ORDEAL OF A TERRORIST’S BROTHER: MEMORIES OF SINGAPORE

Until December 2009, when the name Umar Mutallab was mentioned what came to mind was banking; just banking. Except those close to him or his family no one cared about the number of his children or whether or not he had any child at all. However, on the Christmas day of that year and like a wild fire, that news broke out. A young man called Farouq Umar Mutallab was caught trying to detonate an explosive device aboard an aircraft over an American city. That news was read over and over with so much analysis on major and minor broadcasting stations all over the world. The rest is now history. One important fact, however, is that the young man was a Nigerian. And for those of us who have affinity with Hausa culture, we immediately figured out why he is called Farouq. His actual name is Umar. But since his father’s name is also Umar, he had to have an alternative name since in Hausa tradition a child cannot be called with the same name as the head of the family. Luckily, every Umar is a Farouq; if he was not an Umar, then another name, may be some historical Hausa name may have to be used to address him, even though in school he may bear his actual name.

Although I have never met Farouq or his father, we have a lot in common. In addition to the fact that the underwear bomber is a Nigerian, he is from Katsina state, just like me. And like yours sincerely, he is also a Muslim and Hausa by tribe. We have the same middle name, Umar. We both carry green passports. In short, the terrorist is my brother.

The Detroit incidence took place when I was a PhD student at the International Islamic University Malaysia, a university that aims at bringing together some of the best talents from around the Islamic world. I enrolled for the PhD three years earlier when it was clear to me that conditions were not favourable for me to carry out a PhD research in Nigeria. I had now completed my PhD research and was about to submit my thesis for examination. As part of the research, I wrote and presented papers both in the Faculty and at international conferences. One of such conferences for which one of our papers was accepted for presentation was to take place in February 2010 in Singapore. That was a time when there were still red alerts in major airports around the world following the Detroit incidence. I was to attend the conference with my supervisor and we did. The procedure was that the organizers will send us letters of invitation which we should submit for visa. That took place successfully and we arranged to travel separately with my supervisor. He was to go by Malaysian airlines and I booked an Air Asian flight.

On the day of the journey I left home early and arrived at the airport on time so as to avoid any hitch. I passed through the Customs and Immigration check successfully. My first shocker of the day came from the Chinese lady who was to check both my passport and boarding pass before I boarded the plane. As soon as the woman saw my passport, she screamed to the hearing of everyone around, “With this passport, no!” She did not stop there. She ran with the passport into the airport building and after a few moments came back with an Immigration officer. Luckily, the officer was Malay. Malays are good and it was by their hospitality we were enjoying every bit of our stay in Malaysia. The man was calm and gentle. He asked me a few questions after which he gave me my passport and asked the woman to let me in. Soon, formalities were completed and we took off.

But if a Malay officer saved me from the trouble of the Chinese woman in Kuala Lumpur, he was not there to do so in Singapore. A bigger trouble was waiting for me at the Singapore airport. After disembarking from the plane we went for the Immigration check. But unlike other passengers whose passports were checked and endorsed, I was singled out and asked to follow a young man. The young man led me to a room, showed me a chair and asked me to wait. I had no choice. After some time he came back and asked me what brought me to Singapore. I told him and he said it was alright and left. He then kept coming at irregular intervals and repeating the same question in different ways and I patiently responded. As I sat there with no one to talk to and only my travelling bag with me I kept wondering what that room was meant for. Was it a cell? It didn’t look like one. But what offence did I commit to be put into a cell? Definitely, I thought, there must be a camera in that room by which my movement was being monitored from another place in the airport. May be I had an explosive in my underwear and I will use the opportunity to prepare it. Or probably there was a new method different from the one used by my brother in the US. But it will be foolish for them to think a smart terrorist will so easily fall into their trap. In any case, I didn’t know what they were up to, so I kept waiting.

After about one hour, my patience began to wane. I was very angry and I began to think of the way out. Many options came to my mind and for each option I weighed the consequences. One of the options I considered was to slap that stupid boy the next time he came and asked a silly question. But that will be too silly of you! I said to myself. It will just present you as another terrorist. Note that you are not in your country and what the Singaporeans tell the world is what everyone will believe. Back in Nigeria you don’t have a Government that cares for its citizens. Even in Nigeria, a foreigner can disgrace you and get away with it if has more connections, what more of a distant foreign land like Singapore? Your blood is not thicker than that of Samira Adamu who was killed in cold blood in far away Belgium and if not for the support of Africans in Diaspora no one will even know her story. In your own case you don’t have a strong Diaspora here or in neighboring Malaysia that will follow up to make sure that justice is done to you. Even in your university, Nigerian students are looking at one another as Hausa and Yoruba instead of fellow Nigerians.

