By Muhammad Adamu

Brazil have the Olympic men’s soccer gold medal after a 2-1 victory over Spain in extra time. Brazil’s medal comes on the same pitch that it won the 2002 World Cup.

Brazil are now the second nation after Argentina to have won back-to-back Olympic gold medals after building on their 2016 success at these Tokyo Games.

Mikel Oyarzabal cancelled out Matheus Cunha’s opener after Richarlison missed a penalty, but Malcom ensured Brazil took home the gold medal with his goal in the 108th minute.

The 35-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salam, alias MBS, initiates more radical changes in the kingdom hitherto known for its conservatism and strict adherence to Sharia.

In addition to barring loudspeakers from amplifying prayers and sermons at mosques and turning down the volume during calls to prayer, the Saudi government announced that shops, restaurants and other enterprises do not have to close anymore during prayer times. A government was reported to have declared that “Those days of inconvenience are now over.”

The MBS initiated liberalisations continue to reverberate around the kingdom while dissents are silenced.

According to two Saudi human rights groups, “When a little-known religious leader penned an online article criticising the decision by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, he was arrested, and his once-active Twitter account went silent.”

It is also reported that the government fired “many” Imams for not following an official directive to preach against the Muslim Brotherhood, which MBS-led Saudi Arabia has designated as a terrorist group.

A year ago, the government stripped the religious police of their powers to arrest people. Around the same time, women were granted the right to attend sporting events while removing gender segregation at restaurants, other events.

Sarah Dadouch of The Washington Post concludes thus, “Mohammed is rewriting the longtime power-sharing arrangement between the ruling family and the clerical establishment — a partnership that created the kingdom. Islam has remained a cornerstone of Saudi identity; the kingdom is the birthplace of the religion and hosts its two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. The king’s official title is the custodian of the two holy mosques.

In some quarters, fears abound that the fabric of the kingdom is now 4unravelling. But those fears are rarely shared anymore, lest there be more arrests.”

By Ibrahim Siraj

A renowned Islamic scholar and Chief Imam of the historic Qubaa Mosque in Medina, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdallah Zarbaan Al-Gamidi has been reported dead. He died Friday, according to sources familiar with the development.

Sheikh Zarbaan was a teacher, mentor and father figure to all Nigerian graduates of the prestigious Islamic University of Medina. He was instrumental in the admission of hundreds of Nigerian students into the prestigious University through the Daura intensive training he coordinated for several years since the inception of the programme in Nigeria.

Prominent among Sheikh Zarbaan’s students are the late Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam, Drs Muhammad Rabi’u Umar, Bashir Aliyu Umar, Abubakar Muhammad Sani, Ibrahim Ilyas, Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo, Isa Suleiman, Muslim Ibrahim, Sheikh Abdulwahab Abdullah, Professors Mansur Sokoto and Abdallah Saleh Pakistan, to mention but a few.

He will be remembered for his special attachment to his Nigerian students, whom he mentored up to his final moment on earth. Every year, he would call some of them during the annual Ramadan Tafsir to pass a message of goodwill and encouragement.

He recently donated his entire book collection for the benefit of Nigerian scholars. The books were received through Dr Abubakar Muhammad Sani and will be kept in a library in Dutse for access by the public.

He was a friend to many prominent Nigerian scholars and philanthropists such as late Sheikh Aminuddeen Abubakar, late Halifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu and Alhaji Aminu Dantata. May Allah have mercy on him and make Aljanna his final abode, amin.

When former Barcelona Director of Football, Carles Rexach, signed Lionel Messi on a napkin paper at the turn of the current millennium, little did he know that he had just unearthed possibly the greatest ever footballer. Barcelona have just announced the departure of their boy wonder, the messiah and the plea, after 17 years of joy and anguish, highs and lows, successes and failures. Countless goalscoring records have tumbled at the majestic feet of the boy from Rosario in Argentina. He holds the records for playing more games for Barça in La Liga, UCL and El Clasico.

