Muslims

Author: Richard Eaton

Number of Pages: 489

Date of Publication: 2019

Publisher: University of California Press

In case you’re too lazy to read the book, it is all about the time when Islam was the dominant ruling religion in the Indian subcontinent from the sociopolitical, economic and military perspectives.

This is a very interesting book that, according to the author, challenges some preconceived narratives and stereotypes on the complex interactions between India and the Persian-speaking world during the medieval period.

The book takes a long view of the political dynamics of the Persianate age, discussing the emergence of the Mughal empire, its spread and culmination, and its interplay with other contemporary gunpowder empires: the Ottoman and the Safavid.

Naturally, any discussion on the emergence of the Mughal Empire must include a historical look at Timur, a controversial figure whom I believe many Western authors, unfairly criticize. Of course, there was an entire chapter dedicated to Abu al-Muzaffar Muhi-ad-Din Muhammad Bahadur Alamgir Aurangzeb Badshah al-Ghazi, under whose 49-year reign the Mughal empire reached its peak in terms of glory and geographical extent.

The author builds the bulk of his arguments upon a very deep historical background, and he closely examines the role of Persianate age in shaping religious and intellectual developments in India.

He also discusses the impact of Sufism on Indian society and explores how Persian texts played a crucial role in the spread of Islamic mysticism across the subcontinent. This way, the book provides insights into the assimilation of Persianate cultural practices into Indian religious traditions, such as the development of Persian-influenced styles of devotional poetry in languages like Urdu.

The author, Richard Eaton is an American historian at the University of Arizona.

Shamsuddeen Sani wrote from Kano, Nigeria.

By Rabiu Isah Hassan

Citing the killing of an army officer by bandits in Katsina recently, Sheikh Musa Yusuf Assadussunnah shows the futility of military measures in resolving the pastoralist-peasant conflict in northern Nigeria. By this daring act, the insurgents have demonstrated that the military, much less the vigilante, cannot end the insurgency. According to him, the only solution is a truce. From other sermons by clerics and numerous online items from the conflict area, it appears Assadussunnah is misreading the situation. Not only are the insurgents receiving severe setbacks, but the signs are also ominous. 

The army officer might have been killed not because the troops were weak or ill-equipped but because he exposed himself to unnecessary danger. The way the vigilante and locals praise his determination and commitment suggests he might have been motivated to sacrifice himself for Nigeria and significantly for a Hausa cause. In a way, the prolongation and viciousness of the conflict have started affecting the soldiers on the ground; as in any internal crisis, the armed forces, which are supposed to be neutral, are gradually and inexorably drawn into its vortex.

No group has drawn the wrath of most Nigerian groups, perhaps except for the Igbo during the Nigerian crisis of 1966-1970, like the ethnic Fulani presently. Anti-Fulani sentiments, always simmering below the surface mainly due to perceived historical wrongs, are now erupting due to the current widespread atrocities of mostly pastoral Fulani. An inchoate coalition of mostly Hausa youths and northern minorities is emerging based on shared grievances against the Fulani. Their violent rhetoric, both online and offline, reflects the extent to which the Fulani have slipped down from decent beings and citizens to savages and aliens. No amount of infractions against the ethnic Fulani is seen as grotesque or repugnant.

The troops on the ground and the Hausa vigilante have fused into a hardened armed fist against their perceived enemy. From diverse reports, a discernible pattern is emerging. As the soldiers attack the bandits, the vigilante form their rear, mopping up any stragglers and often dispersing or exterminating ethnic Fulani along their path. The vigilante are also at liberty to arrest, detain, and kill any ethnic Fulani or Hausa informers in an attempt to root out collaborators or destroy the bandits’ supply channels. When the bandits feel the heat, they attack, maim, and kill Hausa peasants randomly. They threaten to stop farming this season, forcing the government and the sedentary population into another truce. This only inflames the soldiers and the vigilante, resulting in more indiscriminate attacks against ethnic Fulani.

Some Islamic clerics still maintain that military operations will not end the insurgency and that the government should negotiate with the bandits to end the bloodletting. These statements make the bandits believe in their invincibility anddangerously encourage them to see their actions as serving an ethnic cause. In a bizarre twist, the bandits have come to link their survival with that of the ethnic Fulani. Since they no longer see themselves as the cause of the Fulani predicament, their removal from the scene is out of the question. This intransigence is further fueling the binary that currently pits the Fulani against the Hausa. Thus, instead of viewing the conflict as occupational and the bandits as criminals, some sections of the ulema have come to regard it as communal, with the insurgents seen as activists.

What some clerics and others fail to appreciate is that both the Hausa-speaking sedentary population of the Northwest and the pastoral Fulani have become one community through centuries of exchange. The pastoral Fulani are essentially an occupational and remnant group continuously absorbed into the general Hausa population. In other words, they do not exist as separate and closed groups. Like similar groups throughout history, the bandits are deviants that have emerged due to internal crises. They need to be tamed or destroyed, not hailed as vanguards of any ethnic group.

With the bandits vowing to fight to the bitter end, they risk dragging the rest of the ethnic Fulani into the abyss with them. The intensity and randomness of their attacks testify to this deranged stance. The indiscriminate reprisals from the other side are making life unbearable for the ethnic Fulani. As the noose tightens around them, there is little chance for their offspring to continue the fight as they hope. A war of attrition would only lead to their decimation; they cannot withstand the combined strength of the Nigerian state and the Nigerian masses. 