With those thoughts, I dropped the idea of violence, but even as I was considering other options, the young man came in. “so what brought you to Singapore?” he asked. “Conference”, I answered, this time angrily. He said, “Okay, okay” and left. My thoughts then continued. Perhaps I should go back to Malaysia. When this boy comes in I will just tell him that I was no longer interested in going into Singapore and they should allow me to join the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur. But, when is the next flight? Perhaps in several hours time or the next day? Where are you going to stay? In this room? In a hotel? Do you think they will allow you to go to a hotel? Note that you have to give them a good reason for changing your mind about attending the conference.

That is how I continued thinking of one option after another until I finally said to myself, “Look the problem with you is that you have become angry and the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised you against anger. Don’t you remember the instance at which a man came to the Prophet (pbuh) and sought for advice and the prophet told him not to get angry and even after repeating the request several times the advice remained the same?”

With this hadith, I calmed down and the anger went away. I began to smile in my heart and soon I realized that there was also a smile on my face. So when next the young gentleman came in I was already smiling and ready to answer any question, no matter how silly, correctly. To my surprise he gave me back my passport and said, “You can go”. Yes, I could go, and with the smile on my face I ran into the big city of Singapore. 

HOW THE BIAFRANS LOST ME

Nigeria is 101 years old or is it 55? The story of Nigeria as we were told in school is that some white men called Britons came and overpowered our great grandparents to establish what they called Northern and southern protectorates. After sometime, specifically in 1914, the two protectorates were merged to form what is now called Nigeria. The country was given its name by the wife of one of her colonial masters who ruled her up to 1960 when it was declared independent. Independence meant the colonial masters will leave but all the structures they established including their language, their laws, Nigeria itself, etc. will remain unchanged. That is exactly what happened. Immediately they left there was a series of political crises that led to a self-declared secession by one of its constituent regions to form another country called Biafra. This led to a bloody thirty months civil war. The war began the year I was born and ended when I was still a baby. Thus, what I know about the Nigerian civil war and the crises that led to it is what I was told either by those who wrote on it or people who were there when it happened.

But right from my childhood, not any of the Nigerians who told me the story of Biafra found it easy. The questions I always asked were intimidating for any Nigerian nationalist. For example, what sin had Ojukwu and his people committed to warrant the reaction they got from Nigerians? If a wife who loved her husband at the time of marriage turns back one day and says she no longer loves the man and declares him an enemy, is it not in his own interest to part with her? Only a foolish man will be sleeping on the same bed with his enemy and calling her his wife. Now, what of if the marriage was imposed on them in the first place? The people who came to this part of the world and colonized us did not have our interest at heart. Their mission was to plunder our resources and reduce us to their perpetual slaves that we have become. That is why they did not consider our diversity before the 1914 amalgamation.

Another question I always asked was whether Ojukwu was interested in taking any part of the North or West along with him to form his new country or he was simply interested in going his way along with his own people. The answers I got were not convincing enough for me to hate Biafra. This is even more so after I read some of his speeches which did not indicate any desire on the part of the Biafrans to take any part of the Nigerian territory.

Now, did Ojukwu have the support of his people? The frank discussions I had with many Igbos later in my life showed that majority of the Igbos were with Ojukwu in the Biafran struggle. But if they were not sure, why did our leaders not organize a referendum? This is another question I have always asked. Or since Nigerians love religion, is there any portion of the Quran or Bible which says Nigeria as created by the British must continue to remain “a single indivisible entity” as the politicians always put it? Many questions without answers, and when you get the answers they are always funny.

Thus right from the beginning of my life I have always seen south easterners as a cheated people, a people forced to be the citizens of a country against their wish and all that I needed to openly declare my support for the Biafran struggle, even as a core northerner, was a transparently honest and sustained struggle by them for their cause. Unfortunately this has not been the case. Recent happenings have left no one in doubt about the evil motives of those struggling for the establishment of the nation of Biafra. The reasons are not farfetched.

The Biafran agitators have not been consistent. The intensity of their struggle depends on the Government in power. If the person in charge is one of their own, there is no Biafra; when they lose out, the struggle for independence begins. This is not the trait of a sincere people struggling for freedom. In fact, the direct opposite is supposed to be the case. For example, since the end of the Nigerian civil war the Igbos had never had it politically rosy like they did during the last PDP administration. The president was half-Igbo; at least his middle name is Igbo. The SGF was an Igbo man; the powerful Finance minister was Igbo. The Army chief was also from that tribe. In short, Nigeria was ruled by the Igbos. If the Igbos were honestly interested in innocuously going their way, there was no better time to agitate and in fact maneuver a referendum. However, what we saw was the polarization of Nigerians along ethnic and religious line by the Government and an approving silence from those currently calling for secession.

