By: Muritala Bidmos
FOR so long, the stakeholders in the Ummah have been treating symptoms at the expense of the substantive issue. What is not clear is whether the treatment of symptoms is deliberate or it is out of hesitation. To one’s chagrin, quality time is being devoted to such discourse at academic forums resulting in scholarly publications. Ironically, no matter how much effort is being mustered, the solutions that are proffered have never yielded any dividend because the “mother” issue has kept nurturing the symptoms, thereby providing them with sustenance and multiplicity. Consequently, academic seminars and conferences rage on endlessly. But to what end? This write-up, therefore, is an attempt to draw attention to the core issue that has long been swept under the carpet while symptoms are given overt attention.
The symptoms
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary (1828), symptom is defined as something that indicates the existence of something else. That is, symptom is the representative of an original substance which overtly manifests in the symptom. For example, a high body temperature signifies the presence of a disease such as malaria or typhoid fever. But it must be noted that malaria, which is one example of the numerous causes of high temperature, is an environmental borne disease. The permanent solution to both the high body temperature and malaria can be sought in the total eradication of the enabling environmental condition. Another example of symptom is guinea worm disease (GWD), which is a water-borne disease. The permanent solution to the GWD is the provision of clean water. At this juncture, one can ask; what are the symptoms that have so far engaged the quality time and resources of the stakeholders in the Ummah? Curiously too, what is the substantive issue that has so far been relegated and reduced to nonentity?
The Almajiri phenomenon which is the manifestation of poverty resulting in the practice of roaming the streets soliciting alms by some deprived members of the Ummah is a symptom. Some academics and politicians have exchanged intellectual bouts on several occasions viewing almajiri in different perspectives. In May 2020, the former Kano state governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje abolished almajiri traditional system. In a counter reaction, a body known as Islamic Forum of Nigeria immediately organised a roundtable in June 2020 to view almajiri system differently (Salisu Shehu 2020).
Meanwhile, UNICEF Nigeria has been active in organising series of programmes to empower almajiri children (Caroline Muhwesi 2020). In effect, before us are three initiatives treating almajiri in three different perspectives, namely, the Kano State governor initiative, the Islamic Forum of Nigeria counter initiative and UNICEF Nigeria empowerment gesture.
Of course, the three groups are pursuing the same issue albeit from different perspectives which are almajiri as an educational system, as a cultural index and the products of almajiri who must be rehabilitated. However, the point that is being made precisely in this paper is that almajiri, irrespective of whichever way it may be considered, cannot be eliminated inasmuchas it receives energy, sustenance and vibrancy from the mother donor that is often ignored by the stakeholders in the Ummah.
Deficit in education is another symptom that has taken too much of resources from the stakeholders. When the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria was birthed in 1923, its main focus was the liberation of Muslim children from weaponisation of the western education by the church.
The society recorded a huge success as the Ansar-Ud-Deen schools and colleges of education sprang in every nook and corner of the country. Graduates were sponsored abroad to specialise in education. This writer received his elementary education at the Ansar-Ud-Deen primary school, Ayete and later in life, he was sponsored to the University of Kuwait for his first degree with a robust scholarship by Ansar-Ud-Deen society.
As of 2023, that is, one hundred years after, Muslim children have been found agonising in an educational mishap which is worse than the pre 1923 condition. For an illustration, two instances suffice.
First, Muslim children are currently in school to learn how to speak good English without good thinking. The result of good English without good thinking is manifest in every aspect of our corporate life. If you need examples of good English without good thinking, see the way trillions of naira is being wasted on development of democracy instead of nation building.
Secondly, UNICEF Nigeria, recently alerted the nation with the data that 18.5 million children are out of school. Curiously, one may ask: How many of the out-of-school-children are Muslims? Either a conservative estimate or real figure will be frightening. To bring those children back to school with quality education instead of mere good English is certainly beyond the capacity of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria or any other organisation.
Very rampant are the mosque conflicts which take different dimensions. In some cases, an Oba, be he Christian or Muslim, is involved wielding power and dictating the tune. But to be factual and realistic, it can be affirmed that there are lots of mosque conflicts in which Obas are not involved.
