Muslims

By Hassan Idris

It’s quite important to demystify the fact that in the festivity of the Eid festival, which is a religious celebration amongst Muslims all over the world, there is quite a lot of sociologically significant display, which demands sociological explanations and outlooks. Religious festivals such as Eid hold greater importance to sociologists like Emile Durkheim (1858-1917). He developed a widely used theory for explaining what holds society and social groups together through his study of religion. He identified core aspects of religious structure and participation that sociologists today apply to the study of society in its entirety.

This includes the role of religious festivals and rituals in bringing about social cohesion, social solidarity and people together around shared practices and values. It also comprises ways that participation in religious festivals and rituals reaffirms shared values and thus reaffirms and strengthens the social bonds between people and the experience of “collective effervescence,” in which people tend to share in feelings of excitement and are unified in the experience of participating in religious festivals and rituals together. The Eid festival, an Islamic holiday celebrated by many Muslims as a religious holiday with religious rituals, values, and relationships, is one of them.

Thus, Durkheim defined religion as a“unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. Sacred to him meant extraordinary—something that inspired wonder and that seemed connected to the concept of “the divine.” He argued that“religion happens” in society when there is a separation between the profane (ordinary life) and the sacred. A rock, for example, isn’t sacred or profane as it exists. But if someone makes it into a headstone, or another person uses it for landscaping, it takes on different meanings—one sacred, one profane. Durkheim, who’s generally considered the first sociologist to have analyzed religion regarding its societal impact, believed that religion is about community. It binds people together (social cohesion), promotes behaviour consistency (social control), and offers strength during life’s transitions and tragedies (meaning and purpose).

With the applicability of the methodology of natural science to the study of society, Durkheim held that the source of religion and morality is the collective mindset of society and that the cohesive bonds of social order result from common values in a society. He contended that these values need to be maintained to maintain social stability, to which explanations of Durkheim on the importance and functionality of religion would be used to explain and understand the religious Eid festivals celebrated by all the Muslims in the world.

However, the word “Eid” means festival or feast. Therefore, it depicts the event that is being celebrated. Muslims celebrate two types of Eid yearly following two significant acts of worship. The first is called “Eid Al-Fitr”, which means “the fast-breaking Festival” celebrated after fasting the entire month of Ramadan. The second, known as “Eid-ul-Adha,” meaning “the festival of sacrifice which is celebrated immediately upon the completion of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The Eid Al-Adha entails going for a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by millions of Muslims simultaneously once a year. Through Eid Al-Adha, the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make to God and the mercy God had upon him becomes celebrated and manifested.

Muslims celebrate the day by sacrificing a sheep or so and sharing it not just with family and friends but also with the less privileged. This celebration lasts four days, beginning the day after the completion of Hajj. The celebration of Eid Al-Fitr lasts one day, starting with the sighting of the new moon, which marks the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan and the beginning of the following month. During Ramadan, Muslims fast to purify themselves and get closer to God. Ramadan is like a retreat, a time to step aside worldly worries, focus on spirituality, and improve connections with the one who gave them life and blessings.

After going through a long spiritual retreat for a maximum of 29 to 30 days, it is only logical that a feast is held to mark the end of the month. This is what Eid Al-Fitr is all about. Like Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr begins with the first sighting of the new moon, so most of the time, Muslims have to wait until the night before Eid to verify its date. If the new moon is not visible, the month lasts 30 days. The date changes annually on the Gregorian calendar and varies from country to country, depending on geographical location.

Though, in declaring the start of Eid, Muslim-majority countries depend on the testimonies of local moon sighters. The Judicial High Court then decides if Eid has arrived. When the sighting has been verified, Eid is declared on television, radio stations and mosques. The celebration of Eid Al-Fitr lasts one day, starting with the sighting of the new moon, which marks the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan and the beginning of the following month.

The first Eid Al-Fitr was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions after their victory in the battle of Badar, a turning point in the prophets’ struggle with his opponents among the Quraish in Mecca during the early days of Islam. Inasmuch as all Muslims celebrate the festival, there are many doctrines and ways of celebrating it which are sociological and are of paramount interest and importance to sociologists and Anthropologists. However, the traditions of Eid Al-Fitr entail ‘Sawm’ ( fast), which is the practice of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Muslims believe that during Ramadan, the Qur’an text was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Fitr with “Salat Al Eid” (Eid prayers). There is no audible call to prayer for the Eid prayers. Muslims will gather in mosques or open spaces and offer two units of prayer–called “Rakat”. The prayers are followed by a sermon, in which the Imam asks for forgiveness, mercy, and peace for every being worldwide.