My sympathy for the Biafrans was completely obliterated in Onitsha last week. There was what was supposed to be a demonstration to further the struggle for freedom. Even if the demonstration was to be violent, the primary target would have been Nigerian symbols. However, what we saw was destruction of Islamic places of worship and property belonging to private entrepreneurs. The question here is, assuming Nigerians let go of Biafrans and allowed them to have a separate nation, what would be the fate of Muslims in the new country? Even in Israel which is a country built on race, there are provisions for minority. However, the message we got from Biafran agitators was that there will be no provision for mosques in the new country. Biafrans who would be interested in worshipping the Islamic way must go on exile to do so. Another thing to ask is whether there will be provision for foreign investors in the new country. Absolutely NO. That is the message from Biafrans. Or perhaps if there is going to be a foreign investment it must not come from any of the neighboring countries like Nigeria. The Dangote that is invited by almost all African countries will not be welcome in the new country.

My final question here is what should I do? Should anyone expect me to continue to have the same feeling for the Biafrans that I had before? Certainly no. The Biafrans have lost my lifetime sympathy and potential support. If there is any war, I will be on the Nigerian side.

HIJAB IN NYSC ORIENTATION CAMPS

Over the past several days there have been active discussions in social media on the use of hijab in NYSC orientation camps. The discussions followed an incidence that occurred in one of the camps. A Muslim youth corper wore a ‘long’ hijab and was consequently beaten by an Army officer. The NYSC authorities did not deny it and immediately redeployed the officer and according to the Director-General of the NYSC, more punishment will follow. How far that is true remains to be seen. My intention here is to look at the issue from a Muslim observer’s point of view.

Hijab is the dress stipulated by Islam for a Muslim woman when she is to appear before men who do not belong to the category of male relations known as maharim. The dress may be of any colour but it must satisfy certain conditions. In the first place, it must not be transparent. Second, it must cover all parts of her body in such a way that her shape is not revealed. The hijab must not resemble any dress known to be exclusively used by men and should not be attractive. A dress that portrays a woman as a follower of another religion is also not allowed just like any dress that depicts arrogance. By this, therefore, the so-called ‘short hijab’ that exposes the shape of the lower parts of a lady does not qualify as a proper hijab.

Opponents of the use of proper hijab by Muslim corpers have expressed different kinds of arguments. One of them is that Nigeria is a secular state and the use of hijab by Muslim corpers will depict it as an Islamic state. Another argument is that the NYSC camp is a paramilitary camp and since women in paramilitary agencies like immigration and Customs do not use long hijab, it is wrong for Muslim lady corpers to be allowed to use same. Another argument expressed in a Newspaper editorial is that the NYSC has never allowed the use of long hijab and what the DG has done is simply to continue with what he has met.

To start with, the meaning of the secularists’ argument is that since Nigeria is a secular country, no one is allowed to practice his/her religion. If that is the case, then all churches and mosques should be demolished and Nigerians should become pagans. What this group of people do not understand is that hijab is an integral part of a practicing Muslim life and Muslim women who use hijab are happier in it and do not use it for any other reason than the satisfaction of a religious requirement.

To compare the NYSC with paramilitary agencies is not acceptable. While women who apply to serve in paramilitary outfits have by implication accepted not to use proper hijab, following a degree or a HND programme does not imply that a Muslim woman has accepted to remove her hijab. The implication of the continuation of the ban on proper hijab is that Muslim women who insist on practicing this religious obligation are denied access to employment in their own country. It is noteworthy that completion of NYSC is a requirement for employment and admission into postgraduate programmes in Nigeria.

Perhaps the most laughable of all arguments is the one stating that since the wrong practice of banning proper hijab has been on for a long time, the wrong thing should continue to be. Even if the ban on the use of hijab were a written law, there is nothing wrong in taking it back to the National assembly to repeal it the moment it is discovered that the law denies a section of Nigerians the right to practice what they believe.

In effect, therefore, the issue of ‘long hijab’ is never dead as claimed in some quarters and can only die with Islam. The best thing to do, therefore, is to solve it once and for all. Certain steps can be taken in this direction. For instance, why must men and women be combined in the same camp if they must all participate in paramilitary activities? If those of us who participated in NYSC orientation before are to speak with honesty, we will say that the kind of immoralities that take place on NYSC orientation camps are not compatible with the basic teachings of Islam and we do not expect a decent and respectful Muslim woman to give in simply because she wants an employment or the rest of us to keep quite because we don’t want to be accused of being extremists. Another question is that must the women take part in those activities? The NYSC can do justice to this problem by making paramilitary activities optional for women.

If the NYSC cannot be creative in providing a solution, my expectation is that the Government will come in and provide justice for the Muslim ladies that are yearly being harassed in the name of serving their country. It is well known that justice is the only panacea for peace and when people cannot get justice in peace they resort to violence. It is needless to state that religion is a volatile issue for which many Nigerians are ready to kill and die as demonstrated in the past. The continuous silence of Muslim leaders on this issue does not help matters. I cannot imagine a Christian lady being molested anywhere in Nigeria in the name of religion and the Christian Association of Nigeria keeping mum simply because she is not a daughter of CAN President or a Christian VIP. This is how the Emirs who are the leaders of both JNI and SCIA have continued to lose their respect in the eyes of public because of their selective approach to issues that affect Muslims.

