Islam

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

The Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs has confirmed that the Ramadan crescent has been sighted in different locations in Nigeria.

This announcement was made by the Islamic Council in a statement on its official Facebook page on Wednesday night.

The statement reads, “His Eminence has received positive sighting reports of the Ramadan crescent from various locations nationwide. Thursday, 23rd March, is the first day of Ramadan.”

It added that an official statement would follow afterwards.

The sighting of the crescent marks the beginning of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, in which Muslims fast for twenty-nine of thirty days before observing Eid al-Fitr.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Sheikh Abdulrahman Sudais, the renowned Islamic cleric and revered Imam of the grand mosque in Makkah, has completed forty years as Imam of the mosque. 

According to reports by the Haramain Sharifain on Tuesday, Sheikh Sudais was appointed as Imam of Masjid Al Haram, Makkah, by Royal Decree issued by the Late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahad bin Abdulaziz in 1984/1404 at the young age of 22.

Sheikh Sudais led his first Salah on 22 Sha’ban 1404, corresponding to May 1984. His First Salah in the Haram was the Asr Prayer.

Below is the brief biography of Sheikh Sudais:

Sheikh Sudais was born in the Islamic year 1381 in the City of Qassim, Saudi Arabia. He got his early education in Riyadh, and by the age of 12, he had memorized the whole Quran under the supervision of Sheikh Abdul Rehman Al Firyan.

Sheikh Sudais graduated from the Faculty of Sharia in the year 1402, Completed his final years of Studies at Umm Al Qura University in Makkah and earned a PhD Degree in Sharia in 1416.

He was appointed Imam of Masjid Al Haram in 1404 at the very young age of 22. Since then, Sheikh Sudais has been leading Taraweeh every year, and in 1441, he completed his 40th time of completing the Quran and reading the Khatam ul Quran Dua.

In 1433, he was appointed as the President of General Presidency for the Affairs of the Haramain in a decree ordered by the Late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia just before the Grand Expansion started in Masjid Al Haram

Sheikh Abdul Rahman As Sudais was appointed by King Salman to deliver the Hajj Khutbah in the year 2016/1437. Later, by Royal Decree issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Sheikh Sudais was reappointed as President of the General Presidency for a period of 4 years in 1441.

In 1444, Sheikh Sudais completed 40 years of his appointment as Imam and Khateeb of Masjid Al Haram, Makkah.

By Khalilah Yahya Aliyu

Nothing like polygamy has been grossly abhorred and misunderstood in marriage, especially among women. It trends both ways, be it positive or negative, with the latter being blown out of proportion – leading to an intense phobia for women young and old.

Please note that we Muslims don’t practice polygamy. What we are allowed to practice is polygyny. The difference here is that in polygamy, both men and women are allowed to have multiple wives or husbands, respectively, while polygyny refers to a husband taking more than one wife, four to be precise. So, I will use polygamy for this article.

The piece will be dominated by my point of view, garnished with some spicy personal experiences. Writing this has been difficult because I felt as though I was laying bare a part of my soul. After going through numerous articles and books on polygyny, I realised that much attention is given to the perspective of the first wife or existing wives. Their fears and insecurities when confronted with polygyny and ways to overcome them were discussed in detail. Therefore, the added wife is left to nurse her worries and insecurities alone as it is being treated as non-existent.

During my secondary school days, we did ask ourselves questions regarding polygyny, and we all wanted to be the first wife. This position to our understanding back then, comes with these benefits:

Societal empathy towards the first wife, with the man and his new wives, considered wrongdoers, conspiring to destabilise the existing wife’s life.

You enjoy the man’s prime years and resources, which translates to more attention and care. You get a clearer understanding of the man’s personality as a husband, having spent more years with him and his close and extended family.

Being his first and as humans, we tend to get sentimentally attached to our first of everything, be it a child, car, job, etc.

Those are a few of the benefits. They could be more or less depending on the person and the current situation. All these made me crave that position, too, to the extent of being willing to welcome co-wives so that I could hold on to the bragging rights of knowing him first. Well, fate has an entirely different story lying in waiting for me.

