Sheikh Yunusa Kenci Agaie: Treasure of scholarship and humility

The event was the public presentation of Geniuses in a Genius; The Life and Ideals of Sheikh Yunusa Kenci Agaie, which held at the General Abdulsalam Abubakar Youth Centre Minna, Niger state. The book authored by Sulaiman Umar  Ndagi has its foreword written by Professor Shehu Galadanci, a classmate of Sheikh Kenci Agaie at the […]

The event was the public presentation of Geniuses in a Genius; The Life and Ideals of Sheikh Yunusa Kenci Agaie, which held at the General Abdulsalam Abubakar Youth Centre Minna, Niger state. The book authored by Sulaiman Umar  Ndagi has its foreword written by Professor Shehu Galadanci, a classmate of Sheikh Kenci Agaie at the School for Arabic studies (SAS) Kano. The occasion which was chaired by Sheikh Ahmed Lemu was also attended by His Royal Highness EtsuAgaie Alhaji Yusuf Nuhu and Sheikh Khalifa Ahmad Tijani Abdul Qadir Zaria who was the Chief Host of the ceremony. The Chief Servant of Niger State Dr Muazu Babagida Aliyu who served as the occasion’s Special Guest of Honour was represented by the permanent secretary in the state Ministry of Religious Affairs and Poverty Eradication. The presence of the Chief Imam and Waziri of Auchi Professor Zakariyau  Oseni who is the immediate past Dean of Arts and also the current Head of Department of Arabic at the University of Ilorin added some intellectual colours to the event. Some serving and former special advisers to the Chief Servant, commissioners and permanent secretaries also graced the occasion. The Niger State Grand Qadi and Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello both sent representatives.
In his foreword to the book, Prof Galadanci wrote, “I knew him (Sheikh Kenci) since 1946 when he and I were admitted as students at the Shari’ah law School (now SAS) Kano…Although he was older than most of us, he did not find it difficult to interact and mix with us. He was humble, polite and very friendly; and was loved and respected by both teachers and students. He was also hardworking, intelligent, sharp, and very methodical whenever he engaged himself in discussions and arguments in the class”. Describing Sheikh Kenci’s passion for knowledge, Prof Galadanci added that Sheikh Kenci used to have a book or a reading material with him all the time, and after school he used to take lessons from scholars like Sheikh Mai Hula and Sheikh Nasirkabara.
In his opening remarks, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu said although Sheikh Kenci became his colleague as pioneer Qadis at the Shari’ah Court of Appeal when Niger State was created in 1976 (with Sheikh Lemu as Grand Qadi and Sheikh Kenci as Qadi 1); Sheikh Kenci was his senior at SAS Kano. Sheikh Lemu identified him as a personality with uncommon sense of humility from which he (Sheikh Lemu) said he tried to “drink a cup”. Sheikh Lemu explained that those from whom he took lessons of Islamic jurisprudence and Arabic sciences at Kano including Mallam Muhammadu Minna (a.k.a Kokondare) were (unknown to him) taking lessons from Sheikh Kenci who yet remained humble in spite of the vast knowledge he had.
Professor Oseni, the Book Reviewer, gave a brief account of Sheikh YunusaKenci’s biography.  Born in 1902, He had his early Qur’anic and Arabic-Islamic education under his maternal grandfather Mallam Baba SulaimanuSankuci in Agaie town. His other teachers were WaziriMamman of Bida; Alkali Muhammadu of Tako-Likali in Agaie, Mallam Audu Bakunci in Katcha, and Mallam Muhammadu (the late Chief Imam of Eggan and father to Alhaji Lawal Murshid who settled and died in Minna and Alhaji Umaru Eggan who settled and died in Bida). Although he was a student of Sheikh Atiku of Kano, Sheikh Kenci later became the former’s close associate.
Sheikh Kenci was at the SAS Kano between 1946 and 1950. He taught at the Primary schools in Agaie town and Kutiriko in the early 1950s before he was appointed a judge in 1955 and rose to become a pioneer Qadi at the Niger State Shar’iah Court of Appeal from where he retired after 33 years of service (1955-1988). Sheikh Kenci conducted the annual Ramadan tafsir at the  Etsu Nuhu mosque in Agaie. He was appointed the 12th Chief Imam of Agaie by the 9th Etsu Agaie Alhaji Muhammadu Attahiru on February 27, 1992; the position he held until his death at his residence on April 4, 2000.
In his speech, the Etsu Agaie Alhaji Yusuf  Nuhu singled out Sheikh Kenci as a scholar with an exceptional humility. He told the audience of how he became Sheikh Kenci’s son-in-law by means of the latter’s pattern of modesty; adding that he was closer to Sheikh Kenci than the latter was to his father and grandfather who was a husband to Sheikh Kenci’s Sister.
After listening to a portion of Sheikh Kenci’s recorded voice of a tafsir session that was played at the event, Sheikh Lemu who was deeply touched by it called for the microphone to relate an episode. He said they once travelled to Gusau to review a case in which a man, due to illness, could not perform his marital responsibilities and the wife thus sought to be divorced. Because it led to bitter arguments among themselves, the case was adjourned to a later date in Sokoto. Sheikh Lemu in a wintry voice said it was Sheikh Kenci who resolved their differing opinions when he quoted Al-fawakihu d-Dawaniyy which provides that unless it was feared that the woman would commit adultery, she was required to remain the man’s wife; and divorce only becomes a solution when the woman commits adultery.
If some of us who claim to be “scholars” today including some of those who feel on top of the world for obtaining a BA; MA or PhD degree in Arabic or Islamic studies were to have a little of the knowledge possessed by Sheikh Kenci or his likes, they would be seen walking with their heads instead of legs. As a man who lived all his life for knowledge, exhibited a unique model of humility and apathy to the material world; Sheikh Yunusa Kenci’s character perfectly defines genuine scholarship.
While we pray that Allah rewards the author of the book, it is hoped that his humble but laudable effort world would inspire other writers to continue from where he stopped. May Allah (SWT) grant Sheikh Kenci eternal forgiveness and mercy; and guide us to aspire to become his intellectual heirs, amin.