The Nation Newspaper

Category: Femi Abbas

  • Peculiarity of Tafsir in Nigeria

    One of the undisputable aiding instruments of Tafsir is literacy. The more literate the Muslims are in the relevant language, the more they are likely to understand the Qur’an through Tafsir. And no one who thoroughly understands Tafsir will be ignorant of Islam or even life.

    Muslims who are deeply schooled through the Western system of education will discover that virtually all the sciences, social sciences and arts, originated from the study of Tafsir. Even some scientific terminologies confirm this. It therefore takes real scholars, not just reciters of the Qur’an or speakers of Arabic language, to be exponents of Tafsir. This is a rare factor that is conspicuously missing in Nigeria.

    There is a sharp difference between translating the context of the Qur’an and interpreting it in expository manner. The one is shallow. The other is deep. Ordinarily, Tafsir is not supposed to be an annual Ramadan affair. It should rather be a daily practice for all scholars who are ardent in it.

    Although Tafsir gains more popularity in the month of Ramadan because every true Muslim wants to get closer to Allah through familiarization with the Qur’an, it is not limited to that sacred month alone and it should not be seen as such.

    Going by the limit of their knowledge and the extent of their unwillingness to learn more, only a few Muslim scholars in Nigeria are qualified to tutor the populace on Tafsir. Most of the so-called Nigerian Muslim scholars (Alfas) have turned Tafsir into an annual commercial jamboree which fetches them what they regard as Ramadan booty. Their motive of engaging in Tafsir is more pecuniary than spiritual. And that is where problem lies.

    What most of those Alfas often dish out in the name of knowledge is mere hearsay. And that is why majority of Nigerian Muslim audiences at Tafsir Centres can hardly benefit from what they hear in those Centres.

    Tafsir is a special field of discipline meant only for research oriented scholars and students. But unfortunately, it is one area of study which has very few institutions of learning in Nigeria.

    Because of this problem, the Qur’an has been translated into very few Nigerian languages so far. And today, the few copies of vernacular Qur’an in circulation can hardly be found on book shelves even as most of them are virtually out of print. The solution to this problem is for  philanthropic Muslims to rise up in financial support of Tafsir provisions.

  • Why Gaza boils

    “Whenever injustice becomes the law with which to govern a people, resistance must become a legitimate duty with which to quest for legitimate survival”. Anonymous

    Today’s world seems to be a proverbial ark without any compass that can show its way to a particular destination. Yet, that proverbial ark keeps cruising recklessly on a storming sea without minding the repercussion of a possible capsizing.

    Unlike in the remote or recent past, no part of the world can confidently claim safety today and go to bed with the closure of both eyes. Except for self-deception, any euphoria of whatever can be called global peace in the contemporary world remains a property of the remote past. Thus, from all indications, the contemporary time is fast-tracking the pace of mankind towards the end of human existence.

     

    The Palestinian Crises 

    While millions of Muslims, all over the world, were, last week, eagerly awaiting the physical appearance or pleasant news about the crescent that would usher this year’s Ramadan into the world, the international media waves throbbed with unpleasant breaking news that immediately became an eyesore for some people and a sour taste in the mouth of others.

    The news was about an outbreak of a new orgy of violence in Gaza Strip which hurriedly reminded the world of a merciless siege on that same Strip in 2014.

    As a onetime Foreign Editor and a student of International Law and Diplomacy who studied in the Arab world and was quite familiar with the situation in the Middle East, yours sincerely had severally given public lectures on the conflicts in that region with detailed analysis of the causes and effects of those conflicts from various conceivable angles.

    Below is an excerpt from one of such lectures which I gave in different parts of the country:

    “This is not the first time in history that partition would be adopted as solution to a contentious problem. In primordial time, King Solomon ruled between two mothers who were laying claim to a single child thus: “If you cannot give one child to each of the two women claiming to be the mother, then split the child into two and give one half to one and the second half to the other”.

    This analogy was re-enacted almost three thousand years after that historic episode in an area disputably called Palestine and Israel at the same time. The only exception in the contemporary case is that the Wisdom of Solomon which brought solution to the historic controversy of the yore is conspicuously absent today.

     

    Partition of Palestine

    Like the false mother in King Solomon’s time who welcomed bisection of the controversial child, the Jews quickly accepted the partition of Palestine in 1948 because it gave them something that was not legitimately theirs.

    Partition of countries against the wish of the people living in there was not only a social aberration but also a clear evidence of injustice and man’s inhumanity to man.

    Wherever adopted as a solution, partition only brings suffering, destruction and tragedy to millions of human beings as in the case of Vietnam, Germany, Korea and now Palestine. Normalcy only returned to Vietnam after the reunification of that country following ten years of a fierce war. Although the conditions of the partition of Germany after the World War II in the 1940s appeared normal, neither that country nor those who partitioned it felt relaxed until Germany became a single country again in the early 1990s. The situation of (North and South) Korea today can be regarded as temporary because reunification of that country is just a matter of time.

    The imperial powers which imposed partition on the three countries mentioned above against the wish of their inhabitants were the same that inflicted the tragedy of partition on Palestine without any consideration for the agonizing plight of her long time inhabitants.

     

    Genesis of the Crises

    The conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews, which now dominates the Middle East crises, did not start by accident. It was well designed and orchestrated from the very beginning. In 1879 when the Zionist movement was officially launched, an Austrian Jewish lawyer and journalist, Theodor Herzl, who, incidentally, was the founder of that movement published an article in a European popular magazine. In the article he declared: “Let sovereignty be granted us (Zionists) over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage by ourselves”.

     

    Influence of World War I

    The outbreak of the World War I came to fertilize the soil for the germination of that tall dream. The year 1916 was disastrous for the allied forces. Casualties on the Western fronts were heavy. Anxiety rose very high. And the only seeming choice left for Britain to escape defeat in the hands of the Germans was to draw America into the war on her side. It was at that gloomy period that an Oxford educated Armenian, James Malcolm, walked in.  He was a friend of the then British Secretary of State, Sir Mark Sykes. The latter told Malcolm that the British Cabinet was looking anxiously for American intervention in the war.

    Responding, Malcolm who was well connected to the topmost echelon of the American government told Sykes that Britain was going about it the wrong way. He said: “You can win the sympathy of certain politically minded Jews everywhere and especially in the United States in one way only, and that is by offering to secure Palestine for them”.

    That was the beginning of a long journey that was to culminate in what has now become the ‘Arab/Israeli conflict’. Of course through Malcolm’s connection, the US entered the war on the side of the allied forces in 1917 and that resulted in a fate accompli for Germany.

    To fulfill her own side of the agreement, therefore, Britain made a declaration on November 2, 1917 through her Foreign Minister, Arthur Balfour, giving a substantial part of Palestine to Israel. That declaration has since popularized the name of that Foreign Minister as it has since been known as Balfour Declaration.

    Ever since the declaration, the Arabs have never been able to sleep with their two eyes closed. It has always been a matter of war today, ceasefire tomorrow. This is not mainly due to the condemnable usurpation of their land by the Zionists but more because of their own diabolical disunity that has been telling incessantly on Islam as a religion.

     

    The Fault of the Arabs

    Viewing the Middle East crises from religious angle, the general belief in many Muslim quarters is that those crises are a religious affair. And for decades, the Arabs have capitalized on that belief to whip up Islamic sentiments among non-Arab Muslims for the purpose of winning their sympathy. But looking at the matter critically, one will discover that such a belief is not only misgiven but wildly misplaced.

    The reason is this: long before the Israeli factor came into those crises, the Arabs had been at loggerheads among themselves for centuries in that sub-region. History is there to testify to this fact. But for the internal wrangling among them, the entire Europe would have been fully Islamized today. At least the Umayyad Dynasty which was fully run by the Arabs lasted for about 500 years in Spain where its headquarters was relocated after eviction from Damascus.

    Despite that great vintage, they missed the opportunity of planting Islam in the heart of Europe.

    Now, the Middle East crises cannot be pinned down to the Arab/Israeli conflict alone. They are a multifaceted conflict that requires   multidimensional solution. For instance, the State of Israel was not planted in Palestine until 1948. But Syria and Lebanon only agreed just a few years ago to exchange diplomatic mission for the first time since 1943 when the latter became independent. Why? Are both countries not Arab in language, culture and orientation? And this example can be found in virtually all the Arab countries. The truth is that the Arabs are as much a problem to Islam as they are to themselves. Ironically, the divine religion called Islam originated from them. One can imagine what they would have done to that religion if it had not emanated from them.

     

    Implication of Disunity

    Today, with the obliteration of Caliphate which was for many centuries, the central core of Islamic operations, there is no precise leadership for the Muslim Ummah. The implication of this is that there is no universal competent Muslim authority that can be obeyed globally if and when a vital order is given to propel Islam statutorily. Thus every country or community operates at its level to the detriment of unity.

    What is more worrisome in all these is the snobbish Arab attitude which places premium on Arabism rather than Islam as if Islam is the property of the Arabs which can be incorporated into Arabism at will.

    Except for Libya, Somalia and Sudan, no Arab country bears a name that reflects Islam. Even those three African countries only reflect Islam in their official names for political reasons. ‘THE MESSAGE’ will elaborate on this in full details in the near future.

     

    Arabs’ Economic Strength

    The wealth available in the Middle East is valued to be about one fifth of the entire wealth in the world. Yet the size of that sub-region in terms of land area and population is less than 2% of the world’s land mass. But unfortunately, the enormous wealth in the area is being managed and spent directly or indirectly by the West. Every Arab country has her foreign reserve in the US or other Western countries. Their administrative thinking and security strategies are from the West. Most of their investments are based in the West. Yet their most insuperable problem, that of disunity is from the West. How can they survive without the West?

    The total Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the Arab countries was $1,195 billion in 2008. Much of this money kept in Western banks is what those Western countries use to further their own development.

    They also use a part of it to finance NGO projects in Africa and some other parts of the world in the name of humanitarian gesture. And most of the beneficiaries are non-Muslims. More will be said about this later.

     

    The Way Forward

    Never in the history of man has war been the final determinant of peace. The victor and the vanquished in any war will eventually sit around a table to talk and negotiate the terms of their coexistence.

    It happened in Asia and Europe. It happened in Africa and America. It happened in Australia and the Middle East. There is neither permanency of victory nor that of vanquishness. And that is why there is always room for communication even in a war situation.

    The war of attrition between Israel and Palestine is not in the interest of humanity no matter the sentiments. And it can never be. If these two countries have fought constantly for 71 years (1948-2019) without much to count as gain, logic must dictate a change of style.

    In the last one decade alone, the Palestinian people have lost more than 15, 000 lives; over $70 billion in income opportunity; 20 million square meters of agricultural land; and over 100 million man-hours in crossing either from West Bank to Gaza or vice versa at Ramallah. Much more than that, almost 2.7 million of the 4 million residents of Gaza and West Bank have become refugees in almost inhuman camps. The opportunity cost of conflict for the Middle East from 1991-2019 is estimated to be $22 trillion. In other words had there been peace and cooperation in the Middle East since 1991, every Palestinian citizen would be earning over $4,300 as income per capital in 2019 instead of the $1,500 now being projected. Every Israeli citizen would be earning over $46,000 as income per capital in 2019 instead of about $24,000 now being projected.

