The Soun of Ogbomosoland Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III has approved the appointment of Sheikh Habeeb Ayilara as the new Imam of the palace.
Oba Ghandi, a former lead pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, announced the appointment on Friday, through his official Facebook page, amidst his face-off with the embattled Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheikh Dr. Teliat Ayilara.
Muslim News gathered that the announcement of Sheikh Habeeb, who is also from the Imam Mahmud Ayilara family, just as Dr. Teliat Ayilara, was part of activities marking Soun of Ogbomoso’s 63th birthday.
A faction of the Ogbomoso Muslim community organised a special prayer in celebration of the monarch’s birthday.
During the special prayer held at the Abata section of the palace, Sheikh Habeeb was turbaned Imam of the palace by the League of Imams and Alfas of Ogbomoso.
He was later presented with the staff and certificate of office by the Asoju Muslumi of Ogbomosoland, Alhaji Mikail Misasco.
Soun, in his Facebook post, appreciated the faction of the Muslim community for honoring him with the special prayer on his birthday.
According to him, “This afternoon, I was deeply honored by the Ogbomoso Muslim community, who graciously organised a special prayer in celebration of my 63rd birthday.
“I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all the Muslims of Ogbomoso for this significant and thoughtful gesture.
“During the gathering, I took the opportunity to reaffirm my unwavering commitment to the principles of fairness, equity, and justice, which continue to guide me in all my endeavors.”
Following the prayers, Soun of Ogbomoso conferred on Sheikh Habeeb the title of “The Imam of Soun’s Palace”, saying that the palace requires an Imam who will not only lead prayers within the palace but also represent me in religious matters concerning the Muslim community both within our town and beyond.
“I firmly believe that the peaceful coexistence of all religious bodies is essential to fostering growth and progress in Ogbomoso. I remain committed to supporting and promoting this unity for the benefit of everyone in our community. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate and pray with me,” he added.
Corroborating the statement of the Soun, the Parakoyi of Ogbomosoland Alhaji Sirajudeen Aleem insisted that Sheikh Habeeb would only serve as the Chief Imam of the palace, pending the outcome of a court case involving the incumbent Chief Imam.
According to him, “He (Sheikh Habeeb Ayilara) will be the Imam of the palace, the Imam of the Oba. We are not acting in contempt of the court because the matter is in court, it is the court that will tell us if Imam Teliat is Imam Ogbomoso or not. We are not removing him (Alhaji Teliat) as Chief Imam Ogbomoso, he is still there because the matter is in court. But the Imam of the Soun is the one we are turbaning today. Listen to me, he is Imam of the palace, of all the Soun Royal Houses.”
Chief Imam, Soun at loggerheads
Muslim News also reported that the monarch and the grand chief Imam have been at loggerheads for some time, as insinuations of a plot to remove Imam Teliat made waves.
The last that was heard of their misunderstanding was when the Soun served the Chief Imam a query for leaving the shores of Ogbomoso to perform Hajj without his approval.
The Chief Imam swiftly responded in a letter, reminding the monarch that their case was still a matter of adjudication in the law court.
Recall that in June 2024, some concerned Muslims under the auspices of Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum had dragged Soun and the kingmakers who are members of Soun-In-Council to court over the plan to remove Sheikh Teliat.
The court, presided over by Justice K.B. Olawoyin, later barred the traditional ruler and the Soun-In-Council from removing the Chief Imam.
Reactions
The turbanning of the Palace Imam has however been greeted with reactions from other factions of the Muslim community who claimed it’s abnormal for the monarch to appoint an Imam without a mosque.
According to Ustadh Ibrahim, “No mosque inside the Palace. Oba Ghandi has not built a mosque. The Imam will not be leading any jumm’ah. It’s not on record that he delivered a khutbah and led jumm’ah yesterday. We commend Oba Ghandi for clarifying the position of the newly appointed Imam.”
Other reactions as selected from Oba Ghandi’s post on Facebook
Sheikh Teliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara remains the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland and Sheikh Habeeb Ayilara is the Imam for the mosque within the palace complex.
And you guess right, the two Imams are cousins.
Sheikh Teliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara will be leading Eid and Central Mosque, while the palace Imam will be stationed at the palace. He’s Imam rattibi of the palace. In other words, Palace Imam is under Chief Imam like other Imams in Ogbomosholand.
My king, Kabiyesi Olofa of Offaland has an Imam in his own palace, and we have a grand imam of Offaland, Sheikh Muhyidin Salman Hussein. No contradiction, no overlap of duties and/or responsibilities.
The only grey area is that Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III has said Sheikh Habeeb Ayilara will be representing him in ceremonial functions; that part is for Chief Imam! – Jimoh Taofik Adekunle-Balogun
….
What is the rational behind this ugly development, nothing but to cause crisis and religious anarchy in the town. Well congratulations to the palace imam. Ride on Dr. Yunus the chief imam of Ogbomoso land, come rain come shine I stand with the truth and the majority. – Ganiyu Kabir
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As a king from Christian kingdom, you need to handle the affairs Ogbomoso Muslims with maturity and decency so that you won’t have yourself to blame at the end if the religion crisis you want to ignite escalated beyond what you can quench. – Nurudeen Ademola Taoheed Samorano
You are indirectly instigating a crisis within the Muslims in Ogbomoso and claiming to “remain committed to supporting and promoting this unity for the benefit of everyone in our community”
I wonder what is also meant by “also respect me in religious matters concerning the Muslim community both within our town and beyond.” – Habeeb Lawal
The views and opinions expressed in this story are those of the netizens and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of our medium.
Faces at the turbaning ceremony
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Am sorry is like yoruba muslims are weak if not what a serious idiotic character mading by soun ogbomoso and if he knows is benefiting from islam why can’t him converted to islam. Then the palace imam himself is sick if not will not bownig in front of non islamical body is it because of money or what oba ghandi have made a mistake if knows he needs multi religious in his palace might have buld mosque,church.and temple for idolist. With this we muslims ready there is enemy of Islam helping outside enemy.
May Allah unite the Muslims.Since when has the oba been the one to choose Imam for a mosque? Afa ni baba oba.we choose imams base on merit and shurah(mutual consultations) .This is the Muslims practice.if the oba does not want mosjid in his palace fine,but if he wants then the Muslim community of ulamaas should take charge.Period.