₦airaland Forum

Law Without Lawyers: Understanding the Foundations of Classical Islamic Jurisprudence

- Bashir Arowojobe

One of the most distinctive features of classical Islamic law is that it developed and functioned for centuries without a formal legal profession comparable to modern lawyers. While contemporary legal systems often rely heavily on attorneys to interpret laws, represent clients, and navigate complex judicial procedures, the Islamic legal tradition was built upon a different foundation. This unique characteristic has led scholars to describe it as a system of "law without lawyers."

In classical Islamic civilization, legal authority was primarily vested in jurists (fuqaha), judges (qudat), and legal advisors (muftis). These individuals were responsible for interpreting the sources of Islamic law; the Qur'an, the Sunnah, consensus (ijma'), and analogical reasoning (qiyas). Rather than acting as advocates for individual clients, jurists focused on developing legal doctrines and issuing scholarly opinions that guided society.

The judge, or qadi, occupied a central position within the legal system. Unlike judges in many modern jurisdictions who often serve as neutral arbiters between opposing lawyers, the qadi played a more active role in hearing disputes, examining evidence, and applying legal principles. Litigants typically appeared before the court personally and presented their own cases. The absence of professional advocates reduced procedural complexity and made legal proceedings more accessible to ordinary members of society.

The institution of the mufti further distinguished Islamic legal heritage from modern legal systems. A mufti issued legal opinions, known as fatwas, in response to questions from individuals, judges, or rulers. Although these opinions were not legally binding, they carried significant persuasive authority and helped shape legal practice. Through this mechanism, legal expertise remained available to the public without requiring a specialized class of courtroom lawyers.

This does not mean that Islamic law lacked legal specialists. On the contrary, Islamic civilization produced some of the world's most sophisticated legal scholars. The founders of the major schools of jurisprudence, including Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, Al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, established comprehensive legal methodologies that continue to influence Muslim societies today. However, their role was primarily scholarly rather than advocatory.

The absence of a formal legal profession reflected the broader objectives of Islamic law. Justice was intended to be accessible, community-oriented, and closely connected to moral and religious values. Legal knowledge was disseminated through mosques, educational institutions, and scholarly circles, enabling many people to acquire a practical understanding of their rights and obligations.

Nevertheless, the phrase "law without lawyers" should not be understood literally. In some cases, litigants appointed agents (wakil) to represent them, particularly in commercial matters or when personal appearance was difficult. Yet these agents never evolved into a separate professional class with exclusive rights of legal representation.

The Islamic legal tradition demonstrates that a sophisticated and enduring legal system can exist without the modern institution of the lawyer. Its heritage offers valuable insights into alternative models of justice, legal accessibility, and the relationship between law, scholarship, and society.

Why Fetishism, Diabolism, and Mysticism Are Attached to Islam in Yoruba Land: An Insider Account

By Bashir Arowojobe

I write not as an outsider looking in, but as one born into this reality. I grew up hearing the adhān from the mosque, and the ọfọ̀ (incantations) from the neighbor’s shrine. I saw the Mallam who wrote hirz (Qur’anic amulets) with one hand and recommended sacrifices to Èṣù with the other.

To the world, this is cultural richness. To me, a Muslim who holds the Tawḥīd of Allah as paramount, it is a profound tragedy—a slow, centuries-long compromise where the clarity of Islam was diluted in the deep waters of Yoruba paganism.

This is not an academic study of syncretism. This is an insider’s testimony of corrosion.

1. The Historical Entry: Not Conquest, but Infiltration

Islam did not come to Yoruba land with the intellectual and military force that established its rule elsewhere. It crept in through trade routes, carried by merchants and itinerant preachers (who are mostly nominal Muslims and not scholars). From the beginning, it sought acceptance not by supremacy of truth, but by accommodation.

The early “converts” never truly left the òrìṣà. They simply added “Allah” to their pantheon, re-naming Olódùmarè as the Supreme God, while maintaining their devotion to Ṣàngó, Ọ̀ṣun, and Ògún. Islam’s door of Shahādah was opened so wide that the entire forest of àṣẹ (spiritual power) walked in and made itself at home. The foundational error was treating Islam as an addition rather than a total replacement.


2. The Qur’ān as a Magic Book: From Guidance to Tool

The greatest sacrilege I witnessed was the reduction of the Qur’ān—Allah’s eternal speech—to a book of spells. This was not Islam’s “esoteric edge”; it was its systematic dismantling.

- Verses became potions: Àyát al-Kursī, a majestic declaration of Allah’s sovereignty, was washed into water and drunk for protection, its meaning ignored for its presumed mystical energy.

- Sūrahs became charms: Al-Falaq and An-Nās, revealed as seeking refuge in Allah alone, were written on parchments, folded into leather pouches, and worn like any oògùn fetish.

- The Mallam became a Babaláwo: His authority derived not from his knowledge of fiqh (jurisprudence) or tawḥīd, but from his perceived power to manipulate unseen forces using Arabic phrases. He became a trader in spiritual fear, selling Islamic formulae to combat the very Yoruba demons his predecessors had failed to denounce.

This is not the Islamic science of ruqyah (legitimate spiritual healing). This is shirk (idolatry) in its purest form—transferring trust from Allah to the object, the incantation, the practitioner.

3. The Devil’s Bargain: Fighting “Diabolism” with Diabolism

The Yoruba world is deeply afraid of àjé (witches), èpè (curses), àbíkú(spirit children). Instead of Islam bringing the liberating message that only Allah has power to benefit or harm, it was twisted to become a more potent weapon in the same old pagan war.

- Èṣù, the Yoruba principle of dynamism, was flatly equated with Shayṭān. This not only misrepresented a complex indigenous concept but also animized evil, giving it a localized, familiar face that required constant ritual appeasement.

- Islamic angels (Mala’ikah) were recruited into the army of personal spirits, expected to fight one’s enemies like an òrìṣà.

- The faith became a fear-management system. People didn’t pray ṣalāt out of love and gratitude to Allah, but out of a calculation to ward off misfortune. Islam became the highest-grade “juju.”

Thus, what is called “practical theology” is, in truth, a theology of power, not of submission. It is a transactional faith where Allah is not worshipped as Lord, but contracted as the ultimate Oníṣẹ̀gun (Herbalist).

4. Sufism: The Trojan Horse of Mysticism

The ṭarīqas (Sufi orders) completed the assimilation. With their veneration of saints (awliyā), tomb pilgrimages (ziyārah), and ecstatic rituals, they provided a perfect Islamic-looking shell for Yoruba ancestor worship (bàbá ńlá) and òrìṣà possession festivals.

The Wali became the new òrìṣà. His barakah (blessing) was sought like the àṣẹ of an idol. The dhikr circle, meant for remembrance of Allah, often devolved into a rhythmic trance-state indistinguishable from pagan spirit invocation. This mysticism didn’t bridge cultures; it blurred the lines of belief until Allah’s exclusive right to worship was lost in the smoke of incense and the chaos of drums.


5. The Purist’s Lament: We Have Lost a Generation

I call it the Great Compromise. For some reasons best known to God, the scholars and preachers of old surrendered the core of Islam: إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمُ – Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. (Āli ʿImrān 3:19)

They allowed Islam to become a Yoruba Traditional Religion with an Islamic veneer. Today, a man will pray five times a day and then consult an Ifá priest to choose his wedding date. A woman will wear ḥijāb and tie a cowrie-string around her waist for fertility. This is not synthesis; it is spiritual schizophrenia, rooted in a catastrophic failure of da‘wah (invitation to truth).

The reformist movements—the Izala, the Salafi voices—are not “foreign” or “divisive” as our critics claim. They are the necessary, corrective, the long-overdue attempt to uproot the pagan forest that has overgrown the pure garden of Islam. It is a bitter, painful process, for it means telling our own mothers and fathers that much of what they call “our Islam” is, in fact, a beautiful, beloved, but devastating deviation.