To even attempt to list Messi’s accomplishments in this short thread would be foolhardy. Nevertheless, many accomplished pundits, coaches and players mesmerised and enchanted by his magic wand have showered plaudits to the little genius. After trouncing Arsenal in 2010, the then Arsenal coach famously remarked that “Messi is a PlayStation player”, effectively testifying to the impossibility of being Lionel Messi. Similarly, Pep Guardiola, who is the coach that helped nurture the talents of Messi, once said that “To compare Lionel Messi with any other player is unfair… on them”. Jorge Valdano, a Maradona teammate in the victorious 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina side, added that “Messi is Maradona every day and even Maradona wasn’t Maradona every day”.

Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s teammate in the Argentina national team, said, “If Messi is your captain, you would want to go to war for him”. The recently departed ex-Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos also confessed that “Messi will always have a place in my team”. This is just off the top of my head. The list of current and retired players who idolise Messi contains the creme-de-la-creme of the footballing world.

A longstanding mantra has it that ‘records are meant to be broken.’ If these Messi’s records are ever to be broken, it will take an exceptional player.

1. Winning four consecutive Ballon Dors.

2. Winning 6 European golden shoes.

3. Scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.

4. Scoring 75 goals in a league season.

5. Scoring in 21 consecutive league games.

6. Scoring 50 league goals in a single season.

7. Winning three player of the tournaments in international tournaments.

8. Scoring 40 or more goals for nine consecutive seasons.

9. Scoring/Assisting 50 or more goals for 13 consecutive seasons.

10. Winning four man of the match awards in a single World Cup.

As for Barcelona fans all over the world, the dreaded day has finally come. Most of them can still remember the scrawny, shy 17-year old Messi who scored his first-ever professional goal against Albacete via Ronaldinho’s assist. Very few people thought that that watershed moment was passing the baton from one generational talent to another. However, the future isn’t that bleak for Barça. For one, young, exciting talents are emerging from the academy. The likes of Fati, Collado, Trincao, Gavi, Pedri, Puig, Mingueza, Araujo and Dest have shown great promise. Together with the old guards such as Pique, Griezmann, Alba, Busquets and Aguero, they may just paper the gaping cracks that Messi’s sudden departure will inevitably leave.

Messi alone is capable of covering a multitude of sins for coaches and fellow players. Good luck trying to replace such a player.

As for the man himself, this is a perfect opportunity to silence his diminishing number of detractors that he can cut it away from his comfort zone — whatever that means. Of course, Messi isn’t getting any younger, but I would bet my bottom kobo for him to fare well at any league in the world.

Aliyu Yakubu Yusuf is a lecturer at the English and Literary Studies Department, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via aliyuyy@gmail.com.

By Ibrahiym A. El-Caleel

Northern Nigeria, Arewa launched her Shari’a project on the eve of the third millennium, precisely in 1999. The project was cheered by Muslims, who are the larger share of the Arewa population. But, on the other hand, the project became a thorn in the flesh of liberal Muslims as well as Islamophobes. Therefore, this generated heated discussions within the Arewa intelligentsia, from the mosques’ pulpits to traditional media pages.

Immediately Shari’a was launched, additives were added to strengthen its influence over the years. The Shari’a courts appeared visibly effective and powerful in their jurisdictions. On the other hand, they were feared due to their initial charisma. Shari’a hudud (penalties) were unapologetically executed in states that subscribed to the project. In 2003, Kano State impressively established the Kano State Hisbah Corps to deepen Shari’a application further. All these were efforts that every conscious Muslim found impressive. Nigerian Muslims were able to leverage democracy to re-establish their lost treasure of Islamic Law. It was a sort of blessing in the eyes of conscious Muslims. Today, however, things are beginning to fall apart.