For example, Abdulwahab Tijani, in his book, ‘The Growth and Development of Islam in Ogbomoso’ (2018), has informed us that there are 41 central mosques in Ogbomoso. In reality, the 41 mosques in a town cannot be out of need; many of them would have emerged out of rivalry and break-up syndrome. In some other instances, there have been cases of three Imams having been installed in one year as a result of sudden and mysterious deaths.
Of course, conflicts arise because of the combination of two factors, namely, lack of a manual detailing the process of appointment of an Imam (his qualifications and qualities, his promotion, discipline and welfare), and lack of a regulatory body that oversees the mosque affairs. With such a body in place, most of the skirmishes that usually developed into full blown crises can be conveniently nipped in the bud.
Regarding Hajj operation, there is an express injunction in the Qur’an that makes performance of hajj mandatory on those who can afford it only. However, experience shows that thousands of those who lack the capacity have often bulldozed their ways to the Holy Land. This writer once hired a 19 years old man as a driver who did not go beyond elementary education. On enquiry, the young man stated that his parents had no means to finance his education but they could mobilise funds to perform Hajj. But Islam will prioritise children’s education in preference to pilgrimage.
There have been several cases of women being delivered of babies just shortly on arrival in the holy land. There have been cases of drug pushing by people on pilgrimage. Some well-off Muslims proudly sponsor – on pilgrimage – people who lack the means of decent living nor capacity to finance children’s education. Such people may even be living in very poor atmospheric conditions. One basic question: Is the government’s involvement in Hajj operations required? What is the situation in other Muslim countries such as Malaysia?
While it is desirable to have Muslim universities in Nigeria, it is pertinent to ask: To what extent are such universities in Abeokuta, Offa and Osogbo in a competitive mode with their Christian counterparts in Ado-Ekiti, Shagamu and Lagos in terms of infrastructure and staff? This is against backdrop of the fact that most of the Muslim universities took off at former secondary schools’ premises as temporary sites. Twenty years after, how many of them have moved to the permanent sites?
This writer was privileged to serve on the panel composed by NASFAT for academic briefing for its university. The chairman of the panel, Professor Nurudeen Adedipe, in his opening remark on the first day did remark thus “What the Ummah required as at now is a Muslim University in which all Muslim organizations are stakeholders with a view to establishing a standard university”. But Mr. Abdulwahab in his capacity as the NASFAT president objected to Professor Adedipe’s remark noting that “NASFAT has passed the level of “NASFAT University to be or not to be and that the panel was invited to do academic briefing”. A critical assessment of the condition in the existing Muslim universities today will give currency to Professor Adedipe’s remark.
A university of one or two faculties is not ideal for Muslims for two reasons: First, Muslims are described as the “best of nations” (Q.3: 110). Secondly, the Federal and State universities exhibit, in recent times, all shades of inadequacies ranging from poor condition in the students’ hostels, water shortage, power outage, irregular academic calendar due to incessant ASUU industrial actions, etc. In the circumstance, the expectation from Muslims is to float a university system that is both corrective and superlative. The Muslim University should run as a yardstick for others to emulate in terms of academic programmes, infrastructure, quality staff, regular academic calendar and superb administration. To run such a university, all hands must be on deck. It is beyond the capacity of any single Muslim organization to float such a unique university.
The symptoms generator
For decades, stakeholders in the Ummah have been treating the issues highlighted above as problems. But they should pause for a moment to find out “how many of the issues have been successfully tackled”? If poverty as exemplified in almajiri thrives, if our deficit in education remains a stigma, and a host of other nagging issues stare us in the face; we can conclude that holding conferences and seminars by the stakeholders is a normal routine without a set target. Interestingly, a good number of the stakeholders belong to the academic community where the factor responsible for a given problem is always sought after. For a change, therefore, we should do a critical evaluation that will expose the factor that has been responsible for the symptoms which we have, for so long, mistakenly considered problems. Disunity in the Ummah is the mother donor, that is, the generator of the symptoms that have deceitfully appeared to us as problems. By the time the real problem is identified and tackled headlong, all the symptoms will scatter like a pack of cards because they lack internal stamina that can energise them.