Unlike the Igbo, who returned to their homeland following the pogroms in Northern Nigeria, the ethnic Fulani are losing their remaining sanctuaries. If the war becomes protracted or its viciousness intensifies, the country risks sliding into the fate of Mali and Burkina Faso. With the bandits terrorising almost half of the country and the army engaged in fighting them in about a quarter of it, hatred against the Fulani is increasing among the soldiers. 

Like the inchoate movement developing among the ethnic Hausa and northern minorities online, a conspiratorial group with similar configuration and motivation could develop within the army. Given the toxicity across the land and the increasing hardship, they might attempt a putsch. As in Mali and Burkina Faso, where the raison d’être of the juntas is the containment of the Fulani in the case of the former and their destruction in the latter’s case, an idealistic junta in Nigeria would unleash its reign of terror not only against the ethnic Fulani but also against their symbols.

There is only one possible way to avert this Armageddon. Many groups before them have avoided this ruinous outcome. Recently, the Kanuri, who formed the bulk of the supporters of Boko Haram, quietly abandoned their weapons and dispersed among the general population as the magnitude of the catastrophe loomed. The followers of Maitatsine had followed the same course after realising the folly of confronting the state. After valiant resistance against Rabeh at the end of the nineteenth century, many Kanuri surrendered, and others fled. The leaders of the Sokoto Caliphate retreated in the face of superior arms. After their defeat at Burmi, a few withdrew from the territory and eventually submitted to the British authorities in Sudan. At the same time, the majority reconciled themselves to the new order in Northern Nigeria. When the Biafran secessionists realised that their intransigence would only lead to more destruction of the Igbo, they removed themselves from the scene to pave the way for surrender. These were the practical and noble paths taken in Germany and Japan at the end of the Second World War and countless previous conflicts. 

The preservation of the ethnic Fulani must supersede the bandits’ ego, and only surrender would spare their kinsmen from possible destruction. They should give themselves up and be tried in a military tribunal. Like the Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War, they must be sentenced based on the gravity of their offences. The minors could be assembled and enrolled in a rehabilitation program. A bold resettlement and integration plan must be rolled out for the pastoral Fulani. Parallel communities should not be allowed to resurface; the pastoralists should be settled among the sedentary population to end mistrust and bigotry. The homogeneous, stable, and prosperous nation that would emerge would be the compensation for these painful sacrifices. 

Rabiu Isah Hassan wrote from the Arewa House/Department of History, ABU Zaria. He can be contacted at rabiurafani@gmail.com.

By Isma’il Hashim Abubakar

Schools established, owned and run by non-state actors and private institutions have, no one doubts, been providing a veritable substitute to the dilapidated public schools which have been suffering from wanton neglect by governments at various levels in Nigeria. Private schools have successfully, though not completely, reduced the burdens on governments to supply basic education for children in their public schools, which have been perpetually operating under the shadows of existential threat.

Although people of all social strata now have more faith in private schools and parents with even the meanest incomes and most fledgling source of earning, who always struggle to make ends meet, prefer to take their children to commercial schools at the behest of other life comforts, public schools, which serve as the last option for the extremely downtrodden, still seem to get congested due to the high number of enrollments of children from low-income families. If this indicates anything at all, it shows that people have now fully embraced modern education, and they can sacrifice the expensive things they have just to secure a quality formal education for their wards and children. 

While, as everyone knows, public schools tend not to have too many demands apart from the meagre or more affordable tuition fees, their private counterparts, in most cases, operate in such a way that many parents inwardly feel that the system is tilting more toward a business direction in an obvious capitalist fashion, despite that the dominant pretension of both parents and school managers is that of purely imparting knowledge and building sound character to the young and upcoming generation.

Many schools are extraordinarily excellent in both transmitting sound knowledge and instilling good morals in pupils, and as such, no material gratification can remunerate their work or compensate the teachers for their hard work, dedication and commitment toward discharging their duties and keeping good custody of what has been entrusted to them. In fact, some well-to-do parents often give gifts to teachers as an expression of gratitude for feeding their children with sound knowledge, which is primarily the responsibility of the parents but perfectly undertaken by the teachers on their behalf. As such, many parents may not bother with and will gently turn blind eyes to some straitjacketed and arbitrary financial demands that most commercial schools are now introducing day in and day out.

Some schools go beyond decorum and do not, in the least, pretend to be shy to depict their operation as a purely extortionate venture, deemphasizing the moral and instructional dimensions which their institutions are set upon. Parents now no longer feel at ease after having settled school fees which are the most basic financial burden that comes to everyone’s minds once private schools are mentioned. Not only do textbooks and instruction materials represent the source of anxiety that parents grapple with, but virtually everything which a school stipulates, largely with a marketing mindset. While most schools impose decrees that make it binding upon parents to buy textbooks, stationeries and all other instructional materials from the schools, some schools turn it into a rule that pupils and students must never be allowed into schools wearing uniforms supplied to them by their parents through all other channels apart from the tailoring unit of the schools.

Schools do complain that external tailors often violate dress codes and principles earmarked by the schools, including non-compliance with size, width and length but above all, the lack of authority to manufacture and issue official badges that are glued to uniforms. Hiding behind this pretext, schools have seized the free will of parents to transact with tailors of their choice, and because they aspire for their children to acquire quality education, they relinquish their right and bow down to the pressure of the schools. 

There is, however, no guarantee that the tailoring units of schools themselves are perfect for designing the most fitting and immaculate school attire for pupils. Having taught at both primary and secondary schools (as well as university), I have personally seen pupils wearing school-supplied uniforms that never matched or fully fitted the bodily structures of the pupils. If this is the case, this particular rule might have been informed more by a business instinct and less by a concern to preserve institutional dress codes. Parents of final year students who could only afford to pay for either WAEC or NECO exams for their children, which by the way, is better than missing both of them at once, are coerced by some schools to move heavens and earth to pay for the two exams or risk having their children removed from the list of graduating students. When they could not settle for the fees of the two exams and require the refunds of their money, they hardly recuperate more than half of what they have paid. 

