Shittola

ISLAMISTS: ARE WE A FAILURE? I have been contemplating on the above caption since yesterday consequent upon the conversation that ensued between a neighbor who is a Pastor and I. My neighborhood is afflicted with erratic power supply for a couple of days now, in an effort to mitigate the menace, I have to accompany my neighbor to the Power Distributing Company's Office to table our complaints. During the course of our interaction along the way, the following conversations ensued: Pastor: Alfa! Are you telling the truth that you studied Islamics? Me: Yes, I do. What makes you think contrary? Pastor: I do follow your posts on Facebook(cited some of it), but I was marveled at your mastery of language construction. You don’t seem as one. Me: Really? Pastor: Yes, I do associate with coterie of your people in the annals of Islamics, none seems to possess the charisma you possess. You write like a person that studied English with your professorial grammars.

 SUFI CORNER Culled from "The Hundred Steps" by Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit (Kuala Lumpur:Madinah Press, 1998) 2. SHARI'AH 'There is no road to the realities except on the tongue of the Shari’ah.' said Shaykh al-Akbar. The Shari'ah of Islam is the confirmation that there is no divinity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. It is to pray five times daily the ritual prostrations. It is to fast the month of Ramadan. It is to pay the zakat tax of wealth. It is to take, if possible, the Hajj to the pure House of Allah and the plain of Arafat. It is based on these and confirms that the one following the Shari'ah has elected to live within the broad moral parameters set down in the Quranic commands and according to the guidance within the Sunnah, the life-pattern of Muhammad, blessing of Allah and peace be upon him. Having accepted the Shari'ah is the deep cognition that the human creature is limited, is in a body, and thus, like all bodi...

Culled from "The Hundred Steps" by Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit (Kuala Lumpur:Madinah Press, 1998) 1. TASAWWUF Sufism is the science of the journey to the King. Its preferred etymology is that it derives from suf, wool. Shaykh Hasan al-Basri said,'I saw forty of the people of Badr and they all wore wool.' This means that the sufi-tasawwafa-has put on the wool. This is distinct from those who confirm the way of Islam with the tongue and by book of learning. It is taking the ancient way, the primordial path of direct experience of the Real. Junayd said: ' The Sufi is like earth, filth is flung on it but roses grow from it.' He also said: 'The Sufi is like the earth which supports the innocent and the guilty, like the sky which shades everything, like the rain which washes everything'. The Sufi is universal. He has reduced and then eliminated the marks of selfhood and allow a clear view of the cosmic reality. He has rolled up the cosmos in its turn ...

ON THE 29TH REMEMBRANCE ANNIVERSARY OF BABA BULALA. "History has its truth, and so has legend...". "Legends are best left as legends and attempts to make them real are rarely successful" History was made in Makkah in 570AD when the legend of all time, the holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born in the Holy city of Makkah. The same history was made in 632AD when the Prophet(SAW) died. To the Sufiyyun of the contemporary age, history is replete with the birth of the great legend, the succour of the age(Gawthul zaman), Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse in 1900 at Tayba-Niass. The same history was made when he passed on in London around 1975. In the same vein, history was made in 1919 when our own legend, our kinsman, the master of saints, Shaykh Jami'u Amao Bulala was born in Offa. This same history repeated itself when he died in Offa on 5th March, 1989. May Allah be pleased with his soul. Most legends were not recognised while being alive until they passed on. This is what ...

AS BABA DROPS THE GOWN: ACCOLADES TO AN ACADEMIC MENTOR This month of February 2018 is one of the months that will linger on for the rest of my life. It is the month when two of the most influential persons in my life bid farewell to Public Service. The first is my life mentor i.e my daddy, who retired from service with effect from the second of this month, the second is my academic mentor, Professor Yasir Anjola Quadri who is retiring today, 22nd February, 2018. Coincidentally both their exit in service is consequent upon the attainment of the maximum age. I intend to wholly dedicate this short piece to baba, my inept writing won't debar me from associating with the Professor of Professors. Baba as we fondly call this great  Professor of Islamic Studies with specialisation on tasawwuf(Islamic Mysticism) is a man of many parts that is inexhaustible to write except his creator. I remember in an attempt  to test my inept writing about him few years back on my Facebook wall, th...