    Because of an import-export ban imposed on Gaza by Israel in 2007, 95 per cent of Gaza’s industrial operations were suspended. And out of 35,000 people employed by 3,900 factories in June 2005, only 1,750 people remained employed by 195 factories in June 2007. The figures can be imagined today. Blockade has severely hindered health services in Gaza. Between October and December 2007 for instance, the World Health Organization confirmed the deaths of 20 patients, including 5 children due to lack of access to health care. Between 2007 and 2008, 120 people in Gaza died because they were not allowed access to medical treatment.

    The Israeli Government’s cut in the flow of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip has also been called collective castigation of the

    civilian population, which is a violation of Israel’s obligations under the laws of war. Starting from February 7, 2008, the Israeli Government reduced the electricity it sells directly to Gaza. This also had a terrible effect on all spheres of life in the Gaza and West Bank.

     

    War of Amenities

    The war between Israel and Palestine is not limited to weapons and diplomacy alone. In the Middle East generally, water is a resource of great political concern because of the desert nature of the sub-region. Thus, since Israel receives much of its water from two large aquifers which are sprawled across the Green Line, the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Though the major source of the common water lies in the Israeli section of the disputed land, some of the wells used to draw that water are situated within the Palestinian Authority areas. This has limited Israelis’ direct access to drinking water.

    But the argument is that Israel herself had prevented substantial volume of water from flowing to the areas occupied by the Palestinians thereby limiting the quantity of water that may be drawn from those wells.

    While Israel’s consumption of this water has decreased since it began its occupation of the West Bank, it still consumes the majority of it.

    In the 1950s, Israel consumed 95 per cent of the water output of the Western Aquifer, and 82 per cent of that produced by the North eastern Aquifer.

    Although this water was drawn entirely on Israel’s own side of the pre-1967 border, the sources of the water are nevertheless from the shared groundwater basins located under both West Bank and Israel. By 1999, the percentage of water available to Israel had declined to 80 per cent. Now, with the continuation of war, neither Israel nor Palestine feels secure even as threat of further war is drummed into the infants’ ears in that area daily.

    Historically, the Jews and the Arabs are from the same father (Abraham). If one claims a return to ancestral home to justify land occupation, the other may be right to make the same claim. Thus rather than continuing fighting war which may eventually lead to total loss of the entire land, why not sit together and negotiate peace on a permanent basis? That is perhaps worthier than the shedding of innocent bloods where better alternatives are available.

  • Synopses on Ramadan

    At no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence be more manifest than in Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth.

    Some people fasted actively last year but are no more today. Some put their feet at the door step of Ramadan this year but may not enter it.

    Some may fall by the way side along the line. Some will fast with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some may join the spiritual train with no idea of its destination.

     

    Segments of Ramadan

    At the beginning of the sacred month called Ramadan, the need to classify the 30 or 29 days in that month into three segments is necessary. The first segment contains the first ten days of the month during which the blessings of Allah will come to the fasting Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with strong faith and genuine intention, there is no working for it. That segment will end after the first 10 days and pave way for the second segment of ten days that will begin on the 11th day of the sacred lunar month.

    During the 10-day period of the second segment, most fasting Muslims should intensify worshipping (‘Ibadah) by spending their days and nights repenting on their known and unknown sins as well as by chanting Istighfar every moment. But automatic forgiveness through such a process should not be expected.

     

    Conditions

    Usually, conditions are attached to divine forgiveness. One of such conditions is for every fasting Muslim to admit his/her misdeeds, repent on such misdeeds with a resolution never to return to them. The second condition is to voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness on the sins committed. And the third condition is to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness and blessings during the month of Ramadan, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And if you want Allah to speak to you, recite the Qur’an”. That Prophetic recommendation is, however, not limited to the month of Ramadan alone. No one who abides by the above conditions and follows them scrupulously will ever be disappointed. Allah is both promising and fulfilling. He never reneges on His promise. For instance, in Qur’an 2:186, Allah promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of whoever seeks My favour if he/she seeks from Me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect my favourable response and trust in Me so that they may be rightly guided”

     

    Midway Ramadan

    Those second ten days are not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days, they are also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last 10 days when they will be expected to be fully liberated from the evil machinations of any Satanic forces.

     

    Life and Death

    The quality of human life is not ordinarily measured in terms of the time spent or manner of death. In Islam, death is neither the consequence of sin nor the repercussion of ignorance. There are instances when the sinless dies and the sinful lives. There are also instances when the learned person dies while the ignorant one lives.

    The schedule of life and death is not in the custody of any human being. Death is a debt which every living being owes and must pay.

    Not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was spared of death or given a foreknowledge of it. Allah revealed in the Q. 10:49 thus: “Say I have not the power to benefit or to harm myself except what Allah pleases.

    Unto every nation is a fixed term. When their terms expire, they cannot delay it by an hour nor can they bring it forth before its time”.

     

    Imagination

    The above quoted verse of the Qur’an is one which some ignorant non-Muslims have severally quoted and interpreted according to their whim. In their wild imagination, as Jesus also did not admit a similar situation, those ignorant people want the Prophet to claim infallibility to enable them call him a liar.

     

    Nostalgia

    One major feeling which fasting Muslims cannot do without after Ramadan is nostalgia. Some people who ar now dreaming may not live to realize their dreams. Some who are now looking forward for certain benefits may not receive them. This does not make them sinners or criminals but destiny must take its own course. As for death, it is only in the imagination of man that age should be a factor of death.

    We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever is privileged to pass through this year’s Ramadan successfully should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after the sacred month. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

     

    Role of Wives

    In a few weeks’ time, this year’s Ramadan which is just about to start will come to an end by the grace of Allah and we shall continue to look back with nostalgia to the good things we have done in the sacred month. For instance, we shall remember that in no other month of Hijrah calendar is the role of Muslim women more pronounced than in Ramadan. Like in other months, they display the roles of wives, mothers as well as that of their husbands’ confidants. But more than in other months, they exhibit their religious dedication vividly in Ramadan.

    Even as they assist their husbands financially in maintaining the homes, they still take care of those husbands as well as the children and relatives domestically. At the time of the day when the husbands are knocked out by fatigue arising from fasting, the wives are still busy in the kitchen preparing Iftar for the household. At the time in the night when some husbands are engaged in Tahajjud, or are snoring in bed, the wives are already up in the kitchen preparing the Sahur for the family.

    Some of these women are pregnant. Some are suckling their children.

    Some of them are knowledgeable enough to do the Tilawah (recitation of the Qur’an) like their husbands. Some are even rich enough to finance the home fully or partially.

    And, in all these activities, they never feel tired. Where and when they feel tired, they never show it. If any month has ever depicted the virtues of women, it is Ramadan and the women activities in it. If for the reason of their activities in Ramadan alone, they deserve tenderness and dignified treatment in the hands of their husbands.

     

    Role of Children

    We shall also remember the role of our children in the month and then endeavour to ensure the continuity of those rewarding activities.

    Children are Allah’s greatest gift to man. Their presence in a house is blessing. Their contribution is immense. Those are children for you. They can play the role of teachers just as they can do that of students. They learn fast, they teach fast. They are a major security for parents in any given environment.

    Children play both temporal and spiritual roles in a matrimonial life.

    And with such roles, they sometimes create hope for humanity and sometimes, they signal despair. They are the greatest asset in the possession of parents in time of peace. They are also the greatest weapon for those parents against the forces of Satan.

    Because of their innocence, they pave way for God’s forgiveness and quick acceptance of prayers. And, most importantly, children guarantee the continuity of man’s existence on earth. It is only with them that the fulfillment of today’s promise is possible tomorrow.

    In the Qur’an, children are mentioned many times and most often with reverence. They are treated in that glorious book as a major issue in the life of man. As orphans, they do not only have a role to play, they also compel some adults to play a role relating to them.

    As heirs to their parents, they have substantial shares in inheritance. Muslim children are like cubs. They follow the footstep of their parents or guardians very closely. They are often with their parents during the five daily prayers. They watch their parents as the latter give charity to the poor. They accompany them to public lectures and Islamic social gatherings.

    And, in Ramadan, children are part of the Muslims’ total spiritual package. They wake up with them at night. They fast with them in the day. They break the fast with them at sunset. They join their parents at Tafsir and night lectures. They participate in Laylatul Qadr and in giving Zakatul Fitr to the poor. Who can substitute the role of children in a matrimonial home?

    In all the above mentioned activities, children are supposed to be encouraged. At the tender age of seven, they should be guided to fast even if for half a day. And when they reach the age of 10 they should be strengthened in faith and in religious deeds. They should be provided with necessities of life both on the temporal and spiritual grounds. With these, they will grow up to become the fulfillment of their parents’ dreams.

    Most children grow up as good or bad citizens by emulating their parents. A child is therefore what his parents make him. If advantage of Ramadan is not taken by Muslim parents to mould their children into good Muslims what other platform will be used? Your child is your sun.

    Make hay with it while it shines.

     

    Right of Neighbours

    We shall also recall how we related to our neighbours, especially the non-Muslims among them in that month. In Islam, neighbours are as important as the next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them. According to Bukhari and Muslim, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was reported to have sworn by Allah three times saying: “he does not believe in Allah! He does not believe in Allah! He does not believe in Allah! And when he was asked who? He replied by saying: whoever creates fear in his neighbours atrociously”

    In another Hadith also reported by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet was quoted as saying that “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day let him be nice to his neighbours and respect his guests”

    In the month of Ramadan a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He doubles his good deeds to his neighbours, extending generosity to them and cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He genuinely gives them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

    It does not matter whether those neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives. The Prophet did not discriminate in his Hadith when he was admonishing on neighbours. And that is the inalienable position of Islam on neighbourliness. Whoever, had quarreled with his neighbours before Ramadan, therefore, let him/her go and settle the quarrel.

    Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and sex, in the month of Ramadan, a good Muslim must mind his relationship with people around him, including neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure. Whoever wants to receive full rewards for his religious activities in Ramadan should treat his neighbours well. And, when Ramadan is over, the good deeds must continue.

     

    Ramadan as a Pillar of Islam

    Ramadan is not made a pillar of Islam by accident. Its purpose is to return man to the original state of purity in which he was created.

    That Allah entrusts the world to man is also not by accident. Allah consulted widely before entrusting this great responsibility to man when the latter volunteered to bear it. This much is revealed in Qur’an 33:71 thus: “We offered the trust (of the world) to the heavens; the earth and the mountains they all turned it down and were afraid of it. Man undertook to bear it but he has proved to be insincere and deceitful”. For man to re-examine himself, repent over his misdeeds and become redeemed, therefore, Allah brought Ramadan as a means of rescue.

     

    Needs and wants

    It is in the month of Ramadan that Muslims reconfirm NEEDS rather than WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

    Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not, ordinarily, given to WANTS. They are more concerned about NEEDS than WANTS. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With NEEDS come contentment and satisfaction while WANTS are the cause of greed and avarice.

    Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, had provided the needs of every living creature even before its creation. But then, He (Allah) knew that of all those creatures man alone would go beyond NEEDS into the realm of WANTS. That was perhaps what informed the negative role which Satan assumed in the life of man shortly after the creation of Adam and Hawau.

    By introducing WANTS to man, what Satan did was to create a permanent job for himself in the life of man. Without WANTS the world would not have been what it is today. Blood would not have been shed. Money would not have been deified. Hatred would not have been known to man.

