My Ziyarah Chronicles (2)

 Introduction 

لَّا يَسْتَوِي الْقَاعِدُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ غَيْرُ أُولِي الضَّرَرِ وَالْمُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ ۚ فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ بِأَمْوَالِهِم  وَأَنفُسِهِمْ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِينَ دَرَجَةً ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَفَضَّلَ اللَّهُ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

Translation:

"Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame, etc.), and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit (at home). Unto each, Allah has promised good (Paradise), but Allah has preferred those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home) by a huge reward(Qur'an 4:95)"

Going out in the cause of Allah is considered as one of the sacred acts in Islam as could be gleaned from the above quoted verse of the Qur'an. Although, the clause "fight in the cause of Allah" is often perceived generically as taking up arms to fight the enemies of Islam. This is not the situation in this context. Our fight in the cause of Allah is greater than the physical one as we set out to fight our ego self.

Traveling they say is the best education as one would learn how to function outside one's comfort zone. In consonance to this, on the 6th of August, 2023, I set out from my neighborhood at Ganmo, a suburb town in the outskirts of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria not for any other reason but to do the Jihad of Nafs i.e. to fight my ego self. My ego self which has acclimatized to my environment needed some rejuvenation, so choosing the North West Nigeria as my point of visitation where I hoped to meet versatile and spiritually prowess men is one of the best decisions I can make. Among the states I hoped to visit include Kaduna and Kano.

Ziyārah (visitation) is a popular term in Sufism. Its meaning is derived from the Arabic verb, zāra which literary means to visit. Some of its relative meanings include; "to meet", "to see" or "to intend to go to someone". Technically, the word is used when one intends to go to meet someone out of love, respect or affection. Hence this term will often be used in this travelogue.

My decision for this Ziyārah to the Awliya'Allah (friends of Allah) in the North West Nigeria owes to the efforts and contributions of their ancestors to the proselytization of Sufism. Thus, I have envisaged a moment and session of spiritual rejuvenation in the presence of the Awliya'Allah.To state that the practice of Ziyārah is one of the most controversial issues in Islam especially among the Salafiyyah Group is to state the obvious. However, my justification for my acts in tandem with the provisions of Shari'ah shall be provided in my subsequent posts.

This travelogue which will be provided daily in piecemeal in the next couple of days will be geared towards providing you with my experience in terms of people, places, languages amongst others. I am Shittu Olanipekun and I am here to share my experience with you. I look forward to your observations and comments. Let's meet tomorrow for the next episode. Thanks