I met this amazing man. I have always been an incurable romantic at heart, placing emphasis on those zings and sparks you feel when you meet someone you share a strong chemistry with. “This here is the man of my dream,” I exclaimed to myself. The feelings were mutual; I am sure you will be like, “why didn’t you get married right away” as it is the only legal way to have a relationship with non-Mahram. It wasn’t that easy because here I am, a not previously-married young lady from a monogamous home presenting a married man as a suitor to her family. The more the number of wives, the more difficult it is for our parents to accept the man as a spousal choice for their girls. In my case, it was even wives, not a wife, an unsurmountable wall, it seemed.

As parts of the tenets of our Deen, we must accept “qadr”, otherwise known as the divine decree, regardless of how it comes. I drew strength from this and presented him as my choice. During the waiting period before the wedding, I was riddled with nerves and bouts of insecurities. This shows that added wives, too, have fears. What if the other wives are better looking, cooks and humans than I am? No day passes without my heart racing faster when I think about what lies ahead. Your intentions might be noble, but you can’t say the same about the other parties with the recent ugly trend of co-wives harming one another. The what-ifs were actually numerous, including the ability of our husband to treat us fairly.

I channelled the energy generated by these fears into finding a better version of myself, seeking religious knowledge and reading more on human psychology to understand better the tricks of maintaining a healthy relationship between humans—anything on polygyny I devoured keenly to better prepare for what lies ahead. Marriage is a lifetime journey, and no preparation is termed too much. So when I felt ready, armed with prayers and all I have learnt, I plunged bravely into it and “Alhamdulillah”, it was not as difficult as I envisaged.

Though no amount of preparation is adequate when reality finally hits, coping mechanisms are needed to maintain a healthy relationship when jealousy glares its ugly head. A naturally occurring phenomenon, even our mothers, the wives of our noble prophet (S.A.W), were not spared. Feeling bouts of jealousy is normal, but borrowing a leaf from how our role models, Mothers of the Faithful, dealt with theirs will keep this strong emotion in check. How you handle this emotion can make or break you. I try to always look at a person as a human first, and no matter how jealous or angry I get, I will try my best to treat the person humanely. No one is worth your “Iman” I repeat, never lose your “Iman” over anything. Keep striving to maintain a better version of yourself. Study your co-wives because understanding their temperaments will make it easier for you to relate with them accordingly. It might not lead to friendship per se, but an amicable relationship is assured.

Plus, always remember that humans are dignified creatures, and every soul has its unique form of beauty. As a famous saying goes, “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” sister, you are beautiful. Indulge in many positive affirmations, eat healthy, exercise, and maintain positive hygiene to boost your self-esteem should you ever feel your co-wives are better.

Contrary to popular belief of competition between co-wives, you are there to compete with no one; be yourself and try as much as you can to support and not bring them down. Remember, as your sisters in Islam, you owe them that. Banters will be thrown, especially that of knowing him before you did or you coming to marry their husband. He was never meant for them alone; it was decreed that he would marry you all in the manner or order he did. You have the same right as any of them, but this shouldn’t make you disrespectful. Support your spouse; it takes a lot of spunk and sacrifice to maintain a wife and talk more about wives.

Personally, polygyny has been a blessing. Ask pizza lovers; having a slice of it is better than not having a taste at all. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the good moments with the man of my dreams if it wasn’t legal for him to marry me too.

Regardless of being the first or last, we are all advised to make it work. Equip yourself with what it takes to build a peaceful haven or sanctuary for yourself, your husband, and everyone visiting your home. He is yours; make every moment count. It is not how much time is spent but how qualitative it is. To the added wife, know this, you are brave and unique, and you’ve got nothing to fear. Be yourself, and I wish you the best.

Khalilah Yahya Aliyu writes from Kaduna and can be reached via khalilah20@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD

On Friday, I spent the early morning hours participating in a boot camp on negotiation. It was part of the effort of Professor Rand Wentworth to build the capacity of his students in negotiation. The boot camp was facilitated by Monica Giannone.