    And, man’s inhumanity to man would have been totally averted. The details of these synopses will soon come up on a daily basis in a column called RMADAN GUIDE. It is annually written by yours sincerely.

    Look for it as from Monday, May 6, 2019,  in sha’Allah. RAMADAN

    KARIM!

  • A guest of integrity

    Guests, everywhere in the world, are of different types. Some are of honour and treated with integrity because of their acknowledged robe of dignity. Some are bereft of honour but merely tolerated for their nuisance value. Each time we talk of guests, people invariably think only of humans in the erroneous belief that no other creature could be qualified for that title. What such people don’t seem to know is that humans are just a fraction of Allah’s creatures. There are millions of other creatures not often noticed by man. One of such creatures is the environment of which season is a part.

    Phenomenal Creature

    The phenomenal creature called season comes in different forms with different intensity and at different times of the year.

    Seasons are like the tides of an ocean. They roll out spirally in quick succession and reshape the world’s environment from time to time as they come in multiples of months. No one measures a season in the absence of months as there can be no seasons without months.

    Seasonal Visitor

    In a few days’ time, a unique guest will arrive in the world with the grandeur of integrity. Its arrival will be the divine catalyst with which the long awaited human respite for the currently prevailing global machinations will be ushered in.

    Europeans have so much respect for seasons that whenever they have an important guest they call him an ‘August visitor’. The month of August is the peak of summer season and the most comfortable month of hospitality for the Caucasian race of Europe hence the term.

    In Islam, the most venerable guest is the month of Ramadan. Its visiting time is not restricted to any particular season. Its arrival in the world may coincide with that of any season. That sacred month is therefore the guest of all seasons.

    With Ramadan as a guest, not only the Muslims but the entire humanity is consciously or unconsciously engaged in hospitable activities.

    Those who cannot fast in it do take advantage of its presence to sell or buy some relevant needs and wants. Thus, there can be no indifference to the awful presence of Ramadan in any part of the world.

    I recall the vivid description given this sacred month in ‘THE MESSAGE’   column some time ago which is still as relevant now as it was then. It went thus:

    “Once every year, something creeps into the world like the early morning light. It moves kaleidoscopically into an arena where the centre becomes its stool. It lifts its veil and beams a special focus on the world with an arresting attention in the days. It envelops the nights in a shroud of covenant linking the dream of man with its fulfillment”.

    Its journey

    “No one except Allah knows Ramadan’s port of embarkation. No human being knows its destination. All we know of it is that of a guest that is so vividly present in our world and yet so physically invisible.

    RAMADAN is the name by which it is divinely christened. Its coming is often heralded by a retinue of envoys. The months of ‘Rajab’ and ‘Sha’ban’ are the immediate escorts that alert mankind of its imminent arrival. Like the sun in the midst of stars, Ramadan ascends the throne in full regalia and all other months, (lunar and solar) quickly take their bow.

    Call it the king where other months are chiefs and you will be dead right. Call it the doctor in a world of sick people and you will not be wrong. Call it the compass in the wilderness of straying humanity and you would have spoken the truth. Call it the reformer of human soul; the sterilizer of human spirit as well as the purifier of human body and you will not be disputed. In its entourage are equally invisible ministers such as piety, knowledge, truth, justice and peace, all of which usher it into the world with splendor”.

     

    Connotation of Its Name

    Deriving its name from a natural healing phenomenon, this ninth lunar month called Ramadan is truly baking in effect.

    The word:  Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramd (meaning baking). The name had been in existence before the advent of Islamic calendar. It was coined from a baking summer that immediately followed a freezing winter. Ever since, Ramadan’s mission has been to firm up all loose ends in the life of man. And it does that with a touch of perfection”.

     

    Its mission

    In Ramadan, the entire month of 30 or 29 days is spent by Muslim believers in fasting from dawn to dusk. Such fasting is not about abstinence from foods and drinks alone. It is also about self-restraint from all sinful acts and self-equipment with a reign of impeccable discipline.  More importantly, it is about repackaging of one’s destiny through a new but sincere resolution.

    Fasting during this sacred month is believed to figuratively burn away all sins. It was in this glorious month that the revelation of the divinely reformative Book of guidance called the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first began.

    In the sacred month of Ramadan, all gates of paradise, according to the Prophet, are open while those of hell are closed. The first ten days in it are blessings galore for those of the Muslim Ummah who need blessings and seek for them. The next ten days personify forgiveness for those who realize the gravity of their sinful acts, repent on them and resolve never to return to such acts again. Thus, Ramadan is far, far beyond a month. It is really a season that serves as a template for other seasons.

    Its anchor leg

    The last ten days in that sacred month are like a spiritual inoculation meant to liberate genuinely faithful Muslims from any satanic ailment that can lead to doom.  Whoever is liberated with that inoculation automatically becomes like a new born baby arriving in a new world with a ‘tabula rasa’ (clean slate).

    The Night of Power

    It is in these last ten days of Ramadan that a particular night called Laylatul Qadr in which the secret of human destiny is encapsulated.

    The night is otherwise known as the ‘Night of power’. Meeting that night consciously and spiritually is like securing the key to one’s own apartment in Paradise. The proviso, however, is that one needs to remain awake throughout those nights to be fortunate to meet the D night.

    Allah did not disclose even to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), which particular night of the sacred month of Ramadan is called Laylatul Qadr. But by asking the Muslims to look for it in the odd nights of the last ten days, the Prophet has helped the rightly guided Muslim Ummah tremendously. However, who can be so sure of the odd nights when the issue of sighting the crescent before starting Ramadan often remains controversial?

    Also, during the last ten days of Ramadan, some willing Muslims, in accordance with the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), do go for Umrah in Makkah or take to I’tikaf (spiritual seclusion) locally, to reaffirm their total submission to Allah. Following this is a session of charity made compulsory for all Muslims irrespective of age, gender and status, to give to the poor and the needy. This is called Zakatul Fitr or Sadaqatul Fitr. It is given in the very early morning of Ramadan Festival Day or the night before it to enable the poor and the needy celebrate the festival with the Ummah in a festive mood.

    Anti-climax

    The first day of the month of Shawwal immediately after Ramadan which is traditionally spent in great celebrations with rejoice and observed as ‘Fast-Breaking Festival’ (Eidul Fitr) by Muslims is the anti-climax of Ramadan month.

    Where else can one find a guest like Ramadan? Where else can one meet a guest that hosts his supposed hosts and heals mankind of ignorance and physical diseases? It was probably more to Ramadan than to man that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) referred when he said: “whoever believes in Allah and the ‘Last Day’ should venerate his guest” That guest is Ramadan. That is why Muslims often say in this unique month: ‘RAMADAN KARIM’ which means ‘Venerable Ramadan’.

    Preparation

    To start or end fasting in Ramadan, sighting of the crescent is just symbolic. The indices of recognizing when to start or end the month are naturally vivid to those who care.

    Ramadan is not preceded by two glorious lunar months of Rajab and Sha’ban for fun. The number of days in those two months is to enable any serious Muslim know the time of the arrival of Ramadan and prepare for it. No lunar month exceeds 30 days and none is less than 29 days.

    Crescent or no crescent, it is very possible and easy to know when to start Ramadan every year without waiting to be prompted. The confusion often created by the sighting of the crescent is therefore avoidable.

    If Rajab is 30 or 29 days, no one looks for the crescent before starting Sha’ban. As soon as Rajab ends, Sha’ban starts with little or no controversy at all.

    Dynamism

    Islam is a dynamic religion and nothing should be rigid about the sighting of the crescent before starting Ramadan. Sighting the crescent is not the only condition for commencing fasting in the great month. After all, the new crescent is not necessarily visible to all eyes at any given time in any locality. That is why a few Muslims who may be privileged to sight it are implored to invite some others to witness it and then inform the recognized authorities who will in turn, announce the arrival of Ramadan to the Muslim community in the locality or region.

    Besides Faith (Iman) and Hajj (which are the first and last pillars of Islam), nothing else in the sacred religion is really globally uniform in practical terms with regards to timing. The variation in the geography of the earth has legitimized the variation of time in the observance of Salat, Sawm and Zakat. The over 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today cannot commence Ramadan fasting on the same day or the same hour. Iman is global because it resides permanently in the hearts of the believers irrespective of their localities. Hajj is equally global because it is performed in only one place at a particular time.

    Geographical factor

    Where a gap of about nine to eleven hours exists between one part of the world and another, talking of global uniformity in starting or ending Ramadan can only border on sheer ignorance. For instance it is impossible for the Australian Muslims living in Australia and their South American brethren residing in Brazil or Argentina to start Ramadan on the same day. Even within Nigeria, all Muslims can start Ramadan on the same day, only if they have equal access to information. And even with that, it is not possible for them all to start or end daily fasting at the same time of the day. That is why the announcement or publication of Ramadan timing according to the various localities is necessary.

    Universality of Ramadan

    That Ramadan fasting is prescribed as a universal obligation for all Muslims in a particular month is deliberate. Allah who did the prescription is not oblivious of the geographical variations in the world. Neither is He unaware of the possible invisibility of a new crescent to most eyes. The design is to allow for the reverberation of the effect of Ramadan across the world. And time variation in observance of Salat or celebration of festivals is not peculiar to Islam. Even in Christianity, neither Easter nor Christmas is globally celebrated in one day. And, there is no media noise about it.

    What is global about Ramadan fasting is the month and not the time.

    Dawn and dusk vary from locality to locality. It is therefore possible for the Muslims in one part of the world to be breaking their daily fast at a time when their brethren in another part of the world are commencing theirs. Thus, the genuineness or otherwise of Ramadan fasting is not to be judged by man. That is why Allah is reported by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as saying in a sacred Hadith (Hadith-ul-Qudsi) that: “Fasting is Mine and I am the One to grant rewards on it.”

    Welcome to the coast of Ramadan. This sacred ‘ship’ must not leave the coast without you on board. Ramadan is like an institution of learning. A good Muslim must not just pass through it he must also allow it to pass through him. Who knows when the last time to witness the month will be?

    RAMADAN KARIM!

  • Scholars’ week @ Markaz (1)

    “Those are our impacts (on the Society); They confirm who we are; look at those impacts again…”

    This week, the third week in April, 2019, is not the well-known Scholar’s Week of Nigeria’s citadel emeritus called Markaz. Usually, that famous week comes up in the first week  of May, every year, since it first debut in 1998, six years after the demise of Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, the great African revolutionary sage who kindled the light of knowledge for Nigerian madrasah system on the platform of Arabic language.

    However, that the great week is coming up in the third week of April this year is a matter of exigency to avoid a clash with the coming great month of Ramadan.

    It should be recalled that the great innovation called Scholars’ Week was initiated by Shaykh Habibullah Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, a foremost son of Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory who is currently the Rector of  Markaz.

     

    Purpose of scholars’ week

    Scholars’ Week is a week in which scholarship is internationally celebrated in full regalia. Great men and women of letters from all walks of life, and from most countries of Africa and the Middle East, assemble on the campus of that great institution for a whole week in May every year to clad knowledge in a befitting wreath of honour.

    This ingenuous innovation which began in 1998 was aimed at keeping aglow the illuminating touch of learning that was the hallmark of the late Shaykh Adam Al-Ilory while alive.

