• League of Imams and Alfas to set up special committee for public reports on wanton clerics
• Case to be pursued to logical conclusion
Muslim leaders in Oyo State have said the Ibadan clerics who commit atrocities, including killing of fellow humans for ritual purposes are miles apart from the teachings of Islam.
They said Islam frowns at bloodletting in all its ugly manifestations to the extent that taking a single soul equates wiping out the whole of humanity.
The Muslim leaders spoke at a press conference held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Saturday, October 28, to address the recent news of two Islamic clerics and a Christian accomplice nabbed by the police for murder.
Speaking at the press conference, Chairman, Muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS), Alhaji Kunle Sanni described the incident as shocking and egregious.
Alhaji Sanni said he was also presenting the position of the Chief Imam of Ibadanland who doubles as the Chairman Council of Imams of Oyo State, Sheikh Abdulganiy Abubakri Agbotomokekere.
“The three men are: Mallam Muibi Ramoni Opeyemi aka Alubarika, who is the anchor of the three-man syndicate. He is also called an Arabic scholar and a son of the Chief Imam of Ijokodo. It is believed that his father is equally involved in this diabolical cruelty and unislamic syncretism that is antithetical to the fundamental principles of Islam. Due to tough disagreements with his father’s unislamic mannerism, some fundamentalists left the main Ijokodo Central Mosque and established another named Adanla Mosque. This was because attempts to send the Imam away from Ijokodo Mosque proved abortive.
“The second accused is Mallam Taofeeq Olalekan Kabeloun, who was dismissed from University Press Limited when he was caught in fraudulent activities. He is also an acclaimed Islamic scholar who studied Banking and Finance at The Polytechnic, Ibadan. He is the Mufassir of Orisun-Ibadan Central Mosque but reputed to be very aggressive in search for money. No wonder he built his house near the Muslim cemetery for easy accessibility to the major spare parts for money rituals. Because he had a running battle with the Imam due to the Imam’s suspicion of his living a life not in tandem with a good Muslim, he abandoned the mosque.
“The third person who apparently is a Christian is Tayo Akinrinola, reputed for his expertise in using cutlasses in severing human head,” Alhaji Sanni said.
“On Tuesday, 17th October, 2023, these three were arrested by the police. Since two of them were supposedly Mallams, it became a sensational news with people wondering what Islam has to do with using human parts for occultism to become superlatively wealthy.
“Islam is the most monotheistic religion in the world and it frowns at bloodletting in all its ugly manifestations. Apart from the use of ram to commemorate the Eid-al-Adha, there is no other compulsory use of even the blood of an animal in Islam. To take a single soul in Islamic nobility is a serious offence to the extent that it is analogous to killing the whole of humanity.
“Allah says in Chapter 5 vs 32 of the Holy Qur’an: “…annahoo man qatala nafsam bighairi nafsin aw fasaadin fil ardi faka annammaa qatalan naasa jamee’anw wa man ahyaahaa faka annamaaa ahyan naasa jamee’aa…” meaning “… he who takes a soul except the person also took another life or commits atrocities on the land. He who does this would be regarded as taking the soul of the whole of humanity…”
“Some of these so-called Mallams are poles apart from Islam in their quest for the good things of this world. If one looks at the idols seen within the premises of two of them, it is unassailably clear that they worship other creatures apart from the Almighty Allah.
“Allah equally admonishes 6Muslims thus: Holy Qur’an 4:116: “Innal laaha laa yaghfiru anyushraka bihee wayaghfiru maa doona zaalika limai yashaaa’; wa mai yushrik billaahi faqad dalla dalaalam ba’eedaa” meaning “Allah forgives not the sin of joining any god with him but He forgives whom he pleases any other sin except this. Anyone who joins any other god with Allah, has strayed far from the path.”
The MUSCOYS Chairman said it was disheartening to find Muslim scholars aggressive in satanic pursuit of inordinate wealth.
He assured the public that the Muslim community would pursue the case to a logical conclusion considering that the victim of their crime is also a Muslim, a land surveyor lured to death.
“Muslims believe that only Allah can make one wealthy. Many people have done multifarious acts of rituals, yet they remain poor as the proverbial church rat,” he said.
He cautioned Muslim parents to be circumspect of Muslim clerics engaged to teach their children the knowledge of Islam.
“Some Mallams from investigations don’t disseminate the knowledge of Islam in its pristine purity but more often than not teach about kufr methodology of making ends meet, most unfortunately money rituals. The Mallams that are due for suspicion in this circumstance are those with jalabi pretensions and they are mostly patronised by women.”
Alhaji Sanni said the League of Imams and Alfas under the leadership of the Chief Imam of Ibadanland would set up a disciplinary committee to report Mallams suspected to be engaging in reprehensible practices alien to Islamic culture. They would be ostracized from the league, he added
The Chairman meanwhile appealed for calm among Muslims in Oyo State, urging them not to take laws into their hands as the case is being followed by necessary stakeholders .