In recent years, we see rather poor management of the Shari’a project. Convicts in Shari’a courts now find a way to evade justice, leveraging the weak points in the project. More problematic is the visible selective application of Shari’a among Arewa Muslims. Concerning the Shari’a application, Arewa currently operates a caste system. Masses are prosecuted under Shari’a for the slightest offences, but the elites commit big offences and get away with impunity. The Shari’a practised by the earliest Muslim generations was egalitarianism, where everyone was equal before the Islamic Law. But in Arewa today, Shari’a is an elitism that only applies to the nobodies in the society, while the elites break the code and fingers are not raised at them.  

Kano Hisbah is famous for coming into the spotlight with all sorts of amazing arrests and “Shari’a law enforcements”. There are pictures of them randomly stopping youths and cutting their hair because they have kept bushy and unkempt hair. To me, this should be a minor thing that should bother Kano Hisbah, when every week, men and scantily dressed women converge at costly-rented event centres, dancing and freely mixing in the name of celebrating weddings. Kano Hisbah never shows up in such Shari’a noncompliant events because they might be meeting the last son of a commissioner, the wife of a minister or even the nation’s First Lady herself. Apologists of this caste system might say perhaps Kano Hisbah never comes across these numerous events that happen frequently and simultaneously. But the answer is, after concluding the events, these “untouchables” audaciously flaunt the immoral pictures and videos on social media to the public glare. And nothing still happens.

Shari’a in Arewa will continue to be feeble because Arewa leaders are not genuinely committed to executing it. Only Allah knows the hearts of men, but the body language we are seeing is that these leaders use Shari’a in the spirit of populism; to woo political fandom. If we have Shari’a, then everyone must come equal before it. In a sane society, everyone comes equal before the law. This is called “the rule of law”.

It was narrated that during the reign of Caliph Umar bnul Khattab, Amr bnul Aas was the governor of Egypt. This governor had a son who entered a horserace with an Egyptian man, and the Egyptian man won the race. This defeat angered the governor’s son, so he decided to flog the Egyptian man. The man left Egypt and travelled to Madinah to complain to Caliph Umar. Umar summoned Governor Amr bnul Aas and the son to appear before him. When they showed up, Umar asked the Egyptian man to flog the Governor’s son as he had flogged him. Then he said to the governor, “when did you start to enslave people when they were born free?”. This incident indicates that Caliph Umar, as one of the most influential leaders in history, never allowed impunity and elitism to prosper in the land.

Secondly, when a lady from Bani Makhzum committed theft, the people of Quraysh requested Usama bn Zayd to intercede for her with Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him). When Usama spoke about it to the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him), the Prophet said, “Do you try to intercede for somebody in a case connected with Allah’s Prescribed Punishments?” Then he got up and delivered a sermon saying, “What destroyed the nations preceding you, was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allah’s Legal punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.”

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) is the grand patron of all leaders executing the Shari’a. This is him (Peace be Upon Him) saying if his own most beloved daughter were found guilty, he would apply the laws on her with no regard to her exalted status. May Allah’s salutations be upon him. He indeed is our ultimate role model worthy of emulation.

Until Arewa leaders take the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) as a role model in the Shari’a project, we will continue to be a laughingstock. It is quite shameful that daughters of Arewa governors and emirs dress immodestly at their weddings. We have seen the daughter of former Kano Emir Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II taking a handshake from the Vice President, an ajnabi (strange man), in front of her father. The daughter of Kano State Governor Khadimul Islam, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, dressed immodestly on her wedding day. She wore a sleeveless wide-necked gown that almost revealed her chest. As if that was not enough of breaking the Shari’a code, she danced in this outfit to the visuality of strange men. The daughter of former EFCC Czar Mallam Nuhu Ribadu also made a similar appearance some months back.

This week, the trending topic on Arewa Facebook centres around another Kano princess, Zahra Nasir Ado Bayero, who is getting married to the President’s son, Yusuf Muhammadu Buhari. In her bridal shower event in Abuja, the princess appeared in a tight wedding gown, exposing the upper part of her torso. Of course, her hair was styled and opened to the public like her fellow sisters in the Shari’a code-breaking. People are wondering how Kano Hisbah is not seeing all this and issuing a press release.