     

    Activities

    During the week, scholarly papers on various issues of   human interest as well as of concern to Islam and the Muslim Ummah are presented. Debates and symposia are also organized to resolve some knotty contemporary and primordial intellectual questions hitherto unanswered even as plenary sessions are held to deliberate and decide on further way forward.

    Scholars Week’ is both a meeting point and a reminder of the good old days for the alumni of Markaz who now come from various parts of the world yearly to upgrade their general knowledge and broaden their horizons about life.

    The week also serves as an interactive session for professionals, clerics and scholars in other fields of learning outside the umbrella of Markaz to share and exchange ideas as well as experiences. It is like a modern day ‘Ukaz’ intellectual market of yore in Arabia where all valuable elements of scholarship used to compete for global intellectual attention.

     

    Internationalization

    Now, with this unique, annual, intellectual conference, the idea of Scholars’ Week has been further internationalized.

    The primary language of discussion while the commemorative conference lasts is Arabic. That language is international by all standards. Apart from being one of the languages spoken at the United Nations meetings, it is also the mother tongue of over 400 million Arabs as well as a major language at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forum. Besides, over 100 million non-Arabs who speak Arabic as their second language spread across continents and countries of the world.

     

    Conference language

    The scholarly event in Markaz does not however limit the exercise to Arabic speakers alone. Presentation of papers in English, French, Yoruba, Hausa and even Ibo is also welcome since no particular language has monopoly of knowledge. Arabic is however made the primary language of communication for two reasons: First is to provide scholars with an avenue to exhibit their Arabic prowess and thereby boost their scholarly horizon in the language of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Secondly, it encourages the current students of Markaz and those of other Arabic and Islamic Institutions of learning who may be interested in imbibing the culture of scholarship par excellence which helped the founder of Markaz to pave way intellectually for others in life.

    Despite the unrivalled accomplishment of Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and the ‘Milky Way’ role of Markaz in dispatching a galaxy of stars into the world, some people keep asking questions about the great citadel and its late exemplary Founder.

    The answer to that question was modestly proffered in a special publication organized by ‘The NewsMagazine’ of Lagos in 1999. At the grey twilight of the 20th century, the management of that magazine thought of putting together in a chronicled form, the most prominent 100 great Nigerian men and women of the 20th century. The publication was entitled ‘People in The News 1900-1999: A Survey of Nigerians of the 20th Century’.

     

    Hall of fame

    To put the documents together about those great Nigerians, some prominent Nigerian newspaper columnists and other versatile (but non-journalists) writers were chosen and commissioned to write about those great Nigerians. Yours sincerely was one of the commissioned journalists. And the two personalities assigned to me were the late Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and Shaykh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi. The 498 page book which was publicly presented with pump and pageantry in Lagos that same year can be called Nigeria’s 20th century’s ‘Hall of Fame.

    When I thought of reminding the world of the essence of Scholars’ Week through this column, this year, I was unable to think of anything different from what I had written and published about the great sage called Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory in the recent past. Thus, after some time of rumination, I decided to re-present my humble contribution to the book mentioned above. Here it goes:

     

    Distinction

    “To Muslim communities of West Africa, two names (Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and Markaz) are synonymous and often used interchangeably. Only a few people know that Markaz is a name of an Institution and Shaykh Adam is the name of its founder. Both names jointly symbolize revolution not only in the method of propagating Islam in the sub-region but also in entrenching the divine language of the Qur’an in the heart and brain of those Muslims. The late Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory was both an Islamic scholar of international repute and a revolutionary of historical reference.  His famous Centre for Arabic and Islamic Learning (Markaz) in Agege, Lagos State, testifies to both qualities in him.

    With the establishment of Markaz in 1952, Shaykh Adam introduced modernity and standardization into Arabic and Islamic learning in Nigeria and West African sub-region.

    Perhaps no 20th century Muslim scholar, dead or alive, has ever had such a profound impact on West African Muslim communities, in terms of Arabic scholarship and Islamic propagation as Shaykh Adam.

     

    Antecedent

    Before Shaykh Adam established Markaz, there were scholars and there were Madaris, (Qur’anic schools) no doubt. But such schools operated within a very narrow scope as their teaching methodology was very primitive and anachronistic.

    In those Madaris, pupils were merely handed over to Muallims (teachers) by their parents without any agreement on what to teach them and for how long. Thus, a pupil could serve his teacher for as long as 20 years or even more in the name of learning to recite the Qur’an.

     

    Birth of a dream

    When Shaykh Adam, who also passed through that pseudo servitude, grew up into a man, he pointed out this anomaly with a resolution to change it. To succeed in doing that however, he realized that he needed to equip himself educationally. Therefore, he put fervour in his burner and moved from scholar to scholar, as a pupil, searching for whatever he could garner intellectually to assist him in fulfilling his dream. Two of the teachers from whom he had a deep sip of knowledge were Alfa Namaji (a Nupe scholar from Niger State) and Alfa Salih alias Esin nio bi wa (an Ilorin scholar who settled down in Ibadan, Oyo State). He also studied under a number of other Islamic teachers.

    However, Shaykh Adam was not satisfied with the depth of knowledge he acquired from those teachers especially with his resentment for their teaching methodologies.

     

    His quest for more knowledge

    Despite his very limited financial ability, Shaykh Adam, decided to proceed abroad for further studies. He arrived in Cairo, Egypt, in the early 1940s, where he had an academic sojourn at the prestigious Al-Azhar University which is one of the three oldest Universities in the world today. (Al-Azhar University was established in 970 C.E by one Jawhar, a ‘Fatimid’ front liner).

    In Cairo, Shaykh Adam saw with admiration how well organized Madaris were run and he started dreaming of establishing one on returning to his father land. He studied the Egyptian curricula of education and methodology of teaching both at the elementary and secondary levels.

    On his arrival in Nigeria in 1947, he worked briefly as a missionary under Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria to enable him settle down financially in preparation for the realization of his long term dream. In a short while, his burning desire to reform Madrasah system in Nigeria spurred him to start planning for the establishment of Markaz.

    Thus with meagre financial resources but relentless determination, he established a Madrasah called ‘Markazut Ta’limil Arabiyy wad-Dirasatul Islamiyyah’ (which meant ‘Centre for Arabic and Islamic Learning’ and became popularly known as MARKAZ) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on April 16, 1952. The Institution which was to become the Centre of Revolution  in the teaching of Arabic and Islamic education in Nigeria, started with just 19 pupils and four teachers including Shaykh Adam himself. The founder’s foresight, however, would not allow Markaz to remain in Abeokuta for long. He moved the Institution to Agege, now in Lagos State, in 1955.

     

    Uniqueness of Markaz

    The uniqueness of Markaz at that time was not to be seen in the quality of education taught to the students alone. The modern teaching methodology and reformation with which the Institution was characterized also confirmed that uniqueness. It was in Markaz for instance that the use of chalk and blackboard for teaching Arabic and Islamic education was first introduced in Yoruba land. Hitherto, the teaching instruments were wooden slate and local ink. It was in Markaz that a curriculum was first introduced which classified studies into subjects while pupils were distributed into classrooms according to their levels. It was in Markaz that pupils of Arabic and Islamic education first wore uniform and sat on chairs rather than on floor while writing with pencil or pen in notebooks. It was in Markaz that examination was first introduced as a means of assessing and promoting pupils from class to class while certificates were issued to Madrasah graduates as a measure of their level of education. It was in Markaz that such facilities as dormitories, library, printing press and clinic were first provided for Madrasah students.

     

    Antagonism

    However, for doing all these and for teaching students such subjects as syntax, morphology, logic, semantics, philosophy, geography, History, mathematics, and Arabic literature, Sheikh Adam was confronted with implacable hostility by some traditional local Alfas. That hostility became aggravated when he added a Central Jum’at Mosque to Markaz where the Friday sermon which he delivered in Arabic language was translated into Yoruba simultaneously. But the courageous scholar remained undaunted.

     

    First graduation ceremony in Markaz

    With the first graduation ceremony of Markaz in 1957   however, which many people watched with admiration, Shaykh Adam won an important victory for his revolution. Following that graduation, some ambitious but hostile local Alfas swallowed their envy by shelving their pride and enrolled in Markaz as students to improve their knowledge and undergo tutelage in the modern teaching methodology.

    A number of those Alfas came from various parts of Nigeria as well as neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’I-Voire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Sierra Leone. After graduation, some of them went back to establish similar Institutions in their domains under the umbrella of Markaz.

    Today, thousands of products of Markaz and those of the affiliate Institutions are University graduates in various fields of discipline. Scores of them are highly placed in their callings and professions.

     

  • Trump’s Dangerous Predation Agenda

    It was a refreshing of an old wound last Monday, when the American President, Donald John Trump, fortuitously designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organisation. And, in a prompt reaction, Iran also declared the entire American military forces as a gang of terrorists. Coming up just a couple of weeks after the same Trump mischievously recognized a Venezuela opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who did not contest in the recent election for the office of the President in that country but declared himself as President with a swearing in ceremony, Trump’s seeming neurotic actions these days could not have come as a surprise. Here is a man who unilaterally decided in 2017 to erect a fence covering about 1,933 miles at the US border with Mexico and insisted that the latter must pay the cost. Also, like a neurotic patient, this man has thrown both the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU) into an embarrassing disarray on many issues with his garrulous international posture.

    Today’s article is not new. It is rather a repeat of an earlier article published in this column in November 2018, albeit with a different title. The article is being repeated here today on the demand of some prominent readers of this column who are strongly concerned about the gathering particles of an impending World War 111 the drum of which President Trump has been beating aloud in recent time with no reflection on its consequences Thus, capturing the vivid mood of those readers and based on their tone of demand for the repetition of this article,  ‘The Message’ column decided to migrate, from the insanity of Nigeria’s unwarranted political, economic and insecurity rigmarole to that of a global implacable tempest if only  for a momentary change.

    After all, elasticity has its limit. And by so doing, even if temporarily, some relief might come, not only to the readers of this column but also to the writer who is currently writhing in the dust of unimaginable suffocation in Nigeria. For now, that may be a way of ventilating the atmosphere for a relatively peaceful existence.

     

    Trump’s Predation Agenda

    At the instance of American President, Donald Trump, an unexpected global war may soon break out, the consequences of which will be very difficult to  predict. As a matter of fact, the motivation for this assertion had started gathering momentum with the swinging of a dangerous pendulum from the premise of the US imperial tendencies since Trump’s assumption of office as the 45th US President in 2016.

    When and how such a war will break out may just be a matter of guessing for all agitated minds around the world.

     

    The Immediate Cause of Iran/US Tango

    About four years ago, Al-Jazeera Television throbbed with   breaking news, reporting that a United States’ military aircraft strayed into the airspace of Iran and the latter promptly responded by shooting it down. The incident occurred when Dr. Barack Obama was the President of the US. And that was the climax of an allegation of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, especially, nuclear armament, levelled against Iran by the US.

    That disturbing development which dragged Iran to the United Nation’s Security Council for explanation further heightened the already existing tension between the US and Iran. The tension had started in 1979 with the Iranian revolution that uprooted Shah Pahlavi’s imperial despotism which had caged the country’s citizens for decades.

     

    U.S.’ Reaction

    In reaction to the fortuitous incident of the American intrusion that led to Iran’s prompt military reaction, the US authorities said that the destination of the shot aircraft was Afghanistan and not Iran.

