By Rasheed Abubakar
The mainstream media, local and international, never miss an opportunity to exploit any semblance of division among Muslims. With gnawing excitement, they pounce on the slightest misunderstanding, twisting narratives to deepen discord and fuel their insidious agenda.
Now, just because a few mischievous, indiscreet and ill-motivated individuals, hiding behind the office of the ‘Grand Mufti of Yorubaland’, the League of Imams and Alfas in the Southwest, prematurely announced a date for the commencement of Ramadan; the media is having a field day.
“Yorubaland starts Ramadan on March 1, dumps Sultan’s tradition” was the misleading headline used by the Guardian newspaper and other hostile media, including busy-body bloggers, who went sensational, in their usual manner, saying, “Yoruba Muslim Leaders Set Ramadan Start Date, Breaking The Tradition of Waiting for the Sultan of Sokoto” as seen on Instablog on Friday, 14th February”; forgetting that there is no existing tradition actually. The same people have always engaged in the similar practice on a yearly basis, they may however not have been very loud as they were this year.
Since the communique surfaced online after the league meeting, the media has been celebrating and feasting on the supposed controversy, using it to revive their struggling platforms.
The most unfortunate aspect of the disturbing development is the meddlesome interloper among the non-Muslims from the South. They have seized the moment to push divisive rhetorics, complaining about the supposed ‘northern dominance’ in the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, where Sultan of Sokoto, His Excellency, Alhaji Muḥammad Abubakar Sa’ad III is the President-General; as if Muslims have ever complained to them about marginalisation.
But why hasn’t anyone of them asked why a black man has never been made a Pope. They will never mind their own business. Do they want southern Muslims to join them, just as Christians from the northern region often complain of southern dominance in the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
One can imagine the audacity and effonttery of one Stephen Bawa on X: “I think it is time for the Yoruba Muslims to do us Yoruba Nation proud by cutting links with the Fulani Caliphate and set up a Yoruba Islamic Supreme Council to manage the Yoruba Muslim affairs. It is painful for us Yoruba patriots to see our Yoruba Muslims treated as 2nd class!”. If he and his cohorts are pained, he needs to realize that Muslims are delighted to remain under the leadership of Sultan. That’s what Islam preaches – universal Brotherhood.
Yet, all these ignorant and Islamophobes conveniently ignore or pretend to have forgotten the fact that Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) is the umbrella body for all the Muslims in the Southwest. Interestingly, the Rabitah is just one unpopular group among many notable Muslim groups under the leadership of MUSWEN.
Unknown to naysayers, MUSWEN, which endorses the leadership of Sultan of Sokoto as the Amir-al-Mumineen (Leader of the Believers) in Nigeria produces the Deputy President-General (South) and an automatic slot for the Secretary-General, headed by Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo and Prof Ishaq Oloyede respectively.
Rabitah’s (Markaziy group) disobedience to the leadership of the Sultan, especially on moonsighting of Ramadan despite being a member of the National Moon Sighting Committee established by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) is not new. The leadership of this group under the influence of Sheikh Habeebullah Adam Al-Ilory of Markaz Agege Lagos had on several occasions defied the Sultan’s announcement to either start fasting or observe Eid. So, what is new in that?
It is important to note that the Grand Mufti of the League, Sheikh AbdulAzeez Ishola, while speaking with The Punch on Sunday, 16th February had insisted that the announcement to start Ramadan on 1st March was not meant to undermine the Sultan’s authority as the spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria or to create division among Muslims in Nigeria. So, if Sheikh Ishola’s remarks as quoted by The Punch is anything to go by, it’s high time the league resolved their differences with the leadership of the NSCIA internally, with wisdom and unity, ensuring that their disagreements never become weapons in the hands of those who wish to see us divided. It is hoped that the needless battle for supremacy, recognition and cheap popularity will allow them do the needful.
It is absolutely unnecessary to be experiencing this shenanigans every Ramadan, which is supposed to be a month of mercy, forgiveness and spiritual rejuvenation. Even if their assertion ended up to be true and Ramadan fast begins on 1st March, shouldn’t the report of their findings rather be submitted to the Moon Sighting Committee for verification before announcement by the Sultan of Sokoto at the stipulated time.
Ramadan is the best time and it offers the ideal opportunity for the Nigerian Muslims to unite against the forces that wish to divide them. Only the hypocrites, the evil-minded and the ill-intentioned Muslims will think otherwise, especially with the gang-up of the enemies of Islam as exposed by the noise that trailed the Shari’ah panel in Southwest Nigeria. Is it not time to shun tribal, ethnic bigotry, egocentricism and parochial interest as Allah firmly says in the Qur’an 3: 103 “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you – by His Grace – became brothers.”
As the Yorùbá proverb states: “If the wall does not crack, the lizard cannot enter”. Let us strengthen our bond, protect our house, and refuse to give room for avoidable external interference.
* Rasheed Abubakar writes for Muslim News Nigeria
Thank you sir for this up-in- time piece 🙏