Muslims

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Ibrahim Siraj

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Ibrahiym A. El-Caleel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Abdullahi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Abdurrahman Nasir Salis

The emergence of Abduljabbar Kabara is a blessing and not entirely a curse to the Muslim Ummah from this part of the world. Abduljabbar is a common enemy to variegated clans of foes, to wit Izala, Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya and Salafiyya, among other sects, who could neither share a shade to rest, mosque to preach and pray nor a home to shelter.

The aftereffect of fighting the common enemy has taught all the clans that the commonalities they share as Muslims far outweigh the differences. It taught all the sects that they have for long overtired themselves on trivialities that are neither a passport to paradise nor a ticket to hell.

Yesterday, I saw three or four different sects I mentioned hereinbefore, who, to an extent and often attribute infidelity or disbelief to each other gathered amicably in a mosque in Kano belonging to one sect (Tijjaniyya), preaching together and praying together. I saw their guards, “Yan Agaji“, working side by side in complete harmony and feeling of togetherness, considering themselves brother’s keeper.

From the onset, seeing Izala guards together with Qadiriyya’s and Tijjaniyya’s “Yan Agaji” at the doors of Tijjaniyya Mosque named SHEIKH IBRAHIM INYASS MOSQUE bewilderedly caught my eyes and attention. Despite the saying that curiosity kills the cat, I entered the mosque with no fear of being killed as the cat. I saw scholars of all the sects on a single table and a crowd of onlookers, the loud cheerers, from all the sects, listening to their Sheikhs filled with feelings of togetherness and inclusivity, and above all, seeing each other as Muslim with Islam at the top of the priority scale and pushing all other considerations to the bottom of the scale.

Life is indeed the best teacher. This happening is not just an ordinary incident that will pass by time. Muslims and their Sheikhs should take this as a lesson that should symbolise how we should behave like Muslims. Unity shall be our sigil. Let me conclude by the saying of the Almighty Allah in the Holy Qur’an Chapter 8 Verse 73: “The Unbelievers are protectors, one of another: Unless you do this, (protect each other), there would be tumult and oppression on earth, and great mischief”.

Abdurrahman Nasir Salis writes from Kano.

abdurrahman00800@gmail.com

+234 806 578 7324

By Muhsin Ibrahim

Religion is one single thing Nigerians of whatever dispensations take in high esteem. Religion is often viewed as the opium of the subjugation of the masses or as their Achilles’ heel. To Rahama, the story is different; religion means nothing to her. It is simply an identifier that she’s a Muslim lady. One might think having grown up in a multi-religious house would intuitively teach her to have respect of some sort for religion, wrong. Her Imams and pastors do not use Qur’an or Bible.

A 28-year-old, stout Rahama Tsoho belongs to a disreputable family of three. Her father, an ex-serviceman, divorced their mother when she was only two. She stays with the father, and her sister with the mother. She had longed to marry since her teenage, but she couldn’t. She always attributes this to her look and family. So, she vows to live a better life in the future by hook or crook and begins to use highly effective and expensive bleaching creams to brighten her skin. She also hunts for a suitor via dubious ways such as flaunting her bosoms and derrière at the workplace and visiting the so-called Malamai, fortune-tellers and sorcerers.

After long and tedious trials and retrials, she meets a fine young man in their office, a newly transferred staff from another state. Without a doubt, she knows he’s beyond her league, but she believes it’s worth a try. But, as feared, the fine-looking new staff turned down her offer right away.

“I swear I will marry that guy by all means”, she declares. Soon after that, she starts consulting her fixers for the aid of whatever nature. “All I want”, she confesses to one of them, a mighty sorcerer who lives atop a high mountain, “is to marry him”.

“That’s easy for us as drinking water”, he assured her. “There are, however, rules, as you well know”.

“I am more than ready to abide by them. All of them, provided my wish will be granted”.

For a start, she’s instructed to visit their family house, which is far away, which is uncommon in the culture of that locality. She unhesitatingly goes. She introduces herself as his colleague. Simple. She, throughout her stay, behaves the most innocent girl-type and spreads greetings to his stepmother and siblings and everyone who cares to respond.

“Oga Rabiu has been very helpful”, she warily announces. “I, therefore, felt duty-bound to visit his family as I am here for another reason, actually a relative’s wedding”.

In the evening of the same day, I saw Rabiu looking bothered and lonely. I was about to ask him what was up when he told me about Rahama. He said she was a magic-savvy lady who shamelessly told him their marriage would yield many blessings. When he asked her how she knew that, she said her Mallam told her.

I was bewildered. I quite well know that she’s neither fit for him nor his scholastic family. He halts my busy mind, which is trying hard to dissect the whole scenario: “Muhammad”, he calls my name, “marrying Rahama would be the greatest mistake in my life”. That relieved my besieged mind, for I was contemplating whether or not I should tell him not to accept her proposal. “So, rest assured; I will avoid it like the plague”.