To further bolster the sociological social solidarity and love in Islam, which clarifies Durkheim’s postulation, the other key element of the Eid festival is giving money to the poor alias ‘Zakat al-Fitr’, sending Eid greetings and feasting with families. For many Muslims, Eid al-Fitr is a festival to show gratitude to Allah for the help and strength he gave them throughout the month of Ramadan to help them practice self-control. The phrase commonly used by Muslims as a greeting on this day is “Eid Mubarak”, which is Arabic for ‘blessed festival’.

Muslims begin Eid with the observance of the Eid congregational prayer, sometimes in the mosque but usually in an outdoor location. Before going for the Eid prayer, it’s encouraged to take a bath, wear the most befitting clothes, and look dignified for the celebration. On the way to the Eid Prayer, Muslims recite the words: Allah is great, Allah is great, Allah is great. There is no other God but Allah. Allah is great; Allah is great. To him belongs all praise. And after the Eid prayer, people gather to feast with their families and friends, where they get to savour the taste of various dishes.

Some even travel to their hometowns or home countries to celebrate with their extended families and rekindle the bond of kinship. There is a rich tradition of gift exchange during Eid. For example, it is customary to gift new clothes and shoes to children in Nigeria. Sometimes, the children receive money to buy sweets and snacks to enjoy with their friends and cousins. In western countries, however, children receive gifts instead of cash, and parents decorate their homes to create a mood of excitement for the family.

Finally, Eid is meant to celebrate the completion of spiritual duty and a time to bond and exchange hugs, kisses, and laughter with family, friends and the community. Each country has traditional foods, and sweets prepared ahead of Eid or on the morning of the first day. These foods range from special biscuits and bread to cakes and puddings. On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, voluntary fasting is not allowed as Muslims are encouraged to feast and celebrate the completion of a month of worship and abstinence from food.

Greetings for Eid also vary depending on the country and language. For instance, in Indonesia, Eid is called Lebaran, so Indonesians would say, “Selamat Lebaran”, which means Happy Eid. Other variations of Happy Eid are “Barka da Sallah” in Hausa, a Nigerian language. In addendum, with clothes being an essential marker of Eid, some people wear traditional clothes from their culture, while others pick out something new to wear. Eid is a time for every Muslim to share and express love, peace, and friendship worldwide and extend hands to their non-Muslim neighbours and friends during this festival.

Hassan Idris wrote from Kogi State via idrishassan035@gmail.com.

By Nasiru Manga

My dear mother, as pilgrims converge at Mount Arafat today, marking the climax of this year’s Hajj, I can’t help but shed tears, remembering that it was one of the lifetime ambitions you didn’t live to fulfil as you passed on precisely 155 days ago. Had you been alive and healthy, you could have been among the over one million pilgrims standing at the plain of Arafat today in observance of one of the five pillars of Islam that not every Muslim is lucky to perform.

I know you craved nothing in this world more than seeing yourself circumambulating the house of God, Kaaba al-Musharraf, in Makka and visiting the holy prophet of Islam (PBUH) in Madina. This informed my decision the first time I was blessed with fortune enough to sponsor your pilgrimage about three years ago.

I remember your reaction vividly when I broke the good news to you as I was seated a few meters away, facing you after you finished your Duha prayers one Saturday morning. Your face radiated with joy instantly upon hearing my plan, and for the first time in my life, I noticed tears of joy cascading down your cheeks despite your effort to stifle them. This image of you has kept flashing on my memory all these five months since you met your creator. I remember how you made me blush as you kept showering me with prayers and words of blessings as it was your wont in every little thing done to you.

We started all the necessary preparations for your Hajj. That was when I got to know your actual date of birth, as I had never discussed it with you before. You told me you were sixty-four and born on Sunday, the 7th day of Ramadan. So, using the Hijri converter, I arrived on 7th April 1957, the date we used in all your official documents to anticipate your lifting up to the holy land.

I remember how we had an animated conversation over the phone on the first day you started attending the weekly lessons organised for intending pilgrims in Dukku. You excitedly told me what transpired at the session in minute detail from the attendants, the number of lessons’ teachers and all each of them said, while I was keenly listening, interrupting you only for more clarification. However, we were disappointed when the organisers brought the session to an end a few weeks later. To our disappointment, we learned that there would be no hajj in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, thereby upending your plan to fulfil your lifetime ambition of answering the call of Prophet Abraham (PBUH).

I remember your response when it was suggested that you perform Umrah, when the Kingdom of Saudi started relaxing its Covid-19 restrictions. You told me over the phone that I should allow God to decide. You insisted that it should be Hajj first before Umrah. And you added: “If Allah so will that I will be there, they will push me even in a wheelbarrow, but if it was already written in lauhul mahfuz that I will not perform hajj, there is nothing you can do about it”.

