PROMINENT Islamic scholar, 81-year-old, Sheik Al-Mukadam Muhhamed Robiu Adebayo, is the founder of Jam’iyyat Lutfil-Laai International, an Islamic society with branches in several countries across the world, including the US and the United Kingdom.
Sheu, as members of the society call him, came to Lagos as a 10-year-old boy in 1948. The son of an Ilorin, Kwara State-born Islamic scholar, Robiu Adebayo was sent to Lagos by his father to study the Quran under the tutelage of an Islamic scholar.
“Though my father was a very prominent Islamic scholar in Ilorin, he preferred to send me to a Quranic school in Lagos,” he said with a touch of joy in his eyes.
His father’s decision to send him to Lagos, Sheik said was informed by the belief that it was better for him to go out of his immediate family setting to get a good education.
“The old people of my generation believed that a child may not be able to learn if he was taught by his parents. They also believed that a child needed to go outside his family to learn some things about life.”
Asked if he was happy with his father’s decision at the time, he said: “In those days, you dare not argue with your father’s decision. Even your mother is compelled to support whatever decision the father made. It was the same in my own case. My father wanted the best for me, hence his decision to send me to Lagos.”
His father’s decision to send him to Lagos will remain the best influence on his life. Young Adebayo arrived in Lagos without any formal education, but with the determination to make success of his father’s dream.
Growing up, Sheik said he was always desirous of becoming an Islamic cleric. “You know that was the job that our father did. And since they worked for God, they wanted their children to follow in their footsteps, and that was what I did.”
He arrived in the Kosoko area, Lagos Island area of Lagos, where he spent most of his younger days, and chose to focus his attention on his mission, which was to attend a Quranic school.
“You know that I told you that my father wanted me to study the Quran, so that was what I focused my attention on at the time.”
As a young man, Robiu Adebayo loved sports and participated actively in sports like football, boxing and table tennis.
“For most young men of my generation, you had to love one sport or the other. For me, I loved football, boxing and table tennis and I was really active in these sports.”
But, his arrival and survival in Lagos was not on a roller coaster. As a young man from the hinterland of the country, he was often referred to by his peers as an Ara oke (one from the hinterland). That tag, he confessed, put some limitations on young men at the time.
“I came to Lagos from Ilorin, Kwara State. At the time, people who came from the hinterland part of the country were called ara oko. It really affected some young men who began to display inferiority complex.”
But young Adebayo refused to bow to the tag and mixed with other young men. “I came as a young boy and I mixed very well with other boys of my age,” he said with a sense of pride.
He also realised that he needed to do something that would earn him money. “I joined some other young men to fish. We would go to sea to catch fishes, which we sold to make some money. There is no island between Lagos and Badagry that we didn’t go during our fishing expeditions.”
All the money he made, he said was spent on his quest for Islamic education and to fulfill his father’s advice that he must go to a Quran school.
“All the money that I made was spent on Quran schools. My father insisted that I must go to a Quranic school and I just had to make sure that I heed his instruction.”
In 1957, Sheik realised that he needed to get some form of formal education and decided to learn driving. At the completion of his training, he joined the employ of Leventis Motors, where he worked as a store keeper.
While his boss’ wife loved him because he was always neat, some people in the company wanted the boss to sack him because of his lack of education. After sometime, the boss later heeded the advice and asked him to resign.
“Some people went to the boss to sack me, but his wife really loved me because I was always neat. They told the boss that because I didn’t go to school, it would be easy for thieves to steal the cars in my care. After sometime, I was asked to resign.”
After losing his job with Leventis, he got another job with the Nigerian Railway, where he worked till he started Islamic cleric job.
After his decision to go full time into Quranic calling, Adebayo went back to an Islamic school, located in the Ebutte Metta area of Lagos.
“In 1968, I decided to go to a Lebanese school in Ebutte Metta. It was a full time Islamic school built by the Lebanese government. It was also tuition-free. I spent three years at the school.”
Sheik said he studied under the tutelage of about 10 Islamic scholars during his quest for knowledge and understanding of the religion. Doing that, he said, helped him to acquire different types of knowledge from different people.
“In our time, we needed to ensure that we got full understanding of Islam. For me, I attended about 10 Quranic schools and each of them impacted on me in different ways.”
Speaking on the seeming tension among religious groups, he said there was no need for it, insisting that only a religious leader that has a ‘hidden agenda’ would create tension among religious bodies.
“There is no need for all this misunderstanding among the religions. There are several books that can enlighten the people on the right thing to do,” he said, before adding: “Let me tell you this, whatever religion you claim to profess, you’ll know in your heart if you are doing the right thing or not. A religious leader who is deceiving his followers knows what he is doing. But judgment should be left to God, because it is only Him that knows who is truly worshipping Him or not.”
On his simple lifestyle, Sheik Adebayo wondered why a true man of God would go round town with unbridled display of opulence and aides. “While it is not wrong for a religious leader to have aides that would go round with him, what I don’t seem to understand is the way some people do it. If you go round with 1,000 aides, that does not stop you from having a stomach upset if you would have it. And funny enough, none of those around you would feel the same way with you. Most of the things that happen to man have been listed by God to happen. And if you see a true man of God, he would not come out himself to proclaim it. It is the people around him that will go round to speak of his good deeds.”
At 81, Sheik Adebayo has barely slowed down on a few things she used to do before now. His day starts early in the morning when he rises to say his prayers. That is then followed up with a little exercise, which he said has been difficult for him to stop. “It is difficult for you stop doing a few exercises in the morning if you did sport in your younger days,” he said smiling.
But one thing that the Sheik has found difficult to stop is his love for pounded yam. According to him, whether he was at home in Nigeria or anywhere outside the country, his daily meal of pounded yam remains a must.
“My best food is pounded yam. And I eat it daily, irrespective of where I am. Whether in Nigeria, UK, US or anywhere, my day is not complete without a meal of pounded yam.”
While the Sheik may not have any form of formal education, his understanding of English language is high. Asked how he was able to speak English, he laughed before saying: “I’ve lived in Lagos for more than 70 years. Who would live in Lagos for that number of years without being able to speak English language? Besides that, I have visited several foreign countries where I have my members. So, it should not be surprising that I speak English.”
He, is, however, not resting on his oars in his quest for better education for the people. Aside from his Quranic school, his organisation has founded a nursery and primary school, with students cutting across religious divides.
“What we are doing is to train better leaders. We observed that some Islamic teachers need to improve themselves in formal education. You can imagine a scholar who is not able to speak English language? So, we decided to establish a school. We have also acquired a large sparse of land in Ilorin where we hope to start a university very soon.”