ALLAH’S FIRE IS FIERY (I)

Never! He will certainly be thrown into hutama (the crushing fire). And what may let you know what the crushing fire is? It is Allah’s kindled fire, that will peep into the hearts. It will be closed on them. In outstretched columns. (Q 104: 4-9).

This is the punishment set aside for the class of unbelievers who backbite, hurl insults and anyone who accumulates wealth without giving out the poor due. Such people will be accomodated in hutama which is a fire that belongs to Allah.

Hutama is just one of the seven levels of hell fire with which Allah will punish sinners on the day of judgement. According to Ibn Juraij, the levels of hell are Jahannam, which is the topmost, just below it is Ladha, followed by Hutama, Sa’ir, Saqar, Jahim  and Hawiya in that order. These levels are referred to as gates elsewhere meaning that each level has a gate through which will enter a specific class of sinners.  Narrating the convesation that took place between Allah and Iblis after the latter refused to follow the devine instruction to prostrate to Adam (alaihissalam), Allah says:

Verily my servants are such that you have no power over them except those of the deviators who will follow you. And hellfire  is the promised place for them all. It has seven gates. For each gate there is a group apportioned from them. (Q15: 42-44)

As to which group of sinners will occupy which level of Allah’s fire, it is agreed by all scholars that Muslim sinners will be on the topmost level which is the least horrific. The least of them in punishment is the one whose feet shall be barely touching fire but whose brain shall be boiling from the heat. The hypocrites will occupy the lowest stratum. (Q4:145). The five levels in between shall be occupied by different categories of non-believers.

Since hell fire is beyond human reach, the only single way of getting its description is divine revelation. The nature of Allah’s fire including its fuel, different types of punishment, the level of heat, nature of chains, size, food and drinks of its inmates have all been described in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

The fuel of hell fire is human beings and stones. Allah says, “…guard yourselves against fire, the fuel of which will be men and stones. It has been prepared for disbelievers” (Q2:24). In another verse Allah says, “O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire, the fuel of which is human beings and stones, appointed on which are angels, stern and severe, who do not disobey Allah in what He orders them and do whatever they are ordered to do.

Different types of punishments have been reported in the Hadith by Samurah bn Jundub (May Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) very often used to ask his Companions, "Do any one of you has seen a dream?'' So dreams would be narrated to him by those whom Allah willed to relate. One day he (PBUH) said, "Last night I had a vision in which two men (angels) came to me and woke me up and said to me, `Proceed!' I set out with them and we came across a man lying down, and behold, another man was standing over his head, holding a big rock. Behold, he was throwing the rock at the man's head, smashing it. When he struck him, the stone rolled away and he went after it to get it, and no sooner had he returned to this man, his head was healed and restored to its former condition. The thrower (of the rock) then did the same as he had done before. I said to my two companions, `Subhan-Allah! Who are these?' They said: `Proceed, proceed.' So we proceeded and came to a man lying in a prone position and another man standing over his head with an iron hook, and behold, he would put the hook in one side of the man's mouth and tear off that side of his face to the back (of the neck), and similarly tear his nose from front to back, and his eyes from front to back. Then he turned to the other side of the man's face and did just as he has done with the first side. He had hardly completed that (second) side when the first returned to its normal state. I said to my two companions, `Subhan-Allah! Who are these?' They said, `Proceed, proceed.' So we proceeded and came across something like a Tannur (a kind of baking oven, a pit usually clay-lined for baking bread).'' I (the narrator) think the Prophet (PBUH) said, "In that oven there was much noise and voices.'' The Prophet (PBUH) added, "We looked into it and found naked men and women, and behold, a flame of fire was reaching to them from underneath, and when it reached them they cried loudly. I asked, `Who are these?' They said to me, `Proceed, proceed.' And so we proceeded and came across a river.'' I (the narrator) think he said, "-- red like blood.'' The Prophet (PBUH) added, "And behold, in the river there was a man swimming, and on the bank there was a man who had collected many stones. Behold, while the other man was swimming, he went near him. The former opened his mouth and the latter (on the bank) threw a stone into his mouth whereupon he went swimming again. Then again he (the former) returned to him (the latter), and every time the former returned, he opened his mouth, and the latter threw a stone into his mouth, (and so on) the performance was repeated. I asked my two companions, `Who are these?' They replied, `Proceed, proceed.' And we proceeded till we came to a man with a repulsive appearance, the most repulsive appearance you ever saw a man having! Beside him there was a fire, and he was kindling it and running around it. I asked my two companions, `Who is this (man).' They said to me, `Proceed, proceed!' So we proceeded till we reached a garden of deep green dense vegetation, having all sorts of spring colours. In the midst of the garden there was a very tall man, and I could hardly see his head because of his great height, and around him there were children in such a large number as I have never seen! I said to my two companions, `Who is this?' They replied, `Proceed, proceed.' So we proceeded till we came to a majestic, huge garden, greater and better than any garden I have ever seen! My two companions said to me, `Ascend up' and I ascended up.'' The Prophet (PBUH) added, "So we ascended till we reached a city built of gold and silver bricks, and we went to its gate and asked (the gatekeeper) to open the gate, and it was opened; and we entered the city and found in it men with one side of their bodies as handsome as the most handsome person you have ever seen, and the other side as ugly as the ugliest person you have ever seen! My two companions ordered those men to throw themselves into the river. Behold, there was a river flowing across (the city), and its water was like milk in whiteness. Those men went and threw themselves in it and then returned to us after the ugliness (of their bodies) had disappeared, and they came in the best shape.'' The Prophet (PBUH) further added, "My two companions said to me: `This place is the `Adn Jannah, and that is your place.' I raised up my sight, and behold, there I saw a palace like a white cloud! My two companions said to me, `That palace is your place,' I said to them, `May Allah bless you both! Let me enter it.' They replied, `As for now, you will not enter it, but you shall enter it (one day).' I said to them, `I have seen many wonders tonight. What does all that mean which I have seen?' They replied, `We will inform you: As for the first man you came upon, whose head was being smashed with the rock, he is the symbol of the one who studies the Qur'an and then neither recites it nor acts on its orders, and sleeps, neglecting the enjoined prayers. As for the man you came upon, whose sides of mouth, nostrils and eyes were torn off from front to back, he is the symbol of the man who goes out of his house in the morning and tells lies that are spread all over the world. And those naked men and women whom you saw in a construction resembling an oven, they are the adulterers and the adulteresses. And the man who was given a stone to swallow is the eater of Ar-Riba (usury), and the bad-looking man whom you saw near the fire, kindling it and going around it, is Malik, the gatekeeper of Hell, and the tall man you saw in the garden is (Prophet) Abraham, and the children around him are those who died upon Al-Fitrah (the Islamic Faith of Monotheism).''' The narrator added: Some Muslims asked the Prophet (PBUH) , "O Messenger of Allah! What about the children of Al-Mushrikun (i.e., polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH))?'' The Prophet (PBUH) replied, "And also the children of Al-Mushrikun.'' The Prophet (PBUH) added: "My two companions added, `The men you saw half handsome and half ugly were these people who had mixed an act that was good with another that was bad, but Allah forgave them'.'' (Bukhari)