Your health condition started deteriorating during the Covid-19 imposed two-year hiatus from Hajj. You had been a hypertensive patient, a regular visitor to the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe, but you were never on admission until barely six months before you departed us. And even during your on and off admissions to the hospital, you were hopeful that the restriction would soon be lifted, and you would witness this day on the mount of Arafat. In fact, it was why you agreed to be hospitalised after your grandchildren convinced you that you should take your treatment seriously for this important day.

When I last saw you on a hospital bed, along with my wife and your grandchildren, you looked frail and not the spirited and good-humoured Maama I knew who would tease her grandchildren lovingly. But despite your condition, you were conscious of time for five daily prayers. The following day when I visited you, I heard you complain in a barely audible and soft voice about how your granddaughter did not wake you up in time to observe Subh prayer. I take consolation like a soothing balm in knowing that, as a follower of Tijjaniyya Sufi order, your mouth was full of Azkaar when you were placed on a ventilator about an hour before you took your last breath on 2nd Rajab 1443 (4th February 2022) after Juma’at prayer. It was around 3 pm that I received an unforgettable call from my kid bro and your youngest child informing me of the inevitable.

It’s been five months since you left us, Maama, but we have yet to come to terms with the vacuum you created. It has left an ineffable deep void in our hearts. Now I feel down every morning I wake up. I cannot hear your voice over the phone; listen to your never-ending prayers for me until I cut off the call. Your prayer for me, which I believe catalyses my success, is what I miss greatly. Images of you kept flashing in my memory when I last set my foot in your room which was a source of comfort and joy to everyone around you, especially your grandchildren, who thronged it for the daily goodies you preserved for them. My last call with you was on Wednesday, two days before your death, when I informed you of having an additional grandson, and I remember how you teased the new child calling him Moɗadimbo since his elder brother was called Moodibbo.

You taught me in your words and deeds how I should be generous and a happy giver, believing that what I give out to others is what’s mine, not what I spend on myself. I also learned altruism from you, as you were always concerned about the well-being of others above yours. The first time I brought you some stuff, you shared almost everything in my presence. This taught me a lesson not to buy things for you alone: I had to include my stepmother and uncle’s wives.

I remembered when once I visited you and discovered that your fan was not working. After buying you a new one, you insisted I  should do the same for my stepmother as her own wasn’t functioning too. Any time I visited, you would remind me to see so and so person, and while on the phone, you would tell me to call and felicitate or commiserate with so and so person, and you would ask me the next day whether I carried out your command.

I often felt guilty for hiding some of my problems from you because of your extreme care and concern for me. However, this was out of my respect for you, too, as you became more affected by my problem than I do. Missing you now is a heartache that will never go away.

On this Arafat day, which you had been longing for, I pray to Almighty Allah to grant you al-Jannatul Firdaus and forgive your shortcomings.

Nasiru Manga wrote from Dukku, Gombe State, via nasman@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) publicly apologized on Friday for its inability to transport 1,500 pilgrims for the 2022 Hajj.

Mrs Fatima Usara, the commission’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs Division, issued a statement on the unfortunate drama on Friday in Abuja.

She stated that there would be nine pilgrims from Bauchi, 91 from Plateau, and 700 from Kano State, who were supposedly travelling to the holy country.

Usara also expressed regret for the commission’s inability to transport an estimated 750 intending pilgrims from the Private Tour Operators sector.

She stated that the commission accepted responsibility for the hardships and disappointments experienced during outbound airlift operations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by intending pilgrims for the 2022 Hajj.

Usara was quoted in the statement as saying, “Sadly, in spite of all efforts to transport all Nigerian intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2022 Hajj, NAHCON was incapacitated in discharging this responsibility.

“Majorly due to last-minute setbacks that frustrated its plan to conclude transportation of pilgrims by June 27.

“Unfortunately, the chartered flights option that gave so much hope to NAHCON and the Private Tour Operators’ leadership also became a failure as their IBAN accounts failed accreditation by the respective authorities in Saudi Arabia.”

Meanwhile, a video of some aggrieved intending pilgrims who also didn’t make it to the 2022 Hajj has gone viral on social media, airing their grievances and cursing anyone who has a hand in their ordeal.

By Aminu Mohammed

I nurtured my desire to study abroad during my undergraduate days at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. It was the era when ABU was the hotbed of Marxism and radical thinking in the North, led by the late Marxist historian Dr Bala Usman and others like Dr Bako, Prof. Sadiq and Prof. Ayo Dunmoye. I was fascinated by the writings of Karl Marx and Max Weber, which prompted my desire to study in Germany.