Immediately after the boot camp ended at 12 pm, my friend Alibek Nurbekov and I proceeded to the Friday prayer. As I was about to enter the prayer hall, Dr Khalil Abdur-Rashid was also arriving. Dr Khalil is the Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University and teaches courses at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Divinity School.

“Sheikh Khalil, welcome back from Umrah,” I said as he made his way into the prayer hall.

“Good to see you, Jameel. I need to talk to you after the prayer,” he said, and I nodded in agreement.

Dr Khalil led a group of students and other members of the Harvard Community to participate in Umrah, the lesser Muslim pilgrimage, where Muslims visit Makkah and perform the Umrah rites. They also visit Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) mosque in Madina and other historical places in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I came to know about the Harvard Umrah trip during the welcome orientation for students led by Dr Khalil last year at the beginning of the fall semester. He announced that some donors had provided scholarships for Muslim students to attend the pilgrimage, and he played a video for us on the experience in 2019 when they went on a similar voyage. Many students pledged to join the group for the trip in January.

Organising trips to different countries is a common tradition at Harvard University during the January break. Many trips were organised to Brazil, Singapore, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and more. The Harvard chaplaincy also utilised the break to organise the Umrah from 4th-14th January 2023.

Quoting Dr Khalil, The Harvard Crimson reported that “a generous donation from a graduate of Harvard Business School and a parent of two current Harvard undergraduates allowed the University to offer the trip at no cost to first-generation, low-income Muslim students. The donation for this year’s trip reportedly totalled approximately $100,000.”

As the Friday prayer finished, I waited patiently for Dr Khalil. As he came out, he asked me to walk towards his car. He brought a gift from the car and handed it to me. “This is a gift from the Umrah.” His wife Samia, who is also the female Muslim Chaplain, said, “it is a little gift for your girls.”

I thanked them in appreciation and headed home to enjoy the rest of the evening with my family. You can find the full story on the Harvard Umrah trip entitled “Spiritually Stimulating: Harvard Students Embarked on First Umrah Trip in Four Years.” (https://lnkd.in/et_dEBer).

Takeaway: Spiritual well-being is important in helping students to have a balanced educational experience.

Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD, is a candidate for a Mid-Career Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard University, John F Kennedy School of Government. He can be reached via mjyushau@yahoo.com.

By Tijjani Muhammad Musa

I left the house without taking breakfast or even a bath in order to meet an 8:00 am appointment with the rest of our SWS.Comms production crew. A client has brought in an advert for emergency production and airing on the radio against an event scheduled to take place the next day, Saturday morning, by 10:00 am after the monthly Sanitation exercise.

The heavy traffic of Adaidaita Sahu, private vehicles, motorcycles, and so on State Road was highly discouraging as I turned into it from Maiduguri Road. Quickly calculating my other options, I thought of taking alternative routes to steer me away from the delay most likely to occur if I should get trapped in the traffic mess.

However, thinking positively and hoping for the best, I still drove into the snailing jam of vehicles. Soon, however, I saw an opening on the side of the road accommodating a trickle of cars and the ever-daring tricycle riders. Now being in a bit of a hurry, I instinctively branched into that flow. 

This gave me and many others the opportunity to cut off almost three-quarters of the “go-slow” that was caused due to road repairs, maintenance and renovation work going on on the roads as a result of adverse effects of heavy rainfall witnessed in the city in recent time. 

So many of the roads in the metropolis have turned into shallow graves and potholes, forcing many drivers to demonstrate their driving skills and dexterity, with pedestrians expressing their anger and annoyance once in a while from getting splashed with dirty potholed rainwater.

As I slowly snake through the engaging challenge, turning my head side to side to check the distance between me and the line up of tricycles to my left, I suddenly saw her in one of the Adaidaita and couldn’t help but stare. While briefly looking at it, I at that same time sensed myself being stared at. So I checked to see who was poring his or her eyes over me.

It was a much younger woman sitting next to the person who had caught my rapt attention. Clearly, she was wondering why my face lightened up and suddenly saddened again upon seeing the old woman sitting calmly by her side. 

To douse her fears, I lowered my car window, pointed at the old woman and loudly said, “She reminds me of my mother, who is now late. May her soul be blessed and rest in peace.” I whispered the supplication to my hearing only.