BEFORE WE DISALLOW BEGGING: A MEMO FOR NORTHERN GOVERNORS

Recently, the Governor of Kaduna state Mallam Nasir El Rufai banned street begging in Kaduna State. The ban followed security challenges experienced in parts of the State. As usual, the ban was accompanied by a promise to establish a rehabilitation centre to accomodate beggers and train them to acquire various skills. Unlike some states in the south however, the Governor promised not to repartriate beggers back to their home states. This is not the first time a governor of a Northern state will ban begging in his state. Similar bans were made by governors in different states in the North from the second republic to date. In all cases, however, the ban failed and the problem of begging continues. Why the failures despite the budgets for rehabilitation centres that normally accompany such bans? Is the problem of begging insoluble? What about all the conferences organized by Islamic organizations, Universities and Governments to address this problem? Are we  insincere or have we missed the point?

Any attempt to stop begging without taking into due cognisance the values and traditions of the people concerned will fail.

Beggers in the northern part of Nigeria can be categorized into three groups and each of these groups would require a different approach to stop it from begging. The first group of beggars is made up of pupils of Qur’anic schools. These pupils, popularly called almajiri (originally almuhajir, the Arabic word for immigrant), are sent to Quranic schools by their parents to learn the Quran. Contrary to the belief in some quarters that the boys were sent to Quranic school out of poverty, many parents, especially in the rural areas still believe in the Quranic school system as the only way to acquire islamic knowledge. Generally, students of Quranic schools do not continue begging after leaving the school. The second category of beggers are the physically challenged. Whereas in other cultures physical disability is seen as a disadvantage, in some parts of Northern Nigeria physical challenge is seen as a license to join the begging community. Beggers in this group are not students of the Quran or any aspect of Islamic knowledge. In many cases, however, they learn the portion of the Quran that will help them appeal to people to give them alms. Most of the beggers in this group do not simply beg to survive. It is a business. Many beggers own property an average civil servant cannot own from his salary. But no matter what they make out of begging, this group of people are still disadvantaged because begging is the only thing most of them can do.

The last group of beggers are those who join the business out of want. Some of these include orphans, widows, aged people and others who are simply poor and unskilled. When they test the sweetness of begging, it becomes a way of life.