Germany is the wealthiest country in Europe and a global leader in education and research. It is the land of scientists like Albert Einstein, Max Plank and philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Goethe, among others. The education in Germany is top-notch, especially in medical sciences, natural science and engineering. Studying in Germany is also cheaper and more cost-effective compared to other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Many of you may wonder why I choose to write on this topic, considering the high cost of studying abroad. Many of you may still think that only the elite can afford to send their children to foreign universities and others from a humble background are not capable of doing so, probably due to their circumstances.

I want to tell you today that you should perish such thoughts that have limited our people, especially in the northern part of the country, making them doubt their abilities. I want to tell you that there are no limits to where you can go and what you can achieve if you believe in your dreams and work towards them. We live in an era of information technology where you can use your smartphone to search for information that will aid you in improving your life and career. There are many Nigerian students from the Southern part of the country; most do not have wealthy parents and are thriving in this environment.

Studying in German universities is tuition-free for both local and international students. There are two options: you can either study through scholarship or self-sponsorship by taking care of your living expenses on your own through a system called blocked account. The first option is highly competitive and more tedious than the second one. Therefore, I suggest that people without solid financial capacity focus on the first option by applying for a scholarship. You can check the universities’ websites offering your courses and see the requirements for obtaining the scholarship.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) currently offers scholarships to students from developing countries for the 2023 academic session. The scholarship covers everything, including a monthly stipend of 861 euros for master’s students and 1200 euros for doctorate students. So, you should apply as soon as possible before the deadline. It would help if you had an outstanding grade in your first degree, a minimum of two years of work experience, a good motivation letter, and volunteering experience, among others, to be accepted for the scholarship programme.

The second option, through a blocked account, requires a lot of money, which means that you are on self- sponsorship, hence will cater for your living expenses which include payment for accommodation, health insurance and other costs in Germany. This option is for those who can afford the blocked account stipulated by the German authorities, which is currently 10,332 euros approximately (N6.7 million). You must deposit this money in a German bank after getting admission before securing a study visa. Most students who arrived in Germany for studies used Fintiba bank, a financial institution based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Once you get admission, you can check the website of the German embassy in Abuja or Lagos, look for the requirements for the study visa, and then apply for a visa appointment. I will advise that after getting admission, you check the official website of the German embassy in Nigeria or visit the embassy in Abuja or Lagos to get information on how to deposit the money in Fintiba bank. Don’t give your money to anybody.

You can go to any Nigerian bank to do the international transfer to Fintiba bank once you get the details on how to go about it from the German embassy. The money belongs to you and is for your living expenses here. Once you arrive in Germany and go through a system referred to as legitimization at the bank, Fintiba bank will then transfer 848 Euro monthly to your account for 12 months. The money will not be transferred in bulk to your account but bit by bit.

.Of course, you can work here and earn money to support your living expenses. Students are entitled to 20 hours per week and can work more than 20 hours during holidays, especially when the university is on break. Most international students work here and earn good money. An hourly wage depends on cities, but it is mainly between 10.45 to 16 Euro per hour (N6, 500 to N10, 000) depending on the city and company you work for. Wages in bigger cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf are higher than in smaller cities like Kiel, Flensburg, Cottbus, Magdeburg, etc.

Public universities do not charge tuition fees in Germany. Depending on the University, you only pay a semester fee (alias social fee) ranging from 200 euros to 380 euros per semester. For instance, students in my university pay 264 Euros per semester. This covers dues for the student union and transportation. In other words, students do not pay whenever they board a bus or train, as the semester ticket covers the fare for buses and trains within the city of Kiel and up to Hamburg. So, our semester ticket covers movement throughout the state of Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg.

Most Nigerian and international students I have met here are on self-sponsorship. Theystudy and also work to take care of their living expenses. There is always a part-time job available for students, especially in big and smaller cities, and you can take advantage of that to earn money for your upkeep. Some students focus on studies only during the semester and only work during holidays, while some attend lectures on weekdays and only work part-time during the weekend. The choice is yours.

I must emphasize that studying in Germany is tough, and you must put much effort to succeed. People fail here quickly, especially students who focus on work without paying much attention to their studies. But the main thing is to strike a balance between your studies and part-time work, if you want to achieve your goals. Of course, many students have been able to secure jobs after their studies here. A lot of Nigerians that I know here work after completing their studies.

