Islam

By Franziskus Kazimierz (Casmil)

The Al-Mubarak International Film Production LTD movie Mutuwar Aure (Hausa: Death of the Marriage), produced in 2018, tells a story set in a modern-day Hausa community by and large dealing with the common, or perhaps a rather notorious topic of divorce in the Hausa cultural context. Thus, set exclusively within a family context, the film’s plot tells a narrative between a family drama – or what it may be for “Hausa eyes” – and a love-triangle story. It also heavily proselytizes Islam and defends its values and proscriptions – especially prayer – and against sorcery – a generally well-pronounced motive within Northern Nigeria’s Kannywood. It is, arguably, also against the oppression of women being pronounced by critics outside and within the community. 

But beyond the mentioned main themes in the film, Mutuwar Aure develops a pretty interesting plot structure on its own, awaiting the spectators with unexpected turnarounds and slightly mixing genres, thereby making the plot’s twist even more curious.

To give an overview of the film’s plot – which primarily involves but a few characters only, making the film more understandable but maybe giving it too much “soberness”. It will certainly not be a spoiler to cheat about its beginning, when Abbas hands over a divorce letter to his wife, Rahma, containing the emotionally charged words “Náà-sàkee-ki” – I divorce you. By that, Abbas, a young man maybe in his early thirties, cuts one of the three possible ropes (igiyoyi) – with three cut ropes making reunification of the couple almost impossible. The twist of gloom on Abbas’ face makes the story’s plot seem predetermined, making him the “bloody antagonist” within the film – and Rahma, his victim, to be defended.

It is in this pattern the plot seems to be starting, but it is also precisely from this moment on that the story takes the unconventional twists mentioned above. In defence of Rahma, her family – in whose house Abbas is living – with a strong accent on its women seems to be ready to do everything for her – pronouncing it in a very hostile manner. By avoiding showing the strength of reconciliation, Mutuwar Aure heavily resembles Fuska Biyu (dir. Yaseen Auwal, 2018), a well-known Hausa movie containing similar features of adult women’s aggressiveness in order to fight for the interest of their own family. Throwing Abbas’ possessions out of the house, he also has to leave – having tried himself to send Rahma and their children away before. What is unknown to the spectators at this time is that the house where Abbas and Rahma had lived was granted to him by Rahma’s dad out of generosity. Therefore, by working heavily with fading-in back plots and visualized daydreams, the viewers may get the impression of Abbas being more than an antagonist while also being shameless and ungrateful.

Still, the movie contains more secrets to reveal. The more Abbas comes to Rahma, her dad and her family, the more it also becomes clear that there is something more to the divorce. Rahma was rude to him when she suspected that Abbas was having an affair with his secretary, Zainab – in this regard, we can observe a reversed love triangle.  

Thus, shortly before Abbas can marry his secretary, Zainab, they can reunite by the strength of Rahma’s prayers – while Zainab is being rejected for using sorcerers to conquer Abbas’ heart – finally, the superiority of prayer over magic is demonstratively portrayed.

It can, therefore – also looking at the whole film – not be underlined enough in what grade the film proselytizes the traditional Islamic way of life. Rahma and her family, whom some might surely cheer in their fight for women’s rights initially, drop to be full of naivety and false morals, constantly humiliating a righteous man asking for their forgiveness. Rahma’s father finally admits that he had called him names for nothing.

Abbas, on the other side, a poor teacher at primary school who seems to be doing nothing but exploiting Rahma and her family until they don’t seem to be profitable anymore and moralistically reciting the Qur’an, changes to a mistakenly humiliated, righteous character. Rahma, herself, finally asks for his forgiveness.

While dealing with a fascinating plot, the way of making it a film probably could be better. The setting resembles Risala (dir. Abubakar S. Shehu, 2015) – as it is set in a different time – than other films being set in the modern day  – by being quite sterile. There are hardly any scenes beside the Abbas’ house, making it appear like filmed theatre – the exact production environment for many, especially early, Kannywood movies. Though constantly in the background, music doesn’t play any role like in vocal numbers. By the combination of these circumstances, the film looks pretty puristic. It might be, therefore – although there are significant differences, why not (?) – a counterpart of Risala set in modern times portraying Abbas to be an innocent man being persecuted. Interestingly, though – of course – the place where Mutuwar Aure is set in – does contain modern equipment, the modernity is not really to feel, probably by missing liveliness.   Also, in the end – and somehow similarly to Risala – the happiness is again relativized by new – though unreasonable – suspicions of Rahma.

Still, the plot is full of exciting and probably unconventional twists opening a broad horizon for this kind of movie. Though it could have been livelier and more trenchant in its actions, it still has a powerful message and is, by that, fitting to be talked about, if not purely for entertainment.

Casmil wrote from Cologne, Germany, via kafrakize@aol.com.

By Isa Muhammad Inuwa

Thousands of Muslims in Kano, Nigeria, had Thursday converged at the Umar Bin Al-Khattab mosque, where they offered funeral prayer in absentia for the repose of the soul of the deceased Sheikh Youssef Al-Qardawi, who passed on in Doha, Qatar, recently.

Leading the congregation, Imam Sheikh Yahaya Tanko delivered the prayer interluded with four Takbirs (Allahu Akbar! chants) and supplications.

Addressing the crowd shortly after, Sheikh Tanko recalled that the distant funeral prayer was first conducted by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), in Medina, for the soul of Al-Najjashi, the then late Emperor of Abyssinia (present Ethiopia). Al-Najjashi was deemed to have converted from Christianity to Islam before his death.

Also speaking to the gathering, Professor Muhammad Babangida of Bayero University, Kano, announced that the late Sheikh Al-Qardawi was “a famous Islamic scholar of international standing, who spent the largest part of his life contributing to Islamic knowledge, through his teachings, writings and extracting solutions to religious matters (Fatwa)”.

He added that the late Al-Qardawi authored no less than 170 books, some of which consisted of several volumes. He said he was head of numerous Islamic bodies and that he migrated from his home country Egypt to Qatar because of threats to his life by anti-Islamic forces.

He described the deceased as a moderate jurist who maintained a middle course in proposing solutions on matters of Islamic jurisprudence. “He neither swerved to the extreme nor tilted to the most lenient side”, adding that he was very apt in addressing current issues arising in modern life in his publications and jurisdictions.

The scholar also described Al-Qardawi’s death as a significant loss to the entire Muslim World, whose replacement is difficult to find. He then asked God to forgive the deceased and rest his soul in the highest abode of Paradise. 

By Ibrahim Siraj Adhama in Mecca

Baba Sayinna Goni Mukhtar and Musa Ahmad Musa, both from Borno State, are competing in the second and third categories of the competition, respectively.

The preliminary stage was held between Saturday and Sunday in the hotel where all the participants are lodged and only successful reciters will make it to the final stage which will be conducted under full public glare within the precincts of the Grand Holy Mosque starting Monday.

Participants in the competition were drawn from Muslim countries around the world as well as representatives of minority Muslim communities.

The International Competition, which is returning after two years suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, promises to be exciting with the introduction of Qira’at category (now first category) and an upward review of cash prizes to be won.

Highlights of this year’s competition include visits to important religious sites in Mecca and Medina.

The competition will draw to a close on September 21 with the announcement of winners and distribution of prizes.

By Mallam Musbahu Magayaki

On Thursday, 11 August 2022, my elder brother and I went to charitably donate a mini solar inverter under the auspices of Babayo Mustapha Charity Foundation, founded by Bello Mustapha (Kogunan Katagum), to a mosque behind “Gidan Babale”.

Patiently, we waited for a while before Mallam showed up in order to inform him of the donation we had brought about by this foundation aimed at helping the vulnerable, low-income, and most importantly, upgrading the true religion of Allah (Islam) by contributing to what is needed in rendering religious services based on the foundation’s economic status.

As Mallam came out of his house to attend to us, we sat faithfully before him and exchanged pleasantries, after which we briefed him of what had brought us there. After giving him all the details, he agreed to receive the package but insisted that he wanted to know the actual donor, to which we reluctantly replied that it was Bello Mustapha (Kogunan Katagum), the son of the late Alh. Babayo Mustapha.

Upon hearing that famous name, Babayo Mustapha, he asked us to sit down properly. He wanted to share a good testimony of the late Alh Babayo Mustapha’s acts, which he didn’t want to reveal to anyone, including his family and friends during his life.

Mallam starts by saying that the deceased provided the plot of land where that mosque was built. And he was the first religiously concerned individual who began laying the mosque’s foundation up to its completion. He extensively went on to state that there were several mosques within and outside Katagum built by the late Alh. Babayo Mustapha. But he didn’t want the mosque preservers to tell the general public that he was the person who built them.

Sincerely, Mallams’ words keep ringing in my ears, demonstrating what the late Alh. Babayo Mustapha left behind are seemingly following in their father’s footsteps by taking over from where he ceased. In the sense that they are fully committed to rendering all sorts of religious contributions in the likeness of their late father.

In conclusion, I pray for the late Alhaji Babayo Mustapha to have the highest place in Jannah for promoting his religion. And I would like to equally encourage those he left behind to continue stepping up their efforts in doing similar religious services as their father.

Mallam Musbahu Magayaki writes from Sabon Fegi, Azare.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Adam Muhammad, who lives in the UK, said he cried when he first arrived at Makkah for the 2022 pilgrimage. 

“I cried when I first arrived,” He told reporters. 

According to a report by Islamic Channel, the 53-year-old electrical engineer from the UK travelled around 4000 miles on foot to reach Saudi Arabia. 

He thanked the Saudi government for granting him and his family Hajj permits.

“The Saudi government granted my family and me Hajj permits when it knew I was travelling from the UK to Makkah on foot. I met with my family in Madinah after they arrived from the UK and walked together to Makkah. I feel grateful to them,” Adam said. 

While commenting on the journey, Adam said it was difficult, and he made it solely for Allah’s sake. 

“I would feel mentally exhausted, unable to eat or drink too. But then something inside me would tell me that what are you afraid of? You have Allah by your side, and you can make it. I have lived for 52 or 53 years for myself. Why can’t I dedicate 10 or 11 months to Allah?” He said. 

According to reports, Adam reached Ayesha Mosque in Makkah on June 26, where a huge crowd received him. 

Adam had documented the progress of his journey on TikTok, where he is very active with over 2.8 million likes.

By Bala Muhammad

Every Israeli Prime Minister makes it an article of faith to attack Palestine – both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But as the West Bank is usually led by the compliant and complacent so-called Palestinian Administration of PLO inheritors, it is mainly spared the fury of Israel. But Gaza, the home of HAMAS and Islamic Jihad, always takes the brunt whenever an Israeli leader wants to flex muscle and show ‘manhood’.

With each passing day of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, with each additional death of a child or mother, Muslims worldwide are becoming more militant, more fundamentalist, and more jihadic. This is very ominous for the West, on whose behalf Israel is doing what it is doing.

Samuel Huntington, who died not too long ago, wrote Clash of Civilisations. Now, more than ever before, this Clash is at hand. If there is any cause that unites Muslims today, it is the Palestinian Question; if there is any future war that Muslim youth would gladly join and wage, it would be the Jihad to liberate Al Aqsa, Al Quds and Palestine. But for the Western-propped-up Arab regimes encircling Gaza, many young people would have gone into the Strip to join the martyred army of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In the matter of HAMAS, Faith will always be Triumphant. Incidentally, The Faith Triumphant is the title of Chapter Eleven in one of the most important books of the Islamic Movement, Ma’alim fit Tariq (Milestones), written by the Movement’s leading intellectual and Martyr, Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ikhwan al Muslimun.

In Milestones, Qutb wrote: “Allah says, ‘Do not be dejected or grieve. You shall be the uppermost if you are Believers’ (3:139). The first thought which comes to mind on reading this verse is that it relates to the form of Jihad, which is actual fighting, but the spirit of this message and its application with its manifold implications is greater and broader than this particular aspect. Indeed, it describes that eternal state of mind that should inspire the believer’s consciousness. It describes a triumphant state which should remain fixed in the believer’s heart in the face of everything, every condition, every standard and every person; the superiority of the Faith.

“It means to be above all the powers of the earth which have deviated from the way of the Faith, above all the values of the earth not derived from the source of faith, above all the customs of the earth not coloured with the colouring of the faith, above all the laws of the earth not sanctioned by the Faith, and above all traditions not originating in the Faith. It means to feel superior to others when weak, few and poor, as well as when strong, many and rich. It means the sense of supremacy which does not give in before any rebellious force.

“Steadfastness and strength on the battlefield are but one expression among many of the triumphant spirit which is included in this statement of Almighty God. The superiority through faith is not a mere single act of will nor a passing euphoria or a momentary passion but is a sense of superiority based on permanent Truth centred on the very nature of existence.

“The person who takes a stand against the direction of the society – its governing logic, its common mode, its values and standards, its ideas and concepts, its error and deviations – will find himself a stranger, as well as helpless, unless his authority comes from a source which is more powerful than the people, more permanent than the earth, and nobler than life.

“Conditions change, the Muslim loses his physical power and is conquered; yet the consciousness does not depart from him that he is most superior. If he remains a Believer, he looks upon his conqueror from a superior position. He remains certain that this is a temporary condition which will pass away and that faith will turn the tide from which there is no escape. Even if death is his potion, he will never bow his head. Death comes to all, but for him, there is martyrdom. He will proceed to the garden while his conquerors go to the fire. What a difference!”

So wrote Sayyid Qutb. Let us now end today’s treatise with the following story on Challenge, the type the Palestinians are facing: “The Japanese love fresh fish. However, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the catch. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

“To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen, and they did not like frozen fish. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem?

“To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now, they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. Because they are challenged, they kick and protest and ultimately arrive fresh. Or martyred.”

Allah has put a tiny shark (Israel) in the Arab tank. Only some fish called Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are kicking. The others are frozen stiff. RIP. After all, L. Ron Hubbard once wrote: “Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.”

May Allah help the Palestinians.

Dr Bala Muhammad wrote from Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via balamuhammad@hotmail.com.

• Book time: The Walking Qurʾan: Islamic education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa
• Author: Rudolph T. Ware III.
• Date of Publication: 2014
• Number of Pages: 330
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Reviewer: Shamsuddeen Sani

After recently reading a book about Quranic Schools in Northern Nigeria, I was left hungry for a less Western way of presenting the subject matter. So I serendipitously laid my hands on this book, and knowing that I have read about the author in the past, I didn’t hesitate to devour it.

Following a broad introductory section, the book delves deeply into an interdisciplinary examination of the knowledge philosophy underlying Quranic education. This required an in-depth historical ethnography of the institution in modern-day Senegambia, which lays the way for comprehension of the conceptualization and transmission of knowledge. It also strengthens the case that internalizing texts, even by swallowing them, was crucial to understanding and remembering the material. This book’s central concept represents the embodiment and actualization of Islamic knowledge.

Importantly, these early chapters look at the emergence and long-term evolution of a native West African clerisy. Ware underscores how these African Islamic instructors and thinkers were the primary agents of Islamization in a continent unperturbed by the early Islamic conquests. In order to avoid rulers (and maintain their independence), they established a unique framework for the interactions between political and religious powers. It also emphasizes both moral and political economies of studying and teaching the Qur’an throughout the 18th century focusing on how the growth of the Atlantic slave trade led to the breakup of this model of pious distance from power.

As we near the middle of the book, Ware thoroughly explored the historical account of the enslavement of ‘huffaz’ in Senegambia from the 1770s until the advent of the French colonial rule in the late 19th century. With clerics viewed as embodied exemplars of the Quran, such incidents of enslavement were perceived as more than just violations of Islamic law, but as desecrations of the Book of God.

The book meticulously illustrates the chronological narrative of Senegambia’s revolts, rebellions, and even revolutions inspired by the enslavement of “the walking Qur’an.” Without going further into spoilers, these historical happenings culminated in the climactic radical movement by African Muslim clerics and their disciples, with a cascade of events leading to the overthrow of hereditary slave-owning kings in 1776, the abolition of both the Atlantic slave trade in the Senegal River Valley and the slavery institution itself.

These narratives would lack crucial context if they did not include the efforts of formerly enslaved people and other oppressed groups to use the legal abolition of slavery in the French colonial state to assert their dignity through the dissemination of the Qur’an in the early 20th century. They fought to transform their very selves through Islamic education while doing so from within the epistemology of embodiment and in opposition to regional traditions that stigmatized their bodies because of their social standing. The establishment of mass Sufi organizations and the emergence of new French and Muslim teaching forms were only two of the many changes in colonial Senegal’s political and educational landscapes fueled by this knowledge-sifting process.

This outstanding work profoundly serves as the first step for anyone interested in learning about Qur’anic instruction in West Africa. A significant chunk of detail about Quranic education in West Africa jumps right off the page, you can feel the author’s passion, and as he claims, this is the narration from within. The writing style is genuinely simple and engaging and has a powerful sense of atmosphere. It gives you a lot to chew on and is one of those books that it would not feel right if you didn’t give it the five stars it deserves.

Rudolph T. Ware III is a historian of West Africa at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He formerly taught at the University of Michigan and then at Northwestern University. His work aims to confront and dispel Western misconceptions about Islam.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A Kano State pilgrim in Mecca has passed on in the holy city of Mecca. 

The Executive Secretary of the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Muhammed Abba-Muhammad, disclosed this to the press on Saturday, August 6, 2022. 

The Executive Secretary said Idris Muhammad, who hailed from Madobi Local Government Area, passed on after a brief illness in a Hospital in Mecca. 

“The deceased has been buried according to Islamic rites at Grand mosque at Masjid Haram Shira yard in Mecca,” He said

He also prayed for the deceased and extended his condolence to his family.

By Dr Raji Bello

The past few years have witnessed a gradual emergence of references in public commentary and social media to a potential or actual rupture of relations between Hausa and Fulani groups in the Northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Prior to this, the two groups had enjoyed a largely harmonious relationship for much of their history which was only punctuated during the period of the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate.

Since Nigeria came into being at the turn of the 20th century, conflict between the two groups was limited to occasional farmer/herder disputes. While the region has distinct Hausa (majority) and Fulani (minority) communities in the rural areas, the urban centres tend to have mostly mixed populations united by the Hausa language and Islam, which eliminates the possibility of ethnic conflict.

The idea of Hausa/Fulani antagonism began to emerge several years ago in the commentaries of individuals from outside the North like Femi Fani-Kayode and Nnamdi Kanu who relished in promoting it as a potential tool for undermining northern hegemony, as they saw it. But recent developments in the Northwest like the emirship succession in Kano and Zazzau, and the violent conflict between rural Fulani and Hausa vigilante groups as well as the wave of banditry against local communities by Fulani elements has created narratives of Hausa/Fulani conflict among northerners themselves.

As we acknowledge this new reality, it is also important to recognise that there are two strands of these narratives out there and the motives of those who articulate each of them are different. I will group them into non-extremist and extremist narratives.

Non-extremist narratives

These are propagated by ordinary Hausa citizens who are concerned by what they see as the continued suppression of Hausa identity and prestige as well as threats to the security of Hausa communities in parts of the Northwest as a result of banditry. They hold an unfavourable view of the existence of exclusively Fulani traditional ruling dynasties in Hausa-dominated emirates like Kano, Katsina, and Zazzau which were established when the Sokoto Caliphate came into being over 200 years ago. They object to the references that are often made to the Fulani heritage of the emirs (although I believe that this is not done out of ethnic chauvinism but because of a need for historical accuracy). These are concerns that the state governments in the Northwest can engage, with a view to introducing reforms that would assuage negative feelings and lead to a more harmonious society.

Traditional institutions play a vital role in preserving our heritage but for some segments of society, they may also be permanent reminders of an unpalatable past. It is the responsibility of modern day governments to ensure that they strike a balance between the two i.e. preserving heritage while not alienating some segments of society.

Reforms could be introduced that would formally recognise and integrate the legacies of the pre-Caliphate Hausa emirs. Like a contributor Aliyu Ammani has suggested in a Daily Trust article, Hausa ruling houses could be included as contenders during succession to the emirships; our governors are fond of creating new emirates where they didn’t exist before and therefore, they should not find it difficult to create new ruling houses within the existing emirates. The Sokoto state government may also consider elevating the status of the Sarkin Gobir of Sabon Birni – the ancient Hausa kingdom of Gobir being the epicentre of the Sokoto Jihad.

Governments have a duty to recognise and preserve heritage holistically; the heritage of some segments of society should not be elevated over those of others in a post-Caliphate and post-colonial nation state. This is a recipe for entrenching communal tension and possible conflict. The Northwest governments should collectively nip these emerging issues in the bud and not allow them to fester and grow into major problems in the future.

I expect some readers to either say that these suggestions are too radical or that they will be impossible to implement. I’m used to hearing this from reform-shy Nigerians who like things to remain just as they are even when the existing situation is pushing us towards the edge of the cliff.

The second cause for concern is, of course, the ongoing wave of banditry against local Hausa communities in many parts of the Northwest in which Fulani elements are major actors. However, this is not primarily an ethnic conflict; if communities that have lived in peace for generations are now locked in violent conflict we need to scratch below the surface to find the actual causes.