My account is not one of cultural pride, but of religious grief. The attachment of fetishism, diabolism, and mysticism to Islam in Yoruba land is not a sign of its vibrancy, but a measure of its dilution.

True Islam does not fear culture; it transcends and purifies it. It does not borrow tools from the altar of idols to fight spiritual battles; it demolishes the altar. The path forward is not in celebrating this syncretic “Yoruba Islam,” but in courageously returning to the Islam of the Qur’ān and the authentic Sunnah—even if it means standing alone in the very land that birthed us.

We must choose: Will we be Yoruba first, or Muslim first? Our history shows the cost of the former. Our faith demands the latter.

—A sorrowful son of the soil.


For dialogue and suggestions:
bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

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How Colonialism, Christianity, and Western Education Fractured Yoruba Muslim Society

—Bashir Arowojobe

When cultures collide, the outcomes are rarely neutral. Sociologist J. Milton Yinger (1963) outlined the possibilities: domination, parallel coexistence, or a transformative intermingling.

The encounter between Yoruba Muslim society and the trident of British colonialism, Christian missionary enterprise, and Western education was not a meeting of equals. It was an asymmetric assault that did not merely add new elements to our culture, but actively fractured it from within. This is not a comprehensive history, but an analysis of key strategic wounds—distortions that continue to shape our religious practice, scholarship, and identity today.

1. The Sectarian Fracture: A Strategic Diversion
Faced with the missionary bait of "education for conversion," Yoruba Muslims devised three responses: outright rejection, the creation of Arabic schools (Al-madaris an-Nidhamiyyah), and the pooling of resources to establish private Muslim schools.
While the third strategy was pragmatically brilliant, its legacy is a paradox. The very organizations formed to unite Muslims for survival became the breeding grounds for enduring sectarian cleavages. The struggle against an external threat turned inward, fragmenting the community along lines of mundane organizational allegiance, diverting energy from consolidation to internal rivalry. The colonial challenge didn't just create Muslim schools; it helped create Muslim factions.

2. The Manufactured Scholar: Curriculum as a Weapon of Distortion
The University of Ibadan, established in 1948, did not have a Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies until 1962 (after intense pressure). When it finally arrived, its architects were Orientalists, Christian missionaries, and secularists. The curriculum they designed was a deliberate departure from orthodox Islamic legal scholarship.
This was not an oversight; it was policy. The goal was to breed a generation of Muslim intellectuals formed by a Western, often skeptical, gaze upon their own tradition. The result is a profound disunity between scholars and their communities, and among scholars themselves. We were given not leaders formed by usul al-fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), but apologists, pantheistic thinkers, and advocates for a syncretism that served colonial notions of "moderate" religion.

3. The Crisis of Identity: Redemption Through Erasure
British colonial philosophy operated on a simple, racist hierarchy: the native was subhuman. "Redemption" was offered through conversion to Christianity or mastery of Western education.
With the colonial government ceding education to missionaries, the only path to literacy for many young Muslims was through Christian schools. This placed them in an impossible bind: convert, or hide their Muslim identity to gain access. This early compulsory dissimulation created a lasting schism in the Yoruba Muslim psyche. To this day, manifesting Islamic identity—the beard, the jalabiyyah, the raised trouser hem—in "corporate" Nigeria is often stigmatized, reserved for the professional "Alfa," while the Muslim elite often codeswitch into a secular, deracinated neutrality.

4. The Criminalization of Norms: Polygamy as a Social Taboo
Colonialism made Nigeria a legal and cultural photocopy of Britain. A core component of this was imposing Victorian Christian morality as the universal standard of "civilization."
Thus, Islamic practices like polygamy were not merely different; they were criminalized as backward and barbaric. The effect was so profound that, until recently, defending polygamy as a valid social norm was taboo among the Yoruba Muslim elite and academia. The lifestyle of the colonizer became the undisputed benchmark for social respectability, forcing a religious community to treat its own divine permissions as a source of shame.

5. The Linguistic Hegemony: When English Mastery Trumps Quranic Literacy
By making English the sole language of official education and advancement, colonialism engineered a hierarchy of knowledge. Fluency in English became the definitive marker of the elite, including the religious elite.
A paradoxical and damaging dynamic emerged: a Muslim scholar (Alfa), deeply learned in Arabic and the Islamic sciences, could be dismissed as "illiterate" if he lacked fluency in English. Conversely, a convincing command of English could grant religious authority to those with shallow Islamic knowledge. The language of the Quran was subtly displaced as the primary language of religious prestige and persuasion within the educated class.

Conclusion: The Enduring Legacy
These five points are not mere historical observations. They are active legacies —the sectarian disputes, the intellectual disorientation, the identity conflict, the cultural shame, and the linguistic displacement that continue to weaken Yoruba Muslim society from within.
To decolonize our minds is to recognize these fractures not as natural evolution, but as deliberate engineering. The path to recovery lies not in rejecting tools like Western education, but in rejecting the internalized hierarchy that places them above our own intellectual and spiritual heritage. It requires a conscious re-centering of our own epistemology, jurisprudence, and identity—on our own terms.

For dialogue and suggestions:
bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

*The Kano Mass Wedding Is Not Your Problem As a Southerner*

Sponsored mass weddings happen all over the world, including in the U.S., which we like to cite as the epitome of development and civilisation. In 2023, New York City sponsored a mass wedding of 700 couples. Please fact-check me. China, South Korea, and Malaysia have them all the time. It is a social intervention scheme done by good governments globally to provide an affordable alternative for marriage-age couples to engage in nuptials.

Stop castigating Kano. They do this to maintain the morality level of their society. In many Southern Nigerian states, we have mass fornication of both underaged and of-age couples. Kano does not want that. They are sponsoring these weddings to preserve the moral fabric of their societies.

Yes, Kano has a high number of out of Western school children. But these children are not out-of-school children. They are only out of Western schools.

Almajiri are students of a Madrassa, which is an Islamic school. The word Almajiri is a corruption of an Arabic word of Islamic origin, al-Muhājir, meaning a person who leaves his home to migrate in search of knowledge.

Amongst the Lukumi Yoruba, the system is slightly adapted and called Ilé-keu. Ifedayo Olarinde, AKA Daddy Freeze, is a product of Ilé-keu, yet his father and mother are both PhD holders, and one of them is a Professor of Law. Even more amazingly, his mother is a White European. But she let her son pass through Ilé-keu.

In Southern Nigeria, we celebrate people who japa to pursue money and other temporal things that have value only in this life. We tolerate and, in some cases, venerate males and females who migrate to Italy to do unspeakable things for money.

If we can do this, why can't we tolerate Arewa's almajiri culture? These children get an Islamic education and become great men and women in society using the disciplines they learnt from their Malams.

I do not want to embarrass them, so I will not mention their names. But some of the wealthiest men in Nigeria, who are dollar billionaires, were once almajiri. Some incumbent Governors were once almajiri.

If a person bears the title Malam before his name, chances are that he is a former almajiri.

In Yobe State, a former almajiri gave me a sports car for my use during my service year and introduced me to then Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim. Going through that system of education instils in you a type of honesty and thrift almost alien to humanity.

You can drop an iPhone in a market in Kano and come back one week later to reclaim it. If you do the same at Ladipo Market, it will find its way to its real owner within milliseconds!

So, if you do not understand the way of life of the Muslim core North of Nigeria, do not cause offence by insulting them and casting aspersions on their culture.

There are other things you, as a Southerner, can focus on, including the fact that more than 95% of Nigerians in prison for drug crimes and romance scams in Asia and Latin America are Southern Nigerians. Of that 95%, over 60% originate from two Southern Nigerian states that contribute little to the VAT pool. I can be more specific area-wise, but I do not want insults.

Reno Omokri

Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022. 21st Most Talked About Person in Africa, 2024.