Moreover, for those apprehensive about their religion, there is a large population of Muslims in Germany, mainly from Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, among others. There are mosques everywhere. At least we have six mosques in my city, with even a mosque mainly for Africans to perform their prayer.

I still reiterate that you can do everything independently with your computer or laptop. You do not need the help of anybody or an agent to assist you in applying for admission, scholarship or the visa process. Don’t fall for any scammer. You can do this from beginning to end on your own until you find yourself in Germany. You don’t need to know anybody to be able to secure admission, scholarship or visa to Germany. I arrived in Germany in 2018 without knowing anybody or even a friend. My communication was with the University strictly. If I can do it, you too can do it. So, believe in your abilities and go after your goals. I wish you all the best in your endeavour.

Aminu Mohammed is at the School of Sustainability, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached at gravity23n@gmail.com or 219013@mail.uni-kiel.de.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has called on the National Examinations Council, NECO, to adjust its examination timetable to accommodate Muslims who would be celebrating Eid-el-Adha, aka Sallah.  

NECO has scheduled Data Processing (Practical) from 10 am to 1 pm on July 9, which clashes with the first day of Eid.

MURIC Director and Founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola, made the call on Sunday, July 3, 2022, in a statement.

“We are fully aware that the clash was not deliberate as NECO had actually demonstrated goodwill by setting aside a whole week for Sallah celebrations (Monday, 11th July to Friday 15th July), and this reflected in its timetable.

“We, therefore, appeal to the NECO authorities to kindly shift the examination of that day alone (Saturday 9th July 2022) to another date in order to enable its teeming Muslim candidates [to] sit for their examinations.” Part of the statement reads.

By Kabir Fagge Ali

Almajiri is a system of Islamic education practised primarily in Northern Nigeria. The term is also used to denote a person who is taught or undergoing learning within this system called “Almajiranci.”

Almajiri is derived from the Arabic “Al-Muhajjirun”, an “Emigrant” who migrates from his home to a particular Islamic school in the quest for knowledge.

Over the years, it has been a normal feature, a cultural norm to have seen children roaming the streets in certain parts of (mainly northern) Nigeria, all in the name of seeking Islamic Education through the system of Almajiri.

Before the arrival of British colonial masters, a system of education called ‘Tsangaya’ has since prevailed in the Kanem-Borno Empire. It was established as an organised and comprehensive education system for learning Islamic principles, values, jurisprudence and theology.

Established after madrasahs in other parts of the Muslim world, Tsangaya was primarily funded by the state. Islam traditionally encourages charity, so the community readily supported these Almajiri. In return, he (Almajiri) gives back to society through manual labour.

The system also produced the judges, clerks, and teachers who provided the colonial administration with the needed staff. The Almajiri schools provided the first set of colonial staff in Northern Nigeria.

The Colonial masters abolished state funding of Tsangaya, arguing that they were religious schools. “Karatun Boko”, western education was introduced and funded instead. With this loss of support, the system collapsed.

A 2014 UNICEF report put the number of Almajiri in Nigeria at 9.5 million, or 72 per cent of the country’s 13.2 million out-of-school children. Unfortunately, this is a disaster unfolding before our eyes, as some estimates claim that the number of out-of-school children in the country has risen past the 15 million mark, most of whom originated from the North.

Regrettably, the Almajiri culture has since outlived its purpose and has become a breeding ground for child begging and, in extreme cases, potential materials for recruitment into terrorist groups. Moreover, the pupils who were meant to be trained to become Islamic scholars have now had to struggle to cater for themselves, begging rather than learning under the watch and supervision of some semi-literate Quranic teachers or Mallams who themselves lacked the requisite financial and moral support. Hence, the system runs more as a means of survival rather than a way of life.

This is because the Qur’anic schools became hapless, unable to render any help. After all, the head of the school is not also financially stable. This ultimately leads him to enforce a rule that ensures the students get him food or money. The most annoying part is making it mandatory, as punishment is enforced on anyone who fails to turn in what is expected from him.

Deprived of a normal and decent upbringing, Almajiri children, usually little boys between the ages of 4 and 15, may have been direct products of polygamous marriage or broken homes or simply due to economic challenges that hit the family. They lack adequate family cover as children are sent out to the streets under the guise of Almajiri as soon as the family’s resources are overstretched.

The Almajiri grows up in the streets without their parents’ love, care, and guidance; his struggle for survival exposes him to abuse (homosexuality and paedophilia), used as a slave, brainwashed, and recruited for anti-social activities, and used for destructive and violent activities. This is the picture of the pitiful plight of an Almajiri child in Nigeria.