The younger woman, now relaxed and with a slight smile, said, “Allaah Sarki. Allaah Ya jik’anta da rahama” and I said, “Amin thumma amin” as tears wheeled up my eyes. I quickly got hold of myself as I averted the gaze of both the woman as well as the okada rider, whose attention had now turned to me.

I looked at the old woman intently once again and realized that she didn’t actually look like my Hajia in any way except for her height and the frail, wrinkled body characteristic of old women in their octagenarian stage of life. She was looking absent-mindedly into a future that none could tell what it was her mind’s eye was seeing or thinking.

Once again, tears overwhelmed me, for I could remember clearly the same kind of look on the face of my mother. She didn’t want to die due to the uncertainties that lay ahead. But then, none can avert its coming to pass, as it is a promise that must be fulfilled.

This is because Allaah AWJ Says in the Qur’an, “Kullu nafsin za ikatul maut” – Every soul must taste of death (Q3:185). So we all must eventually bow out. When, where, why, by what or how none of us knows. Thus by the 1001 ways and more to die, we all must become deceased.

I felt for her as I did feel for Hajia then whenever I saw that worrisome look registered on her face. I would immediately want to do something to distract her attention so as to change her mood for the lighter from such disturbing thoughts. 

Suddenly without thinking, I reached into the pigeon hole in front of my dashboard and fetched out some money I usually keep there in case of an emergency and asked the Adaidaita rider how much was the cost of the ride. He told me, and I handed much more than the amount to him, telling him to give her the change.

The old woman looked at me and smiled. She was pleased with what I did and waved her two palms at me in thanks, and all of a brief flash, I saw my mother in her. It was a beautiful sight. The younger woman with her was also happy and prayed fervently for me as I drove off.

Then by Allaah SWT, the dam broke, and I started crying, in the wonder of what my mother might be going through, wherever she might be at that moment. There and then, I started praying to Allaah AWJ to please forgive her, whatever wrong she might have done while alive and bail her from anybody’s haqqi if she has done them wrong. 

That my Lord and Maker should please compensate whoever she owes, whatever it might be and set her soul free in Barzakh, pending when she will be admitted into Jannah and His AWJ’s much sought after Grace. Fortunately, I’ve dreamt of her 3 times already. She’s doing alright, bi iznilLaahi.

In one of such dream, we were at an occasion with Prof. Yusuf Adamu, and she came to the place. So I excitedly introduced her to him. As he respectfully greeted her and started thanking her for me, she said to him, smiling, “A’a haba ai mu ne da godiya”. More tears tore into my composure like a small child.

I had to stop myself as passersby were beginning to stare at me, wondering and whispering to each other what they thought was wrong with me. Though I never liked the idea of tinting off my car windows since I have nothing to hide, for a change, I wished I had done so, so I could indulge and enjoy my emotional outburst in full privacy. 

It’s not every day that such grace from Allaah happens to me. Anyway, I pray that all our parents who have died be in better existing conditions, wherever they may be right now than when they were here living on earth. 

May all other mothers and fathers be similarly forgiven for their wrongs, mistakes and shortcomings. Allaahumma amin thumma amin.

By Umm Khalid

When I was in college and still single, I was considering a proposal from a certain brother (named Daniel).

I had a conversation with one of my closest friends about what qualities are important to look for in a husband. Alhamdulillah, this Saudi friend was 5 years older than me and had seen many of her peers get married, and she gave me some wise advice.

She told me, “After checking on the basics, his deen and his خلق (character), you know what the most critical qualities are? He needs to be هَيِّن لَيِّن.”

These two Arabic words refer to basically the same general characteristic: one of ease, leniency. A man who is laidback, relaxed, easygoing. Basically, he should be a chill dude.

Of course, he can’t be chill about everything. We all have to stand for something, to care deeply about SOME issues, to be strict in SOME matters. But he should be strict when it matters, when it’s warranted; like when it comes to the commands and limits set by Allah, for example. Then he should absolutely not be chill or lenient, as that amounts to negligence and abandonment of the laws of Allah, and that leads to destruction.