*GOVERNOR MAKINDE'S CONTINUOUS CHRISTIANISATION OF OBASHIP IN OYO STATE IS INCURABLY AND INCREDIBLY A CONTINUOUS EXERCISE*

Ishaq kunle Sanni

The Obaship institution in Yorubaland, if not the whole of the southern part of Nigeria, is so much embellished in paganistic ritualism that ordinarily a Muslim should not touch it even with the longest pole. But the Institution of monarchy is constitutionally recognised and have tremendous influence on the life of people at the grassroots and there is nothing that can be done about it even in the futuristic sense.
The glittering glamour of the office, coupled with the fact that it is for life in perpetual splendour makes it attractive.
However,we have two of them who , with the fear of Allah, renounced the Kabiyesi title . They prefer to be called Abdulkabiyesi
Iba of kishi and iba Abogunde.

Kabiyesi for the sake of the uninitiated, means WHATEVER HE DOES IS UNQUESTIONABLE . We all know the demystication of obas who have gone to jail for various unspeakable misdemeanors
In Oyo state, we have a Governor who surrounds himself with many Muslims yet does a lot to destroy all vestiges of Islamic proselytisation .
Most of these Muslims are just tools for him to achieve his goal of undermining Islam that he hates with passion even if he vouchsafes the opposite.
.Governor Makinde unabashedly is a master of the game when it comes to playing the ostrich
The aroma of political office is so grandiose and attractive that people are prepared to exchange their hereafter for it.

Just an example will suffice.
The Hausa community who without mincing words are predominantly Muslims appealed to the Muslim Community to intervene as the Makinde Administration slated their burial ground for destruction as part of Federal government dry port at Moniya.
Very strange because at Moniya there are thousands of acres of land begging for development. So why not leave the cemetery and look for acres of land around the area.
Why won't the Governor allow the dead to rest in peace?
Why proposing for them to rest in pieces?. The Governor welcomed our delegation that included the Waliy of our time Professor DOS Noibi. ,OBE
Interestingly another Professor of Islamic studies but with no international recognition and acceptability like our living legend was in a Muslim team of the Governor to harass us and make nonsense of our demand.
He said there was nothing wrong in destroying the burial ground for public use. He had seen a similar scenario in Saudi Arabia
You only need to make overtures to the Governor on certain govermental infractions that perverts the Islamic cause,.
You can be sure that the next day , it is not the Governor who would reply you.
He has his team of Muslim attack dogs who would defend the injustice in all its sickening ramifications.
Most unfortunately, these are mostly old people whose modus operandi now should be HOW DO I PLEASE ALLAH TO GET HIS FAVOUR ON YAOMAL KIYAMA ?
So it would not surprise you that on the present issue of Obaship you have Muslims waiting in the wings to defend the illegality of Makinde .
Enough of digression to the issue at stake
Early in 2023 , I made a statement alerting the world that our dear Governor has a master plan to Christianise Obaship in oyo state without qualms .
To guide against collective amnesia let me restate the story
The Governor was allegedly having fun at a drinking joint and he jocularly said
WHY IS IT THAT ALL FIRST CLASS OBAS IN OYO STATE ARE MUSLIMS ?
THE ALAAFIN IS A MUSLIM
THE SOUN IS A MUSLIM
THE OLUBADAN IS A MUSLIM
THE OKERE OF SHAKI IS A MUSLIM
THE ASEYIN IS A MUSLIM
THIS MUST STOP

There were Muslims with him when he made this weighty statement
But they are those who dare not make any careless comment or they will live to regret it politically.
They don't have the courage and bravado of a Sanusi Lamido Sanusi the erstwhile Governor of the Central Bank and current Emir of Kano who told a senate committee after he accused the Jonathan Administration of embezzling twenty billion dollars Petroleum funds
MY FATHER'S NAME IS NOT GOVERNOR OF CENTRAL BANK , MY FATHER'S NAME IS SANUSI
, IF YOU SACK ME, I WILL GO BACK TO MY FATHER'S HOUSE IN KANO
As fate would have it, all these Muslim traditional rulers in oyo state died one after the other.
The kingmakers in Shaki would tell you the trauma they went through before they could navigate their way not to give the okere crown in a Muslim saturated town, Shaki to a. Christian . An invitation to communal conflict.
Shaki experience and experiment was a collosal failure.
Next was Iseyin. An apostate from Islam now a pastor was imported from the United States of America
When his acceptance in an overwhelming majority Muslim town was becoming a mirage, the monarch got his Muslim name back and married a Muslim lady, Maryam
He became a constant worshipper at the Iseyin central Mosque now a beautiful tourist attraction to behold with his tasbyee every Friday. This Mosque was reconfigured by Barrister Ahmed Raji,SAN by far the biggest Islamic philantropist today in Oyo State.

Then ogbomoso was to have an Oba.
About sixteen Muslims were contesting within the family next in line to the throne.
From nowhere, a redeem Church pastor who had been on Sabbatical from the town for thirty years became the toast of our Governor. The problem of the brilliant , dynamic and fearless Imam of ogbomoso Taliat Ayilara came when at a Ramadan iftar organised by the Governor he said THE RUMOUR MILL HAS IT THAT YOU INTEND TO IMPOSE A PASTOR AS SOUN, THAT IS AN INVITATION TO ANARCHY
That was prophetic if the situation on ogbomoso is janything to go by.
In spite of a court order the Pastor was crowned as the Soun
He has been doing the needful, creating disunity among the Muslims.
Can you imagine a pastor Oba issuing a query to the Imam for going to hajj without his permission ,?
Even one pastor Stephen Owolabi of Christ glorification church condemned the Soun for his unnecessary and inexplicable interference in religious affairs of Muslims
He asked the Soun rhetorically if all the pastors in ogbomoso who went to pilgrimage in Jerusalem took permission from him.?

The Oyo debacle was least expected by those who are oblivious of what stuff Governor Makinde is made of.
As the chairman of the Muslim community of oyo state I held several meetings with Muslim leaders in Oyo town to resolve the issue of Imam that was vacant perchance a Christian could be imposed by Makinde as the next Alaafin,
They all chorused that it was impossible as if there is a law preventing a Christian from becoming Alaafin. Now, the reality is staring them in the face as the contestants to the Imamship are all doing unholy things to placate ' a ceasar' before ascending a sacred throne. A kufar will pick the Imam because some Muslims don't know how to discard senseless traditions.

Bishop Ladigbolu an apostate from Islam was the first choice of Governor Seyi Makinde
Then the kingmakers went out of their way to present one Luqman Gbadegesin to the Governor.
True to type their nomination was rejected by the Governor since Lukman Gbadegesin professes Islam
All the allegations against the Oyomesis are mere balderdash and a distraction. Giving the dog a bad name.in order to hang it ( NIBO NI WON KII TI KO ADIYE ALE)
Pronto, they headed for the court.We started getting rumours that the Governor was shopping for a Christian candidate
The rumour became a reality when one Akeem Abimbola Owoade was announced by the government as the new Alaafin
As I mentioned earlier that though Muslims are in overwhelming majority in Oyo, there is no law that says the Alaafin must be a Muslim. even if it looked like a tall dream.

The prognostication of a Christian Governor replacing all traditional rulers who were Muslims with Christians is repulsive, diabolical, insuspectible, politically abhoring , a height of impunity and insensitivity to the majority of oyo people who are predominantly Muslims.
As usual with those who are abrasive in misuse of power, the staff of office was hurriedly presented to the new imposed candidate .The attraction is his having catapulted himself through the instrumentality of his better half from the noble Islamic faith to the abyss of a religion on its Intensive Care Unit even in Canada, the permanent domicility of the imposed Oba.
Staccato of legal gymnastics by the SANS who will start smiling to their banks are underway.
This Alaafin issue is not going to be a walkover for Seyi Makinde. Put it on marble


May Allah preserve us for long in goodness to witness how misuse of political power would be thrown overboard.
We have a good example here in.oyo state
Samuel Adebayo Adegbola was wrongly installed as Eleruwa of Eruwa
He was sent packing after many years on the throne by the Supreme Court
The Muslim brother who believed he has the right to the throne after spending a fortune to prosecute the case is still in the limbo after over two years of the Supreme Court Judgment.
With Governor Seyi Makinde on the throne, it is more or less a waste of time aspiring to be a traditional ruler in Oyo State if you profess the Islamic faith.