The amoralism is getting institutionalised by the children of Arewa leaders. It speaks volumes to why Shari’a is still a baby in Arewa despite spending more than 20 years in the system. People who could give us a formidable Sharia are issuing licenses to their children to abuse the code and go scot-free. This is why even convicted blasphemers these days do not end up suffering the penalties. Anyone with some copper coins in their pockets and a little political network can find a way out. Only the poor and the unconnected can be convicted and be eventually punished. This is the caste system we have awaken to in Arewa today. Unfortunately, leaders are not ready to walk the talk. We need a leveller to be able to have an effective Shari’a system. What is good for the goose has to be good for the gander. Else, we are all joking around.

Ibrahiym A. El-Caleel is a Civil Engineer by training with an interest in public and social commentary. He writes from Zaria and can be reached via caleel2009@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

In what has been widely tagged as “the end of an era,” Argentina forward Lionel Messi will leave FC Barcelona after a near two-decade stay at the club due to “financial and structural obstacles.”

This was confirmed by the La Liga giant in a statement.

The statement said, “Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).

“As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.”

The club also expressed their gratefulness to the 4-time Ballon d’Or winner and wished him well in his future professional career.

“FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life,” Barça said in the statement.

At the age of 13, Messi joined Barcelona’s youth set-up and he is now the club’s all-time top scorer with 672 goals in 778 appearances.

Recall that he had in 2020 made an attempt to vacate Camp Nou after Barcelona’s humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, but an agreement was later reached, which led to his continued stay at the club.

Messi’s Trophies at Barcelona

Champions Leagues – 4

La Liga titles – 10

Spanish Cups – 7

European Super Cups – 3

Spanish Super Cups – 8

Club World Cups – 3

By Muhammad Sabiu

Police have made 11 arrests in the UK over racial abuses made against the three Black England players who missed the penalty shoot-out in the final match of the Euro 2020 against Italy in July.

The three players (Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho) suffered racial abuses online.

According to the UK Football Policing Unit, of the 207 online posts identified as criminal, 123 accounts belong to persons outside the UK.

Details of those individuals and cases are in the process of being passed on to the relevant countries to take action

“There are people out there who believe they can hide behind a social media profile and get away with posting such abhorrent comments.

“They need to think again – we have investigators proactively seeking out abusive comments in connection to the match if they meet a criminal threshold, those posting them will be arrested,” Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council Football Policing lead, has said.

The Football Association says that it would “not tolerate any form of discrimination, and we hope these arrests act as a clear deterrent for perpetrators for online abuse.

“We will continue to work with players, fans, our stakeholders across the game and the relevant authorities to ensure that the strongest possible action is taken against those found wanting.”

By Muhammad El-Bonga Ibraheem 

The damning and weighty allegations against DCP Abba Kyari, who many consider a cult hero within the Nigerian security system, is confoundingly infelicitous. The FBI indicted the fine police officer for being in cahoot with the internationally recognised fraudster known as Hushpuppi, who has been in US custody since July 2020 for multiple crimes perpetrated in and outside America. 

DCP Abba Kyari is an officer I so much respect. In fact, in him, I see a bright future for the police force given his expertise and tenacity in arraigning criminals and finding a way out where there is seemingly none. This development, however, evidently leaves me very sad that the person we hold in high regard isn’t what we really think he is, at least from what he portrays to the public and from what the FBI concludes from their thorough investigations. 

Over the years, the Deputy Commissioner of Police has attracted quite a myriad of attention that transcends across the nooks and crannies of the country. There is this general belief that whenever the police want to fish out criminals or swiftly achieve some desired results, Abba Kyari, nicknamed “Jack Bauer”, is the man for the job. He led many successful operations that culminated in the arrest of some criminals at the top of the Nigerian kidnapping echelon, notably Evans, the billionaire kidnapper. That singular arrest catapulted his reputation and made him a cult hero amongst the ranks and files of the police force and within the psyche of the Nigerian masses, who are usually downtrodden. Not very long ago, his men hunted the killers of the late APC chieftain Ahmed Gulak who was iniquitously murdered by IPOB terrorists masquerading as “unknown gunmen” in Imo State. 