Perhaps the most brazen example of such pecuniary impositions manifests in the demands of some schools on parents to pay internet charges, which would have been understandable and justified if pupils or students were engaged in regular computer lessons that are punctuated at close intervals by visits to websites. Alas! There are schools which extort this surcharge even from parents of nursery pupils, and the only justification for it is the data consumed by Whatsapp groups of parents initiated by the schools on which an administrator often sends announcements.

Many parents relate with schools while they are inwardly burnt due to how things have become in private schools, but because they envisage a better future for their children, they prefer to remain mute and only murmur their complaints on the rarest occasions or when they meet with fellow parents by the roadsides. The best opportunity for them to communicate or even express their squawks loudly to the schools is during periodic parents-teachers meetings, but the schools have been, paradoxically, hijacking and making platforms to further advocate their fiendish and self-aggrandizing policies. Their covert strategy is to appoint a loyal, docile and exceedingly compliant head of Parent-Teachers’ Association (PTA), and to gag his mouth for fear of being influenced by nonconformist parents, the schools bribe him with some free scholarship slots for his children. As a result, he weakens and sabotages any attempts by the parents to rise and challenge arbitrary extortions they suffer from these schools. 

Other schools have different, perhaps more treacherous strategies of navigating intricacies and tackling eventualities that may come up owing to this venture, such as giving undertaking papers for parents to sign before the children are accepted at the stage of enrollment, and many parents are carried away by the desire for the admission of their children and often don’t pay commensurate attention to these documents or mull over their future implications. The question that, however, is seldom asked, what is the legality of these modes of institutional marketing practices that have become norms in not only purely western-style schools but also model Islamic schools? To what extent do these operations comply with Islamic teachings and principles, and what are the business dimensions of these dealings which should then ideally be done and looked at from the viewpoint of Islamic commercial and financial regulations?

First of all, everyone knows what schools are primarily meant for, which is imparting knowledge and this should be the apex among all the operations that are expected to exist in the schools. Hence, from this prism, school fees are the most obligatory financial demands that parents are, by default, owed to schools and upon which any compromise will be a favour that the schools could grant or deny at will. Any other charge or tax is secondary and gains its legitimacy according to how it complements the primary function of schools, but, above all, it should be done in a transparent atmosphere defined by mutual agreement and understanding. In other words, selling textbooks, stationery and instructional materials at schools should be governed by Islamic commercial laws, without discrimination or thinking that schools could do as they will without referring to Islamic stipulations. If this is the case, then these materials sold to parents must be on the basis of freewill and agreement and not impositions that may result in penalties. 

Of course, many schools publish exercises and textbooks with their names and logos finely inscribed, which then makes it compulsory for parents to obtain the materials in no other places but the schools. Many other schools, meanwhile, retail the materials from markets and sell them to parents at exorbitant prices that at times double or triple the normal market prices. All these are normal and should be considered lawful businesses if only it is done with a mutual agreement such that parents have the liberty to buy either from the schools or at markets, or in the former case, if the materials are not sold arbitrarily at unimaginable prices just because of the inscriptions of logos and names. 

The general Islamic principle that confers legitimacy or otherwise to any business venture is free will and mutual agreement, and interestingly, this is explicitly postulated by the Qur’anic verse and Hadith, the two most fundamental sources of Islamic law. Allah says:

“Yā ayyuha alladhīna āmanū lā ta’kulū amwālakum bainakum bi al-bāṭil illā an takūna tijāratan ‘an tarāḍin minkum. Wa lā taqtulū anfusakum. Inna Allaha kāna bikum Raḥīma”.

“O you who believe! Eat not up your wealth among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade by mutual good-will: Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah has been to you Most Merciful!” [Sūrat al-Nisā’: 29].

In his groundbreaking exegetical work al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, the prolific commentator of the Qur’an, Muḥammad Ṭāhir Ibn ‘Āshūr posits that the prohibition to eat up people’s wealth without mutual agreement is paired with the crime of murder in the verse to draw Muslims’ attention on the gravity and heinousness of such a practice. He argues that it is emphasized because people do not largely consider it something significant and the victim is usually powerless and could hardly resist (as it occurs in private schools).

Moreover, in an authentic Ḥadith narrated by Anas bin Mālik, the Prophet (SAW) says, “lā yaḥillu mālu imri’in Muslimin illā ‘an ṭībi nafsin”. (It is unlawful to take a Muslim’s wealth except with his goodwill). [Dāru Qutnī, 3/26].

As asserted earlier, a lot of transactions in private schools are imposed upon parents, and school authorities often warn parents and even threaten to apply penalties when these marketing ventures are observed in the breach, leaving no room for a bargain and mutual consent that would ordinarily prevail in open transactions. Since this is the case, only a few people will contest the illegality of this practice. Needless to say, some officials and authorities, including ironically, of schools paraded as Islamic models, are, to some extent, oblivious of the legal status of their policies, although this is not a valid, genuine and acceptable reason. A Muslim is, after all, and before anything else, principally required to be fully conversant with the pros and cons of any action he undertakes.

One of the easiest ways to make amends and rectify this wrong tradition, irrespective of how well consolidated it is, how difficult it may be to refrain from or how odd our argument may sound to some, is to be so transparent and open to parents and gear the deal to be dictated by consent and mutual agreement. Freewill and mutual agreement are pivotal in any financial dealing and they determine whether it is done lawfully or unlawfully. 