Additionally, Almajiri culture epitomises child abuse, social exclusion, and chronic poverty in all ramifications. Because the system is believed to be rooted in Islamic religion and Fulani cultural practices, many attempts to reverse the trend or end such abuse of humanity have always hit a brick wall.

The fact that Islamic teaching strongly forbids begging, except in exceptional circumstances, which include a man’s loss of properties or wealth in a disaster or when a man has loaned much of his money for the common good, such as bringing peace between two warring parties already proves that Almajiri system as it is being practised today is unIslamic. A child neglected by his parents is vulnerable to diseases and social crimes. To survive, he often has to beg from ‘dusk to dawn’, after which he returns to the Tsangaya (Almajiri school).

For the past years, the Almajiri system has created a cover for criminally minded individuals to abuse Nigerian children through trafficking and expose them to anti-social behaviours such as forced labour and sex slaves.

Even former President Goodluck Jonathan designed a program under which a few Almajiri Model Boarding schools were established, which was aimed at integrating conventional western education into Islamic education, only turned out to be merely ‘removing a spoonful of water from a filled tank’, it wasn’t enough to adequately address the problem. As a result, less than five per cent of the children were captured by the Federal Government’s program meant to remove the Almajiri off the streets.

Therefore, as urgent, the government should take reasonable measures to address the Almajiri system in Nigeria to take them off the streets, even if it means banning the culture.

Unless it is banned or adequately reformed to meet the modern challenges and realities, the problems of underdevelopment, educational backwardness, and mass poverty in (northern) Nigeria will worsen. People will continue to bear children they do not have the resources to cater for, knowing that they could easily push such children out into the Almajiri system.

To conclude that the Almajiri system has deviated from its original purpose and is currently giving Nigeria a bad image in the international community is to admit the obvious.

This problem is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode at any time. And when it does, it will consume us all. But, it is still not late. So, something can be done to stem the tides.

Fagge is a student of Mass Communication at Skyline University Nigeria. He sent this via faggekabir29@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Aminu 

The police have arrested a middle-aged man for deceiving Muslim worshippers and demolishing mosques in the name of reconstruction in Jigawa State.

The man who is reported to have deceived many villagers and communities in remote areas of Jigawa State local governments directed demolition and stole roofing zinc from at least 14 mosques in the state.

The suspect is expected to appear in a Magistrate Court in the Kiyawa Local Government Area of Jigawa on Thursday.

A spokesman for Jigawa State Magistrate Courts, Abbas Wangara, said the man is being prosecuted for demolition and stealing properties of mosques.

The police confirmed that the suspect was arrested in Konake village of Kiyawa Local Government Area but did not disclose his identity.

Residents of Konake village said the suspect paid for the removal of roofing, doors and windows before he disappeared with the items without a trace. 

At least fourteen mosques were affected by his deceitful philanthropic gesture of trying to renovate and upgrade the mosques in Taura, Kiyawa and Jahun Local Government Areas of Jigawa State.

The village head of Konake, Malam Hussaini Iliyasu, explained that the man had earlier told them that an Arab-based NGO would construct a new mosque for the village hence the demolition of the existing one.

“After the removal of the roofing, he gathered zinc, windows, doors and borehole and moved them away. He even paid for the carpenter to remove the roof and the demolition of the outer part of the mosque,” the village head said.

Residents of Konake said they were hinted that he was sighted in a neighbouring village trying to replicate his trick against unsuspecting worshippers, which enabled them to inform the police.

Some residents of the affected villages confirmed that they now pray in their houses whenever it is raining because of his despicable acts on their mosques.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Influential Turkish and Sunni scholar, Sheikh Mahmud Effendi passed on at the age of 93. 

Sheikh Effendi, who was well known for his emphasis on strict adherence to the sunnah, died on Thursday after battling kidney-related problems. 

His grandson announced his demise on Twitter on Friday, June 24, 2022. 

“His Excellency Mahmud Effendi, my grandfather, has reached Allah,” he tweeted. 

The late Sheikh was buried on Friday, after a funeral at the Faith Mosque in Istanbul. The funeral which was held after the Jumu’ah prayer was attended by thousands of people. 

Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan joined mourners in paying tributes to the late shaykh.

“May God have mercy on Mahmoud Effendi, a spiritual guide in our country. He dedicated his life to Islam. I wish patience to his family, students and all his fans. Let him rest in peace,” he tweeted. 

Other important Muslim figures around the world have also joined in praying and extolling the virtues of the late sage. 

“Innā li-Llāhi wa inna ilayhi rāji’ūn. Saddened to learn of the passing of Shaykh Mahmud Effendi of Turkey. He revived Islam & Sunnah at a challenging time, inspiring millions of people in #Turkey & around the World. A great loss for the Ummah,” said Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan

“Do you know how you can tell a real scholar and walī of Allah?” 