One thing that is common to all begging groups in the Muslim North is that they associate their begging with Islam. Many of the beggers and their givers believe that begging is Islamic or at least there is nothing wrong with it in Islam. This notion is however incorrect considering Quranic verses and traditions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) on begging. Detail of these Quranic verses and traditions of the Prophet is for another discussion. The summary is that Islam allows begging only in three circumstances. Imam Muslim reported on the authority of Qabisah that the messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Begging is not lawful except for three people. One who has incurred debt (for assuming guarantee), for him begging is permissible till the guarantee is discharged and he should then refrain; a person whose property has been destroyed by a calamity is allowed to beg till he attains self-sufficiency; a person who meets with dire necessity (due to hunger) provided that three men of understanding from his people affirm the genuineness (of his poverty), for him begging is lawful till he attains means of subsistence. Other than these, O Qabisah, anything received through begging is unlawful, its recipient devours it unlawfully.”

There has been several attempts by different state governments to address the problem of almajiri group of beggars. However, in many cases these attempts are marred by insincerity and lack of concern for the values of the people in their states. Looking at most of these initiatives, one cannot but conclude that the only concern of those governors is to remove almajirai from the streets and turn them into western educated ‘yan boko. To some of these governors it does not matter whether or not their people learn the Quran and Islamic knowledge; afterall Nigeria is a secular state and religion is a personal affair. Such politicians tend to ignore the fact that Islamic scholarship is part of our heritage and the purpose of governance is to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people. Huge sums of money is annually budgeted by our state Governments for a form of Education that their people refer to as boko (or fake). Our backwardness in western Education is largely because the bulk of the people are yet to accept it as Education as much as they accept Islamic Education. This explains why a leading politician became a subject of public mockery in the North because of his inability to recite the opening chapter of the Quran correctly during the electioneering compain that preceeded the last general elections. Although this politician was a qualified Architect with a track record of professional service, the people considered him ignorant regardless of his professional achievements. While the criticisms were going on, I used to tell the people around me that the problem of that politician was not peculiar to him. If our heavyweight Muslim politicians from the two major political parties were to be lined up and asked to make the same recitation, a lot of more surprises will be revealed.

Despite all these, our dear Northern Governors are yet to adopt an approach that will integrate formal and Islamic scholarship but will always descend on our Islamic schools in the name of banning street begging. The Islamic component in our conventional schools is Islamic Studies (IS or IRK). The IRK syllabus does not equip the student to learn his/her religion from the source. It is not uncommon for a child to score an A1 in IRK without being able to recite Qur’an properly.

The point here is that something need to be done to the existing curriculum in our public schools. Here, I suggest two additions.  First, is the Introduction of Arabic as a compulsory subject for Muslim children in our schools. The Arabic language will offer the child an opportunity to be able to read primary Islamic sources and to develop him/herself along that line. There is no problem with this since both WAEC and NECO have a syllabus for Arabic. Secondly, Quran should be introduced as a subject. Starting from primary schools or JSS I, a scheme can be developed in which each child should be able to learn a specific portion of the Qur’an each term until he/she completes the Quran (sauka not tahfeez) before completing senior secondary school. The students may not register the Quran for their SSCE but it can be made a condition for promotion to the next class as the child progresses in his/her studies. These measures, which can be further finetuned,  will remove ignorance of religion and give some level of assurance to the people that Government is not against Islamic scholarship.

The Quranic (almajiri) schools can be integrated in two ways. First, Qur’anic schools can be established with specialized curriculum that will include not only memorization but other aspects of Qur’anic Education like Tajweed, Ulumul Qur’an and Tafsir. Products of such schools should be certified and integrated into the mainstream educational system. Second, an arrangement should be worked out for those who want to send their children to the traditional Qur’anic school to provide for their needs. A means of certifying them should be devised. We should graduate from the incorrect practice that only those who go through the formal european-type of school system can carry a certificate. But by no means should uncontrolled begging the way we have it now be allowed to continue.  

Whereas many of us pity the condition in which handicapped beggers live and believe that the best way to accommodate them is to build rehabilitation centres for them where they will be given three square meals, acquire skills and live a more decent life, they do not see it as such. Majority of them will repel any attempt to confine them in what they see as prisons. Such a crisp lifestyle is not for our local people. When Rehabilitation centres are mentioned I always remember one Mallam Lawal. Mallam Lawal was a blind man who came to us in Jibia from one of the surrounding villages in the late 1970s. He was not married and his main source of living was begging. Since my father ran a Quranic school whose students begged for food it was easy to accomodate the likes of Mallam Lawal who was not a Quranic student anyway. Mallam Lawal will occassionally go to major cities and spend a few weeks of begging before coming back to us on his way to his village. He was always welcome and our house became his second home. One day, in one of those trips to Kano Mallam Lawal was ‘arrested’ and taken to a rehabilitation centre where he was given three square meals per day. Somehow he escaped and run back to Jibia. I remember how he was abusing Mallam Aminu Kano for incarcerating them and giving them koko in a cup. Because of his level of awareness, Mallam Lawal refused to be educated that Abubakar Rimi and not Aminu Kano was the Governor of Kano state.