But when it comes to other matters, smaller issues of inconsequential everyday things, you want your husband to be laidback. Not uptight, nitpicky, rigid, inflexible, exacting, OCD about the littlest things, overly sensitive to every small detail. Some people, just by their nature or personality, would be classified by most as “difficult people.”

You don’t want this type of rigidity in a husband. It makes everyday life unnecessarily stressful. Life is already hard enough by itself, that the last thing we need is a spouse who nitpicks and needs everything to be just so. Then married life would be a nightmare.

A good husband is a man who is tough or strict when he needs to be, but with his wife in their home life, he is relaxed and easy. He has a fun side and a sense of humor about life’s ups and downs, and is understanding when things go south. He is lenient with her and indulgent and forgiving (up to a point, of course! Within reason!). He doesn’t, for example, ask her why she moved this small object from this side table to the coffee table, or castigate her for accidentally putting in the wrong address into the GPS, or flip out if dinner is 15 minutes late or on the verge of being under-salted, or interrogate her about small and inconsequential details that are innocuous. Someone who acts this way is usually not easy to be around or live with.

You want your husband to be easy to live with. Because… you will live with him.

Alhamdulillah, now looking back more than a decade later, I completely confirm that advice. An easygoing, chill husband is an enormous blessing.

Of course, the thing is: as a wife, don’t forget to return the favor! If you are blessed with a chill husband, extend the same courtesy back to him and let the little things go. Don’t nitpick or nag him when he annoys you. No person is perfect.

By Rabi’u Muhammad Gama

Introduction

The Kano State Hisbah Board (hereinafter referred to as “the Board”) has been an object of controversy, particularly on social media, for quite some years – probably right from the inception of the Board. The controversy usually surrounds the way and manner by which the Board, or more properly, the foot soldiers of the Board (the Hisbah Corps), carry out its, supposedly, statutory responsibilities (functions), ranging from matchmaking, reconciling civil disputes between persons and/or organisations, seizing and destroying bottles of alcohol, imposing a certain mode of dressing on people to waylaying young people, especially males, when they seem to have a certain objectionable hairstyle considered to violate Islamic morals.

Even though some historical accounts of the philosophical underpinnings behind the evolution of Hisbah will be very rewarding for a better appreciation of the topic, this article restricts its scope to the constitutional status and the functions of Hisbah as provided for in the Kano State Hisbah Board Law No. 4 of 2003.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (hereinafter referred to as “the Constitution”) is the Supreme Law of the Land. It is the Law over and above which there is no other law. As such, if any other law, either deliberately or by necessary implication, happens to be inconsistent with the provision of the Constitution, the Constitution shall always prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of its inconsistency, be void and of no effect whatsoever. See Section 1(1)(2)(3) of the Constitution.

The Constitution is not only the Biggest Law of the Land, but it is also the  Fountain Law of the Land from which all other laws flow. It (the Constitution) distributes legislative powers between the federal and state legislatures. Section 4(1) confers on the National Assembly(which comprises the Senate and the House of Representatives) the power to make laws for the whole country or any part thereof. Section 4(6) likewise empowers the State House of Assembly to make laws for the state or any part thereof. However, these powers are to be exercised within some certain constitutional limits: the National Assembly cannot legislate outside the Exclusive Legislative List and the Concurrent Legislative List, while the State House of Assembly cannot, and shall not, trespass upon the Exclusive List. This clear distribution of powers forms the foundation of the debate as to the legality of the Hisbah Board Law, but that should be a topic for another day.

In response to the then prevailing circumstances and mounting agitation for the reintroduction of Shari’ah in the State, which was sparked by the reintroduction of Shari’ah in Zamfara State, the Kano State House of Assembly exercised the powers given to it by Section 4(6) of the Constitution by enacting a law known and cited as “The Kano State Hisbah Board Law No.4 of 2003, which brought the Hisbah Board into existence.