    They explained that its pilot accidentally lost control and strayed inadvertently into Iranian territory. But then, the die had been cast even as the US has since been looking for an opportunity to revenge.

     

    Genesis of Faceoff

    The faceoff between Iran and certain Western countries, particularly the US and Britain, can be traced to a grand design by the West as expressed in 1902 by a British Prime Minister, Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman who observed as follows:

    “There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language and the same aspiration. No natural barriers can isolate them from one another… If, per chance, these people were to be unified into one state it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never- ending wars. It could also serve as a spring board for the West to gain its coveted objects”.

     

    Follow Up

    Sir Bannerman’s observation was tacitly a further pursuit of an earlier demand by an Austrian Jewish lawyer and Journalist, Theodor Herzl, the initiator and leader of the Zionist movement founded in 1879.

     

    Theodor Herzl’s Demand

    In the euphoria of a chauvinistic ambition, shortly after the establishment of the Zionist movement,  Theodor Herzl, made a demand thus: “Let sovereignty be granted us (Jews) over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation. The rest, we shall manage by ourselves…”

     

    The Balfour Declaration

    In furtherance of the West’s clandestine agenda expressed by Bannerman as quoted above, another British Prime Minister, James Arthur Balfour, issued an insensitively   devastating declaration that now bears his name in history. That seemingly conspiratorial declaration, which forcefully conceded a major chunk of Palestinian land to the Zionists as a home, became a thorny point in the serenity of the world.

    Since then, the infamous Balfour declaration has put the Middle East in an incessant turmoil to the discomfort of the world’s peace and harmony. The declaration read partly as follows: “His majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment, in Palestine, of a national home for the Jewish people and will use its best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this objective…. The rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country shall not be prejudiced by the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”

     

    Implementation

    To facilitate the effective implementation of that agenda, some other Middle East countries had to be decapitated economically and politically through an imperial excision of some juicy chunks of their lands from them. Thus, Lebanon was excised from Syria and Kuwait from Iraq. The strategy was to cause a dissention among the citizens of those countries with the intention of breaking the yoke of the Muslim unity which Bannerman had targeted in his infamous observation quoted above.

     

    Iran Connection

    Now, how does Iran come into this scenario when she is not an Arab country? That is the logical question that anybody who is not quite familiar with the Middle East and the intricacies of its political and economic set up may ask.

    Naturally, Iran is affected by three major factors: culture, economy and politics. By culture here, we mean ISLAM. Iran is a foremost Muslim country even if her official language is Farsi and not Arabic.

    And, as a Muslim Country, whatever affects other Muslim countries must affect her. Thus, as a major neighbour to the Arabs in the Gulf region, she cannot but play a major role in the politics of that region. Also, as an economically strong nation in the primordial and contemporary times, Iran, a current member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), occupies a very strategic position in the Middle East especially with her proximity to the Persian Gulf.

     

    How Ayatullah Khomeni Emerged

    It was in 1963 that the late Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatullah Ruhullah Mousavi Khomeini, embarked on his country’s liberation struggle that culminated in a successful revolution of February 1979.

    In that struggle, Ayatullah Khomeini took a retrospective view of the incident that almost obliterated Islam under the iron rule of Mustapha  Kamal  Ataturk of Turkey in the 1920s. With that review, he knew that without a clear-cut culture, man couldn’t be better than a beast. He knew that such values as law, education and religion, which had guided man in his peregrinations on earth, were the attributes of culture. He knew that any nation that surrendered its culture and adopted that of another nation had enslaved herself permanently to the caprice of the latter nation. Thus, Khomeini saw Islam, the spiritual culture of over one billion Muslims in the world at that time, as the target of the Western imperialists, which needed defence and protection.

     

    The Iranian Revolution

    No one believed before 1979 that a mass protest which started like a small political billow and was engendered by the country’s unarmed Mullahs could eventually grow into such a great magnitude of political ‘earthquake’. But by the time the foggy dust of that protest finally settled, a new Iran had emerged from the debris of the old. Thus, against the wish and expectation of the capitalist West, the hitherto secular, monarchical Iran became a democratic, Islamic republic. The drama was quite electric.

    Characteristic of the West, all hands were put on deck, at that time, to ensure that an Islamic republic did not succeed the tyrannical monarchy headed by the Shah Pahlavi who had been serving as a front for the oppressive West. America was most active in that ambitious but vain effort. She would not easily allow the massive benefit she had been enjoying for decades in that oil-rich country, under the Shah regime, to slip out of her hands just like that.

     

    Rescue Mission

    Thus, under the pretext that she wanted to rescue her citizens from the siege laid by Iranian students on her embassy in Tehran, the US attempted an invasion of the country.  The espionage activities by the American diplomats, inside that embassy, against the new Islamic government in Iran, had warranted the siege.

     

    The Strategy

    While a number of US F15 jet bombers were approaching Iran, the then American President, Jimmy Carter cunningly engaged his country’s pressmen in a media chat without giving them any hint of the impending military operation in Iran. The tactics was to divert the attention of the press and that of the country from the illegal Pentagon’s military expedition going on in Iran. But no sane person can ever fault the contents of the Qur’an. Almost 1400 years before that incident, a verse of the Qur’an had been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) thus: “They (the unbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed. Allah is the supreme schemer”. Q. 3:54.

    Jimmy Carter’s thought was that by the time he would be finishing his media chart, the news would have reached him that America had successfully invaded Iran. He had therefore intended to announce the news of his ‘great’, successful scheme to the press as the epilogue of his address. And that would have served as his impetus for wining that year’s election for a second term in office. But, as Allah would have it, instead of the expected news, what he got was a shocker of his life.

     

    The failure of the Strategy

    Miraculously, two of the F15 fighters deployed for the operation collided in the air just at the point of entering Iran crashing with their contents, and consuming the lives of all the 16 top air force officers on board while the other jet fighters had to turn back having run into confusion. When this devastating news reached Carter, it was too much to hide and it quickly became a public knowledge.

    Thus, the mighty America failed woefully, with her technology, in circumstances she has never been able to decipher and explain convincingly. With that scheme, it became obvious that Jimmy Carter of the Democrat Party had dug his own political grave. Of course, he lost the election to the cowboy turned Politician, (Ronald Reagan) of the Republican Party. For about 444 days (well over a year) thereafter, the 52 American hostages remained under the siege of the Iranian students. It took high-level diplomacy, through third party countries, to get them released.

    Yet, America was not done. She went ahead to freeze Iran’s foreign reserve of about $80 billion in addition to imposition of economic sanctions with the intention of running that country’s economy aground. The only Iran’s offence in this case was to chart an independent political course that could liberate her citizens from the manacles of the Western imperialism. Ever since, the relationship between America and Iran has remained icy.

    That relationship however, further deteriorated recently when Iran started a nuclear project with which to prop up her economy. America responded with a threat saying the United States would not tolerate any nuclear project in Iran because the latter could not be trusted with such a project.

     

    The World’s Greyhound

    Only a fool will not know that the United Nation (UN), as presently constituted, is the greyhound of the US through which the latter barks randomly at the rest of the world.

    But for the recent Iraqi episode that became regrettable for the self-appointed policeman of the world, and of course, the North Korean case, which suddenly became a cancerous sore on the head of the US, another Gulf war would have either ensued or become advanced in plan by now.

     

    Secret of American Power

    The secret of America’s military successes in various parts of the world is neither in technological advancement, nor military superiority per se. The failed rescue mission in Iran shortly after that country’s revolution has confirmed that.

    Rather, the secret of America’s military successes in various wars around the world are in her ability to cause schism among some other nations and races.

    Iran has never been a prey to America’s direct military aggression because that Gulf country has never played a fool dancing to the sour music of the predatory country called America in a seeming military arena.

     

    Sanction as a Weapon

    Now, with the threat of invasion of Iran by Israel on the one hand and economic and political sanctions against Iran by the US on the other, will history repeat itself? One fact has become clear about the US political trend ever since her withdrawal from her self-isolationism in 1945. The success of her internal politics has been regularly dictated by her foreign policy. Thus, many American Presidents have won or lost elections at home due to the foreign policy of the concerned President. Will this also repeat itself? The days ahead will answer this fundamental question as events continue to unfold. But with the objection by China and Russia to using suffocating economic sanctions against the people of Iran, the US may need to watch her steps carefully especially with respect to the aloofness of most European countries to her unilaterally planned invasion of Iran. It must be remembered that Iran is neither Iraq nor Afghanistan. The world cannot afford another World War now. No individual or country should attempt to plunge it into one by taking a country’s military capability for granted. A word is enough for the wise.

  • World’s Water Day

    Preamble

    The original title of today’s article in this column was ‘Miscellany of Issues’ and not ‘World’s Water Day’ that appears here.

    It has been expressed severally in this column that the dilemma of a worthy newspaper columnist is not a dearth of ideas but a deluge of them.

    In the process of choosing a subject of writing, many other subjects often surge forth torrentially in a seeming competition that causes confusion and throws the columnist into a dilemma. That is the weekly experience of virtually all newspaper columnists of note in all parts of the world.

    This is another week of dilemma for yours sincerely as a columnist.

     

    A Queue of Subjects

    By last Monday, a number of issues had queued up as subjects of wring from which this column was to make a choice of title for today’s article. And to further complicate the confusion arising from that deluge, some readers innocently suggested certain subjects on which they expected today’s writing to be based. In summary, weekly column writing is an entirely different terrain in journalism with a special literary prowess that can hardly be predicted because of the dynamic nature of the world. For instance, some of the many subjects like ‘New Zealand Massacre’, ‘The Nature’s Fury’, ‘Nigeria’s Political Dealers’ and ‘Ramadan’ that had queued up for choice in respect of today’s article had to be discarded in favour of the one that appears here.

     

    The Choice

    In the melee of the confusion and dilemma brought by the above listed competing subjects, yours sincerely decided to choose today’s (The World’s Water Day) because of its editorial   imperishability.

    Besides, it is a subject that affects all living things but which has attracted the least public attention in the media.

     

    Problem of Water

    There is no doubt that water is the most   dominant part of the environment which works actively in concert with weathers and seasons.

    Now, the world is in a season when people in African countries do wander about in search of water. This is the season when most rivers dry up as much as most wells. This is the season in which sellers of water make huge profits and buyers are forced to economize the use of water. It is the season in which the global importance of water in the life of man is often reconfirmed. Perhaps that why the United Nations decided to declare March 22 of every year the World’s Day of Water.

     

    Water Formula

    In their deep-rooted research, centuries ago, scientists decided to coin a formula (H2O) for scientific use in analyzing the natural contents of water. From such analysis, they identified the various types of water and their uses in an environment. They then concluded that water is actually the source of life for all living organisms.

    As a ubiquitous substance in the environment, water comes from the showers of the sky and becomes stored in the natural bowl of the earth.

     

    Composition

    Because of its capacity to dissolve numerous substances in large amounts, pure water rarely occurs in nature. During condensation and precipitation, rain or snow absorbs from the atmosphere varying amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases, as well as traces of organic and inorganic material.

    Thus, in its movement on and through the earth’s crust, water reacts with minerals in the soil and rocks. Meanwhile, the principal constituents of surface and groundwater are sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium and potassium as well as the oxides of calcium and magnesium.

    While surface waters may contain domestic sewage and industrial wastes the ground waters from shallow wells may contain large quantities of nitrogen compounds and chlorides derived from human and animal wastes.