The best way to address the problem of handicapped beggars is to send them back to their local communities. Those who are not Nigerians should be returned to their countries. At local level, a census of such people should be taken and family members should be made to take care of them. If there is any assistance from Government it should be made through the local government. Skill acquisition training can be organized at local government and ward level. This is very easy if traditional rulers are used. The emirate system in the north is such an organized and disciplined hierarchy that all that is needed is the cooperation of the Emir at the top. And for long our politicians have taken advantage of this well tested system mainly when they are seeking for votes.

If Mr president would listen, his priority in distributing the promised monthly N5000 should be the orphans, widows and the destitute and not just any unemployed. In Nigeria anybody who is not on monthly salary would claim to be unemployed and if care is not taken the scheme will fail from the start. National Directorate of Employment has a very good scheme for training and empowering youth and all that is needed is to expand and make it work.

Finally, let me emphasize that whether the suggestions I made here are adopted or not, the problem of begging is a Northern Nigerian problem and no single state Governor can solve it in isolation. The earlier the Northern Governors’ forum addresses it as a group the better for the region. In doing so, the traditional institution and Islamic scholars have an active role to play.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT, ALHAJI MUHAMMADU BUHARI

Your Excellency Sir

Let me start by congratulating you on your well-deserved victory. It is Allah that gives and takes everything including power. He has given it to you. We pray to Him to guide you in the onerous task of restoring the lost values of our country.

You are taking over when the dust is beginning to settle. Boko Haram are on the run. For six years, this group of people has unleashed mayhem on Nigeria, or at least Northern Nigeria. Thousands of people have been killed in cold blood; thousands of others have been displaced. Yet, several thousands of women, girls and boys have been taken as captives. Ordinary Nigerians have found it difficult to figure out the sponsors of Boko Haram due to the nature of their victims who cut across all segments and strata of the Nigerian society. Several conspiracy theories have been expressed, many of which are laughable. Some believe it is the Northern elders who created Boko Haram in order to make the country ‘ungovernable’ for Jonathan. According to another school of thought it is the Igbo who have been exploring ways to launch revenge against the North for what Northerners did to them during the Nigerian civil war. Some say it is you, others say it is Jonathan. There are a few other theories.

Whether or not any, some or all of these theories are correct or incorrect, it is well known that the original members of the group known as Boko Haram or Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’wati wal Jihad as they call themselves were students of one Muhammadu Yusuf who lived and preached in Maidugri until his death in the hand of the Nigerian Police in 2009. It is also well known that the final episode that led to confrontation between his disciples and security forces was the refusal of his followers to obey simple driving rules like the wearing of helmets by motorcyclists.

However, my reason for writing you this letter is not Boko Haram. It is something worse than Boko Haram. Yes worse. It is a sect more dreadful than Boko Haram that has established itself in all strata of Muslim Ummah in Nigeria. They are in the civil service. They are in business. Their members have deliberately come close to several unsuspecting politicians of note. It is Shia.

As a Muslim, you don’t need someone to tell you about Shia. But for the benefit of those who do not know, I would say the little they need to know. Shia is about the oldest sect in Islam. After the death of Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was both a messenger of Allah and a political leader, the Islamic faith continued to grow under the rightly guided Caliphs. It was during this period that the present day Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Palestine came under the control of Islam. However, the Jews who were expelled from the city of Madina by the Holy prophet because of their treachery and were watching these developments with agony decided to react by sponsoring some of them to pronounce Islam in order to have the license to cause confusion among Muslims. It was these ‘converts’ under the leadership of one Abdullah bn Saba that succeeded in sponsoring the rebellion against the third Caliph, Othman. They first articulated his shortcomings, amplified and disseminated them around the Caliphate. Thereafter they called for his resignation; when he refused to resign they killed him. The Muslim Ummah chose Ali, a cousin of the Holy Prophet to lead them after Othman, but these very people, who now called themselves Shiat Ali (the sect of Ali) frustrated his efforts to track and punish the killers of Othman. They now made Shia a symbol of love for Ali and other relations of the prophet and hatred for the other caliphs and the rest of the prophet’s companions whom they claimed betrayed the trust of the prophet.

Shia was embraced by Persians because they saw it as an opportunity to distort a religion that destroyed their kingdom and culture. After the Iranian revolution which was led by Shiite scholars, the government of Iran set an agenda to spread Shia to other countries. In Nigeria, this task was to be carried out by one Ibrahim Yakub Elzakzaky. The man Elzakzaky devised several strategies to achieve his mission. First, he banked on the gullibility of some Muslim youth who could easily be misled by slogans like ‘Islamic revolution’, ‘establishment of Islamic state’, ‘total change’, etc. His group, who initially tagged themselves as Muslim brothers (meaning, of course, that other Muslims are not their brothers) organized lectures and several demonstrations in their first phase. In those days in the 1980s he told everyone that he was not a Shiite, his group was not out to promote Shia and that what they wanted was Islam and nothing else. The other methods used by Elzakzaky to introduce Shia to his followers were the same methods that Shiites have used over their long history. One of them is women. Shiites legalize temporary marriage. In Shia it is possible to marry a woman for two hours. Many people find it difficult to understand why young men and women who are supposed to be in school would trek from cities like Kano, Gusau and Katsina to Zaria, spending nights along the way in order to listen to Elzakzaky. This is the secret. It is an open one because the Shiites do not deny they do it. What they may deny is wife swapping, which many people accuse them of doing.