The Hisbah Board Law

The Kano State Hisbah Board Law, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”) came into force precisely on the 7^th  day of November 2003. The law is relatively short: it has 17 Sections only. Section 3(1) of the Law establishes for the State “…a Board to be known as the Kano State Hisbah Board”. “This Board”, says Section 5 of the Law, “shall be responsible for general policy-making as well as coordination of activities between State and…Local Government Hisbah Committees”.

Section 7(1) of the Law empowers the Board to establish the State “Hisbah Corps”, who, according to the Section, may be eligible for appointment as Justices of Peace. By virtue of Section 7(2), the Corps so established shall be under a Commander who shall be appointed by the State Governor. And the duty of the Commander of the Corps, by virtue of Section 7(3), shall be the general administration of the Corps.

According to Section 11(1) of the Law, the Board shall have a Secretary who shall be appointed by the State Governor. The Secretary to be appointed shall be a legal practitioner with not less than 6 years of post-call experience. That Secretary shall be both the legal adviser and the head of the legal department of the Board.

It is important to assert, at this juncture, that the Kano State Hisbah Board, in spite of the raging debate going on in the legal cycle, is a legal and lawful organisation/institution which is duly and validly created by the Kano State House of Assembly pursuant to Kano State Hisbah Board Law No.4 of 2003. See also the case of Yahaya Farouq Cheɗi v. A.G Federation (2006) 13 NWLR (Pt.997) 308  (CA).

Duties of the Hisbah Corps

The Hisbah Corps, created by Section 7(1) of the Law, is the most active arm/department of the organisation. The Corps is the foot soldiers and the chief executor of the responsibilities of the organisation. For the sake of clarity and precision, below are the functions, or rather, responsibilities of the Hisbah Corps, as provided for under Section 7(4) of the Law. According to the said Section, the Hisbah Corps shall have responsibilities to:

Render necessary assistance to the Police and other Security agencies; encourage Muslims to unite in their pursuit of justice; encourage kindness to one another; advise against acquiring of interest, usury, hoarding and speculation; encourage charitable deeds, particularly the payment of Zakkah; give advice on moral counselling; encourage orderliness at religious gatherings; encourage general cleanliness and environmental sanitation; reconciling of civil disputes between persons and/or organisations where parties are willing; assisting in traffic control; emergency relief operations; assisting in any other situations that will require the involvement of Hisbah.

Anything other than the above is beyond the statutory functions of the Hisbah Corps. This begs the question: can the Hisbah Corps give itself powers or functions that are not given to it by its enabling law? The answer is “No”! And one fundamental thing that can be deduced from the above functions is that the Corps seems not to have any “actual power” to execute anything. The Law seems only to empower the Corps to “advise”, “encourage,” and “assist”, nothing concrete and definite! The Hisbah Corps clearly has no power to arrest, detain, waylay or force anybody to do anything against his or her will. The Law could not be clearer, and it is there for all to see.

Conclusion

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, is the first and the ultimate law of the country, the Grundnorm of the Land, so to speak. It creates and empowers the Kano State House of Assembly to make law for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof. It is in the exercise of these powers that the Kano State House of Assembly made the Kano State Hisbah Board Law No. 4 of 2003, which brought into existence the Kano State Hisbah Board. The Kano State Hisbah Board Law, 2003, also creates the Hisbah Corps and empowers it with some specific functions and/or responsibilities.

It is the view of this writer that any act, no matter how noble or well-intentioned, done by the Board or the Corps must be in accordance with the provisions of the Kano State Hisbah Board Law, 2003; otherwise, the act is illegal, unlawful and ultra vires. And where an act of the Hisbah Board, or the Hisbah Corps,  happens to be in conformity with the Kano State Hisbah Board Law, 2003, but not in conformity with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999, or any other law validly made by the National Assembly, then the Constitution, or the law of the National Assembly, shall prevail and that act stands unlawful and illegal, no matter how religiously rewarding or well-intentioned the act is. See the case of Musa v. INEC (2002) LPELR-11119 (CA).

Rabi’u Muhammad Gama is a Law student; he writes from the Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano, BUK. He can be reached via rabiuminuwa327@gmail.com.

By Ibrahim Mukhtar 

A Nigeria-based Chinese woman accepted the religion of Islam at the palace of the Emir of Machina in Yobe State. 

