Assassination cannot be the Answer

Sheikh Albani, unlike most of his contemporaries in Nigeria, did not concentrate his time on preaching alone.  Most of his times was spent in teaching concrete lessons at a school he founded 24 years ago, and remained committed to it. Sheikh Albani’s popular words of caution is the adage “if you think education is expensive, […]

Sheikh Albani, unlike most of his contemporaries in Nigeria, did not concentrate his time on preaching alone.  Most of his times was spent in teaching concrete lessons at a school he founded 24 years ago, and remained committed to it. Sheikh Albani’s popular words of caution is the adage “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
He established his institution in 1990. Sheikh Albani described, in a recorded presentation he made to his followers in January of last year, the school’s mission as geared towards providing education to those committed to learn, and also providing awareness to other community members on matters that are important to them.
Even the educational curriculum  displayed his vision for the school. He disclosed that they do not just teach Arabic the language of the Quran, as most Islamic schools confine themselves to, he understands the need for other important languages of acquiring knowledge and also their importance in terms of frequency of interactions with the average Nigerian.  His school therefore teaches English, French, in addition to local languages of Hausa, Fulani, Ibo, Nupe, and Yoruba.
Albani stressed that “We do not just teach, we educate.” By that he means providing the students with various angles of analysis that stimulate the mind to solve problems on its own, without dependence on others.  He admitted that Islam is the religion of the school’s founders, and the central theme or mission of the school is to educate, but lessons about other religions and their teachings are also important for a comprehensive understanding of religion and its tenets, and so lessons about other major and even ancient religions are also taught. 
As for awareness, Sheikh Albani would gather the most knowledgeable on any current topic of importance to his immediate community, and have them speak about it.  Some of such topics will definitely put him at variance with some powerful institutions, groups, and governments, including controversial international organizations, corporations and sometimes governments.  He would however make sure whoever speaks on any topic has authority in the subjects he presents a lecture on.
He would also, since his institution is an Islamic one, invite a scholar of Islam, the most knowledgeable about a subject of discussion for the community to give the Islamic perspective. For example, one of his presentations was at the peak of Polio vaccine controversy, where he invited a Professor of Pharmaceutical sciences from  ABU Zaria and  a Professor of Immunology, in addition to an official of the Ministry of Health to make presentations about it directly to the public, in a language the common man can understand and digest.
He also declared that his institution, which as at last year’s presentation, was working on a plan to expand to a degree awarding institution, has a physical design for a seven story building that will house various degree seeking courses in two categories; a “Sheikh Mahmud Gumi Sharia Institute” which as the name suggest will concentrate on issuing degrees in Islamic Sharia, and an “Albani Institute” that will award degrees in courses related to Internet Technology and Computer Science.
Apart from the widely circulated media articles that he must have been eliminated by the Boko Haram, because his ideology and life works towards providing education both religious and modern differs from theirs, he had differences with the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.  He had openly advised his followers not to elect candidates from that party, based on concrete experience he disclosed that he had with its candidates who visited his school, made promises in the past, and broke them.
As the victim of the assassination, Sheikh Albani, explained about his brush with the authorities on a video he made seven months ago in June 2013.  In it, he charged that the PDP government having ultimately won the 2011 election, used the security forces to concoct false charges against him for which he was detained for two months.  And despite dragging the case against him in court for two years, has to date not presented any evidence against him, yet they will not accept that the best thing to do is stop harassing him and drop the case.   He explained that his trouble with PDP and its government started after broken campaign promises made in public, having used him to reach his followers for block votes.  He therefore denounced the party as one to elect in the subsequent 2011 election.
Weekly Trust writing during the detention in its June 11, 2011 edition has this to say “   If the Nigerian constitution says you can’t detain a suspect for more than 48 hours without taking him to court then the Nigeria Police is already violating this provision of the constitution by keeping Sheikh Albani for a week without instituting a case against him. The other option is to release a suspect on the grounds of lack of evidence after two days in detention. And the police has not done that either. Tension is already high in Zaria, according to media reports, due to the arrest of Albani….”
For whatever reason the Sheikh was assassinated in cold blood, such acts do not belong in the 21st century.  He was not the first, second or third Muslim Cleric that was assassinated this way, with automatic machine guns.  Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam was on April 13, 2007, and since then until that of Albani, many other Muslim clerics have been also gunned down.  All those assassinations before that of Albani including Sheikh Adam’s had remained unresolved, and the culprits whoever they are, remained behind the shadows.
But when you have differences with someone, if you are credible and believe deeply in the cause for which you differ, you do not resort to assassination.  You seek a better way of resolution that brings forth your cherished perspective for people to see and judge.  You seek more knowledge and ponder on the best way to present it to win the argument. You do not resort to violent means of silencing someone you hate.  Anyone who respects the dignity of human life, will argue it out intellectually in presentations, seminars, in the media etc.  Assassination is the law of the jungle. It belongs in the stone-age.

Hadiza Wada (Dr.), Publisher, The Optimist Voice
www.theoptimistvoice.com