Of Islamic work and political da’awah: A shuttle between the mosque and the State House

Unlike the North, Southern Nigeria was (and is still) far from metamorphosing into a centre of Islamic politics, where credible Islamic scholars hold cabinet positions and therefore leverage on such positions to advise their governments appropriately, from an informed Islamic perspective.   The gulf between secular scholars and Islamic intellectuals grows wider on a daily basis […]

Unlike the North, Southern Nigeria was (and is still) far from metamorphosing into a centre of Islamic politics, where credible Islamic scholars hold cabinet positions and therefore leverage on such positions to advise their governments appropriately, from an informed Islamic perspective.   The gulf between secular scholars and Islamic intellectuals grows wider on a daily basis with regard to the quality of scholarship, enlightenment,  argument, and  interventions being offered in engagement with diverse issues and policies, affecting Muslims.

Accordingly, there has not been sufficient evidence of credibly varied scholarly, critical, creative and informed patterns of modernization, and differing interpretation and implementation of Islamic principles and provisions.  This, interestingly,  is what John Esposito characterizes as the advent of an alternative Islamic activist elite (which) reflects new realities in the Muslim world… owing to the fact that ‘Islamic movements, both moderate and extremist, have proliferated and become agents of change.  John Esposito writes of this line of advancement in Islamic work where he describes such enlightened Islamic organisations establishing modern political and social organizations and embracing advanced means to disseminate their message, with most of them functioning within civil society as social and political activists and providing leadership in politics and the professions… at the same time.

The two types of Islamic organizations or movements captured in Esposito’s characterization   are present in Northern Nigeria and have, to varied degrees, contributed to the promotion and enthronement of rewarding political Islam.  Contrarily, neither of such groups is present in Southern Nigeria.  Although there are few committed and systematic Muslim organizations with enviable record of promoting and protecting the Muslim interests, at various levels in Southern Nigeria, much is left to be desired concerning the quality of engagement in this domain with Islamic knowledge, in a rationale-focussed manner and peculiarities-based fashion. Yet, such high-achieving organisations deserve plaudits for keeping the flag aloft. Ranking high among the greatest achievements of some notable Muslim organizations in the Southwest are such appreciable but unchallenging ventures as organizing public lectures, and building mosques, Islamic schools and probably hospitals!

There however is little evidence of an organized linkage between them and the government excepting, of course, when they invite some state commissioners or political office holders to an annual gathering, Ramadan lecture, fund-raiser, or unsolicited special prayer for the state, or conversely when a distinguished Islamic scholar leading a notable Islamic organization is invited to lead an opening or closing prayer or partake of some sumptuous meal prepared for Ramadan iftar at the State House or residence of  a politician who may not necessarily be a practicing Muslim!  While Islamic resurgences have paved way for the emergence of Islamic scholars and Muslim activists on the political scene and in governance in Northern Nigeria even though this, too, has not translated into substantial gains for Northern Muslims as human capital, some of their Southern counterparts have as their ultimate ambition appointment to the membership of the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, invitation to a Ramadan iftar gathering at the State House or a sponsorship slot to hajj or ‘umrah.  More unfortunate is that virtually everyone is Ustadh, Shaykh, Imam, Amir, and  Murshid, regardless of their Arabic, Islamic unqualifications!

While political Islam, as noted earlier, flourished and yielded fruits for Muslim organizations and individuals in the North during this period, at least in the quality of available Islamic enlightenment, some of their Southern counterparts, too, performed impressively at their own end, while others were busy pursuing private and selfish interests in the name of Islamic struggle, networking in the name of Islam but pursuing personal rather than collective interest.   Instances of this, including the most recent account thereupon concerning the unabashed desperation to pay homage in Abuja, are numerous and may only be cited in a sequel to this article, if precipitated. It is not uncommon among religious institutions of both the Christian and Muslim orientations, in both the North and the South of Nigeria,  to have protests organized, press conferences held, and releases issued, all in the pursuit of sectional or private agenda that does not really serve the generality of the adherents of the faith involved. The despicable religious experience has been recently situated into the concept of  “The Nigerian Factor.”

This probably explains why there has not been a comparable level of progress in Political Islam in Southern Nigeria where politicians have continued to play on the intelligence and capitalize on the Islamic ideological insensitivity of some Muslim organizations and their leaders, by creating the impression that the interest of the Muslims are being adequately protected whereas infact the reverse is the case, as all is but a political gimmick. Consequently, the leaderships of most organisations have fallen prey as such strategies have only been employed to win Muslim votes during elections, for the advancement of the political ambition of the politicians involved. The experience is akin to what President Suharto of Indonesia demonstrated during the last 12 years of his rule as “he turned to Islam both personally and politically” by talking about and practicing Islam, allowing and promoting the creation of Islamic banks, giving broader powers to Muslim courts, putting an end to the  prohibition on wearing the Jilbab in schools allowing Islamic newspapers and television programmes to be published and aired, and increasing the fund of religious schools.