The woman who was at the palace with her fiancé explained that no one forced her to accept the religion—she wanted Islam on her own conviction. 

After she took the Kalimatu al-Shahada from His Highness, the Emir of Machina, she was asked to choose the name she wanted.

The Daily Reality learned that she chose “Fatima” based on the advice given to her by her fiancé. 

Fatima was observed to have been happy and relaxed alongside all those with her in the Emir’s palace.

By Abdulhamid Muhammad

Sunday, 25th December 2022, was a day of revelations and feedback from the Waqf Ambassadors of the Zakah and Waqf Foundation, Gombe, Nigeria. It happened during the Uncovering Potentials Workshop (UPW) organized by the Foundation for the 1st and 2nd sets of its Waqf Ambassadors, which was facilitated by Dr Najeeb A.A. Gambo, a researcher with the Microsoft Company and Nigeria’s 2nd Google Certified Trainer.

It was conducted a day after a 2-day intensive induction training for the 2022/23 Waqf Ambassadors at the Foundation’s Training Room. As usual, of all the year-long life-changing training that the Foundation organizes monthly for its 80 enrolled Waqf Ambassadors annually, the UPW was highly impactful, thought-provoking and action-triggering.

In the closing session of the workshop, scores of youth voluntarily gave their testimonies on how the sessions of the workshops they have gone through in the last 12 months have completely revolutionized the way they look at the world financially and intellectually.

One of the ambassadors narrated how excited she was after starting a business and discovering that she could now do a lot of things with her earned income without asking or waiting for someone to give her. It was a great discovery because she grew up in a society that programmed her to think that she could not make money for herself.

Another person said that it was a workshop in ZAWFOG on reading culture that ignited in him the habit of reading books, and that has completely transformed his life, making him more creative and more confident, and hopeful about life.

Another Ambassador, whose parents hitherto paid all his bills, revealed how as a result of the motivation he got from these series of lectures is now able to earn more than the national minimum wage every month despite being still a student. And many of the participants went on and on.

These are a few of the testimonies, and I wished the Chairman of the Foundation, Ameer Abdullahi Abubakar, was there at the closing session to hear how the Foundation is making an impact and transforming lives. It is clear that his model is working; the Waqf Ambassadors are fast moving from poverty (p) to prosperity (p) and soon to philanthropy (p) in sha Allah. As envisioned by the founders of the Foundation, we will soon have a generation of youth who are rich enough and committed seriously to building our society through Waqf.

May Allah accept this from all the people who have contributed in one way or the other in moulding the next generation to be a productive one, amin. May He continue to bless the Foundation and take it to greater heights.

Abdulhamid Muhammad is a 2021 Waqf Ambassador and wrote from Gombe State, Nigeria.

By Ibrahim Mukhtar

The main aim behind the establishment of the famous School for Arabic Studies (SAS) Kano was solely to promote Shari’ah after the conquest of Northern Nigeria by the colonialists.

This was disclosed by Professor TIjjani Naniya of the History Department, Bayero University, Kano, during the SAS day celebrations, which marks the 82nd anniversary of the school.

The History professor went down the history lane and narrated how the school was established and how the then-colonial government wanted to undermine Shariah by promoting their own legal system.

According to the professor, “Sarki Alhaji, who was the first emir of Kano to have performed Hajj, was the one who applied and sought the approval of the colonial masters to establish a school which would cater for the peculiar legal needs of the Northern Muslims.

The colonial masters thought it would be another way to distort and dominate the Islamic legal system, but unknown to them, the School for Arabic Studies would outshine them and their mischief.”

Prof. Naniya narrated how the school admitted only brilliant students based on merit and how a son of a late business tycoon in Kano was expelled as a result of his bad attitude then.

He further talked at length about how the story of the school went high and how the model was copied and established in other states in Nigeria and beyond. Finally, he urged all the attendees to pray for those emirs and leaders who worked very hard to promote Islam and Shariah for all the country to benefit.

The 82nd anniversary took place Monday, December 26, 2022, on the school premises. The event was well-attended by the alumni of the school and other dignitaries.