Despite his unrivalled excellence as a super cop, nonetheless, that doesn’t mean Abba Kyari isn’t infallible. The FBI said Abba Kyari received orders from Hushpuppi to arrest and detain a criminal “colleague” after their falling out having scammed a Qatari national of more than $1m. The report added that Abba Kyari allegedly supplied an account of which a “thank you” message, which the FBI alludes could be from the proceeds of the crime, was sent to him by Hushpuppi.

At this juncture, no matter how much you want to twist the issue, Kyari shot himself on foot by cavorting with people of dodgy characters. The fact that an internationally known criminal in the mould of Hushpuppi— with criminal networks spanning from Nigeria to America, Britain, Korea etc.— can make one call to a police officer to have someone arrested for scuppering a “job” is indeed shocking and also speaks volumes about the influence he exerts in the force. The duo chatted many times where Kyari was egregiously revealed to have received direct orders from Hushpuppi regarding how the police should treat the arrested person. DCP Abba Kyari’s relationship with Hushpuppi also involved buying clothes for the fraudster to the extent that the latter would come and get them from the former’s office. While a police officer remains everyone’s friend, Kyari’s frolicking with Hushpuppi is too difficult to be whitewashed unless the investigations are finalised to determine his innocence if indeed he is. 

Although Abba Kyari had already responded to the weighty allegation, his explanations don’t hold any water, for he needs to prove to everyone keenly fixated on the issue, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he’s indeed not guilty. Much to his chagrin, Kyari edited the Facebook post conveying his initial response many times and subsequently deleted it. The various chats where Hushpuppi ordered Kyari and his men to arrest his so-called colleague and be dealt with like an armed robber without any form of investigation is an indication that they could have been frolicking for a long time. The “arrest” of Hushpuppi’s colleague for weeks is a preemptive move to prevent him from scuppering an ongoing “job” of scamming a Qatari national where the fraud money was later laundered in the US. This is where the FBI fingered Kyari as a possible co-conspirator in the whole issue. 

 The FBI is reputedly known for being painstakingly meticulous regarding their investigations. If they’re really on your case, nothing is usually left untouched, for they do back up their reports with undeniable, substantiated facts and documents. I have read an analysis from a lawyer friend who argued that the US has no jurisdiction to request Kyari’s extradition to be questioned in the US since he committed the alleged crime in Nigeria. The US— and by extension, the developed nations— always fear that justice may not be served, knowing full well how our system here in Nigeria operates. Is it not in this same Nigeria that James Ibori got cleared of any wrongdoing by Nigerian courts, having committed one of the greatest corruption in our history? But later on, James Ibori finally met his waterloo when he was arrested in the UK and forced to serve many years in a UK prison. 

Some of our northern people have started defending Kyari, painting the whole thing an ethnic colouration. I read a post where someone said the Igbos support Kanu and his proscribed IPOB group at all costs; the Yorubas support Igboho against all odds; therefore, he asks: why shouldn’t we, as northerners support our own? You see, this habit of shielding glaring depravities is one of the reasons why Nigeria continues to lag in all facets of development; it is also the reason why we continue to grope for exemplary leadership to lead us to the promised land within our fold. What is wrong should be dismissed by all and sundry regardless of religious and ethnic ties. Besides, the duo of Igboho and Kanu have openly declared their rebellion against the Nigerian nation. As for Abba Kyari, he is a civil servant in our most crucial agency whose responsibility is to serve and protect the interest of all Nigerians regardless of their ethnic disposition or religious affiliation, which explains why his issue is huge. Unfortunately, he got himself soiled in a huge mess that has the propensity to obliterate all his outstanding brilliance records.

The police suspension of the super cop to pave a berth for an investigation into the matter is a commendable move. Whatever sprouts out of from the investigation, Kyari should blame himself for it’s the offshoot of his actions, having chosen to dine and wine with criminals. When you rise to fame through something magnificent, you shouldn’t do anything to bring it down, for posterity will always forget your good days but will loudly judge and label you with your few bad instances. Sadly, such is the case of Kyari today. 