And since schools, especially the religious ones, enjoy respect from parents, it will hardly be burdensome to mutually arrive at some understanding, and this, as beautifully ratiocinated by Ibn ‘Āshūr, could lead to the implementation of the divine principle that “if they give up willingly to you anything of it, then take it in satisfaction and ease” (fa in ṭibna lakum an shai’in minhu nafsan fakulūhu hanī’an marī’a) [Sūrat al-Nisā’, 4].

Indeed there is a need for governments to intervene and reintroduce guidelines that will neither oppress the schools nor allow them to do as they like, pertaining to their financial dealings with parents. Parents in Kano, for instance, will certainly look back with nostalgia at the era of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who laid down modalities that checkmated arbitrary extortions of parents by commercial schools. He formed a formidable committee that regularly went around schools and observed their operations to ensure they complied with state regulations, most of which were meant to shield masses from further extortions.

Unfortunately, Kwankwaso’s successors did not maintain the tempo, and now things are, to say the least, almost getting out of control. School authorities would increase school fees at will and would rush to mention inflation as a cause and the need to better the condition of their staff, while in essence, it is the proprietor and a few notable among his cliques that would end up enjoying while flowing pittance to and leaving the majority of staff to keep on wallowing in despondency.

Ismail writes from Rabat, the Kingdom of Morocco and can be reached via ismailiiit18@gmail.com.

By Dr Musa Ibrahim

The popular Facebook user claiming intellectuals hardly watch Kannywood films and his supporters should understand 1) the need to ensure they conduct proper research on any subject matter or study the existing literature before speaking about it; 2) they could benefit from some guidance on critical engagement with terms, even if they are in our mother tongues, such as ‘wayewa.’ This would help them understand the concept from multifaceted perspectives and know how to use it when referring to ‘self’ and ‘other’ people’s ‘lifeworlds.’ 

When engaging with the Hausa terms ‘wayewa’ and ‘wayayyu’ (intellectualism and intellectuals, although the translations are subject to discussions), the critical questions we should ask about these terms in relation to Kannywood are: what is ‘wayewa’ (intellectualism)? Who exactly are ‘wayayyu’ (intellectuals)? Can we really know all ‘wayayyun mutane’ (intellectuals) and what they do in private and make sweeping statements about all of them without conducting thought research?

For me, it’s difficult to say who ‘wayayyu’ are because it’s subjective and varies from person to person. I mean, who someone regards as wayyaye might not be considered one by others and vice versa. Therefore, it appears to me that the person who made such a claim and their supporters may be ‘unintelligent/unintellectual’ (lacking in intelligence and intellectual approaches) or ignorant about the subjects they are referring to, especially since they ‘speculate’ about the so-called ‘wayyayun mutane’ without considering the diversity of the group. 

As a researcher of popular cultures in Africa, I can report as a fact that all categories of people in northern Nigeria and beyond watch Kannywood films. In the qualitative research we conducted, we interviewed academics, high-profile ‘ulama (Muslim clerics), lawyers, politicians, public workers (some of whom are highly placed decision-makers at various government levels), traders, and various categories of Western and/or Islamic-educated individuals who have been watching Kannywood films.

Ordinarily (if not because of our research), many of our interlocutors may not just openly admit to watching Kannywood films because of the unnecessary stereotypes associated with them. However, some of them go to the extent of referencing specific scenes from the movies they had watched to either illustrate their points or make comparisons with other films. Some influential people and their family members personally communicate with Kannywood stars they know from movies and spend millions to have them perform at their ceremonies. 

So, if we were to believe the claim that ‘intellectuals’ don’t watch Kannywood films, then we would have to say that all those who control the affairs of the region (in which the person making the claim probably lives) are not ‘wayyayu.’ However, regardless of the complexity of the terms wayewa and wayayyau, many would agree that people in the categories mentioned above, including our revered Muslim scholars who participated in the research, could fit into the ‘wayewa’ category or one of its categories (if there are many). Ba za mu ce dukkan su ba wayayyau bane.

So, the person making the claim and the bunch of uncritical minds who agreed with it have just succeeded in portraying themselves as lacking intelligence and critical thinking skills (which is synonymous to wayewa) to engage with the same concept, ‘wayewa,’ at least in this case. This is because they seem not to know ‘how’ and ‘when’ to speak for themselves and ‘how’ and ‘when’ to speak for others from an informed perspective (based on outcomes of scientific research). This also includes avoiding generalisations.

Despite politically motivated censorship from the 2000s to today, Kannywood has survived and thrived. This resilience is a testament to the support it receives from the silent majority, including highly influential individuals who appreciate its cultural significance and work behind the scenes to maintain its popularity and diffuse unnecessary tensions. This inspiring resilience assures us that Kannywood will continue to thrive in the face of differing opinions. 

To close my remarks, regardless of differing opinions about Kannywood, the cultural industry will continue to thrive in different forms. This sustained success should inspire confidence and optimism in the future of Kannywood and those who aspire to participate in the phenomenon, either indirectly as cultural studies scholars or directly as actors, directors, producers, scriptwriters, and associated roles.

Musa Ibrahim, PhD, can be reached via abbadanauta@gmail.com.

By Salihi Adamu Takai 

Women in the Hausa community shouldn’t remain as they were in the 90’s. They don’t have to be so conservative — refusing to delve into the reflection of the life of smartness. Islam has a lot for women, and in fact, they are mostly recognised more than men in different perspectives. So, women are expected to use the opportunity Islam gives them. 

Before Prophet Muhammad (SAW) married his first wife, Khadijah, she was a wealthy businesswoman who employed men to run some of her businesses. She was inspired by the Prophet’s trustworthiness when she hired him to lead the business, which made her propose to him for marriage. The Prophet married her. 

The Khadija’s adventure in her life of being a businesswoman and the first wife of the Prophet was a challenge to the Muslim women who think that marriage is only the means to become a liability. If the Prophet’s wife could be such a businesswoman in those days, the reason for dumping our women is very outrageous. 

This could also apply to paying the dowry for marriage. Islam makes brideprice the sine qua non of marriage and says it is the right of the wife, not her parents or guardians. It is the wife’s privilege to have capital in her matrimonial house. The dowry can help her run a business while living as the wife.

Almighty Allah decreed paying for a dowry in the Qur’an, Chapter 4, verse 4, in which He says: “Give women ˹you wed˺ their due dowries graciously. But if they waive some of it willingly, then you may enjoy it freely with a clear conscience.”

Thus, dowry could serve as a form of security for the wife to use in the marital home or even upon marriage breakdown. Therefore, if that’s the case, it would be better for women to use the money for business.

Women should stop feeling dependent on their marital homes. They must be innovative and collaborate with their husbands to improve their lives.

During the Prophet’s lifetime, it was reported that the wife of the Prophet’s companion used to help her husband with some work on his farm when he was sick to get what they could. Islam is concerned about the chastity of women, so women should dress decently.

Salihi Adamu Takai wrote via salihiadamu5555@gmail.com.

By Wonderful Adegoke

In a Northern Nigerian region plagued by stereotypes and obstacles to academic success, Khalilat Bello’s unwavering advocacy for academic excellence has defied all the odds and carved a path to success. Her journey is not only inspiring but also a testament to the power of perseverance and determination.

Hailing from Offa Local Government Area in Kwara State, Khalilat came to terms with her fate of studying Applied Chemistry at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) after realizing that pursuing a medical degree would be a forlorn attempt. She accepted her new path and threw herself into her studies, determined to make the most of her time at the university.

Khalilat recounted, “Reflecting on the past, there has never been a record of my struggling in the field of chemistry. When I graduated from secondary school, I was awarded for being the best student in chemistry. Moving forward, my interest in the subject deepened.”

Khalilat’s Resolute Grit

Fully aware of undergraduates’ volatile academic experience, she subsisted her academic pursuits by attending lectures regularly and taking tutorials on obscure courses.

“Earning 4.89 on a 5.0 CGPA scale in 100-level compelled me to give it my all,” she enthused, revealing how she persevered among a class of brainy students who were in healthy competition with each other.

“As an ardent believer in hard work, I spent countless hours reading and writing, thoroughly studying the materials. Attending tutorials, brainstorming and sharing ideas with my classmates helped out in some challenging courses.

On the subject of long-term concentration during reading, “The goal I had in mind kept me going and helped manage distractions.”

Though actively involved in extracurricular activities and has served as the one-time Vice President of her departmental association, she added, “All engagements are brought to an abeyance during tests and exams.”

“I’m immensely grateful to God for being the top student in my department with the highest CGPA of 4.85. I attribute this achievement to the self-discipline I developed in my early days and the encouragement I received from my friends and family.”

Remain Committed — Khalilat advises undergraduates

Khalilat warns against inconsistency and advises undergraduates to be committed and hardworking. “Hard work helps mitigate against gratuitous results.”

By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

Last night (Friday, 19/04/24), I sat to watch the national news, which I rarely do these days. Of course, I sometimes sit and watch. 

The first item I saw was a report of more killings in Plateau state. Plateau state is one of the two states in Northern Nigeria with a majority Christian population. That didn’t mean anything before. Jos, the state’s capital, had made a name for being a peaceful town you would visit and enjoy. The atmosphere was lovely; the city was peaceful, with lots of tourist attractions in its surroundings.

This made Jos a suitable candidate for situating the premier elitist National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, an institute attended only by a select few among the policymakers of Nigeria. That is not all. 

Different generations of politicians have selected the same Jos to host their party conventions, which can only take place in a peaceful atmosphere. As far back as December 1952, the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) held its convention in Jos. Forty-one years later, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) also had its historic convention in Jos. This convention resulted in the election of Chief MKO Abiola as its flag-bearer. No wonder the motto of Plateau state has been “Home of Peace and Tourism”.

All that was before the arrival of Zionists in the 1990s. The Zionists, who do not believe in Jesus as a messenger, a son of God or even a man of God, had convinced some ignorant Nigerian Christians that they were their brothers. Nigerian Christians thus mounted very high pressure on General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s administration to bring back the Zionists who were expelled from Nigeria in 1973. Of course, even before 1973, Nigerians never wanted them. Their presence was imposed on us by the British.

Some of the slogans used by the Christian clergy included, “It is antichristian to antagonise Israel”, “Israelis are our brothers”, and “Nigeria stands to benefit from diplomatic relations with Israel”. Babangida yielded and restored diplomatic relations with Israel in September 1992. That single act was the greatest mistake any Nigerian leader would make since gaining the flag independence from the British. 

As soon as they settled down, the Israelis began implementing their scheme. They started issuing visas to Nigerian Christians to go on annual “pilgrimages” like Muslims. However, unlike Muslims who go to Saudi Arabia to worship, the Christian pilgrimage was purely a tourist visit with no defined acts of worship.

If it were just about tourism, the problem would have been less. In fact, there wouldn’t have been any problem at all. However, since the Christian pilgrimage started, peace has eluded Northern Nigeria. The city of Jos, which attracted Nigerians and their guests, has since become a ghost of itself. Nobody wants to visit Jos anymore. Youth corps posted to Jos desperately seek relocation. Travellers from Abuja to Bauchi and back now go through Kano to avoid being intercepted and murdered in Jos. 

The Zionist connection was exposed on the floor of the House of Representatives by the immediate past Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Ahmad Wase. In a widely circulated video, Alhaji Wase told the house how 300 people were sponsored for illegal military training in Israel. In addition, he said four containers of arms were brought into Plateau State from Israel. Alhaji Wase told the house he was ready to prove it with the necessary documents, including a committee report. Typical of Nigeria, no one bothered to follow it up. 

Alhaji Wase was only speaking about Plateau State. Who knows how much military training the Zionists gave militant groups like Boko Haram, bandits, ESN and the like operating in various parts of the country? And who knows how many more containers of firearms were brought in from Israel for their trainees?

As if that is not enough, after committing all these atrocities, the shameless murderers that the Zionists are told the United Nations, “Over the past decade, 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been butchered and hacked to death”. This statement made by the Zionists ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, in January this year was broadcast by major media houses, with some of Nigeria’s ignorant Christians hailing it.

We expect the Federal Government to call the Israeli ambassador to show evidence of 50,000 Nigerian Christians murdered by Muslims. Of course, we expect details since the enemies of Nigeria seem to have more information than our Federal Government. I would like to hope that the Zionists would also be made to account for all the atrocities they have been committing in the form of training of criminals and supply of logistics to same.

If the Federal Government allows the Zionists to continue with their business as usual, the rest of us would have no option but to believe that the war against insurgency is only a deceptive camouflage to divert the attention of Nigerians from their actual problem that the Zionists are. Billions of Naira of taxpayers’ money are being budgeted every year to fight insecurity when the actual enemy is left untouched.

There is no need to continue to maintain a worthless diplomatic relationship that has only helped to sow the seed of discord among Nigerians. This relationship keeps claiming more lives and property of Nigerians. With the genocide in the Middle East, Nigerian Christians have since found another location for their annual pilgrimage. So, no Nigerian needs Israel for anything anymore.

Mr. President, our diplomatic relations with Israel should not only be ended but investigated. 

Israelis must leave Nigeria now!

Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia wrote from Kano via aujibia@gmail.com.

By Isma’il Hashim Abubakar 

Shaykh Musal Qasiyuni was the third among the scholars whose lessons I listened to throughout Ramadan. I was attracted to his lessons almost two decades ago, much by the accent and the tone of the hymns with which he and his audience opened and closed the lessons, and they were, to me, at the start, more of an esoteric language.

Qasiyuni’s zeal for the preservation of norms and values, the eradication of vices and immoral ventures, and his expression of concern toward the plight of the masses are evident in his lamentation of how things have turned in Muslim societies, which portrays him in the same reformist and activist light that Salafis are often depicted.

Malam Qasiyuni condemned the attempt to incorporate medical tests among legal requirements that must be presented before marriages are contracted. However, he acknowledged that the tests are essential, safer, and more sustaining for the marital union and the future of the couple’s family. The scholar’s point is if leaders are encouraged to pad new legislations into injunctions of marriages, which are already comprehensively sanctioned by Islam, a time would come when leaders would smuggle harmful laws which would only strangle legitimate marriages and pave the way as well as promote promiscuous associations between men and women as it has been normalised in not only western but also many Muslim countries.

In this year’s Ramadan, like the previous years, Qasiyuni had painstakingly treated sensitive themes that have remained the bonds of sectarian contention among the major Sunni Muslims, particularly between Sufi brotherhoods to which he belongs and their Salafi counterparts. These include the concept of bid’a and the central thematic components that revolve around it, such as litanies, liturgical actions, and performances like maulud anniversary and awrad. Qasiyuni offered an extremely polemical and revisionist interpretation of these themes while seeking to legitimise them in line with his Sufi conception and practice.

The hallmark and motive of all these elucidations are an attempt to arrive at a conclusion on which among the many strands of Sunni Islam is on the right path and, hence, most deserving of salvation. In this case, Qasiyuni was more flexible and accommodating as he expanded on the prophetic report, foretelling and warning about the sectarian fragmentation that Muslims would experience. He argued the report has all it takes to be exploited by each of the strands of Sunni Muslims, and going by the letter and spirit of the Hadith, which points to the vast majority as one of the yardsticks for identifying the most authentic and righteous group which merits salvation, according to Qasiyuni, Sufis would have more legitimate claims that conform with what obtains in reality. 

Interestingly, however, Qasiyuni dismissed this sectarian conclusion favourable to his theological understanding of Islam and appraised that rather than interpret the Hadith from a creedal point of view, which of course has been the dominant method of scholars for centuries, the Hadith should better be seen from the viewpoint of meritorious virtues, conducts and manners such as kindness, truth, selflessness, humility, resilience, which the Prophet (SAW) and his companions had exhibited throughout their lifetimes. In this way, members of each sect and Islamic societies, including not only the Salafi competitors but peripheral and marginal sects like Shia, can be regarded as a salvaged group in Qasiyuni’s opinion. 

Although this view sounds too malleable and points to the degree of Qasiyuni’s broad-mindedness and tolerance, it shall remain problematic and challenging to accept for several reasons, one of which is the consensus among Muslims that creed and beliefs take precedence over all actions and since even non-Muslims could exhibit the virtues outlined by Qasiyuni, downplaying the creedal substances and theological aspects as prime barometers for assuming the status of righteousness and uprightness as far as Islam is concerned, is unacceptable.

The love and affection of Muslims toward the Prophet SAW are meeting points which, according to Qasiyuni, should be the basis for Muslim unity and common solidarity, but also the mirror which shall reflect in the relations among Muslims and have common solidarities irrespective of their sectarian differences. Moreover, Qasiyuni stressed that Muslims must respect and love anyone or anything that connects to the Prophet, no matter to what small degree and anyone who hates it is condemned and wretched.

One point that shall remain problematic in Qasiyuni’s unification theory is the Shiite doctrine of hatred toward the Prophet’s companions would automatically disqualify them and remove them from the umbrella of unity which the great Qadiri Shaykh is advocating.

Like Dr Rijiyar Lemo, Qasiyuni also vehemently challenged those who cast doubt on Hadith and accused some of the Prophet’s companions and famous collectors of Prophetic traditions. Qasiyuni’s reaction to this issue seems to be a rejoinder against his brother Abduljabbar, who is still languishing in jail for stirring loud controversy about this issue. Interestingly, Qasiyuni himself mentioned Mustafa al-Sibā’ī’s masterpiece, al-Sunnah wa Makānatuhā fī al-Tashrī’ al-Islāmī as a concerted response and healing answers to all those who nurture any scepticism around the Sunnah or the process of its compilation and transmission.

Although still having a few issues to disagree with the Ahlussunnah proper, like the fate of the Prophet’s uncle, Abū Tālib, the Kabara cleric used this year’s Ramadan season to repeatedly stress his loyalty to Sunni Islam and refute Shiism, which then debunks the widespread rumour that the man had gravitated to the Shiite camps.

Even if on sectarian grounds one disagrees or even refuses to listen to Qasiyuni, one cannot deny that the text he teaches during Ramadan, which is unanimously accepted by the Sunni Muslim world, is a robust inspirational source of reverence to Prophet Muhammad (SAW). 

Northern Nigeria is indeed blessed with so many scholars; the ones highlighted in this article (parts 1, 2 & 3) are just a drop from the ocean. They offer a significant representation of how the Ramadan season is made distinct and unique through disseminating Islamic knowledge. I highly regret not getting the opportunity to closely and regularly listen to more scholars such as Shaykh Umar Sani Fagge, Shaykh Isa Ali Pantami, Shaykh Ibrahim Maqary, Shaykh Muhammad bin Usman, Professor Salisu Shehu, and above all, my teacher Professor Muhammad Kabiru Yunus. But while I was too lethargic to listen to them all, I still wished Professor M.K Yunus’s tafsir recordings were available for public consumption. 

May Allah reward these scholars abundantly and elongate their lives to keep benefitting the Ummah.

Isma’il writes from Rabat and is reachable via ismailiiit18@gmail.com.

By Isma’il Hashim Abubakar 

Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar was the second teacher whose tafsir I did not miss not only this year’s Ramadan but also many years ago. I had the privilege of attending the tafsir personally several times, which was conducted at Al-Furqān Mosque at GRA, Kano before I left Nigeria five years ago. Dr. Bashir’s erudition and dexterity in addressing contemporary issues that were paraded to him while using sophisticated jurisprudential techniques are enough credentials to attract listeners and students like me.

Additionally, I personally cherished the tafsir session because whenever I heard Malam Sa’idu Harun, the recitation assistant (mai jan baki), it reminded me of Shaykh Ja’far’s tafsir which always proved unique with the recitation of Malam Sa’idu. Dr Bashir’s tafsir would appeal to intellectuals and listeners with a background in Western education. 

Dr Bashir explained verses which mention scientific and universal phenomena excellently and more lucidly. Atheists would find the correct answers to many of their questions and clear up many misconceptions through the exegetical exercises undertaken by Dr Bashir. Drawing on a view of the late Shaykh Isa Waziri on a similar issue, Dr. Bashir, in one of his tafsir sessions, argued that Nigerians are likely robbed of divine bounties similar to what befell the inhabitants of Saba’. 

Dr Bashir is an extraordinarily easygoing and calm person, so much so that at times, he allowed his recitation assistant to decide which question he would respond to either due to its substance or when there was no time and the recitation assistant was eager to fill the venue with his sonorous voice. 

I was surprised, however, when during the closing session of this year’s tafsir on the 28th day of Ramadan, Dr Bashir refused to answer a question about the legal status of bleaching in Islam, which, according to the questioner, has been said to be lawful by some scholars. Dr Bashir’s refusal to respond to the question elicited the interest of the audience to unanimously thundered “Allahu Akbar”, which left a suggestion that the answer to the question was well known to everyone and it might have just been posed to trigger needless, belated controversy. Unlike many scholars, Dr Bashir does not bother to ask new converts if they were forced or they willingly chose and decided to embrace Islam. 

One of the unique episodes with which Dr Bashir’s final tafsir has been characterised for some years is the courtesy visit of his nonagenarian father to bless the occasion and, at times, make sobering reflections on some of the clerical trajectories of his scholar-son. To my knowledge, only Dr Bashir is continuously lucky to have his aged and royal figure father appear during his tafsir and publicly endorse his son’s venture.

Isma’il writes from Rabat and is reachable via ismailiiit18@gmail.com.

By Isma’il Hashim Abubakar 

No doubt, the holy month of Ramadan is a special season that always reactivates our religious consciousness and hikes the level of our spirituality. As Nigerians are passing through unprecedented inflation and increase in prices of commodities, this year’s Ramadan came with a hope that it offered an opportunity for Muslims to use the medium for deep reflections, improvement and promotion of piety and righteousness, but also to devote their time for supplications so that Allah would take them out of the woods and mess they have been grappling with over the years.