    On the other hand, waters from deep wells generally contain only minerals in solution.

     

    Drinkable Water

    Almost all supplies of naturally drinkable water contain fluorides in varying amounts. Incidentally, the proper proportion of fluorides in drinking water has been found to useful in reducing tooth decay and similar ailments.

    According to scientific discovery, concentrated amounts of sodium chloride, or salt, seawater contains many other soluble compounds, as the impure waters of rivers and streams are constantly feeding the oceans. At the same time, pure water is continually lost by the process of evaporation, and as a result the proportion of the impurities that give the oceans their saline character is increased.

     

    Rainy season

    Now, in Nigeria, like in many other African countries, another season of rains is being expected when, as usual, water will be found everywhere but none will be available for drinking. That is the season in which the sky opens up its generous bowl to pour down water in abundance. But the earth has no space to accommodate the gesture. That is a period when plants and animals feel that their needs for survival have been grossly exceeded. Thus, as the world becomes flooded with water everywhere humanity becomes restive. At such a time, the bounties of Allah seem to be too much for the need of man. In Europe, Asia, Africa and America, the story is one and the same. That is the season in which the world will be grappling not only with a deluge but also with such disastrous accidents like cyclone, typhoon and hurricane arising from atmospheric pressure.

     

    Blaming the Nature

    When any of these happens, the tendency is for the scientists to lay blame at the door-step of what they call global warming. As a justification for their blame, they give many reasons, including the depletion of the Ozone Layer, as the cause.

     

    Prophetic   Environmental lesson

    Many centuries before scientists began their research on environment, the unlettered Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had taught Muslims how to handle environmental dryness as well as deluge. It is from that lesson that Muslims became familiar with the value of water and its use for Islam.

    In Islam, there is no cause or effect of a matter that is not known or cannot be controlled by Allah. Whatever happens in the life of man is by Allah’s permission.

     

    The Queue of Life

    Life is like a queue. You enter it at a point and come out of it at another point. This is one major lesson which every Muslim has come to learn through the observance of daily prayers (Salat). In Salat alone where queues are essential, a lot of lessons are there to learn.

     

    Ritual baths

    The very basic lesson to learn in Salat is hygiene. As a new convert to Islam, you have to undergo a ritual bath called Ghuslu-s-Shahadah or Ghuslu-d-dukhul fil Islam (convert’s ritual bath) which is performed with water. When you want to observe any Salat, be it obligatory or supererogatory, you must perform ablution with water.

    This is called Wudu’. If there is no water, you perform Tayammam (dry ablution). As a Muslim, after an intercourse with your spouse, you must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslul Janabah before you can observe any Salat.

    When a Muslim woman completes her monthly menstrual period she must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslul Haydah before she can resume observance of Salat. A Muslim woman who has just completed her blood-dripping period following child delivery must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslu-n-Nifas before she can resume observance of Salat.

    A newly born baby in Islam must be taken through a mandatory bath called Ghuslul Wiladah which is also done with water.

    Muslim pilgrims must commence their Hajj or Umrah activities with a ritual bath called Ghuslul Hajj or Umrah at their respective Miqat before they enter the condition of Ihram. When a Muslim, male or female, is dead, a ritual bath is performed on his or her body. This bath is called Ghuslul Janazah. Anybody who carries out a bath on a dead body must also undergo a ritual bath of purification called Ghuslu-t-Taharah mina-n-Najasah (bath for purifying self from filth).

    This is because a dead body in Islam is like a filth which must be disposed of as soon as possible before it starts to decompose and thereby constitutes health hazard for the living. Whoever touches such filth has had a share of it and must therefore cleanse up before observing any Salat. Such a person cannot participate even in Salatul-Janazah on the body of the deceased person which he has just cleaned up until he has taken the purification bath.

     

    Unique hygiene

    According to the prescription of Islam, Muslims are expected to clean up with water through ablution at least five times a day. And, as a prophetic tradition prescribes, they are also expected to perform ritual bath on Fridays in preparation for Salatul Jum’ah though such bath is Sunnah (optional) rather than Fard (obligation).

     

    Muslim Women and Use of Water

    Naturally, women, especially Muslim women, utilize water much more than men. They are the ones who take care of the children and, in the process; they clean up for them many times a day. Besides, women are the ones who must clean up for menses every month. They are the ones who must clean up ritually after 40 days, following child delivery.

    They are the ones in charge of matrimonial kitchens where they use water day and night. Thus, when the demography of women in any society is compared to that of men one can imagine the quantity of water consumed daily or weekly by women.

     

    Muslims’ attitude to dryness

    It thus becomes understandable why Muslims feel more concerned when there is dryness and water cannot be easily accessed. This is what led to the idea of a special prayer called ‘Salatul Istisqai’ (rain-seeking prayer). This prayer randomly observed by Muslims when shortage of water becomes acute cannot be observed without water ablution. It is a way of reconfirming to Allah that the main purpose of our existence on earth is to worship Him just as the purpose of keeping domestic animals is to serve man. Salatul Istisqai which is usually followed by heavy rainfalls is a major evidence of an existing covenant between Allah and His faithful servants. The wonderful effect of that Salat contradicts any scientific theory.

     

    The Role of Water in Hajj

    Unknown to the non-Islamic world, performance of Hajj every year is a great blessing to humanity rather than just a act of worship by Muslims. Hajj is the biggest congregation of human beings on earth.

    Allah recognizes with love, congregations of pious people who praise Him and pray to Him for the needs of the world. That congregation is essential for the continuity of human existence. There is no country in the world today without Muslim pilgrims joining their brethren from other parts of the world in requesting Allah to save the world from perishing. And each year, as such prayers are accepted, the world is confirmed saved despite the evil moves of Yajuj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) as well as their agents who are ignorantly pursuing their own destruction every minute. Thus, like Salatul Istisqai which brings water to everybody and not Muslims alone, Hajj is to the benefit of mankind and not Muslims alone. Thus, its preservation must be ensured by everybody in the interest of continued human existence. It is through Hajj that the Muslim world came to know Zam Zam water which comes from the oldest well in existence.

     

    Conclusion

    Without water, it will be difficult to observe Salat or to fast in Ramadan or to give Zakah or to perform Hajj. Without water, it will be impossible to bear children and bring them up, or to keep farms and sustain them. Water is life. But this is not for Muslims alone. The difference is that Muslims use part of the water to show gratitude to Allah by worshipping Him. Others use it for mundane life alone which is sheer vanity.

     

    Kowledge and Water

    Knowledge is like water which softens the earth for seeds to germinate and for plants to be nourished to fruition. Knowledge in Islam is much more important than worship. No one can validly worship Allah without knowledge. And if for this reason alone, it should behoove the entire Muslim Ummah of the world to cooperate in using water to worship Allah. That is the essence of knowledge. It cannot be trivialized.

     

  • The JAMB’s New Policy

    “You can never change things in a society by fighting the existing reality.
    To change something, you can only build a new model that can render the old one obsolete’’. Anonymous

    Preamble

    If most literate Nigerian city dwellers called elite hear or read about JAMB’s new policy, the tendency is for them to react, if tacitly, with the usual Nigerian    reprobate as follows: This JAMB again! What the hell is it cooking again?

    Despite the claim of education and civilization by those elite, it has virtually become a permanent tradition for them to seek progress without wanting to pass through a process of change. Yet, nothing guarantees progress as much as change through the rule of law.

     

    Rule of Law

    Rule of law in any sane society is not a mere expression of wishes. It is rather the real basis of guaranteeing enduring serenity. A society or organization without rule of law is like George Owen’s proverbial ‘Animal Farm’ in which all animals are said to be equal in theory but some are practically seen to be more equal than others.

    Nigeria’s Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is not an ‘Animal Farm’ that can be given conflicting interpretations according to conflicting perceptions.

     

    Innovation

    Like any trustable and sustainable Board or Organization that genuinely serves the people, JAMB is not resting on its oars in ensuring firmness of the rule of law for furtherance of serenity in the country.

    That is why it (JAMB) created a broad-based  ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ in 2017, as a way of carrying along well-meaning concerned members of the public with their various specialized expertise, thereby making the Board a truly service oriented public institution for the country’s development.

     

    Critical Stakeholders Forum

    Since its establishment in 2017, JAMB’s ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ has tremendously assisted JAMB in engendering a positive departure from the hitherto public perception in which the institution was negatively shrouded. The inputs of the ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ into the policies of JAMB have become a significant confirmation that it is quite possible to run an institution like JAMB democratically, even in a country like Nigeria, despite all overt and covert odds.

    Thus, today, the formulation of policies in JAMB is no longer an exclusive burden for which the Registrar or Management staff of that institution can be taken to ransom. Most of those policies are now jointly formulated at an open door annual meeting of virtually all professionals whose diverse expertise are effectively tapped for the advancement of JAMB and the progress of Nigeria. This dynamic action initiated by the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, in less than six months after his assumption of office has not just facilitated a thorough understanding of JAMB operations by Nigerian public; it has also become a quiet but constructive revolution that can be globally emulated and possibly equaled but not surpassed.

     

    Biometric Verification

    One of JAMB’s latest policies that has just been formulated for effective execution during the 2019 UTME is mandatory biometric verification which all candidates for this year’s examination will be made to pass through.

    Thus, the candidates for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and those of the future should know that henceforth, biometric verification is compulsory for them and without it, there will be no admittance into the examination hall.

     

    No Alternative

    The JAMB’s Biometric Verification which will have no alternative is an official scrutiny of any candidate’s claim of an identity.  It is an authentication formality with which every candidate will be admitted into the examination hall. Any candidate without certified biometric verification will not be allowed to write the examination. And no candidate without biometric verification should expect a reschedule of his/her missed examination for any reason. This policy, being emphatically presented here, is already contained in Vol 1, N0 11 of the official weekly bulletin of JAMB which can be found in JAMB’s website and has been disseminated to Nigerian media for publication or broadcasting. This year’s UTME candidates and parents who consider it a parental duty to follow their teenage children or wards to examination centers, despite those children’s age and exposure, should please note this policy very well and be prepared to abide by it. The summary is that no biometric verification, no examination. JAMB officials too should note that any candidate who cannot be verified should not be kept waiting to loiter around the examination hall. Such a candidate should immediately be advised to get in touch with JAMB through the already known means.

     

    Handicapped Candidates

    As for the handicapped candidates, JAMB has made adequate provision for them through the use of certain devices with which they are quite familiar. They are therefore advised to follow the instructions given to them by JAMB officials and simply abide by the rule of law in order not to regret anything after the exam.

     

    Attendance Register

    All candidates should know as well that there is no attendance registration other than biometric verification. Any available photo album found at an examination center will have no space for marking ‘present or absent’. And all examination officials including security agents are strictly advised to comply with these guidelines.

     

    Prohibited Materials

    Besides the introduction of biometric verification which is now compulsory for all candidates with no exception, JAMB has listed some materials that are prohibited in its Computer Based Test Centers (CBTC). Such prohibited materials include: books, mobile phones, ink pens and biros, pencils and erasers, wrist watches and jewelries as well as calculators, miniature electronic devices, smart eye lenses, ear pieces, blue tooth devices, bitsy microphones, teeny secret recorders and similar cheating devices. In the case of spy reading glasses which some candidates cannot do without, such must be surrendered to JAMB officials for scrutiny.

