Yes, have your say!
Re: When two ulama collideGood piece, but you should have researched well before writing this piece. The original Salatil fatihi can be found in the original tafsir of Imam Ibn kathir. Many forms of salawat that are being recited today, apart from Salatil ibrahimiyyah are valid and can’t be traced to the Prophet Muhammad (saw). […]
Re: When two ulama collide
Good piece, but you should have researched well before writing this piece. The original Salatil fatihi can be found in the original tafsir of Imam Ibn kathir. Many forms of salawat that are being recited today, apart from Salatil ibrahimiyyah are valid and can’t be traced to the Prophet Muhammad (saw). What is wrong with the wordings of Salatil fatih?
What the Holy Prophet (saw) prohibited is what should be a proof not what he didn’t do or say. In the Holy Ka’aba all sorts of prayers are recited, wrongly or rightly by all sorts of sects. Does that contaminate or cause a any harm to Ka’aba? Is Sultan Bello mosque greater or more divine than the Ka’aba? Patience, hikma (wisdom) and taqwa (fear of Allah) is what a religious leader should imbibe not a useless approach to stir the emotions of people and gain cheap popularity.
The evil of the present insurgency, for instance, is what he should preach against not a harmless salutation to the Holy Prophet (saw)! By the way why didn’t he change the name of the mosque? Obviously Sultan Bello was not of the Izala sect! He was a Sufi of the Qadriyyah order.
Dr Musa Mohammed Babashani, Kano. <[email protected]>
Thanks for your balanced review of that Sultan Bello mosque incident. However, it should be pointed out that the cause of religious crisis in Nigeria, both among Muslims and between Muslims and Christians are the Izala adherents. This is because the Izala group does not tolerate anyone whose ideology differs from theirs, no matter how minute.
Imagine, if a fellow Muslim like Dahiru Bauchi could be treated by Ahmad Gumi in that manner how will he treat a non- Muslim if he is asked to open or close a meeting with prayer, the way we do in our secular organisations? Originally the Izalah group is not better than all these NGOs or human rights activists whose driving force is the money they are collecting from their foreign sponsors, which they are not accountable for. Saudi Arabia sponsors Izalah with no accountability. Note that where ever Izalah is strong that place is prone to crisis because Izalah people don’t tolerate any others, including fellow Muslims, except themselves.
Bello Kamal. <[email protected]>
No matter how much the truth is hidden, what happened at the Sultan Bello Mosque is merely a symptom of a deeper sectarian divide. No schism of that magnitude happens by chance and it has now unfortunately taken a political twist despite the best efforts at a fluke reconciliation during the last Hajj. What has exarcebated the divide is the lack of a principled stance by Muslims in general against such minute details that don’t have fundamental consequences on the pillars of faith. Your good-self by apportioning equal blame to the differing clerics is part of a bandwagon that fail to properly evaluate the big picture of the butterfly effect of sectarian divide and its extension, manifesting as a turf war with a political undercurrent.
Madam, you are better than that.
Whoever invited the clerics exactly knew the potential for some manufactured outrage will be high and requiring them to pray was an open invitation for chaos. Whatever the collateral gain for such pairing, it has backfired and the Umma remains ever divided. Your column prescribed neither a vehement refrain, a principled antidote nor informed caution, since you cringed from issuing an unambiguous fatwa; which your standing and pedigree desperately requires at such times.
Ahmed Yahaya Joe <[email protected]>
With regards to your column of 15 December 2012 with the title “When two Ulama collide”, you were right to have suggested,in the sixth paragraph, that Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi could have recited a neutral salatin nabiy since he knew he was surrounded by Izala people at that venue. But Malama, I wish you had suggested that Dr Gumi too should have recited the salatul nabiy which he believed was the acceptable one in Islam and let mstters be rather than challenge the Sheikh. For I have seen on many occasions, especially in the grave-yard during burial, when people are asked to recite salatul nabiy and surahs from the Holy Quran, to seek Allah’s forgiveness for the deceased, you will see some people turn their face towards the qibla and recite any du’a of their choice; which they think is appropriate for the occassion. Likewise Sheikh Gumi should have recited the salat nabiy of his choice at that wedding fatiha.
Sunusi Tanko <[email protected]>
Islamization of his house
Your piece tagged as above was pretty unnecessary and contained some even derogatory remarks. It’s obvious that both presidential and vice presidential villas have both Muslim and Christian worship houses for obvious reasons. I do not therefore see why you should waste a whole page trying to give an excuse on behalf of the VP. Secondly your claim that the VP is so ‘modern’ that he has only one wife is derogatory, disgusting. Islam that allows 4 wives to a man is not a barbaric religion, rather a realistic way that understands the polygamist nature of man and appropriately provides a way out for him. I believe, honestly, that you need more religious education before you can write pieces like this.
Sani, Kaduna [email protected]
“Re- ‘Obasanjo’s doublespeak’
Thank you for your brilliant ability to see ‘the other side’.
Persons who are for good or for bad, ‘outstanding’ or ‘great’ etc are also invariably perhaps ipso facto; SELF-CENTRED. Obasanjo is no exception. He seeks to be both the greatest Nigerian and the greatest Yoruba man. He ignores contradictions, if any.
He relentlessly denigrates other Yoruba or Nigerian leaders.
With his military ruler’s background, his views are always supreme, moral and at times even factual considerations not withstanding. His many ‘lucky’ breaks seem to confirm his destiny. Having read his wife’s book ‘Bitter Sweet.’ I personally think he has been trying to prove that poorest and humblest in origin can also rise to be the greatest – by brilliance, hard work, luck or by hook or crook. All this is possible, though often not without cost.
Kabiru Ahmed, 8A, Dr. Bala Mohammed Road, Nasarawa GRA, Kano <[email protected]>