There is plenty more on Shiites and their doctrine. What, however, would be of major concern to your Government is their notoriety in dealing with Government and fellow Nigerians. Way back in the 1990s, the Shiites constituted a major threat to the public in Kaduna state. For a period, any Islamic preacher who dared to criticize Ibrahim Elzakzaky or Ayatullahi Khomaini in his preaching was attacked and beaten in his house in the presence of his wife and children. Infuriated by their actions, the Government of Col. Hameed Ali staged a clampdown on them and most of their leaders were arrested and prosecuted. This made them to change their strategy for a while.

The main activities of Shiites are demonstrations which they organize on specific occasions like the Quds and Ashura days. During these demonstrations, they block main roads in cities across the North and intimidate the public including the Police whose permission they do not seek. Last year, this type of event led to a clash between the Army and the sect members leading to the death of several people including three children of Mallam Ibrahim Elzakzaky. In addition, these heretics organize an annual pilgrimage to Zaria for which they trek in large groups from certain points to go and meet their leader. In the process of this long trek, they block major highways and create a lot of havoc for travelers. This is watched by the security agents and nothing is done to stop it.

Like the Boko Haram of Muhammadu Yusuf, the Shiites have no regard for any rule, no matter how harmless it is. For example, after a series of bombings in Kano metropolis, the Government of Kano state banned riding motorcycles after six o clock in the evening and carrying passengers on same. The public complied and defaulters were openly arrested and punished. The only group of people that did not comply were the Shiites. Even when the implementation of the ban was at its peak they rode motorcycles in the night on major roads in Kano sometimes carrying more than one passenger and none of them would be arrested. A friend of mine once stopped and asked the Police why they were not arresting Shiites. The answer was, ‘Ai su yan kungiya ne’, meaning ‘they are members of a group’. The Police was obviously afraid of triggering another crisis, but at the same time giving the impression that some people are above the law.

The Shiites are well connected. Since most of their leaders including Mallam Ibrahim Elzakzaky himself are graduates, it has been easy to fix themselves in all sectors of the economy. Although they publicly condemn the Nigerian political system and do not participate in partisan politics, the group may have been enjoying the support of certain politicians. For example, a former civilian governor of one of the Northern states patronized a Civil Engineering firm controlled by professionals belonging to this group. The group activities were allegedly sponsored by proceeds of the many contracts he awarded to them in addition to whatever little might come from Iran and other wealthy members. Ordinarily there is nothing wrong in that since they are also Nigerians, but the fact that some of those professionals involved were dismissed from public service for alleged breach of peace raised doubts about the action of that governor.

Mallam Ibrahim Elzakzaky lives in affluence even when most of his followers live in abject poverty. Added to these is the large number of guards that accompany him wherever he is going. These guards who are mainly unemployed youth also man illegal checkpoints on roads leading to his house in the Gyallesu quarters of Zaria. In addition to open display of weapons, these guards subject people living in the area, their families and visitors to constant harassments. Even after registering series of complaints to the police and Zaria emirate, nothing has been done to come to the rescue of these innocent Nigerians. Only last week, there was a widely reported clash between Shiite guards and residents of Gyallesu that claimed a number of lives. Yet, there was no response from the Government.

My advice for your Excellency is this. If your promise to tackle insecurity is to be a reality you must cut Shiites down to size. To do that effectively you have to look around you and make sure that no member of this group occupies an important position in your Government. It would be a monumental scandal if Nigerians come to realize that a member of such a lawless group is very close to you and/or holding a key position in your Government. This is regardless of the intellectual prowess of the person. One would then wonder what would be the reaction of your Government when there is a clash between security forces and members of this group. The millions of Nigerians that voted for you do not include Shiites. Nigerian Shiites do not vote unless they engage in taqiyya which is a kind of hypocrisy allowed in their religion whereby a person can pretend to be what he/she is not and act accordingly in order to achieve a goal. Secondly, no member of the public including politicians, traditional or religious leaders must be allowed to use his followers to harass the public. If Mallam Ibrahim Elzakzaky or any other leader wants additional security for himself he should be allowed to employ trained private guards who would not harass his neighbours. Finally, there should be no double standard in dealing with different groups.

I wish I had a direct access to you to give you this advice without making it public. Although I know a few people around you, I am not quite sure that a message sent through them would get to you at this time. And since office-seeking Nigerians have been sending in their CVs, any document dropped in your office, no matter its contents is very likely going to be treated as another CV in disguise.

I wish you Allah’s guidance.