A few days or weeks, I can’t recall exactly, passed by, and I heard nothing from my dear neighbour cum friend, Rabiu or about Rahama’s blunt, in fact, unheard-of proposal. I had just started thinking the issue was dead and buried for good when he came to me with a bombshell.

“I am getting married next week”.

Wow! I said. I know he and his younger brother have been searching for a fitting life partner for him in the neighbourhoods. I also know he’s rich enough to solemnise his marriage within a few days if both parties agree. Thus, I ask:

“Who’s the lucky girl?”

His look changed from thrilled to timidity in a split second. I wish I could retract my question. But, in this deportment, he managed to respond: “Rahama”.

After calculating the atmosphere, I feel convinced that there is no need for any further explanation on how it comes to that. Her magic, shameless pursuit and insincere insistence have ultimately worked out. Therefore, I pray for the Almighty to bless the union and call it a day.

A few years later, I began to think that we all, who earlier condemned her, were proven wrong. She seems a wife everyone would want to have: caring, loving, dutiful, and generous towards him and his family. Yet, her significant frailty remains in how she handles religion. That too, we reason that she’s from a different background. Therefore, we shouldn’t expect her to behave the way we do or as we want.

Unbeknown to us, she’s simply buying time to portray her authentic self. She’s a wolf in sheep’s cloth. She is now doing the unthinkable; Rabiu has literally been her “yes man”. He worships her; he does everything to please her and parts with everyone she doesn’t like, including his brothers and sisters. He’s, to sum it up, blanketed in her world.

Rabiu is known for much discretion, but not any longer. You dare to tell him your undisclosed secret; you would hear it spoken of in the neighbourhoods. If you ask who told them, they would say Rahama.

Uncharacteristically enough and against Islam, Rabiu has, on several instances, bequeathed his wealth to be given to her should he die, as they don’t have any children yet. He cannot even reflect or recall that his father, who should rightly get the lion’s share, is still alive.

There is a single path to get to Rabiu now, and that’s through Rahama. Rabiu is for Rahama, and Rahama is for her family and pocket. He sees, but he cannot decipher. So everyone believes that he’s conjured. And that doesn’t last forever.

Muhsin Ibrahim is a student and staff at the Institute of African Studies, University of Cologne. He can be reached via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

Press Release

Kano state government has described as fallacious a trending story on social media platforms on a purported plan to officially disallow women regardless of any faith from getting behind the wheel.

The state commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba who made the clarification in a statement issued on Thursday, said government had at no time contemplate on the matter.

He said the story, which could not be traced to any credible source, was nothing but the imaginary thinking of the authors.

“The trending story lacks any credibility and that is why it is wholly attributed to a source that cannot be substantiated,’’ it added.

Malam Garba pointed out that if at all there was such plan, the state government does not have to be involved in any secretive meeting to decide on a critical issue that has to do its teeming populace.

The commissioner stated further that even Saudi Arabia which for decades had laws that sanctioned women from driving has, after all, lifted the ban in 2018.

He said it was interesting that some of the scholars quoted to have supported the alleged ban have already dissociated themselves from the story.

MALAM MUHAMMAD GARBA

Hon. Commissioner for Information, Kano state

By Sulaiman Maijama’a

Suppose there is anything more flabbergasted, more blasphemous than what Abduljabbar Kabara had committed against our noble prophet (SAW). In that case, it is the report published by Sahara Reporters comparing the “Hijrah” of our most respected prophet to the evacuation of this Yoruba secessionist leader, whom I will not dignify by calling his name. Though attributed to Afenifere (Yoruba socio-cultural organisation), truth be told, Sahara Reporters is just disguising under the group to have unleashed their long-buried malice against Islam, which they are known for.

The contentious report pricked the sensitivity and sensibility of every Muslim faithful. If a fervent believer of Islam were to be given a choice between an assault on their prophet and assault on their parents, they would, before a blink of an eye, opt for the latter because of the enormity of love we have for him.

Don’t be deceived by the fact that the media outlet removed the report, owing to the heavy pressure put on them. Taking it down alone is not enough to comfort Muslim Ummah to spare them. Suppose Abduljabbar, one of the leading Islamic clerics from the North, could be dragged to prison by the same Muslim Northers for blasphemy and sacrilege against the prophet. How, then, could any group that has people with a proper cognitive ability not take stock of their utterances? I assumed if the Abdujabbar saga did not symbolise the deep reverence Muslim Ummah have for the prophet, nothing could do.

Afenifere instead of this your illogical comparison, since Nnamdi Kanu, another secessionist group leader, was recently apprehended from a foreign street and arraigned in a courtroom and later remanded just like how Sunday Igboho was arrested in Benin City, charged and jailed, it would have made sense if you had compared Igboho and Kanu, since they are like cousins, having the same mission of tearing Nigeria apart. Moreover, both have foreign passports; if things get out of hand, they can flee the country, leaving innocent people in a disastrous situation just like they did now.

But since you have misused simile, I still find it difficult to relate the point of comparison. The most acceptable annals of history in the world attest to the fact that prophet Muhammad (SAW) brought peace and harmony among the adherents of different religions. He is the most tolerant and Noble person ever lived on earth who preached to his companions to jettison racial prejudice. So is Sunday preaching unity or disunity?