The banditry is a symptom of the failure of governance at various levels. Even a report commissioned by the Zamfara state government (the MD Abubakar-led committee) has alluded to that by indicting former governors, top government officials, traditional rulers and members of the security services. There are chronic issues with agricultural land management, law enforcement capacity, corruption and maladministration by local officials and traditional rulers.

The lack of a long term plan by successive federal and state governments for transitioning nomadic pastoralists to modern and sustainable livelihoods is itself an evidence of leadership failure. While people are entitled to show concern about the apparent ethnic divide in the conflict, it is clear that it is not fundamentally an ethnic one.

Extremist narratives

These are deeply inciting and apocalyptic portrayals of the state of Hausa/Fulani relations in the Northwest which are propagated on the internet by people with no apparent desire for peaceful co-existence. Their aim seems to be to incite a major upheaval in order to undermine the fabric of society. They are a faceless mix of anarchists, genocide entrepreneurs and probably, people with a religious agenda. They often start their narratives by depicting the arrival of the Fulani in Hausa land hundreds of years ago as an invasion, then portray Usman Danfodio as the original Fulani bandit leader before dwelling on their favourite topic of interrogating the validity of Hausa-Fulani as a descriptive term for a segment of the population of the Northwest. They hide behind a veneer of seductive Hausa ethnic nationalism but their true agenda is to engineer maximum disruption in the Northwest which they hope would serve their interests.

There is a YouTube site and a Facebook page dedicated to the project (yes, it does appear to be a well-funded project) and I have viewed a few of their videos. Some of the voices on the videos bear distinct Nigerien accents (with French-influenced pronunciations) and some of their messages give a hint that they are non-Muslim Hausas. One of the voices called for unity among Hausa people of all faiths – Muslim, Christian and pagan to confront the Fulani threat, as they saw it. From my knowledge of northern Nigerians, it is very unlikely that a Hausa Muslim Nigerian would call for unity between Hausa Muslims and Hausa pagans considering how paganism is viewed in Islam. A Hausa individual who makes this call is likely to be a non-Muslim. And if those behind the extremist messages on the internet are non-Muslim Hausas, the question arises about whether they are working for a religious agenda or not. By saying “non-Muslim Hausas” I’m not necessarily alluding to the Hausa Christian community; there are also a small but assertive number of Hausa atheists and modern day pagans who are not necessarily enamoured of the prevailing order in Northwest society. If anyone feels that I’m being alarmist here, they should visit the YouTube channel of Jaruma Hausa Tv and listen to the messages themselves.

Conclusion

Authorities in the Northwest need to face the new reality of tension and misgivings between the hitherto harmonious communities of Hausa and Fulani. There are issues that are germane (the exclusivist Caliphate traditional dynasties in some of the Northwest emirates and the ongoing banditry) behind the new unease in ethnic relations which need to be actively addressed, in order to re-establish harmony. But it should also be recognised that not all those who are currently pushing narratives of Hausa/Fulani conflict or Hausa nationalism on the internet are working for peaceful co-existence. Some of them are merely exploiting contemporary issues in the Northwest to achieve their own dark agenda.

By Aisha Musa Auyo

There’s this widespread belief that going into marriage makes one complete. It’s one area that most couples have gotten wrong. We can probably blame our movies and fairytales for most of it. But, perhaps, it’s a mere misappropriation of the word ‘complete’ in relation to marriage.

It makes a great storyline that someone can come into your life and complete you. The problem is that you are already a complete person, created by Allaah with or without someone else in your life.

If you have perceived lacks and weaknesses, you need to seek Allaah, your Creator alone, to help you fill those spaces, not another person. As long as you feel you must have another human to complete you, you are a danger to them and yourself.

No one within themselves can fill you with everything you need. You will drain your spouse with unrealistic expectations, and when you finally discover that they cannot provide all that you need, you will become dissatisfied and frustrated. You will begin to think that you may have made a mistake picking your spouse, which could tear you two apart.

Now, suppose you begin to put your spouse in proper perspective, realizing that Allaah allowed you two to come together and complement one another with each other’s unique characteristics and strengths. In that case, you can then learn to appreciate your spouse without draining them.

Learning how to lighten the relationship with each other’s talents and abilities enhances and improves your lives together. This is not always the most straightforward key to understand and embrace, but as you figure it out, it will allow much of the tension in your home to drain away.

Aisha Musa Auyo is a Doctorate researcher in Educational Psychology, a mother of three, a Home Maker, caterer and parenting/ relationship coach.