In Ikoyi Ile, a Muslim professor was the choice of the kingmakers, immediately it got to the Ministry of Chieftaincy affairs, a lacuna was discovered and they told the kingmakers to restart the process all over
Like a recurring decimal the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs acting the script of Governor Makinde have told the kingmakers to go back to the drawing board and search for a Christian
This is a town with over ninety percent Muslim population.
May Allah give emotional stability to the brother contesting the Ilua obaship
He has suffered a lot of psychological trauma.
He is the choice of the kingmakers, but the powers that be severally have called for a restart of the process because they don't want a Muslim.
May Allah support him, now that the Alaafin the consenting authority for all Obas in okeogun is a Christian
Muslims have no blue blood again in their veins in Oyo State.
I pity the Muslim contesting the Sepeteri stool in Okeogun
You may be frustrated ..
In sha Allah we would not abandon any Muslim who is interested on sitting on the throne of his forefathers.
But take into cognisance that Muslims in Oyo State are endangered species, but our situation will not be like this forever
An aphorism says
TOUGH TIME DOESN'T LAST BUT TOUGH MEN DO.

Governor Seyi is an Emperor now in oyo state but his tenure is a temporary one whether he likes it or not. He cannot serve a third term
He uses people and dump them at will
An Olubadan in embryo supported him with everything you can think of.
The Governor almost packaged him into the dustbin of history on the traditional front. The garage chief who allegedly committed all sorts of atrocities to get the Governor achieve his gubernatorial ambition is cooling his feet in the correctional centre.
Our brother who used his radio station to attack and vilify us at the risk of all that is noble is now in trouble but the man he gallivanted round the whole of Oyo State using his raw talent feels no obligation to empathise with him in his hour of need. No pay back period
USED AND DUMPED
OYO (ON YOUR OWN)

Being human his philantropic gesture with a queen inadvertently ended up in disastrous way. He has been very supportive to the poor
He has made justice available to the wretched of the earth, giving hope to the hopeless
Allah will surely recompense him in manifold and extricate from the present quagmire of a court case
When it mattered most Governor Makinde abandoned him to his fate
Let him read the Holy Qur'an 2 :120
'Allah says The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their brand of religion....."
Issue of tempering justice with mercy took a back stage.

A good Muslim will never be vindictive . That is why we stood by our brother, one of the best professional in the broadcasting industry. We are solidly behiind him like the rock of Gibraltar in this hour that deserves sober reflection
I am sure he must also have learnt his lessons
To the attack dogs of the Governor including the selfstyled godmother of the new Alaafin who was boasting WE WOULD DEAL WITH KUNLE SANNI That was rude of you to say to your elder eve though you will eat 'your punded yam as raw yaw if you dare say that to my face
As my junior in the secondary, if you are honest, you should be the one to tell whoever cared to listen that I have been defending Islam from my secondary school days as a teenager
My principal will say YOU DONT GO TO SCHOOL ON SUNDAY YOU GET FLOGGED ON MONDAY
After beatings for weeks he got frustrated
For you to be saying with legendary arrogance your stock in trade STOP POKENOSING INTO OUR AFFAIRS IN OYO tantamounts to lack of decorum and sense of history
Without unnecessary claim of sense of entitlement, my paternal grandmother hails from ILE AMUSU in Isale Oyo.
The best friends of my.late father were the movers and shakers of oyo town that included your father a powerfully religious man of eminence, Alhaj Biiznillah, Alhaj Lanlokun, Alhaj Muftau Ishola all of blessed memory and of course Alhaj Kamarise the father of my friend the present Aare Musulumi of oyo town
My father had three properties in oyo that are still standing
I am equally the chairman of the Muslim Community of Oyo State where all coup attempts to subvert or removed me unceremoniously had collapsed like a pack of cards .As I am leaving soon it is not because of your conspiracy but we now have a Constitution that tenures the members of the executive
Apart from this, the pre-eminent position of the Alaafin as the most powerful paramount ruler in Yorubaland makes it worthy of being of importance to a Yoruba man who is not a bastard
That is why we must say it loud and clear we are all critical stakeholders to the issue of Alaafin
E ma pe wa lalejo mo.
Awa yin la.nilu
DONT REFER TO US AS STRANGERS WE MUTUALLY OWN THE TOWN

Defending Islam is my life. No blackmail or threat to my life can stop me. Outside the position of chairman of the Muslim community, in sha Allah I would still be vibrant
Since I was born I don't belong to any secular organisation
My.only.hobby is Islam
Fortunately you cannot be retire from Islam or Islamic work
For the other government apologists, wherever they may be hibernating, we are waiting for you.
You have tried to destabilise the Muslim community of oyo state to no avail
If there were hypocrites in the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad SAW why should we be astounded , flabbergasted, amazed and astonished that we have hypocrites now when stomach infrastructure takes precedence over reputational and eternal infrastructure.
The Holy Qur'an says In 4: 145
THE HYPOCRITES WILL BE IN THE LOWEST DEPTH OF HELL FIRE, WHERE THEY WOULD GET NO HELPER.

My 'friend and brother' Emperor Seyi Makinde
Yes that was how he described me when a delegation of the Muslim Community met him about a month ago
If he calls me brother he is correct
BUT FRIEND
No our friendship is mostly at the airport VIP wing when I am on my way to Abuja where I am a petty contractor.
That was my strategy with which to avoid being an object of blackmail that I risk everything to go to Abuja to fend for my family every week

The Governor is a 'friend' who would come and facilitate during Ramadan with a Muslim chief and a traditional title holder whose house is a shouting distance from my house and would not branch in.my house to say hello
Assuming Makinde gave me contract I would have taken it with two hands because it is legitimate but if he tries to supplant Islam, as usual, he would still find me his nemesis .
That is the difference between US and THEM if he follows our unbending and unshakable trajectory.

Saying he would oppose .Shariah implementation in Oyo State is tantamount to exhibition of unbridled ignorance of the Constitution when his Deputy Governor is a legal luminary of eminence and he has an Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to guide him.
Section 275-279 states without ambiguity that SHARIAH COURT WOULD BE ESTABLISHED FOR STATES THAT WANTS IT
In any case, Shariah panels exist in Ibadan, kishi. Iseyin and oyo town to adjudicate on issues of personal law
To our wonderful Muslim brothers who are political title holders in oyo state, do not be despondent
You have done your best to make peace between us and your principal.

MKO Abiola of blessed memory said ' you cannot clap with one hand' . It takes two to tango
Ceasefire is achieved when both parties cease hostilities
Peace in a period of oppression is that of the graveyard.
Allah will reward you for being loyal to your boss and being truthful to your faith , the noble religion of Islam
Combination of both is not an easy adventurism

On a serious and final note let me remind the Governor of Wilson Mizner's evergreen epigram
BE NiCE TO THE PEOPLE YOU MEET ON YOUR WAY UP,. YOU WILL SURELY MEET THEM ON YOUR WAY DOWN

Okay, thank you.

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You can reach me via: tijarabase@gmail.com

I will only share my contact with genuine buyers.

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*How Colonialism, Christianity and Western education influenced Yoruba Muslims*

-Bashir Arowojobe

Theoretically, in any social construct, when two cultures come into contact, there are a number of outcomes, as observed by Yinger (1963). One- complete domination by the other, two, co-existence on parallel lines, and three, intermingling between the two with exchanges at the level of material and immaterial culture.

This write-up does not purport to explain all the influences colonialism, Christianity and western education has/had on Yoruba Muslims, rather it cites some of the major influences (in the writer’s estimation).

1. *Sectarianism:*

At the advent of Colonialists and Christian missionaries with education as a bait to convert the natives in Yoruba land, at least, three strategies were devised by Yoruba Muslims to face this social challenge. One, outright rejection of western education, two, establishment of Arabic schools (Al-madaris an-Nidhamiyyah), three, establishment of Muslim organizations with the sole aim of pulling resources together to establish private Muslim schools. However, beyond this lofty aim of creating viable alternative for Muslim children to learn western education, myriads of sectarian cleavages has continue to tear Yoruba Muslims apart, along different mundane persuasions.