Afenifere, in your statement, you made it clear that “there is nothing wrong with Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, seeking asylum in another country where his safety can be guaranteed.” 

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) left Makkah mainly because he was denied “right to religion”, and when departing Makkah for Madinah, he went along with all his companions. This indicates the concern he had for his people, meaning the safety of his people is of equal importance as his safety. It also signifies the mission was out of honesty. Why Sunday fled Nigeria alone?   If his security can be guaranteed in another country, what is the fate of the people he left in Nigeria, whom he used and who are at the forefront of the clamour for a sovereign nation?

Maijama’a writes from the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via: sulaimanmaija@gmail.com.

By Salisu Uba Kofar-Wambai

Though conflicts, for the most part, originate in the social world beyond the media, it is through the different media of journalism and circulation of news that many of them become publicly known and, often, pursued. Moreover, it is through many media lenses that the conflicts are variously defined, framed and visualized. Hence, media must always be socially responsible in its reportage not to stir up violence through its operations.

Journalism is a serious business in a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria, a country with over 400 ethnic groups, two major religious groups belonging to several sects, among other diversities. The media, especially the online newspapers, which serve as a watchdog and mirror of the society, cannot afford to be biased, lopsided and insensitive in the way they report such ethno-religious issues in the country.

Nigeria is a unique country on earth. You can hardly get a country that’s almost equally divided along two religious lines as Nigeria. Unfortunately, many studies conducted have shown the dirty hands of media in fanning the embers of hatred, animosity and conflicts they ought to have resolved among the followers of the two faiths.

The demonization of Fulani, the reportage of Sharia issues in the early 2000s, Boko Haram coverage, Niger Delta militancy reports, recent secessionists uprisings were all given oxygen by the media to survive, which seriously poses a threat to the unity and integration of the country.

However, irresponsible newspapers and so-called professionals working in the industry are to blame. The recent derogatory reportage of the unguarded utterances of the Afenifere, a Yoruba social-cultural organization, by Sahara Reporters is a textbook example of media complicity in causing violence in the country.

It looks like the Sahara Reporters had underrated and underestimated the profession’s ethics regarding such a sensitive and slippery issue. The editors haven’t done their onus professionally. Editing is a process of preparing language, images, or sound for presentation through correction, condensation, organization and other modifications. So, given the complex configuration of Nigerian society, an editor ought to be versatile and very knowledgeable of religious sensitivities. Newsroom desks must be given their cause to do their works. For instance, should the editor-in-chief be busy, the subeditors in the religious desk should handle it.

An editor is a gatekeeper who controls and sifts what will be disseminated to the enormous and varied readers, who have emanated from different social backgrounds, religious beliefs, and ethnic nuances. Therefore, an editor in a Nigerian newspaper ought to be someone with deep comparative religious knowledge who knows the sensitivities of every belief and faith. 

In a heterogeneous society like Nigeria, an editor must be Mr Know-All to escape falling into a ditch and trap of such violence invocation.

He should be aware that If Christians can compare every dimwit, imbecile character with Jesus (PBUH), Muslims don’t do it this way. In Islam, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is sacrosanct, inviolate. Thus, no one should compare the Prophet with any being, let alone Sunday Igboho, a run-away character the Nigerian government sees as a criminal and murderer.

I thought these so-called editors would take a lesson from what Isioma Daniel did, who tried to align Prophet Muhammad SAW with the dirty beauty pageants in the early 2000s. It turned out to be the worst professional blunder by Thisday newspapers. That single act that could be corrected by almighty editing led to gigantic violence that claimed more than 200 innocent souls in Kaduna.

 I also wonder that Afenifere apologists have more Muslims than Christians in their membership; they ought to know this. Therefore, that’s why many were suspecting that what transpired was deliberately done to instigate war.

Sahara Reporters is the only newspaper that reported such an incident as such. Most media outfits have abandoned the reports for their editors knew the consequences. They look at the news items and the society at large.

No matter what, the professional interest must not be mortgaged to religious and ethnic ties. We must allow competence and expertise to overshadow those personal interests.

Salisu Uba Kofar-Wambai is a PhD student at the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via salisunews@gmail.com.

Following Sahara Reporters’ publication of Afenifere article wherein the famous migration of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) from Mecca to Medina was likened to that of Sunday Igboho, many Muslims on social media sever ties with the controversial online news medium.

Many Muslims describe the comparison as horrendous, awful and disrespectful. Sanusi Lafiagi, a lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State, criticises the article, adding that Sunday Igboho is “NOTHING compared to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)”.

The Muslims hurt by the article’s publication register their anger by “unliking” and “unfollowing” Sahara Reporters social media handles. The Daily Reality has been following the development closely and can confirm that Sahara Reporters has already lost several thousand fans.

Although the media house has tendered an apology and deleted the report from their website and all other social media handles, thousands continue to protest. Online petitions are being signed, hashtags created, and protest-themed profile photos added.