     

    Examination Dates

    The dates earmarked for 2019 examinations are as follows:

    1. The Mock examination will hold on April 1, 2019.
    2. The main UTME examination will take place throughout the country on April 11, 2019.

    All UTME candidates are strictly advised to arrive at their examination centers well ahead of the commencement of examination.

    Lateness of any candidate to the examination center may constitute a hindrance for his/her participation in the examination.

     

    Effect of Change

    The changes that had caused human progress from time to time in history were never compatible with the existing perennial traditions of those humans because of the revolutionary tendencies of those changes. Whether in the primordial or contemporary time, revolution has effectively proved to be the main determinant of human progress as it occasionally becomes inevitable in human life. The only alternative to it is stagnation. Therefore, a society without revolution, will surely be stagnant.

     

    History of JAMB

    When the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was established 42 years ago (1977), it came as a revolution which the then existing system of seeking admission into tertiary institutions through concessional examination first tried to resist. At that time, only about six full- fledged Universities were in existence in Nigeria. They were called ‘First Generation’ Universities. The six Universities were the bUniversity of Nigeria, Nsuka, founded in 1960; the University of Lagos, founded in 1962; Ahmadu Bello University founded in 1962; the University of Ife, founded in 1962; the University of Ibadan, upgraded to a full-fledged University in 1963 and the University of Benin, founded in 1970.

    Until its upgrade into a full-fledged University in 1963, the University of Ibadan which was established in 1948 as a college of the University of London was the only Higher Institution in Nigeria affiliated to a

     

    Comment

    At no time in the history of JAMB have stakeholders been involved in the process of UTME as now facilitated by the current administration in that Board. This is an indication that the real revolutionary motive of JAMB is becoming more manifest than ever before. JAMB is a pace setter for revolution in all sectors of public service in Nigeria.

     

    Nigeria’s First Tertiary Institution

    What most Nigerians of today did not know is that the very first Tertiary Institution in Nigeria is Yaba College of Technology. That Institution was established in Lagos in 1932 with the name Yaba Higher College. It was however commissioned in 1934 and renamed Yaba College of Technology in 1947, one year before the establishment of the University College, Ibadan. Today, with over 200 Higher Institutions including Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, it is almost impossible to gain admission into any of those Tertiary Institutions without passing through JAMB. Thus, no matter the angle from which JAMB is viewed, it has practically the main yardstick with which the standardization of Nigerian tertiary education is measured.

     

    Comment

    At no time in the history of JAMB have stakeholders been involved in the process of UTME as now facilitated by the current administration in that Board. This is an indication that the real revolutionary motive of JAMB is becoming more manifest than ever before. JAMB is a pace setter for revolution in all sectors of public service in Nigeria.

  • Letter to Nigerian Youths

    “We cannot always build the future for our youths but we can build our youths for the future”. Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Preamble

    The writing of this letter to Nigerian youths of today is warranted by the seeming thorny path to the future which is  lying ahead of them and threatening their passage. This letter is in response to a Yoruba axiomatic adage that charges the elderly to prevent the fall of the young ones from falling without hope of rising on his way to the future. The youths are the heirs to the elderly who must be prepared for worthy heritage. Here is the letter:

     

    Dear Nigerian youths, this letter being addressed to you through this medium (The Message) is not by accident but by design. Nigerians of my own age and beyond (about 70) never had an opportunity to be so addressed.

    Let it be known to you that besides life and sound health, no Allah’s bounties to man is as treasure-able as youthfulness. The definition of youth varies from place to place and from culture to culture. But generally, youthfulness spans from the age of puberty (at about 16 years) to the age of reasoning (at 40).

    That is the second stage of human life after that of adolescence. It can be said therefore that the juiciest part of human life is what people call youth. And whoever is blessed with it is blessed with all hopes of life.

     

    Spur of Ambition

     

    Youthfulness is the spur of ambition and propeller of risk taking. It is the period of determination and resolution. It encourages attraction between genders and engenders association across boundaries. All efforts in human life that yield results in old age are made at youthful age. To an average youth anywhere in the world, the sky is never the limit. There are still many other firmaments beyond the sky. Youthfulness is the stage at which hard work becomes manifest. It is the stage of planning. It is the stage of vision and mission. That is why the youths of any nation are seen as the bone marrow of such a nation and the beacons of the future. And fortunately, youths invariably constitute majority of the existing people at any given time in any given nation.

     

    Experience

     

    In the years past, when life had meaning and culture had value, youths were seen as the pride of the nation. They were the natural arrows fixed to the parental bows which were often shot through the iron gate of life. This was the case in Nigeria before and during the colonial era. And after the country’s independence, the youths constituted the glory and hope of their parents as well as that of the nation. Their role in the family encouraged the bearing of many children as the males among them partnered their fathers in tilling the farmland and in harvesting the crops while the females among them joined their mothers in making the families comfortable for the society to thrive gloriously. In short, the youths of those days unconsciously formed the live wire of their families and by extension, that of the nation.

     

    Family Wealth

     

    When a father was said to be rich in those days, it was not because of the money or property he possessed but because of the many children (male and female) he had, who constituted the needed workforce and economic security for his family. Ironically, father’s pride, then, was not just the number of children he had but the volume and quality of contribution made by those children to his wealth. Thus, children were considered to be nonesuch wealth for their parents.

    In those days, youths were not just helpers of their parents on the farms or in their trades they also assisted them in training the younger ones among their siblings. Yet, they had the highest esteem for those parents in their utterances and conduct. The tradition in those days was such that boys were handled by their fathers in terms of discipline and responsibility while girls were mostly handled by their mothers in terms of marital training and societal decency. And, in the process of bringing up their children, no mother ever dared to utter a word while any child was being subjected to discipline by the father. In a nutshell, the upbringing of a child was the main key to societal serenity.

     

    Change of trend

     

    Today, Nigeria is a different story all together. The youths of yesteryears have become the elders of today. They have left the chord of discipline that escorted them into the world of decency and joined the new train of indecency. And that chord is no longer seen as suitable for either today or tomorrow as the trend has changed dramatically. The current trend began in January 1966 when some uncultured youths in military uniform, spurred by blind ambition, threw the value of age and experience to the winds and killed the then leaders of the nation in what was called a military coup d’état that was evidently tribal and religious. By that unfortunate act they plunged Nigeria into a precipitate civil war that turned the youth wild and eroded the value of youthfulness.

    For 13 years thereafter, the military vagabonds remained in power using whim in place of discipline and experience. And when a brief civilian interlude came on board in 1979 for only four years and three months, those vagabonds perched on the governance again like hungry vultures fed on the carcass of democracy to their fill. Through that unbridled usurpation of power, the so-called Nigerian military weaned themselves from the ladle of integrity and destroyed whatever was left of their nomenclature.

     

    Outcome

     

    Here we are today, looking desperately like starved hawks hanging restlessly in the balance like gagged hyenas. Virtually every Nigerian has forgotten the real cause of our calamity. The cry everywhere is now about the effect of that calamity on the nation. No one endeavours to look back and see where the downfall started from.

    And without looking back, there can never be any correction as to how to rise again. A Yoruba adage states axiomatically that when a toddler falls down he looks forward (to see if there is any adult around to lift him up). But when an adult falls he looks backwards (to see the cause of his fall). That is the difference between experience and potential.

    Banking on potential to govern a nation that requires experience as did the eaglet Nigerian military can never bring any meaningful result. Both potential and experience have their role and chance in any society. But neither can take the place of the other.

     

    The difference

     

    You the youths of today are different from those of yesteryears in many ways and the differences are clear. The youths of the past were very hardworking, dedicated, patriotic and forward-looking. They served their parents diligently and stood by them in all circumstances. They sought their parents’ advice and learned from the latter’s experiences. Unlike you, they built their hope on hard work, contentment and destiny.

    On the contrary, you the youths of today are very lazy, slothful, time wasting and lackadaisical in your attitude to life even as you are served by your parents from infancy almost to old age. Yet you despise those parents and treat them with disdain like nonentities. You believe that those parents had worked on your behalves and that you are only in the world to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

    The youths of the past were patient, contended and full of respect for the elders. They were humble, obedient, always eager to acquire knowledge and gain experience as they queued up to learn from the elders.  You the youths of today are very inpatient, pompous, greedily ambitious and you see yourselves as masters of knowledge when in actual fact you are slaves of ignorance. Unlike the youths of the past, you the youths of today are mostly empty-headed, very arrogant, highly materialistic and hastily avaricious.

    You always want to start your lives from the peak of your parents’ achievements without asking about what those parents had gone through before reaching the peak. That is why some of you joined politics by contesting for the Presidency in the stupid idea of ‘Nut Too Young To Rule’ which some of your fathers who had stolen public funds tried to see through legislative acts in favour of their own children who they expect to inherit them in politics.

    You, the youths of today, spend money lavishly without working for it and you never think of bearing any responsibility either in the homes or in the society. You are generally characterized by all the conducts that were classified as shame in the past. To you shame has its price and going by your myopic perception, it only takes money to pay that price. That is why you worship money, day in and day out as your ultimate god. And as long as you can pay that price by all means in whatever currency, you are important in your own estimation. Thus, shame, as far as you are concerned, is a vital aspect of culture which has no negative effect on your lifestyle. As a matter of fact you have taken shame for both pride and prestige.

    If a few youths of the past were ever described as a bunch of societal problems for their society, due to their misdemeanor, majority of you, the youths of today, are the real cogs in the societal wheel of progress in today’s Nigeria. To you, life has no meaning except it is heavily coded in money.

     

    Life Span

     

    Your slogan that “long life is irrelevant in the absence of money” is a testimony to the above assertion. That life span in Nigeria has dropped so drastically is due to your disappointing lifestyle which often creates hypertension for your parents and leads to their early death. Few parents talk of heirs nowadays because those of you who are supposed to be their heirs have long thrown away the toga of worthy heirs. In the past, mothers were not known for staying with their daughters in the latter’s matrimonial homes while leaving their husbands behind without care. This strange but new trend that has almost become a part of Nigerian culture arose because the incompetence of today’s urban women, even after many years of training, is questionable. Thus, despite the ubiquity of young men and women, there is scarcity of husbands and wives just as there is a dirge of fathers and mothers.

    Virtually everything that matters to you, today’s youths, is devoid of our known core value. By your measure, the value of life can be found only in the volume of naira accessible to you.

     

    Causes of generational change

     

    Whenever there is cause to review the generational trend with the intention of righting the wrong, you, the youths of today are often quick in pointing accusing fingers mischievously at the generations before you by saying they caused the prevailing debacle. But while pinching the back of the elders you often forget that sooner or later you too may become elders whose back will be pinched by the youths who will succeed your own generation. You have forgotten that most of the scientific discoveries and technological advancement of your age which lured you into roguery were not available for the past youths. There were no such things as hard drugs, cybercrimes, armed robbery, sophisticated pen fraud through manipulation of figures and forgery of signatures. There were no cases of rape, child trafficking, audacious prostitution and day light murder with impunity as are rampant among you today.