2. *Distortion of Islamic scholarship*:

The first university in Nigeria was established in 1948 and Arabic and Islamic studies department was not established Until 1962, after series of petitions and outcries. Though, the department was established, its curriculum was designed by orientalist scholars, Christian missionaries and atheists. The curriculum was not in consonance with orthodox Islamic law studies standards. This distortion contributes to *the disunity among Muslim scholars in Yoruba land and their audiences*. In view of this, one will come to the conclusion that, the colonial powers, intend to breed their own version of Muslim scholars, who will turn out to be apologist, pantheist and strong supporters of religious syncretism.

3. *Identity issues:*

Central to the philosophy of British hegemony is “the notion that all natives and indigenes of the colony are sub-humans excepting those who, either by choice or coercion, enjoy racial redemption, through their acceptance of the Christian faith or western education. Unfortunately, by conspiracy or coincidence, the colonial government showed little interest in education, the available means to be educated is to enroll in Christian missionaries schools (before establishing Muslim schools). For Muslims to attend missionary schools, they either convert to Christianity or hide their identity. The latter strategy affected the Muslims afterwards in their social and career life. If not for fashion, wearing the beard and making sure the trousers are above the ankles as an Islamic identity in a corporate environment is reserved for the ‘Alfas’.

4. *Polygamy:*

Colonialism made Nigeria a copy-and-paste version of Britain, and Muslims in Yoruba land as a social animal, are not insulated from this social realities. Until recently, discussing polygamy and validating it as an essential social norm is a taboo among Yoruba Muslim elite and academics, let alone practicing it. The lifestyle of the colonialists whose religion is Christianity, became a new measure of ideal social standard.

5. *Elitism and English language mastery:*

Using English language as the language of educational instruction, transformed it into the language of the elite. For Muslim clerics to convince a learned Yoruba Muslim person on religious matters, in some cases, the former ability of good command of English language may play a major role, and if ‘Alfa’ is well-versed in Arabic language ( the language of the Quran) he may be categorized as “illiterate” if he lacks English language speaking skills.

Above are my major observations on how colonialism, Christianity and western education influenced Muslims in Yoruba land.

Bashir, a social commentator and Sharia pundits writes in from Ibadan through: bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

Neocolonialism: A tale of consensual slavery

-Bashir Arowojobe

“The whole object of the British occupation has been the protection of the people from themselves." - J. D. Falconer (Author, _On Horseback through Nigeria_)

-If I make grammatical blunders in English language and you look down on me as an illiterate, ill-bred, nonentity, small fry and a no-hope, it is a confirmation that you are suffering from ‘colonial orgasm'

If I may ask, when did a secondary language become a proof and determinant of intelligence, strength of character and credibility of decency?

-In your children's school, cultural day is celebrated once in a year, where they will be given opportunity to dress like your ancestors. However, they wear _oyinbo_ pattern of uniform throughout the year and you said you are curious at how this generation idolize the white and wish they come back to recolonize us.

- Don’t you know that every time you ignore the gift of nature and embrace another inferior fabric that in itself is artificial and cannot define your originality, authenticity, and competencies, you will become small and irrelevant.


-If their scientists propound a theory, you take it hook, line and sinker as if it was a direct revelation from God. Are you aware that there are scientific and educational conspiracies too?


- If I speak Yoruba language like pigin English and speak English language like the king of England, you will clap for me and place me high in your estimation. Can inferiority complex be defined better than that scenario


-Someone proposed the standardization of Nigerian-English, you frowned at him as if he’s crazy; is English language a heavenly language?

-If Oyinbo man, manage to speak your language _trashly,_ you feel elated and joyous as if you see God.

“ Nigerian fondness for the country that colonised them is almost bizarre, given the extreme cruelty and violence the Britain used in furtherance of its colonial project. Rather than suffering from Stockholm syndrome, Nigeria is a classic case of a country suffering from a bout of winners' syndrome. -Max Siollun (Author, _What Britain did to Nigeria_)

Decolonizing the mind, begins with you… Bye 👋🏾

Bashir writes in through; bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

Neocolonialism: A tale of consensual slavery

-Bashir Arowojobe

“The whole object of the British occupation has been the protection of the people from themselves." - J. D. Falconer (Author, _On Horseback through Nigeria_)

-If I make grammatical blunders in English language and you look down on me as an illiterate, ill-bred, nonentity, small fry and a no-hope, it is a confirmation that you are suffering from ‘colonial orgasm'

If I may ask, when did a secondary language become a proof and determinant of intelligence, strength of character and credibility of decency?

-In your children's school, cultural day is celebrated once in a year, where they will be given opportunity to dress like your ancestors. However, they wear _oyinbo_ pattern of uniform throughout the year and you said you are curious at how this generation idolize the white and wish they come back to recolonize us.

- Don’t you know that every time you ignore the gift of nature and embrace another inferior fabric that in itself is artificial and cannot define your originality, authenticity, and competencies, you will become small and irrelevant.


-If their scientists propound a theory, you take it hook, line and sinker as if it was a direct revelation from God. Are you aware that there are scientific and educational conspiracies too?


- If I speak Yoruba language like pigin English and speak English language like the king of England, you will clap for me and place me high in your estimation. Can inferiority complex be defined better than that scenario


-Someone proposed the standardization of Nigerian-English, you frowned at him as if he’s crazy; is English language a heavenly language?

-If Oyinbo man, manage to speak your language _trashly,_ you feel elated and joyous as if you see God.

“ Nigerian fondness for the country that colonised them is almost bizarre, given the extreme cruelty and violence the Britain used in furtherance of its colonial project. Rather than suffering from Stockholm syndrome, Nigeria is a classic case of a country suffering from a bout of winners' syndrome. -Max Siollun (Author, _What Britain did to Nigeria_)

Decolonizing the mind, begins with you… Bye 👋🏾

Bashir writes in through; bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

My name is Bashir, I came to Abuja to sort somethings at one of the MDAs, as Allah will have it, I couldn’t get it done earlier as planned due to bureaucratic nature of ministries and I will not be celebrating Eid with my family. I’ll be glad if I find a Muslim household that can host me for this memorable festival, I’m bored already.

If you can stay in kagini reach out to this agent on 07065726805

An-Najashi in Buckingham's Palace: Five things King Charles lll said about Islam and Muslims

- Bashir Arowojobe

The current Britain monarch whose family has served as the physical symbols of colonialism has spent his life trying to free himself from calcified prejudices of the empire. King Charles is a loud admirer of Islam, a critic of western interventionism and a champion of multiculturalism. Before becoming the king, as the prince of Wales, he threw himself into the study of Arabic to better understand the Quran.

The 73-year-old king has made several speeches whilst king-in-waiting on theological and historical subjects related to Muslims and Islam.

Below are some of Charles lll most significant references to Islam over the decades:

*Islamic finance*
At the world Islamic economic forum in London 2013, King Charles lll delivered a speech which signifies his in-depth knowledge of Islamic finance, and the benefits he believed it could bring to global financial markets. He said:

“It is surely a good idea to explore how the spirited minds inherent in the “moral economy” of Islam could enable a just and ethical approach towards the management of systematic risk in economics, in business and finance. The way risk-sharing, implicit in Musharaka, works, for example, with lenders sharing the borrowers risk, and the notion of Mudharabah, the sharing of profit. This is very different from the way that conventional finance transfers the risk quickly and frequently onto someone else with profit going just one way.”

Further more, he acknowledged the need to abolish riba in all transactions to achieve equitable consumption of natural resources.

“I suspected that if the strict injunction of the Quran against Riba were to be applied to the economic system that prevails at the moment, then the debt we have effectively incurred for future generations by the depletion of the earth’s natural capital would surely be found to be usurious and profoundly unacceptable.” He said.

