Re: When will Gumi regain his freedom?

I once heard him on Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, complaining that we have lost one basic creed and beauty of Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) left behind for us – Da’awah and Irshad. He further said that you cannot propagate Islam by estranging the religion to potential converts through your action(s) that is (are) not […]

I once heard him on Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, complaining that we have lost one basic creed and beauty of Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) left behind for us – Da’awah and Irshad. He further said that you cannot propagate Islam by estranging the religion to potential converts through your action(s) that is (are) not sanctioned by the religion. He cited to the verse that says, call people onto the path (religion) of Allah with wisdom and good admonitions (Suratul Nahl Chapter 16, Verse 125). Any Islamic scholar with this type of perception, I believe, can fit into the western perception of a moderate scholar, even though we are not out to seek their approval ratings. That is why I couldn’t establish the link the Saudi authorities are trying to establish in this case.

This episode of Dr Ahmad Gumi’s predicament is yet another sign of the Federal Government’s insensitivity to the plight of good and responsible Nigerians abroad which our government is not doing enough to address. We have heard of convicted drug traffickers and other convicted Nigerians from across the world whose issues were raised by the National Assembly, making a lot of noise even against their convictions or jail terms. One will think that Nigeria is in support of such unwholesome behaviour or conducts like drugs peddling, child trafficking and illegal migrations perpetrated by its citizens. The question again is: do we have National Assembly members who care about what matters to us? Whatever happens on this issue, the question is: Is Dr Ahmad Gumi less a Nigerian than those convicted drug dealers? Doesn’t he deserve government’s concern and protection? Again, both our Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Embassy in Nigeria are simply not doing enough on this matter. Their handling of the issue is simply too poor, diplomatically. This is a very bad and strained diplomatic relations between the two countries that have very long existing religious, social and economic relations that have been mutually beneficial. The federal government must, therefore, come into this matter on the diplomatic front. What offence did Dr Ahmad Gumi commit?  We need to know!

 Mohammed Alfa is a post graduate student, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)