     

    Professional Crimes

     

    To you, the youths of today, all the above mentioned crimes are either professions or callings in which you actively engage with strong desire for perfection. Thus, you do not believe in the existence of any demarcation between decency and indecency, an indication that ‘family name’ which was highly valued in the past has no meaning to you today. Unlike most youths of the past, you were sent to school but your goal was mere certificate that will legitimize your anticipated fraudulent meal ticket rather than useful education and beneficial knowledge. And, now, what you acquire in the schools you attend, which you call certificate, in the name of education is hardly worth the paper on which those certificates are printed. For most of the years you now spend in higher institutions, your preoccupation is either cultism or other frivolous activities that have no bearing with education. That is why most of you turn out to be unemployable University or Polytechnic graduates after leaving those institutions.

    A few of you who might have secured public employments by whatever means, have been discovered to be sheer misfits on those jobs as your competence remains questionable.

     

    Implications

     

    The implications of all these are many. While most of you are not quite useful to the present time you are also not hopeful about the future.

    There is hardly any major crime in Nigeria today that is not principally committed by you, all in the quest for money. It seems that the only language you understand either orally or in writing is money and only those who can speak or write the language of money can command your respect.

    Many centuries before our time, an Arab poet intuitively came up with a sonnet which fits perfectly into today’s Nigerian situation. He said: “Here is the era against which we had been warned through the admonitions of Ubayy Bn Ka’ab and that of Abdullah Bn Mas’ud; an era in which truth would be totally rejected while falsehood and insurgence would be kept aloft; Should this era linger on without any change, there will neither be any sorrowful mood at a funeral nor any joyful feeling on the birth of a new baby”.

    Now, which of the situations narrated in the above poem is not applicable to Nigeria today. What impact does religion have on the society again?

    We used to know of motor spare parts. Today, spare parts are no more those of motor but of human beings. And the most active merchants of this queer business are you the youths of today (male and female, clerics and laity). When we talk of illegal oil bunkering, it is the business of the youths. When we talk of kidnapping, it is the business of today’s youths. When we talk of suicide bombing and terrorism, it is the business of today’s youths.

    And all these are for money and nothing else. Where is Nigeria going from here?

     

    Conclusion

     

    The aim of this expository article is not to malign or denigrate the youths of today. All the children of this columnist are today’s youths who do not constitute a separate island. But preaching is like a mud surrounded by men and women in immaculate regalia. No one of them will be spared if the mud is splashed. As a onetime youth and now a father qualified to be called an elder, it is not expected of my type to start throwing stones while residing in a glass house. But truth knows no boundary. It cruises on like a surging train without minding whose ox is gored. To rekindle Nigeria’s old hope or create a new one for the future, the youths of today must return to the established values of the past. It was through those values that the tranquility of the world was solidly upheld. And it was through deviation from it that the world became as restive as it is today. If tranquility must return as wished by many, you the youths of today, must change your loins.

     

    And that is the only atonement that the world requires to return to tranquility.

     

    GOD BLESS NIGERIA!

  • Without a leader like him…..2

    Preamble

    Politics, especially in Nigeria, is like a pond of mucky water in which politicians swim and sling mud on decent people who are not in the pond with them.

    As usual, a baseless rumour broke out last week and quickly went viral in the social media, early this week, about the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, who is also the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

     

    The Rumour

    In the obnoxious rumour, a stalwart of a particular political party was quoted as saying that if the gubernatorial candidate of his party wins tomorrow’s election in Sokoto, His Eminence should consider his Sultanate throne vacant. What an infra dignitatem in the arena of politics?

    Although a denial of that rumour has been publicly denied by the topmost echelon of the mentioned party, the fact remains that the thought of such a senseless idea by anybody, in the first place, is a peculiar fallacy that is capable of enticing a  peculiar reaction from Nigerian  Muslim Ummah.

    Given the fact that the Sultan is the national leader of Nigerian Muslim Ummah (Amirul Muminin), his royal office is rather national than regional. And no regional figure or State Governor can tamper with that office without the consent of the entire Nigerian Muslim Ummah.

    The Sultanate is neither a political party nor an affiliate of a politicking entity. And the Sultan, who sits on the throne of that Sultanate is not a politician. That office is rather about Islam, a major religion in Nigeria with majority of citizens as its adherents than about an individual. It is therefore clear that any occupier of that royal stool is an institution that cannot be toyed with for a flimsy reason.  Without Islam, there can be no Sultan and without a beloved and highly respected Sultan like Dr Abubakar, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah would look like a beheaded body. Thus, in a society where Islam is well established, who will allow any political butcher to be-head the Ummah?

     

    Baseless Threat

    Whoever threatens the royal seat of the Sultan willingly or inadvertently automatically threatens, not just millions of Nigerian Muslims but also the very existence of Islam as a religion in this Africa’s most populous country. It is therefore beyond any individual politician or political party to think of any obnoxious idea about the seat of the Sultanate.

     

    Reminder

    The above narrated incident is a reminder of an article that yours sincerely wrote in this column, in November 2016, when His Eminence was 10 years old on the throne as Sultan. An excerpt from that article is as follows:

    “How time flies. It has been ten years since His Eminence, Dr.  Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, ascended the royal throne as the 20th Sultan of the Sokoto Empire and, by extension, the Presidency of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The historic date of his ascension was November 6, 2006. Until then, the lofty man’s name did not ring any bell in Nigeria. And he was probably not conscious of the royal blood in him. If he was ever conscious of it at all, his humble nature did not reflect it. But the thinking of man is quite different from the will of Allah. And when the thinking of man clashes with the will of Allah, the latter automatically prevails.

     

    Ascension to the throne

    For Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, ascending the throne of the great Sokoto Empire was like the rise of the sun ‘Anon Meridian’. When it beams its rejuvenating rays over the world, all the stars in the galaxy take their bow.

    History and man are like Siamese twins. The one cannot do without the other. History makes man just as man makes history. And the reciprocal baton continues to change hands between them as long as they mutually remain in existence.

    Thus, the sudden emergence of the then 50-year-old Brigadier General, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, as the successor to the exalted throne of the great Sokoto Empire without controversy came as a surprise to many Nigerians. His own father, Sultan Sadiq Abubakar ascended the same throne at the age of 37. Surely, the name ‘Muhammad Sa’ad’ played a significant role in the emergence of its bearer as Sultan.

     

    The mystery in name bearing

    There is something mysterious about name which humanity is yet to comprehend fully. A puzzling secret seems to exist in the vocabulary of life which sticks to every man like a skin. That secret, pearled in the yoke of name, is an effective evidence of destiny in man. Our names are the light that glows at night to lighten up our ways towards the glares of the days through the threshold of life. And when the dawn comes to render the glowing light ineffective, the bearer bows out into the recluse of death leaving behind an indelible signature on the sands of time.

    This was the case with Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the greatest man that ever lived on the surface of the earth.

     

    Unlettered Son from Desert

    Even as an unlettered son from  Arabian desert, who was born in an era of blatant ignorance, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) introduced into the world, an unprecedented civilisation that opened the eyes of humanity to everlasting guidance. In recognition of his human exemplariness, the Almighty Allah said of him in Q 33: 21 thus: “You have a good example in Allah’s Apostle for anyone who looks to Allah and the Last Day and remembers Him always”.

     

    Peculiarities in name

    Sultan’s first name is Muhammad (meaning Praiseworthy) which he bears in emulation of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). His second name is Sa’ad (meaning ‘Good Luck) which makes him a name-sake of one of Prophet Muhammad’s companions (Sa’d Bn Abi Waqqas) who was a great Army General of Islam. And his (Sultan’s) surname is Abubakar (meaning father of youths), an inherited name which he shares with the first Caliph in Islam (Abubakr Siddiq). In every one of these names is a profound meaning with profound influence on the personality and conduct of the current Sultan.

    As an Army General, like Sa’d Bn Abi Waqqas, Sultan is demonstrating the courage of a brave leader. As the father of the youths, like Abu Bakr, he is bridging the gap between leadership and follower-ship by breathing a breeze of hope into Nigerian Muslim youths, irrespective of tribes, from time to time.

     

    Identity of a Leader

    A leader is known, neither by the aura of the office he occupies, nor by the enormity of the power wielded in that office. Rather, a leader is known   by the magnanimity with which he exercises the power entrusted to him and the humility he demonstrates in his interaction with the people he leads. This is the lesson that Prophet Muhammad’s leadership taught Muslim rulers in one of his Hadith when he said: “A powerful person is not the one who can oppress people (with the instrumentality of office) but the one who can resist the temptation to use such power”.

    Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar seems to have exemplified this prophetic teaching as a Muslim ruler and a faithful one for that matter. And through his humble interaction with all Muslims in Nigeria, irrespective of ethnic or geographical boundaries, he has become the first Sultan to create a strong feeling of a united Muslim Ummah in Nigeria under a competent leadership.

     

    Philosophers’ Theory

    Philosophers who assert that every new century has a way of producing a great leader may be difficult to fault. The example of Dr Abubakar, is a manifestation of that assertion. Ever since he assumed the exalted royal office of the Sultan, ten years ago, this great man has convincingly exhibited all the qualities of genuine leadership by all standards. Every statement he has made socially, religiously, economically or politically, and every action he has taken privately or publicly, has proved to be a school from which all well-meaning people of Nigeria have learnt one gainful lesson or another.

     

    Reformation of NSCIA

    At the instance of His Eminence, a forward looking reformation has been going on in the Nigerian Supreme  Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) since he ascended the Sultanate throne in 2006. For instance, he has set up a number of committees to take charge of certain necessities concerning the NSCIA and the National Mosque. These have given the Nigerian Muslim Ummah the needed comfort with which to surge ahead as a single body of believers.

    Besides, he has also reformed the Abuja National Mosque in such a way that no Muslim part of the country feels neglected again. Thus, since the reformation, the Friday sermon in that Mosque has not only been delivered in the three major languages (Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba) in addition to Arabic and English, he also appointed three deputy Imams to assist the Chief Imam in rendering the Jum’at sermon in rotation every Friday. Those Deputy Imams who are from the Northern, the Southern and the Middle Belt regions of Nigeria have all been promoted as full-fledged Imams following the demise of the pioneer Chief Imam of the national Mosque.

     

    As Chancellor of ABU

    At the first convocation he attended under his Chancellorship of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in November 2010, His Eminence told the audience that the then socio-economic indices in Nigeria were a clear indication that the country had begun to drift. He lamented the dwindling standard of education and the growing rate of poverty in the land despite the nation’s unprecedented wealth which he said had failed to aid national development.

    In his words: “…Corruption has emasculated our progress even as poverty and unemployment have pushed citizens to the brinks thereby fuelling social conflicts and inter-communal crises which have extracted heavy toll in both human lives and property….”. He went further to say: “Persistent insecurity has generated panic and anxiety; our social and physical infrastructures are far from meeting the needs of the nation; the country appears to be adrift and at the core of all these is moral decay engendered by ignorance and greed.”

    At home in Nigeria, this Sultan has never relented in his advocacy for good governance and denunciation of corruption and religious intolerance just as he has consistently campaigned for religious peaceful coexistence at various international conferences and seminars he has attended in African European, American and Asian countries.

     

    Conclusion

    That is Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar for you, a leader who knows the problems of his followers and associates with them in solving those problems. Without a leader like him, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah would have gone asunder.

    If, as a Muslim Ummah, we have a leader of this type and caliber at this crucial time of our life, why should anybody, who claims to be a Muslim think obnoxiously about him or the Sultanate? The Message hereby calls on all genuine Muslims in Nigeria to further pray the Almighty Allah to stand by this Sultan with further divine guidance and formidable protection in all circumstances. Amin!