*Muslim contribution to science, art, and academia*

King Charles lll has habitually remarked on the Muslim influence on the world, especially in the field of science, art, and academia.

“We need to remember that we in the west are in debt to the scholars of Islam, for it was thanks to them that during the Dark Ages in Europe the treasures of classical learning were kept alive.” of his speech delivered at Al-Azhar University in 2006.

In 2003, at the Markfield Institute for Higher Education in Leicestershire, he commented on Islam’s contribution to mathematics.

“Anyone who doubts the contribution of Islam and Muslims to the European Renaissance should, as an exercise, try to do some simple arithmetic using Roman numerals. Thank goodness for Arabic numerals and the concept of Zero introduced into European taught by Muslim mathematicians.”

*The West need to understand Islam*

King Charles lll emphasizes on the need for those in the west to better understand Islam, particularly during his 1993 speech at the Oxford centre for Islamic studies, he said:

“If there is misunderstanding in the west about the nature of Islam, there is also ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure which stems from the straitjacket of history we have inherited.”

He also called on people to resist the temptations to associate extremism with Islam.

“We must not be tempted to believe that extremism is in some way, hallmark and essence of the Muslim. Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is The monopoly of other religions, including christianity.” He said

*Sharia, not as we see it*

In his famous 1993 speech tittled “Islam and the west” he argued that Sharia in its original form and standard application is different from the perception the western media make it to be and its deformed application in some countries for political reasons is not enough as criteria to judge Sharia.

“People in this country frequently argue that Sharia law of the Islamic world is cruel, barbaric and unjust. Our newspapers, above all, love to peddle those unthinking prejudices. The truth is, of course different, and is always more complex. My own understanding is that extremes and conservative minds are rarely practised. The guiding principle and spirit of Islamic laws, taken straight from the Quran, should be those of equity and compassion. We need to study its actual application before we make judgments. We must distinguish between systems of justice administered with integrity, and systems of justice as we may see them practised which have been deformed for political reasons into something no longer Islamic.”

*NO Blasphemy*

In 2006, during a visit to Al-Azhar University in Egypt, King Charles lll criticized the publication of Darnish cartoons a year earlier which mocked Prophet Muhammad (SollaLlohu alayhi wasalaam).

He said “the true mark of civilised society is the respect it pays to minorities and to strangers “ he also said “ the recent ghastly strife and anger over the Darnish cartoon shows the danger that cone out of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others.”

bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

*Let’s Islamize Nigeria too!* Ebulition of an Ultra-Conservative ‘Salafist’

(Being a rejoinder to Pastor Femi Emmanuel’s hostile vituperations on alleged islamization of Nigeria)

*BashirArowojobe*

At 36, he has never voted in his entire life nor does he possess a Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) due to doctrinal dichotomy. However, the hullabaloo of Muslim/Muslim ticket that rended the air recently has provoked his thought.

Despite my unapologetic disgust for man-made democracy, it has become expedient for me to set the record straight and analyze our existential realities as a Nigerian Muslim.

I was fortunate to come across an article by Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni (Chairman, Oyo state Muslim Community) titled: NIGERIA IS ALREADY CHRISTIANISED, LET US ISLAMISE IT A LITTLE. Though I have some dissimilarities with the writer, nevertheless, the piece is one of the best I have seen on this subject matter. In the mean time, my report will center mainly on his submissions.


The Christians in Nigeria  when  they have an agenda to marginalize the Muslims  on a higher pedestal, they start screaming that  the Muslims  want to Islamise Nigeria. Ironically, what  is empirically  provable  is that Nigeria since the colonial  era had been terribly and unabashedly Christianised unapologetically; and if any Muslim  attempts  to point out this marginalisation  and Christianisation,  the propaganda  machinery  of Christendom  is put on the red alert, thus, branding such muslim as a fanatic and an Islamic bigot. This is just pure and inordinate islamophobia at work!

For example, when General  Gowon,  for economic  reasons,  took Nigeria  to OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) on observer status with the hope of becoming  a permanent  member, Christians cried foul that Gowon, their  man, was being  railroaded to an islamisation  agenda of Nigeria  through  the back door. The permanent  status of Nigeria  was scuttled  when  countries  with bigger Christian  population,  who had seen the economic  advantage  of OIC, such as Gabon and Cameroon became  permanent  members; those who love to hate anything  with islamic connotation were shouting indiscriminately all over the place.

When Nigeria ran into economic doldrums during  Babangida's military  interregnum, the government,  a drowning one, toyed with the OIC permanent  membership. Christians demonstrated in many parts of Nigeria  to corroborate their disdain  for the economic cartel. They had no basis for this spiteful demonstration except  the Islamic  appellation. Eventually,it was a Christian  President, Olusegun Obasanjowho was  stampeded by another Christian Finance Minister, OkonjoEweala for Nigeria  to benefit  from  the interest-free Sukuk of the Islamic Development  Bank.

Ultimately, Islamic Bank  was introduced  in Nigeria with Jaiz Bank  being the pioneer. 
Interestingly, most of the customers  ofJaiz Bank are Ibos who are interested  more in the elevation of their business and economic status  than any primordial  religious sentiments. 

SUKUK Islamic  loan had been used  to construct  roads across  the country  being traversed by both Muslims  and Christians. So, what did the Christians lose by our membership   of OIC and establishment  of Islamic Banks? Conversely, they have gained a lot and their unmasqueraded animosity for anything  Islam  would  not make them acknowledge  it.

Young men now are oblivious of periods in our nation  when Islamic  festivals  were not granted  holidays in Nigeria .The colonial  carry over are legion.
Our school calendar are tailored towards christian festivals  to allow our christian overlords  have plenty  of time to celebrate  their festivals.
 
We have Easter break not less than two weeks.  We have christmas  break  not less than three weeks. This allows the christian children socialize and enjoy family affinity with their families, a privilege unavailable  to their  muslim  counterparts. 

Most muslim children  cannot travel home to celebrate  with their parents  because  only two days are magnanimously allocated by the Federal  Government  for the Muslim  Festivals  of EidulFitri and EidulAdha.
*HAVE MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF THIS, SCREAMED CHRISTIANISATION?*

Every Sunday since the colonial era, all Government establishments  used to close  to allow christians  go with their families to church. In 1972 during  Gowon  era, the Seventh  Day Adventists  who were, and still in microscopic  minority  persuaded General  Gowon  to allow them a free Saturday  so that they can have a whole day to go to church  with their families. Muslims didn't demonstrate against  this or accuse Yakubu  Gowon of christianising Nigeria

We Muslims have been made second class citizens in a country in which we have numerical superiority. Yet some  bloody, shameless and ungodly  Christian leaders would  go abroad  to vomit gibberish  that Christianity, through  government  officialdom, is on the path of  being completely  annihilated in Nigeria. 

All the nomenclature or our academic identification in Nigeria is borrowed from the church;
CHANCELLOR, PRO CHANCELLOR, RECTOR, AND PROVOSTS ARE  ALL FROM CHRISTIAN  Lexicon. Woe betide a university that names his vice chancellor *MUDIR* (Arabic word for Director/Proprietor/Head of an Organization). There would be outcry of  Islamisation  from our traditional traducers  who love to antagonize anything Islam.

When lecturers spend seven years of uninterrupted lecturing, they don't  go on jumat leave; they proceed on Sabbatical  leave  coined after  Christian sabbath  day.

The academic  gown forced on graduands in our tertiary  institutions is styled after the chorister uniform  of  christendom  and only some rebellious Muslims  reject it on the day of graduation and wear traditional  outfits and they look like outcasts. Ditto for the lawyer and judges official uniform . It took the sacrifice  of a courageous Amasa Firdaous,  who refused  to remove  her  Hijab at the law school  and lost  one year of graduation,  before our women  are allowed  to wear Hijab with their  Christian  oriented  law uniform  at our law schools.

What of the symbol  of our hospitals?  Is it not the Christian cross and the red crosswhich is the blood of Jesus allegedly shed at calvary?