AS DAD EXITS SERVICE TODAY: ACCOLADES TO A LIFE MENTOR "Retirement is supposed to be a great escape from the stress inherent in most jobs, a time to experience a fulfilling life derived from many enjoyable and rewarding ing activities". This quotation is culled from one of the works of the Canadian author, Ernie Zelinski. It is a germane quotation as it reflects what is happening today. It is indeed a great day which we shall always cherish as you officially retire voluntarily from service, consequent upon the attainment of the compulsory age of sixty in line with the Public Service Rule. Dad! We are proud of you. As a Pension Officer in the top Government Establishment in the State, I can confidently admit that you are among few Civil Servants whose required Length of Service almost coincided with the required Age in Service. You served your State assiduously and carried out your duties diligently without bias or prejudice. Dad! We are proud of you. From records, if not m...

ANNOTATED TRANSLATION OF HIS POEM ON BISMILLAH 1. By the secret of Bismillah illuminate our hearts, and give us a legitimate and purified sustenance. 2. The all-Hearing, the all-Seeing, O the Originator! Bestow on us knowledge by the secret of the exalted names. 3. The King, the Glorious, O the one who makes things clear, make clear for us all knowledge together with their meaning. 4. He is Allah, the Omnipotent, the Opener and He is our Lord. Open for us the gate of knowledge wherever we are. 5. The Kind, the Grateful, (Appreciative) the Independent enrich us, the Opener, the Provider, the Generous, be charitable to us. 6. The Kind, the all-Aware, the Guide, guide us, be kind to us by facilitating all difficulties and give us all our needs. 7. Your guidance is a right path and take us from Divine presence of annihilation to Divine presence of abiding. 8. You are Allah, O the Beneficent, the Provider for the whole world, quickly provide for us a provision from unexpected side. ...

HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE TIJANIYYAH ORDER. One may align with Oladotun, the author of History of Islam in Offa, who opined that the Tijaniyyah brotherhood was introduced to Offa through the strenuous effort of Alhaji Popo in 1926. The functionality of the order in the town could no longer be sustained after the demise of the pathfinder owing to the non enthusiastic nature of his successor towards its proselytization. Thus, protégés resorted to doing the Tijaniyyah rites individually. It was consequent upon the return of Shaykh Jami'u to Offa around 1945 that the order resuscitated. It is noteworthy to say here that throughout the course of my research about Shaykh, no one admitted being initiated by him, instead they only pledged their allegiance to him owing to the spiritual prowess they envisaged in his personality. The more reason I prefer to refer to them as his loyalists. It was thus generally held that Shaykh did not initiate anyone into the Tijaniyyah order, instead, he dir...

HIS SUFI TENDENCY II An interesting fact worthy of admission is Shaykh's approach to Sufism. One wonders where one can conveniently fix him to. Going by Paden's categorization of the Tijaniyyah order, he succinctly categorised the order into two viz: the Traditional Tijaniyyah and the Reformed Tijaniyyah. One is apt to say that Shaykh did not fully fit into both though he claimed allegiance to the later than the former, the more reason why Solagberu regarded his tendency and approach to the order as distinct. As stated ab initio that Shaykh had been developing himself spiritually at a tender's age while he was studying he Qur'an at Offa, he later felt dissatisfied with this and decided to travel to Ilorin where he is optimistic to meet great Sufi Masters of his time in tandem with Ibn Khaldun's position where he said, "a scholar's education is greatly improved by travelling in quest of knowledge and meeting authoritative teachers of his time". Sufism...