The body language in the Ummah shows clearly that the menace of disunity has been grossly underrated despite a stern warning in the Qur’an to the contrary “hold on firmly to the cord of Allah and be not divided among yourselves” (Q.3: 103). Another injunction in the Qur’an makes unity the very corner stone of the creed “This community of yours is one and I am your Lord” (Q.23: 52). The obvious deduction there of is that unity in the Ummah is not optional but obligatory and that disunity is a no-go-area. The similitude of disunity is that of the absence of immunity in the human body whereby any attacking disease can easily penetrate into cells and tissues of the victim. Conversely, with immunity in the body, any attacking disease is vehemently resisted and thrashed. All the issues highlighted above will thrive in the absence of unity which is the Ummah’s immunity. With the injection of unity in the Ummah, all the attacking diseases are not only weakened but also permanently checkmated. For example, with unity, the Ummah can conveniently mobilise funds in trillions of naira through centralized Zakat, Sadaqah and endowment management as against the current practice of every organization and every central mosque collecting Zakat, Sadaqah and endowment. In the current dispensation, a very active and popular organization or central mosque can make as much as four hundred million naira (N400, 000, 000) in a year which in reality is a drop in the ocean. Whereas, to effectively tackle the Ummah’s challenges, the funds required must be in trillions of naira which can be easily sourced in a state of unity.
The blue print
Towards enhancement of unity which is both the immunity and panacea to the Ummah’s challenges, the following steps can be taken.
- All Muslim organizations in the Yorubaland which is the jurisdiction of MUSWEN, should, as a matter of priority/religious obligation, convoke a meeting once in two years for deliberations. This does not suggest a merger of the existing multiple organizations into one single Ummah. They can retain their individual identities while sending their chairmen, secretaries and chief Imams as attendees at the convocation.
- The agenda of the convocation is to take a stock of the challenges facing the Ummah which include but not limited to poverty, deficit in education, management of the mosque, the institution of Imamship, the Arabic/Islamic Institutes, Muslim universities, performance of Hajj, etc. Each problem (symptom really) is allotted to a committee for study and make recommendations as per solution. The committee submits its report, with a cost estimate, to the convocation, that is, plenary session.
- A special attention should be paid to the menace of disunity, identifying how it gives energy, sustenance and vibrancy to what look like challenges in the Ummah.
- Working out a formula for sustainable unity among the member organizations of the convocation.
- In order to erase suspicion and fear of domination, the chairman of the convocation must rotate among chairmen of the confederating organizations.
- Tackling the problems should be phased out at five years interval.
- A special finance committee is set up to deliberate on ways and means of sourcing funds through centralization of Zakat, Sadaqah, endowment, and investments.
- A special attention should be paid to education because the Ummah can easily kill so many birds with one stone (education) given the fact that all the identifiable challenges (symptoms) can be resolved by a specially designed education.
- Setting up an implementation committee which submits its report to the convocation (plenary session) for discussion and necessary action.
The blue print as suggested can dissolve quagmire in which the Ummah is currently enveloped; the state of quagmire that is avoidable. Let me conclude this write-up with an observation that disunity in the Ummah has reached the crescendo level as manifested in the appointment of multiple Mufties in the Yorubaland contrary to world best practice and norm. Appointing a Mufti in every town and village is abnormal and it is not funny. The fact that must be recognized is that the health and strength of the Ummah are anchored on its unity. Muslims can toy with unity only if they intend to teach Allah Islam (Q.49: 16). Axiomatically, to be a Muslim is a gift (Q.7: 43) that must be cherished by total submission to Allah’s dictates. May He (SWT) grant us the wherewithal to do the needful. One final point, the challenge of disunity in the Ummah is not confined to the Yorubaland. But as it is customary in the academic parlance, a problem of this magnitude is better examined in segments. If the solutions proffered in the first segment are successful, the study is replicated in other segments, that is, in other zones of the Ummah.
Professor Bidmos, a former Chief Imam of the University of Lagos, writes in via [email protected].
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