Is  Nigeria  not already terribly Christianised?
It took decades of persuasion, demonstrations and at the end of the day court cases that went to a sweet victory  at the supreme Court  before our Muslim  students are allowed  to put on  their Hijab. 

Whatever is Islamic, no matter how great and fantastic it may be, Nigerian  Christians  must shoot it down  through  the realm of well orchestrated unintelligible antagonism.

CHRISTIAN  HYPOCRISY  ON THE SO CALLED  MUSLIM/MUSLIM  TICKET 

The christians know that at best *Tinubu* is a nonchalant  muslim who has no pedigree  of  antagonizing christianity. 

Most unfortunately, some of his pro-christian  antecedents  smacks of being stampeded  to aid christianity at the inglorious  expense  of Islam.

He danced to the tune of christians  by returning  back schools  taken away  from them by a christian  Head of State, *Obasanjo*,  in 1975 after they were adequately  compensated.

Can you point to a prominent  christian  in Nigeria  who would  marry  a muslim  woman  and be magnanimous enough  to allow  her practise  her religion.? 

Tinubu not only allowed the wife to practice  christianity, he  was part of those  who witnessed  her investiture as a pastor  of Redeem church. Today, Redeem  Church  is the most   vociferous  in making sure that Tinubu's  ambition  to become  the President  of Nigeria  is truncated irrespective  of his wife's loyalty to christendom.

*HOW CAN SOMEONE  WHO CANNOT  ISLAMISE HIS WIFE , ISLAMISE  THE WHOLE OF NIGERIA?*

The Christians are experts when  it comes to exploring  propaganda  to achieve  an aim or shout the muslims  to a position  of surrender.

Most of the hysteria against  Muslim/Muslim ticket  is from  Yorubaland.  Yet in Ekiti and Ondo state with though minority  muslim  population  but substantial  enough to be given recognition, it is always  a Christian/ Christian  ticket and the muslims have always  maintained  a peace driven taciturnity. 

In Benue and Plateau, it is always a Christian/ Christian  ticket without  qualms  or feeling of guilt.

The new Governor  in waiting  in Osun,  Ademola  Adeleke  went to the archives for his Muslim  name-Nurudeen  and even used it to coin his political  slogan  "Imole" which  is NUR in Arabic. This was to bamboozle  the Muslims  who are in numerical  superiority  in Osun  state in general  and Ede, his home town  in particular. But the next day after he won the election, his first port of call was the church.  Certainly, and  I say without  any  fear  of  being  contradicted  that *the Christians  are suffering  from  collective  amnesia.*

  When Yakubu Gowon  was in power,  the naval chief, a christian Vice Admiral Joseph Akinwale Wey was  the number  two in that Government. Later, chief  Obafemi  Awolowo was released  from  prison  and made the vice chairman  of the Federal  Executive  Council. He was also a Christian.  No Muslim  cried foul!

*ISLAMISATION  NOW!*

It is time we abandon Saturday and Sunday as our free days of the week. If adopting Friday and Saturday which actually was the biblical day recommended for resting which Christians have practically abandoned for Sunday to be in absolute conformity with the roman worship  of the sun god  through  Emperor Caesar's imposition; let the Islamisation  commences tomorrow.

If the president  who looks  tired and would have wished tomorrow  is 29th of May 2023 does not have the courage  to do it, then,let Muslim  States in the North  like Jigawa, kano, Bauchi and Borno to mention but  a few go ahead  and give us free Friday to go for jumah  with  our family  as christians do on Saturdays and Sundays. 
Let us  scrap  all christian  vestiges in our national  life which  christians take for granted.

Muslims  should  no longer  be second  class citizens  in this country. Our school  holidays  should no longer be Easter  break or Christmas  break or we choose Eid el Fitri break and EidelAdha break as well. What is sauce for  the goose is sauce for the gander.

Our sea port that is always closed  only on Christmas day should also be çlosed on Eid el kabir days for equity.

Cross should  be removed  as symbol  of health  from  our hospitals.  Let it be replaced  with  crescent. Let us get neutral  appellations  for the heads of our tertiary  institutions  or *change VC to Mudir.*

There should   be nothing  like Sabbatical  leave.  It could be changed to research  or working leave.
The so called  *common law is christian  law* and that is within its legislative  confine. Polygamy is an anathema in our  so called  common  law, that is in all intense and purposes Christian.

Lord Campbell, a British  jurist attested to this truism  when she said common law is mostly  christian  biblical  laws.

So, we should  have  Shariah  Supreme  Court  where  Allah's  divine law would  be adjudicated at the highest  level.

*Let the Islamisation  be done with those at the corridors  of  power  closing their ears to the cacophonic  shouting  of those who think  muslims should  play the second fiddle in a country  in which  we have an overwhelming  and incontrovertible  majority.*

Bashir, an educator and serial entrepreneur writes in from Ibadan, he can be reached through; bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

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لحظات مع الشيخ بكر أبو زيد


قال الشيخ بكر أبو زيد في كتابه "حلية طالب العلم"

احذر التصدر قبل التأهل، فهو آفة في العلم والعمل.

فقد قيل؛ من تصدر قبل أوانه، فقد تصدى لهوانه.

Reflections with Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

By: Bashir Arowojobe

Shaykh said in his book "Hilyatu Taalib al-ilm"

Beware of becoming manifest before becoming qualified,
[b]
(meaning: beware of showing up as a learned fellow in the field of Islamic scholarship when you are yet to be competent and qualified) [/b]doing so is a scourge to knowledge and actions. It has been said; Whoever showed up before his time, has addressed his humiliation. ''

NB: Islamic field of knowledge is beyond motivational speeches and current affairs

What is the problem with Muslim Youths?

Demistifying 5 biggest issues affecting the Muslim Youths in South West Nigeria

One of the most underestimated impacts of Islamophobia is the effect it is having on Muslim youths who are experiencing multiple attacks against their faith, Bashir Arowojobe, the head of exam board at Darul-Hadeeth Institute of Arabic and Islamic studies, Gbagi, Ibadan, and sole founder of iSTUDYISLAM, has identified 5 of the crises affecting Muslim Youths in South West Nigeria

1. Low self-esteem

What is low self-esteem?

Low self-esteem is when someone lacks confidence about who they are and what they do.

I have identified three causes of this problem.

*i. Lack of adequate knowledge about Islam*

Growing up, I observed my school classroom arrangement and our class settings in Madrasa (Islamic theological school) while the former was more sophisticated and appealing to me, the later was like a scavengers' rendezvous, I later discovered that my teacher in school was capable and skilled about his subject and chosen career, but my 'Alfa' competencies as long as Islamic field of study is concern was equivalent to primary six certificate or at best SSCE, while the pcase is changing, majority of the traditional madaaris remain the same (though Islamic scholarship and erudition can be attained through informal training).

I noticed that while my teacher was well-paid (averagely) my Mallam had *NO* salary save for occasional giveaways during Naming ceremonies, weddings, Ramadan, etc.

While I was mostly enthusiastic to meet and learn from my teacher at school, I use to pray for heavy rainfall or disaster that will make me skip my presence in Madrasa in view of the hostility and anger my Mallam will throw at us.

My teacher enlightened me about my environment : socially, politically, economically, scientifically, and so on, while my Alfa only taught me how to join Arabic alphabets together and nothing more; or tell us baseless stories and irrational claims to justify why we are lucky to be Muslims.

My friends, whose parents could afford hiring a Mallam to teach them privately, told me how curious they were, when they found out that their home-lesson teachers were paid triple or more compared to what the Mallam was offered as salary.

As time passes by, most of my colleagues with this 'Islamic' training patterns had *apostasized*. They believe Islam does not possess the comprehensive solution to the problems of its adherent as claimed. Others who remain as Muslims are divided into two extremes:

- *Apologist*

Those apologising on behalf of the Noble Prophet Muhammad (sollallahu alayi wasallam) that he did not say sharia (Islamic law) is unchangeable or assume it is ideal in all facets of life, thus, denying the basis and fundamentals of Islamic beliefs.

