During the political campaign that preceded the 2015 general
elections, a major challenge confronted Muslim politicians in the then ruling
party, the PDP. Muslims, especially Northern Muslims saw any of their brothers campaigning
for Jonathan as an outcast. Jonathan was seen as the promoter of Boko Haram because
for as long as he remained in power the Boko Haram fire continued to spread to
all parts of Northern Nigeria with apparently no will from the President to end
it. Added to this was the fact that Jonathan was being challenged by General
Muhammadu Buhari, a person considered by Northerners as a messiah who would not
only tackle the problem of Boko Haram but restore the good old glory of Nigeria
by killing corruption and other political and economic problems of the country.
This put Muslim politicians in PDP on their toes as the storm
gathered. For the small boys at local levels, the practice of printing campaign
posters with Buhari picture alongside theirs became the norm. But for the big
boys at the centre, they were doing all they could to prove to grassroot voters
that they were also practicing Muslims. This made many of them to open their
political lectures with long Islamic prayers and quotations from the Qur’an and
Hadith. Some of them would go on to warn the public that Buhari’s running mate
was a big pastor and that a vote for Buhari would promote the church, and so
on. It was in the midst of this imbroglio that the former Vice president, Arc
Namadi Sambo at one of their campaign rallies attempted to recite Suratul
Fatiha, which is the opening chapter of the Quran. However, to the
disappointment of many of his admirers, he failed to recite it properly. And many
including my humble self were not surprised. For the western-educated elites of
Sambo’s generation, the only opportunity they might have had of learning the
Qur’an was at the Qur’anic school of their locality before they went to boarding
secondary school. At boarding schools there was no provision to further their knowledge
of the Qur’an. The IRK was anything but serious. In fact, the IRK teacher was
usually a subject of mockery by the pupils who called him with various names
like anakallahu, ustaz, etc. With this background, it is not surprising to be
unable to recite the basic parts of the Qur’an correctly.
What is wrong is the way the error was politicized even by
people who should know better. I remember a popular columnist who was also a
member of APC mentioning the number of errors he found in Sambo’s recitation of
Fatiha. Whether he personally met Sambo as his Muslim brother to discuss those
mistakes is doubtful.
Dear reader, I m not writing this piece to discuss Sambo and
his recitation of Fatiha. I believe by now he must have learnt and corrected
his mistakes. This is particularly expected because he is no longer in
Government and has more time to dedicate for spiritual development. Employing a
Sheikh to teach him Qur’an from the scratch would not be a problem. Luckily, he
is from Zaria a city with reputation for Islamic scholarship. In addition to
bringing Sambo closer to his creator, it will also make him reappear better
whenever he makes public reappearance.
What prompted me to pick my pen is a video clip currently
circulating in the social media. This time it is not about a pro-Jonathan
politician. It is about Governor Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa state, a
prominent figure in the ruling party and a member of its National working
committee. The clip was posted to one of the whatsApp groups I belong where I first
saw it. Later it has spread like a wild fire as sharing continues. In the video
released by Jigawa State New Media Office, the bearded governor is shown
struggling to read a poorly written speech on the occasion of honoring Jigawa indigenes
that excelled in Qur’anic recitation competition.
As I watched the three minutes clip, what particularly
impressed me were the messages the Governor sent. It is the first time, for
example, I saw a state Governor offering scholarship to Qur’anic reciters to study
in any university of their choice anywhere in the world. In the past such
offers were made to footballers and some actors or actresses. The governor also
promised to continue supporting Qur’anic education and Qur’anic reciters at
both Qur’anic and Islamiyya school levels. And if the governor fulfills the commitment
he made in that clip, problems of Education sector shall be solved, at least in
Jigawa state. After urging the Jigawa state contingent to represent the state
well, he concluded by praying for them in particular and the state in general.
Unfortunately for most of us, we are always looking for
mistakes and human beings are always full of mistakes. A big mistake (yes, a
big one) was made by the governor in reading that speech. In Islam, there are
standards of respect for the prophet (peace upon him), his companions and other
figures. In particular, the Prophet (peace upon him) described as a truly
stingy person anybody who refuses to pray for him whenever he is mentioned. Thus,
it has become part of the average Muslim life to say sallallahu alaihi was
sallam (may peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) whenever a mention of
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is made. When Allah is mentioned it is
usual to glorify him (subhanu wa ta’ala). To glorify the Prophet (peace upon
him) as done to Allah is abominable and that is exactly what Badaru did. Even if
the mistake was made in the speech he was reading, as I would like to believe, it
is expected that given his status, His Excellency the Governor should have
corrected it. But it is not too late. Allah is forgiving and merciful for those
who seek his forgiveness. As for those of us who always politicize the mistakes
of others it is better to desist and seek corrective approach. For if APC
benefitted from the mistakes of Namadi Sambo, it is now the turn of PDP to use
Badaru’s lapse to achieve what politicians want achieve. But what do they
achieve?
