Ramadan strategy to unite the umma (I)

The South West Zone organizes similar meetings under Muslim Ummah of the South West MUSWEN. The National Conference held at the JNI headquarters in Kaduna on June 14 2014 and it was attended by religious and traditional leaders, leaders of Muslim groups, clerics, scholars and activists. President General of the JNI, His Eminence the Sultan […]

The South West Zone organizes similar meetings under Muslim Ummah of the South West MUSWEN. The National Conference held at the JNI headquarters in Kaduna on June 14 2014 and it was attended by religious and traditional leaders, leaders of Muslim groups, clerics, scholars and activists. President General of the JNI, His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar welcomed participants to the meeting. Various Scholars of leading Muslim brotherhood groups such as the Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya tariqa and the Izaltul bidia wa ikamatu sunnah were all invited to present papers. The keynote address was presented by the Vice President General JNI Ebonyi State, Sheikh Dr Haruna Ogbonnah Ajah, who is also the Ocho- Udo and Nze Nnanweri Ugo I of Afikpo. The paper quoted copiously from the Qur’an, discussed the sunnah as the two sources of Islamic law and the various madhab (schools of thought or Schools of religious jurisprudence) He emphasized that Muslim unity is reflected in the life of the Prophet Muhammad SAW who is the role model for all Muslims to emulate.
Other presentations were those made by a representative of the Sheikh Sani Yahya Jingir a leader of the Izala group. In his presentation titled Aadabul Ikhtilaf Etiquettes of Differences of Opinion and its Significance in the Unity of Muslims, he stressed the fact that the Muslim Umma is one in spite of the diversity of race, language colour and country. Allah urged Muslims to unite and ‘hold on to the Rope of Allah and be not disunited.’ He said the Umma is like a building with each block reinforcing the other and the building is defective if one block is missing.
The discussant of the paper, Sheikh Tijjani Bala Kalarawi said ‘I am from the tariqa group and the presentation from the Sheikh was an Izala perspective of the need for the unity of the Umma. However the presentation does not in any way differ from what I would have presented. We all agree on the basic tenets of Islam. We have reduced the disagreement with each other because we are facing unprecedented challenges from our enemies. Our traditional ground of disagreement used to be on the practice of Sufism (Islamic mysticism). Izala criticizes our veneration of our Sheikhs, celebration of Maulud and recitation of salatil faith. Our response to this is to demand that all Muslims should concentrate and practice what they understand and leave that of which they do not know or have doubts. It is heartening that relations among us have improved tremendously and we now visit each other, eat together and attend weddings and other events together.  Since our disagreement is about scholarship, lets treat knowledge like telephone recharge card, make your choice, scratch, load and keep going. We have to acknowledge the leadership role played by our leader the Sultan in bringing about this cordial relationship between us.
In a paper, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, a leader of the Tijjaniyyah tariqa dwelt succinctly on the importance of unity among Muslims and also highlighted the causes of division among Muslims in Nigeria.  He hit the nail on the head, and I find it imperative to quote him verbatim. Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi said ‘Only the word of Allah and His Prophet SAW are obligatory and binding. The major obstacle to the unity of the Muslim Ummah in contemporary Nigeria is that some of us take the verdict of their Ulama as impeccable as the text of the Holy Quran or that of the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. They never concede to the fact that their Ulama can make mistakes. To them, whoever defies their scholars is Kafir. They arrogate to their scholars the sole right to define who is a Muslim and who is not. Whoever refuses to identify with their views they would condemn him as an unbeliever. All this they do under the pretext of fighting bidi’a (innovation) and asserting Sunnah.’ They fail to understand that defying does not imply defiance to the Almighty Allah as their views are not impeccable. They fail to understand that scholastic opinion has no authoritative right to define the bounds of Islam. They fail to get it that difference in understanding the text from either of the two primary sources i.e. the Quran and Sunnah is as old as the revelation of the Quran itself but that had never been used by any individual or group to condemn an opponent, throughout the history of Islam, except by the Kharijites.’ Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi then underscored the danger in condemning people as Kafir which is the major cause of conflict and disunity among Muslims. He said, citing a hadith ‘the Prophet’s tradition is resounding: (Whoever condemns his fellow Muslim to unbelief then one of them instantly stands an unbeliever, if the one condemned is not, then the condemner is….)
The Sheikh made it clear that disunity among Muslims reared its ugly head in 1979 when a particular group was inaugurated which made it an accepted mode of preaching to condemn Muslims who believe in and practice Sufism as Kafir. He said faced with this situation, they the Sufis and in particular the Tijjanis reverted to the Prophet’s verdict of not retaliating and calling those who antagonize them Kafir.  He drew participants’ attention to the fact that the organization that specializes in calling the Sufis and the Tijjaniyyah and the Qadiriyyah in particular as Mushriks and innovators has no respect for history. Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi said ‘the organization did not respect the fact that the great founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Sheikh Othman bn Fodio, the great, great grandfather of the serving Sultan sitting here with us, was a great  Sheikh of the Qadiriyyah order. I wonder how a founder of a formidable Islamic body could be associated with shirk. How could a Mushrik establish a great theocracy for Muslims?’
 The paper was circulated to all as the Sheikh sent his apologies because he had to be in Abuja for the launching of his Foundation for Islamic propagation. Sheikh Adam Idoko, the Imam of the University of Nsukka Mosque was listed to be the discussant of the paper.