Some Islamic organizations and scholars were quick to realize that Soharto was not really sincere about his pursuit of Islamization projects and was only seeking to cultivate a loyal Islamic following to perpetuate his power, and as part of an overall strategy of divide and rule where he favoured some groups over others.  Accordingly, such Islamic groups and individuals distanced themselves from his administration and rather laboured for the enthronement of democracy and Muslim values outside the new Order regime.  There also were other groups which opposed Soharto and declared themselves as such thereby laying the seeds for future militancy and fundamentalist goals of achieving a truly Islamic state.   Yet there were others who cooperated with him for political gains.  The position, attitude and dispositions of the groups in the last category bear some commonalities with the nature of the interaction of Islam and politics in Southern Nigeria, where there is hardly a Muslim organization reputed for having distanced itself from a regime or political dispensation, or known for having declared itself averse to a political administration or rule, on the basis of Islamic principles.

The active involvement of Islamic scholars in governance since the introduction of Shariah in the North in the 2000s as noted earlier, culminated in their increasing involvement in subsequent political process. Consequently, in the 2007 General Elections Muslim organizations, through their leaders, did not equivocate in expressing their view.  Muhammad Wakili has sampled their views for analysis in his study where he notes that the ulama generally are not averse to democratic politics.   The imperative of ulama’s participation in politics was promoted and “the El-Zakzaky’s group has repeatedly argued that the solution to the crisis facing the Nigerian Muslims lies in the overthrow of the existing secular state and its replacement with an Islamic state.  Among the common denominators in the contribution of the Northern ‘ulama to the 2007 political process was their emphasis on the need for Muslims to vote for credible candidates.

For instance, many notable Sunni Islamic scholars in Kano State mobilized voters for Governor Ibrahim Shekarau while many leading Tariqah and Izala scholars campaigned against him, even though the two sections are of orthodox Islamic orientation. Northern Muslim groups and their leaders also played a significant role after the release of the election results in 2007.  Whereas a group of Islamic scholars who monitored the elections in parts of Niger State rejected the announced results on the grounds that such results did not reflect the people’s wish such leading Islamic scholars as Dr. Ahmad Gumi and the Sheikh Sufyanu Abdullah called on Nigerians to accept and urged that the way forward was for all Nigerians to pray for the newly elected leaders to be God-fearing in the discharge of their responsibilities. That was a timely political statement made in the face of political turbulence!

Although the North has not really earned a pass mark in this regard, such roles as played by Northern Islamic scholars during the 2007 elections were impressive and not dissimilar from those played by some of their Southern counterparts.  However, it should be pointed out that while they, too, played some role in pacifying the aggrieved electorate and candidates after the announcement of certain controversial or incredible results, they were not as vocal as their Northern counterparts, in promoting the qualities or attributes of an ideal political candidate for the country and in pursuing general voter enlightenment during the electioneering.  In fact, notable Southern Islamic scholars were not known to have demonstrated the Islamic ideal as some of them were ready to pray for and pronounce in favour of any politician or political party that was ready to patronize them, regardless of his religion or its ideological persuasion.

It is not controvertible that the South is ahead of the North in economic development while the North is far ahead of the South in the quality of Islamic enlightenment. The North may want to learn few lessons from what put the South on the path of economic prosperity while the South too may need to learn from the quality of what constitutes Islamic leadership in the North. As is the case in the teaching profession where the quality of the teacher determines the outcome of his teaching, the quality of Islamic leadership determines the quality of Muslim enlightenment.

Someone recently lamented over what he called “the dearth of the Muslim intelligentsia.” Are they shut out of the circle of the domain where they can bring their knowledge, experience, and expertise to bear on public affairs? Nay! Could some people be feeling insecure over the possible emergence of a sophisticated class of Islamic elite with potential to displace them? Perhaps we have been sleeping all the while! Time has come for vibrant, intelligent Muslims well exposed to global best practices both in contemporary and Islamic issues. These are the expected lamentations wherever an unqualified leadership is enthroned and there is a preponderance of this around us. Lamentations where everyone claims to be Ustadh and Shaykh! Lamentations where everyone ventures to design an Islamic roadmap for the world.  Lamentations where people seek to displace their  imams thereby manning the mimbar without the requisite Islamic learning.

Concluded

 

Saheed Ahmad Rufai, immediate past Dean of Education, Sokoto State University, is a Jeddah-based Education Consultant working on Central Asia.