One interesting feature of Ramadan season is the commitment of Muslim scholars to deliver religious lessons and to, in a more concentrated fashion, bring the Muslim public closer to Islamic teachings in such a way that they would graduate from Ramadan school with paperless certificates that attest to their participation in one month course for reform of faith and creed, learning and relearning of worship and liturgical formulas and practice, refreshing minds with Islamic history and so on.

Although a few scholars teach books apart from the Qur’anic text, including works on some themes such as traditions and biography of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), interpretation and exegesis (tafsir) of the Glorious Qur’an, the queen of heavenly scriptures and the apex Islamic text, is the dominant exercise that makes the month unique and the best of all other months. Returning to the Qur’an during Ramadan is a universal custom for Muslims, but Nigeria’s religious sphere annually unveils a scintillating atmosphere that other Muslim climes would hardly rival. Pairing a male chief Mufassir and a female recitation assistant (mai jan baƙi) seems to be a strange feature of this year’s tafsir, which elicits so many brouhahas.

As an age-old exercise, tafsir in Hausaland has seen several transformations and shifts both during pre-colonial and contemporary eras, which saw the emergence of hundreds of mufassirun (interpreters of the Qur’an) of varying calibres and credentials. However, the post-independence era has never seen an eloquent, erudite and versatile interpreter of the Islamic scripture like the prominent cleric, the late Shaykh Ja’far Mahmud Adam, who was assassinated in 2007 while leading dawn prayer in his mosque in Kano. Even by accounts and confessions of his critics, opponents and detractors, Shaykh Ja’far was proven and credited to have excelled all his peers and contemporaries in analyzing and expounding the verses of the Glorious Qur’an. His annual Ramadan tafsir at Ndimi Mosque in Maiduguri was a matchless and extraordinary religious conference that reawakened Muslims and renewed and revived Muslims’ interest in the Qur’an and the process of making meaning out of it. 

When Shaykh Ja’far exited the scene in a historic and memorable manner, having been assassinated by unknown gunmen, which enhanced his posthumous popularity and brought millions of Muslims to his camps, many young and upcoming scholars adopted his method of tafsir and not only sought to replicate his path but also rose to earn his popularity, prominence and influence. 

However, God destined that Shaykh Ja’far’s friend and longtime colleague, Dr Muhammad Sani Rijiyar Lemo, would be unanimously accepted to succeed the former in especially the Ndimi Mosque tafsir conference, which later relocated to Bauchi due to persistent insecurity in Maiduguri. Rijiyar Lemo’s erudition was vouched for by no other person more than Shaykh Ja’far himself, who during his lifetime repeatedly mentioned Rijiyar Lemo as a colleague on whom he relied in many respects, particularly in matters pertaining to Hadith authentication, the area in which Rijiyar Lemo specialized.

Interestingly, as sources informed me, when Rijiyar Lemo finished his PhD in Madina in 2005, he intended to stay in Saudi Arabia to work with a research and publication centre. Still, Ja’far prevailed upon him to return to Nigeria to engage in the Da’awah arena, insisting that he would be more useful at home than in Saudi Arabia. It must be a form of karama that Ja’far would successfully persuade a friend to come back to Nigeria, not knowing that he would be his successor within two years in many of his religious engagements.

Rijiyar Lemo’s relocation to Masallacin Gwallaga in Bauchi provided a fertile ground for him to effectively continue with the tafsir exercise and his method, which radically differs from his predecessor’s and makes his rendition more favourable to advanced students of Islamic knowledge. Perhaps one does not have to conduct further research when invited to present tafsir elsewhere and could just have to listen to and summarize the exhaustive tafsir rendered by Rijiyar Lemo. I have made it one of the few lessons I rarely miss within and outside Ramadan. 

Besides the main task of interpreting the verses of the Qur’an, answering questions at the beginning of the conference and leading the session of conversion to Islam by giving the testimony to new converts by the scholar, one of the top themes which Rijiyar Lemo’s tafsir focused on this year was stressing and underscoring the position of Sunnah as an essential component of Islamic legislation. Rijiyar Lemo’s defence for Sunnah came at a time when the year witnessed simmering misunderstandings and social media exchanges about the position of prophetic reports in some popular Hadith collections and the degree of their authenticity. This debate was ignited earlier by Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, who was imprisoned after he failed in the historic debate, which then silenced his impasse and briefly paused discussions on the matter. The matter returned, it seems when after he visited Iran to deliberate the plight of Palestinians, Dr. Ahmad Gumi prodded and stirred the discussions through his utterances, which were interpreted by many as a continuation of the task of condemnation of Sunnah which Abduljabbar Kabara started.

Rijiyar Lemo’s response was complemented by a mention of several references for readers, such as Mustapha al-Sibā’ī’s masterpiece and grand defence for Sunnah titled “al-Sunnah wa Makānatuha fī al-Tashrī’ al-Islāmi’ī“. Needless to say, hearing the names of new books is among the countless benefits of listening to Rijiyar Lemo’s tafsir in particular and other Islamic lessons in general. From all indications, Rijiyar Lemo has the ambition to publish an excellent tafsir of the Qur’an before or immediately after interpreting the whole Qur’an in Bauchi or Kano, where he also replaced Shaykh Ja’far at Usman Bin Affan Mosque, Gadon Kaya.

Ismail Hashim Abubakar, PhD, wrote from Morocco. He can be reached via abuarqam89@gmail.com.