- *Over-confident' Muslim*

These are the group of people who arrogated for the Prophet what he is not, ascribing to Islam unjustifiable claims and illogical stories all in the name of defending Islam at all cost.

*ii* *Inferiorization of Muslims by Non-Muslims*

I don't have much to say about this, having read an article written by Farooq Kperogi on the *Casual bigotry Against Yoruba Muslims*

In one of the paragraph, he said '' Many Yoruba Muslims are seething with frustration and deep-seated inferiority complex on account of their faith-based systematic exclusion and demonization, but they are grinning and bearing their fate in smoldering silence out of social pressures, out of anxieties about social ostracism '' in another paragraph, he quoted anecdotal encounters of casual bigotry shared by some Yoruba Muslims, he said '' habitually ridiculed for their faith, sneered at for their Muslim sartorial choices, alienated and rhetorically marginalized, and outright denied opportunities by people with whom they share the same ethnicity ''

*iii* *Lack of adequate Role Model*

An ideal role model in political space or corporate strata to offer a reassuring narrative, which the youth can emulate in their faith, work, and family life, is relatively inadequate.

You rather find someone hiding his Islamic identity or someone using his Islamic identity in an unislamic venture to fit in.

And in the instance of the presence of a good role model, the Muslim youth either does not recognize this reality or consciously ignores due to varying reasons.

*To be Continued…* (inshaALlah)

Bashir writes in from Ibadan through: bashirarowojobe@gmail.com

*If this write-up is worth sharing, you can pass it on.*

Land Banking: Why You Should Invest in It

Investing in real estate has long been something for those in high positions (rich), financially sufficient and well-disposed to money, until the market was modified and more real estate investment opportunities opened up to anyone and everyone.
There are many people looking for investment opportunities to invest their money. One of the best investment opportunities in Nigeria with a high return on investment is the real estate sector, because land never depreciates.
In this article, you will discover the many advantages of investing in Land banking

What is Land Banking?

If you are new to the concept of Land Banking, you will have a question. What is that? And then, "Should I invest?"
Land banking is a real estate investment program in which a buyer or an investor purchase an undeveloped land at a reduced price with the intention of holding it for a period of time and selling it in the future for profit if the price rises.
Some land bank investment companies even create a 45% return on investment opportunity. The lowest profit you can earn on your investment is 15%.

5 reasons to invest in Land Banking

#1: Increase in Value
Land banking is a good investment strategy as the value continues to rise - this is true on a global scale. The cost of land acquisition, as mentioned, always increases and almost never decreases.

Land is one of the assets that can appreciate in value over a long period of time, so investing in land with growth potential at or below its current market value maximizes returns for the investor.

#2: Minimum starting capital
Vacant, undeveloped land is generally the least expensive type of property. It is only at the time of expansion and development that property begins to increase in value.

So if you know where to find good real estate deals, all you need is a minimal investment to start and run your business. Land Banking is a type of investment that does not require millions of Naira to start.

#3: Undeveloped land is a good investment
Land is easier to manage than built-up real estate, which needs to be maintained in reasonable conditions: no utilities, no problems with tenants and so on. No solution to problems such as leaking roofs, exploding pipes and hundreds of other building ownership problems.
Free land does not involve any of these things. After the purchase, it stays there and nothing happens. No stress!

#4: Generate significant income before outright sale
[/b]Land can generate income pending future economic development.
Renting is a good example.
Land on rural farmland can provide a lucrative source of income for property investors when urban farmers pay rent for the land to be used for farming (if the land is fertile).

#5:[b] Reduce competition
There is less competition in this real estate investment. Most people (especially those with big investments) focus on shiny and attractive real estate investments, such as: developments, house flipping, multi-units, etc.
One of the main advantages of buying undeveloped land is that there is less competition than you will face.
You can immediately find an area that meets your criteria and you can also negotiate for a better price deal.

#6: land sale subdivision
Another way for investors to make money from their investment in land banks is by dividing up their land for sale. Investors can increase the overall value of the land in their investment by dividing it into smaller lots and selling them individually to buyers.
In many cases, the divided land can be more valuable than the whole. This is because of marketability and because it is easier for a smaller and cheaper lot to find a buyer than for a large lot.
Research has shown that land banking investment is without question one of the best investment opportunity to tap into.
Land banking is an excellent investment, Especially for investors who want to invest, wait and forget.

Bashir Arowojobe
For: Bashir Arowojobe & Co
[Altruist Realtors]
bashirarowojobe@gmail.com
+2349039841233

add me 07065726805

2. Knowledge: For a Muslim entrepreneur to avoid unlawful (haram) transactions, it is important for him/her to acquire the necessary Islamic knowledge pertaining to his chosen field of endeavour. Allah's messenger ( sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "seeking knowledge is compulsory on every believer." (Bayhaqi)

Among the various means of seeking knowledge is asking; if a Muslim does not know the Islamic ruling on a particular trade or transaction, it is his/her duty to ask a qualified Muslim scholar for proper guidance. It is recorded that Umar bn al-khatab said, "No one should trade in our market except the one who has acquired the understanding of the religion.”, related by Tirmidhi. This tradition of Umar portends that a trader without the necessary Islamic knowledge will consume the unlawful (haram) or fall into doubtful matters.


3. Seeking only the lawful (Halal): Seeking lawful sustenance is enjoined by Allah and His Messenger on every Muslim. Allah says "…eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you..." (Q16v114). Similarly, His messenger (sallallahu alayi wasaallam) said, “ Allah is pure, and He will not accept anything except what is pure." Allah has commanded the believers to do what He has commanded His messengers, for He said, “O messenger, eat from the pure foods and do good deeds, and He said O you who believer! Eat from the pure and good food We have given you." Then, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) mentioned a traveller on a long journey, who is dishevelled and dusty, and he stretches forth his hands to the sky, saying O my Lord! O my Lord, while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his cloth is unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, how can he (expect to) be answered?

The companions of Prophet Muhammad too were careful about how they earned their sustenance. Sa'as bn Abi Waqas was once asked, "why is it that your prayers are responded to amongst all of the companions?" So he replied, "I do not raise to my mouth a morsel except that I know where it came from.”

4. Being moderate in the quest for wealth: The ultimate life goal of a Muslim is not just amassing wealth for its sake. Wealth should rather be seen as a means to achieve an end, which is the pleasure of Allah. Allah said, “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.’’(Q51V56)

It is incumbent on a Muslim entrepreneur to restrain himself/herself from environmental influences that place irrational emphasis on materialism and ostentation. Seeking wealth in Islam is seen as a means of perfecting one’s faith so as to earn Allah's pleasure, not a means of oppressing others; for example, giving Zakat, going for Hajj, and building a mosque for the community can only be achieved through wealth acquisition but the wealth must be lawful.

The Messenger of Allah admonishes us to be moderate in seeking our livelihood without consuming what is unlawful (haram) or exploiting others, he said, “O people, fear Allah and act properly and godly in seeking wealth for a soul will not die until it exhausts its sustenance (decreed for it)… Fear Allah and act properly in seeking wealth by taking what is permissible and leaving what is forbidden.”

5. Being truthful and avoiding telling lies: The scarcest virtue in the business circle today is honesty and truthfulness. A Muslim entrepreneur must distinguish himself/herself from others in the market place or his chosen industry. If truthfulness is strictly adhered to, it can serve as a means of calling people to the way of Allah and a unique selling point in the transaction process. For instance, if a trader is known in the market place as a truthful person, he will gain the patronage and referrals of previously satisfied customers who have recommend him to their friends and family, hence a subtle marketing strategy.

Allah’s messenger said, “The seller and the buyer have the right to keep or return goods as long as they have not parted, and if both parties spoke the truth and described the defects and qualities (of the goods) then they would be blessed in their transaction and if they told lies or hid something, then the blessings of their transaction would be lost." (Bukhari)

It can be vividly deduced from the above hadith that one of the means of attaining Allah’s blessings in business or trading activities is by being truthful and open. These are virtues Muslim entrepreneurs should have.