“It is the fact that Allah has written the love of this person in the hearts of millions of righteous people from different backgrounds. The death of the Turkish scholar Sheikh Effendi shows such a love والله حسيبه.” Dr Yasir Qadhi tweeted

Imam Omar Suleiman was not left out in praying for the shaykh as he also took to his verified Twitter handle to mourn his demise. 

“May Allah have mercy on Shaykh Mahmud Effendi, forgive him and elevate him. What a loss for the Ummah. A man I always felt had a secret with His Lord that was manifest in his face,” said Imam Omar Suleman.

Sheikh Mahmud Effendi was born in Turkey’s northern Trabzon, he completed the memorization of the Qur’an at the age of 10. 

He authored Tafsir of the Qur’an in the Turkish language named Rahu’l Furkan. 

He was ranked number 34 in the 2022 edition of “The Muslim 500”; the annual publication by the Jordan-based Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, which ranks the most powerful Muslims globally.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Lagos State’s ban on female Muslim pupils attending public schools in the state wearing the hijab was overturned by the Supreme Court on Friday.

In a 5–2 split ruling, the Supreme Court maintained the Court of Appeal, Lagos judgement from July 21, 2016, which overturned Justice Grace Onyeabo’s October 17, 2014 decision from the High Court of Lagos State.

The lead majority judge, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, dismissed the Lagos State appeal against the 2016 decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, because it lacked merit. 

Justice Tijani Abubakar read the lead majority judge’s decision on Friday.

Wearing the hijab in the Yoruba-dominated region, which is a mixture of Muslims and Christians, has been causing a lot of controversies.

By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

The All Progressive Congress (APC) is undoubtedly a party that brings together some of the most outstanding politicians in Nigeria. However, what makes the APC most attractive is the fact that it is in power. It seized this power from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party that ruled Nigeria for 16 years and was also adjudged a failure by the majority of Nigerians. That is why many people do not see PDP as the solution despite all the shortcomings of the APC-led government and the economic and security challenges confronting Nigerians.

One manifestation of the interest Nigerians have in the APC is the occupation of social media discussions, radio and television programmes and interpersonal group discussions by the APC Presidential ticket. Last week, Asiwaju Bola Ahmad Tinubu, a devout Muslim from Lagos, won the APC Presidential primary election with a landslide to qualify as the party flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election. As is the tradition, Alhaji Tinubu, a southerner, is expected to pick a Northerner as his running mate.

But there is also another tradition. Christian flagbearers usually pick Muslim running mates, and Muslim flagbearers choose Christian running mates. The examples are many. In fact, since Nigeria’s return to party politics, that has been the case. First it was Obasanjo/Atiku, then Yaradua/Jonathan followed by Jonathan/Sambo and now Buhari/Osinbajo. But in all these examples, the Muslims are Northerners, and the Christians are southerners. There is no problem since it can be said with a reasonable degree of accuracy that Christians are the majority in the South and a negligible minority in the North.

Now, should Asiwaju pick a Northern Nigerian Christian as his running mate? I listened to many arguments. The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, for example, said religion does not matter in the choice of a running mate. What matters, according to him, is competence. This argument is faulty because democracy is about the choice of the majority, a choice characteristically influenced by many factors, including ethnicity, religion, gratifications, etc., in our country. If it is just about merit, candidates would be selected based on their performance in a standard examination on governance organized by my colleagues in Political Sciences Department.

The position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is the most uncouth and uncivilized. CAN thinks they have a monopoly for violence and always use threats instead of valid logic. Suppose their position was backed by sound logic. In that case, all they have to do is present their arguments to Nigerians including Christians and non-Christians like every other individual and group does. The rest shall be for Nigerians to judge. Again, in politics, threat is the language of someone who has no one to influence, and it is obvious that peace-loving Nigerian Christians have lost faith in CAN and are no longer controlled by its rantings.

The fact is, any step taken by a political party preparing for an election is carefully handled to attract majority votes from the electorates. This includes the choice of its flagbearer and their running mate, its manifesto, which, unfortunately, most Nigerian voters do not read, its campaign strategy, etc.

Now, who are the majority voters in Northern Nigeria and what is their relationship with the minority? What would happen to the chances of APC if this majority realizes that the party is succumbing to threats like that of CAN to select its running mate? Is it by force to vote for the ruling party after all? Can’t they look and vote for an alternative?