Muhammad El-Bonga Ibrahim writes from Abuja. He can be reached via bonga2004@icloud.com.

By Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Abdullahi

Tension grew as Prof. Ibrahim Maqari intends to sue Dr Abdalla Usman Gadon-Kaya based on what he (or his lawyers) called defamation of his character. It may be recalled that the main point of divergence between the two was their different religious affiliations, where Prof. Maqari subscribes to Tijjaniya Sufism, and Dr Abdalla is an Izala/Sunni scholar who preaches mostly against the teachings of Prof. Maqari and Tijjaniyya order in general.

Initially, the blasphemous and heretic teachings of Abduljabbar Kabara were the genesis of their misunderstanding, where Dr Abdallah erroneously cited a wrong reference when referring to an Abuja Imam. It was clear that the coalition of Kano Ulama, under the chairmanship of Dr Sa’idu Dukawa, lodged their complaint against what they found to be lies and concoctions against Bukhari, Muslim, some Sahabas, which in turn, ridicule and subject the sanctity of the Prophet’s household into questioning. These immoral teachings have negatively impacted some irate and ignorant youth, where they mockingly copy and paste anything from the sacred books and ridiculously call it a lie.

In response to this unprecedented religious turmoil, the scholars in Kano unanimously agreed to form a coalition to defend Islam’s sanctity. Abduljabbar directly targets Dr Abdalla and other prominent Sunni scholars in Kano as his reference point and as one of those at the forefront of exposing his evil antics. These altercations have taken a long time without Prof. Maqari featuring in the scene with either support or opposition to what Kano Ulamas have been doing.

After the debate session, the Muslims were happy as Abduljabbar failed to defend his heretical teachings. However, while everyone was happy and waiting for a verdict from the government, suddenly Prof. Maqari used his position from the Abuja Central Mosque and said that he perceived a form of propaganda in all that has been happening in Kano concerning Abduljabbar’s case. Thus, Prof. Maqari breathed life to all the supporters of Abdujabbar who died and buried their heads in shame.

Maqari’s submission made Dr Abdalla go berserk and even erroneously, out of emotions, mentioned many instances where an Imam in Abuja, which may be Prof. Maqari, used his position to delve into this – what no Imam in the history of Abuja Mosque ever delved into before. He cited instances where such an Imam said many things and even went to the extent of claiming to own classified audios of phone calls where that Imam, who may be Prof. Maqari, wanted to intervene in cases related to blasphemy.

In response, Prof. Maqari, in what shows his humility and humbleness, as usual, posted a video where he debunked all that Dr Abdalla said and called for peace. Later, Dr Abdalla also posted another video, clearly apologizing and calling for peace. Most poor innocent followers of these famous sheikhs were happy that the matter was settled amicably, only to wake up with another fresh video of Prof. Maqari saying he would go to court. I think this will be one of the first court cases that will generate high tension, cause a lot of damage, and divert people’s attention from the real cause of the trouble. It will indeed cause more harm than expected.

The decision may not ordinarily be  Prof Maqari’s. It may be that some people who are angry with Dr Abdallah may feel that this is the right time for them to score their cheap religious point by dragging Prof. Maqari and Dr Abdalla into the ring. How I wish it were done differently. How I wish it were not for Prof. Maqari and Dr Abdalla. Whoever knows Prof. Maqari knows a humble, soft-spoken, modest and religious personality. The way he doffs his Dara on his head can make everyone think of the kindest people of Magrib who devote their lives to the services of Islam.

On the one hand, Prof. Maqari is a Professor of the Arabic language, an Islamic scholar who triples as an Imam in the national mosque in Nigeria. He maintains a very cordial relationship with many people to whom he subscribes to their ways of religiosity and those he differs with. However, Prof. Maqari is tactically but unmistakably anti-Izali with a complete Tijjaniya Sufi disposition. These, he has never hidden and is found in many of his teachings. There are so many instances where he displayed anti-Izala inferences in his teachings, and this is not in any way bad as much as he is sure of his contrary opinions. Such disagreements and oppositions have been there among scholars since an immemorial time.

