entered the world as Yorùbá the day he was born to Yorùbá parents. These two identities are not rivals—they are perfectly compatible. One defines his eternal soul and purpose; the other shapes his language, culture, and earthly heritage. Both have their rightful place. If any Yorùbá Muslim chooses, for whatever reason, to place ethnicity above Islam, then that person has failed to grasp the most fundamental principle of our faith: La ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah), and nothing has precedence over Him. Such a person's reckoning is with Allah alone. My identity is clear and unapologetic: Islam first. Always. Everything else follows in its proper order.