Religion was not captured in the 2006 census. Still, we can have a good idea of the Muslim: Christian ratio in the North by considering the ratio of elected politicians in the North. Of the 19 elected governors in the North, 16 are Muslims representing 84.2 %, while three are Christians representing 15.8 % in the North and 8 % nationwide. Of the 58 senators from the North, nine are Christians representing 15.5 % in the North and 9 % in the entire country. In the North Central geopolitical zones, there are more Muslims than Christians. Four of the North Central elected governors are Muslims, with the other two being Christians.

These figures mean Northern Christians are a tiny minority compared to their Northern Muslim compatriots. Their number is even smaller when the country is considered as a whole and much smaller if we remember that most Christians in the North would not vote for APC regardless of its flagbearer or his running mate. You may wish to look at the voting pattern of Benue, Taraba and Southern Kaduna.

Over the years, activities of groups like CAN have set the Northern Christian minority against the Muslim majority. It is so bad that in any Northern Nigerian community where Christians are the majority, the story is about hate and violence against Muslims. The examples are many.

For example, as I am writing this piece, there is no single Muslim left in Tafawa Balewa, the hometown of the first Nigerian prime minister. The few Muslims who have not been killed have migrated to Bauchi and other places. Incidentally, that is the constituency of Yakubu Dogara, one of the Northern Christians being mentioned in the selection of a running mate for the APC flagbearer. In the event Dogara becomes the running mate of Asiwaju, the question every Northern Nigerian Muslim would ask is, is it compulsory for me to vote for my killer?

Other examples of Christian communities known for their violence against Muslims are Plateau State and Southern Kaduna. Over the last several decades, whole Muslim communities have been attacked and nearly wiped out in these places. Yet, when commissions of enquiry are set up, the grievances of the Northern Christians have always been that emirs dominate them, their great grandparents were enslaved, they are not given opportunities, etc.

Muslims have made many overtures in states where they have the majority in order to take Christians along and make them feel at home. An example of this is Kaduna state. It has always been ensured that the Deputy Governor of Kaduna is a Christian even though a Muslim-Muslim ticket can win with a landslide, as demonstrated in 2019. In their efforts to give Christians maximum opportunity, Muslim politicians were once suppressed to allow a Christian to become the governor. Where in the whole of the Christian world has this ever happened?

Moreover, chiefdoms were created for them by the Ahmed Makarfi administration to address Christians’ complaints of being traditionally ruled by emirs. After all these overtures, the same people killed over 1000 Muslims on one day in Zonkwa. Those who are saying that appointing a Christian as the running mate of Asiwaju would bring Christians and Muslims closer are probably not aware of this.

Compare the case of Kaduna with that of Plateau. Plateau has a population of Muslims equivalent to the population of Christians in Kaduna State. Yet, a Muslim has never been a Deputy Governor, much less a Governor. Attacks on Muslim communities in Plateau and Southern Kaduna only ceased because of the Fulani herders who, unlike the Hausa, would always take revenge when attacked. When the intolerant Christians realized it was a war they could not win, they had to declare peace.

That does not mean Muslim travellers are not intercepted in Plateau and massacred. We are very much aware of the murder of General Idris Alkali by Lafendeg non-Muslims. Yet, somehow, all the suspects arrested have been released due to the influence of the Governor, Simon Bako Lalong. We saw how he was running up and down between the state house and the Defence Headquarters to ensure that the culprits were not punished. Today, not even a fly of Plateau state has been convicted due to the murder of General Idris, a high-profile Muslim Army General.

Those pushing for Lalong to become Asiwaju’s running mate are probably ignorant of this. Suppose Lalong, who is only a Governor can successfully follow up to ensure that murderers of Muslims are not punished. What would happen if, tomorrow, he sits as the Acting President with full control of the country’s security apparatus and a similar thing happens?

Now take Babachir Lawal and the more charismatic Boss Mustapha. Both are from Adamawa State and were appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari only because he is Buhari, the darling of Northerners. The only question I have here is whether they have the political strength to defeat Atiku in their state. Certainly no. Outside Adamawa, other rules apply.

This write-up is not meant to malign any politician. On the contrary, all the Christian politicians I have mentioned above have APC dear to their hearts and wouldn’t like to see it lose at the polls. That is also the intention here.

Northern Nigerian Christians have not adequately prepared themselves for elections at the National level due to unnecessary inferiority complex and hate towards their Muslim neighbours. Of course, there are outstanding ones among them as no rule exists without exception. However, the collective behaviour of a community is used to assess people anywhere.

For now, Northern Christians may wish to set their house in order and plan for the future. Elections are not won by threats but by careful planning and building bridges.

Professor Abdussamad Jibia can be contacted via aujibia@gmail.com.