On the other hand, Dr Abdalla Gadon Qaya is a vocal, vibrant and versatile Islamic scholar who is also an Imam in an Izala mosque; he also triples as a lecturer of Islamic Studies at Bayero University, Kano. He has been known to talk during his Friday sermons fiercely against anybody who blasphemes, jokes, maligns or tries to tarnish the image of Islam. In addition, he has been known as a social media influencer, where he uses his position to viciously flatten his rude opponents, most of whom are not well-versed in Islamic studies, but trying to change the religious narratives, in the name of modernity or what they call modern Islam.

Looking at the delicate situation we are in now, I, therefore, call on these two gladiators in the ring to not allow their followers to use them to divide the Ummah further. We have many problems ahead of us, and that of Abduljabbar is not yet settled. Against whom are we to set our faces now? This may lead to another sectarian violence.

To me, both are good people. They are religious scholars; they are role models in their own rights. They are not infallible. Both have erred. Prof. Maqari emotionally chose the wrong time for his submission, while Dr Abdallah emotionally said something which Prof. Maqari didn’t say. All these are not supposed to come from Islamic scholars. Don’t allow those you call ‘YanBoko to play with your intelligence.

Your respected position will be trampled upon if you allow that. Both of you have lawyers who can give the last drop of their blood in protecting each of you; let these lawyers go and defend the sanctity of the Prophet. What will you gain if you see another person’s downfall just because you feel he wrongs you or he belongs to a different sect? What if the table turns? It isn’t socio-morally a welcome development for Islamic scholars to go to court. And who even initiated the idea of going to court? Who wants to use these reputable Malamai as his case study?

Finally, I am not in any way against going to court to look for justice. On the contrary, I support it. But, I won’t support scholars who are the mirrors to the Ummah to do that. What if one of your disciples learns from you that taking matters to court is the last good thing? Whether we like it or not, this will have sectarian colouration, and it will sow more rift than ever. Therefore, I kindly advise Malam Maqari to stop the court procession for good silently. I also kindly remind Malam Abdalla, Prof Maqari and all other Islamic scholars to guard and weigh their utterances and actions before uttering or doing anything.

Both clerics should silently sit, own the issue, discuss it and shame the detractors. Both Prof. Maqari and Malam Abdalla emotionally erred, and they apologised. That should have been enough reason to close the case. Why turning around and going to court? Otherwise, this will lead to digging more and more resolved issues by those rude supporters who don’t have much love for the religion, and it will lead to further disunity. Don’t we have other vital problems to deal with, please? And if both parties are doing it for the sake of Allah, then why court? Only the evil FOLLOWERS may propel their teachers to court cases just for them to laugh and continue to enjoy their ignorance.

Muhammad Sulaiman Abdullahi, PhD., is a lecturer at the Department of Nigerian Languages, Bayero University, Kano. He can be contacted via +234 80 65846225.

By Muhammad Sabiu

No fewer than 17 people have been killed and 85 buildings torched in the recent violence that erupted in two local government areas of Plateau State: Bassa and Riyom.

After an emergency security meeting, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, confirmed this to journalists at Government House, Jos.

“There were attacks specifically at Jebbu Miango on Saturday night, July 31, in which five people were killed and about 85 buildings burnt.

“The next morning, the attacks continued at Tambora in Riyom LGA where 12 people were killed and some houses destroyed,” Mr Egbuka said.

He also stated that some security personnel were killed in the violence, adding that Governor Lalong has ordered security agents to ensure normalcy in the affected areas and make sure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law.

He said, “His Excellency (the governor) has read a riot act to us that we should move out and within two weeks bring to book all those that have perpetrated the attacks. This would be done.”

This didn’t come as a surprise since Plateau State is known for ethno-religious violence in the past.