Open letter to Gov. Ganduje on Abduljabbar Mode of Preaching
Your Excellency Sir,
With due respect and regards as well as appreciation of your decision to organize a debate between Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara and some Ulama in Kano state that disagree with his mode of activities, that include debunking Prophetic traditions that seem to insult the personality and morality of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his Companions, I write to draw the attention of His Excellency to some very important points that need to be considered.
As a journalist by profession and a Muslim, it behoves on me to serve as an agent of peace and development in my immediate environment, a role I have been playing promoting developmental journalism through which I have promoted a lot of achievements of His Excellency in Kano state. This is in line with the popular teaching of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (S.A.W) that whosoever wakes up in the morning and is not concerned about the situation of the Muslims, is not of them.
Hence, as a Muslim I wish to voice out some important points concerning the recent tension that has overtaken the state as a result of the conceptual disagreement among the Muslim scholars in the state.
Sheikh Abduljabbar has engaged himself in debunking some traditions of the holy Prophet (S.A.W) that he sees as presenting the morality and personality of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) in the most unacceptable manner and also allow the adversaries of Islam the opportunity to not only make a mockery of Islam, but also insult the personality and morality of the holy Prophet (S.A.W).
We are all witnesses to the book written by Salman Rushdie ‘The Satanic Verses’ and how he insulted the personality and morality of the Prophet (S.A.W) whereas most of the things he said were derived from such traditions contained in some Muslim books.
These traditions also provide a soft landing for our teaming youths opting for atheism, some of who are even children of some prominent Ulama. The state government had of recent taken legal actions on one Mubarak Bala, who leads the Humanist Society of Nigeria and is accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).
Those traditions as well as some of their transmitters are all considered as fake by a lot of scholars and some of the said transmitters never existed in the history of Islam.
The issues have been a subject of study in Islam for some hundreds of years and are never introduced or initiated by Sheikh Abduljabbar. There are many books in the Muslim libraries discussing the subject matter. Some of the Muslim sects are founded on these grounds while other Muslim sects that are supportive of such traditions form their own beliefs on them.
Your Excellency, in your position as the Khadimul Islam, it behoves on you to consider the general interest of Islam and Muslims in whatever action you will take on the matter as the Chief Executive of the state as this will definitely affect your records in the future.
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You should also ask for the logic behind a team of scholars coming together to ask for an opponent to be barred by your government for reading and preaching some ideas contained in Islamic books and insist that no dialogue or debate should be allowed with such a scholar.
These state Ulama have accused Sheikh Abduljabbar of insulting Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his Companions and have demanded the state to take drastic action on him, the most logical thing to be done by His Excellency is to ask those Ulama to bring forth their accusations and the accused be asked to defend himself.
If he is able to logically defend them, he should be allowed to continue with his activities. If he is unable to defend them he will then be restricted.
More so, if the Ulama choose not to debate with him for any reason, then he would be allowed to continue with his activities while they will be instructed not to interfere with him.
To simplify the matter further, it is more like the case of Muslims coming to the state government to call on it to ban Christians from their activities simply because the Qu’ran does not agree that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Hence, simply because some set of Ulama do not agree with certain ideas of the religion does not imply that the government should ban those who agree with it at their behest.
After all, amongst the Muslims are those who believe only in the Quran and do not accept the traditions of the Prophet (S.A.W), those who believe they are gods and their leaders too are gods, those who believe Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) is not the last Prophet of God and they have a prophet after him, there are those who believe some Companions of the Prophet (S.A.W) are better than the Prophet (S.A.W), there are also those who believe the Households of the Prophet (S.A.W) are greater than the Companions of the Prophet and they all exist in Kano.
Why them would His Excellency ban one inclination on the behest of the other? It is clear that Nigeria is in a democracy and The Constitution allows for freedom of worship and choice of religion.
At this juncture, I wish to call on His Excellency to insist that the Ulama that came to him accusing Sheikh Abduljabbar of insulting Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his Companions to come up with their claims and he be made to defend himself on such claims. This is the most logical thing to do.
I know your Excellency has the trait to be just and fair and can display such in this case. Justice and fairness for Sheikh Abduljabbar is when your Excellency chooses between the two logically available points below.
It is either the Ulamas complaining against the embattled Sheikh Abduljabbar have a debate with him, or Sheikh Abduljabbar be allowed to continue his activities without infringement.
Everyone should be allowed to practice his faith and preach it accordingly while the public is allowed to harmoniously choose where to belong.
In conclusion, it is partinent on me to hail His Excellency once again for opting for dialogue as an option in this matter as I call on him to reenforce the fundamental rights of Sheikh Abduljabbar earlier barred from his activities in the state.
Your’s faithfully,
Abdulmumin Giwa
+2348062555515
[email protected]
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of Young writers/journalist from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives
