₦airaland Forum

RuddyFusion:
She died without Jesus...She knows better now

Komolafe89:
Adieu to a Yoruba, Muslim Princess

I will start with a footnote on the billionaire Bishop, David Bello Oyedepo. He was born a Muslim, named Hasan by his father Bello Oyedepo. His mother was a Christian who converted to Islam when she married Bello. Bello had three other wives. After his higher education, Hasan became David. He instantly became a strong, aggressive and successful Christian activist. With his stupendous wealth, he reverted his mother to Christianity; then his father and brothers; then all except his three stepmothers who stuck to their guns and died Muslims. The last of them—Aasiyat— is the subject matter of this piece.

I set out searching for her in late 2013 when I read about how Bishop Oyedepo allegedly prophesized that she will die a miserably poor woman unless she converts to Christianity, like most other members of his family. Muslims on social media were shocked by the Bishop’s utterances.

After reading about her, I set out to meet her in 2013. I visited the headquarters of the Living Faith Church in Iyana Apaja, Lagos. Someone in a nearby mosque told me that the native home of the Oyedepos is in Omuaran, Kwara State. I drove to Ilorin the following morning and arrived Omuaran during Juma’ah congregation. After the prayer, I met the leaders of the mosque, introduced myself and asked about “Bishop Oyedepo’s sister who refused to convert to Christianity.” They became sceptical and started to interrogate me. They even brought a Fulani herder to confirm that I was indeed Fulani.

Finally, I was handed over to one brother, Bello Saad Bamidele, with whom we drove a short distance before arriving at the Oyedepo family house. Behind the front block was a flat in which a woman in her sixties was living. Bello entered and announced our arrival. After she was ready, I was ushered into her parlour. She was shy, full of smiles, but few words. She spoke only Yoruba; so Bello was very handy at the time and on my subsequent visits to her.

I did not want to open fresh wounds especially giving her shy nature; so I avoided asking her about her relationship with David. Instead, we focussed on Islam. I told her that it saddens other Muslims to learn about the pressure on her to convert to Christianity and salute her resolve to remain Muslim. I expressed the solidarity of other Nigerian Muslims with her and recounted the testimony that God gave about her namesake, the wife of Pharaoh, who kept her faith in the face of difficulties and, before God, became a symbol of faith who prayed to Him for a house in Heaven and rescue from Pharaoh and oppression.

Before I left her that afternoon, I asked Aasiyat if she had a request before the Muslim Ummah. She smiled and dropped her head for a while. Finally, when she gathered the courage to open up, she giraffed and whispered into the ear of Bello, who, having heard her request, shouted Allahu akbar! “What did she say,” I enquired, impatiently. He said, “She will love to fulfil her lifetime ambition—a pilgrimage to Mecca.” Look! She did not ask for money. Not a house or anything material. But just a spiritual journey. I told her that it was a modest request and we will pray that God grants it..

Alhamdulillah. He did. By the time the Hajj season commenced in 2014, I got in touch with a great sister, Fatima Afolore Jimoh, the then Secretary of the Pilgrims Board in Ilorin. She assured me of a seat and helped a lot to see that things went well. I linked her up with Bello in Omuaran and all arrangement were completed. The scheme nearly got k-legged when Aasiyat’s sons and other family members discovered she would travel to Mecca. They started agitating against it but we were faster, alhamdulillah. � We quickly ‘abducted’ Aasiyat from Omuaran, shipped her to Ilorin and hid her in a house until her day of departure to the Holy Land. Kudos to Fatima. What a great sister she is!

Aasiyat performed her hajj successfully without any hitch and returned from Mecca a very happy Muslim. She was all smiles when I visited her. She held a ceremony, thanking God for that. The Muslim community of Omuaran continued to support her especially when she fell sick lately. When we spoke las ftt Monday, Saad told me she has recovered from a severe sickness. This morning, he told me that she relapsed and taken to a hospital in Ibadan, where she died last night. The most interesting part was that she was blessed with the Kalimah as her last word. Mashaallah!

And so was the end, here, for her. I salute her resolve to live by her conviction as I saluted the Boko Haram abducted girl—Liya Sharibu—who refused to convert to Islam as demanded by her captors. Aasiyat and the two cowives that died before her chose to remain Muslim. That is the power of conviction. She would have succumbed to the pressure from her two sons—surely the dearest to her heart—both of whom are now pastors, converted to Christianity by Bishop Oyedepo. No. She chose God over man and the Hereafter over the temporary glitters of this world. She died committed to her choice, a symbol of faith and conviction.

Sister Aasiyat Bello Oyedepo, the Princess of Islam, will be buried tomorrow afternoon in her native town of Omuaran. Our sincere condolences go to the Muslim community of Omuaran and Kwara State in general, to all those who anchored her in faith, including Bello and Sister Fatima. Our condolences also to the Oyedepos, including the Bishop David. May he soon revert to Hasan before he leaves the glitters of this world behind. Amin yaa Rabb! � Nothing is beyond Him.

May the Princess of the Faithful, Aasiyat, meet in Heaven the symbols of faith—her namesake and Virgin Mary—where they will together dwell in the gardens and rivers which their Lord promised the righteous:

“Lo! The righteous will dwell among gardens and rivers.
Firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King.” (54:54-55)

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Bauchi
13 December 2020

Scream:
May God deliver the writer from the power of darkness.

cunley:
The poster is not different from Boko Haram.

What has she not converting gat to do with name dragging of another man of another religion?

You are senseless and people like you should never be allowed to preach Islam to people who wants to convert or just converted to islam.

You think your eye service approach added to her been steadfast in Islam?

I stay with muslims and i so much love the religion-Islam because they are loving people,regardless of anything.

You are there highlighting number of people somebody converted as if he forced them.

Komolafe89:
Adieu to a Yoruba, Muslim Princess

I will start with a footnote on the billionaire Bishop, David Bello Oyedepo. He was born a Muslim, named Hasan by his father Bello Oyedepo. His mother was a Christian who converted to Islam when she married Bello. Bello had three other wives. After his higher education, Hasan became David. He instantly became a strong, aggressive and successful Christian activist. With his stupendous wealth, he reverted his mother to Christianity; then his father and brothers; then all except his three stepmothers who stuck to their guns and died Muslims. The last of them—Aasiyat— is the subject matter of this piece.

I set out searching for her in late 2013 when I read about how Bishop Oyedepo allegedly prophesized that she will die a miserably poor woman unless she converts to Christianity, like most other members of his family. Muslims on social media were shocked by the Bishop’s utterances.

After reading about her, I set out to meet her in 2013. I visited the headquarters of the Living Faith Church in Iyana Apaja, Lagos. Someone in a nearby mosque told me that the native home of the Oyedepos is in Omuaran, Kwara State. I drove to Ilorin the following morning and arrived Omuaran during Juma’ah congregation. After the prayer, I met the leaders of the mosque, introduced myself and asked about “Bishop Oyedepo’s sister who refused to convert to Christianity.” They became sceptical and started to interrogate me. They even brought a Fulani herder to confirm that I was indeed Fulani.

Finally, I was handed over to one brother, Bello Saad Bamidele, with whom we drove a short distance before arriving at the Oyedepo family house. Behind the front block was a flat in which a woman in her sixties was living. Bello entered and announced our arrival. After she was ready, I was ushered into her parlour. She was shy, full of smiles, but few words. She spoke only Yoruba; so Bello was very handy at the time and on my subsequent visits to her.

I did not want to open fresh wounds especially giving her shy nature; so I avoided asking her about her relationship with David. Instead, we focussed on Islam. I told her that it saddens other Muslims to learn about the pressure on her to convert to Christianity and salute her resolve to remain Muslim. I expressed the solidarity of other Nigerian Muslims with her and recounted the testimony that God gave about her namesake, the wife of Pharaoh, who kept her faith in the face of difficulties and, before God, became a symbol of faith who prayed to Him for a house in Heaven and rescue from Pharaoh and oppression.

Before I left her that afternoon, I asked Aasiyat if she had a request before the Muslim Ummah. She smiled and dropped her head for a while. Finally, when she gathered the courage to open up, she giraffed and whispered into the ear of Bello, who, having heard her request, shouted Allahu akbar! “What did she say,” I enquired, impatiently. He said, “She will love to fulfil her lifetime ambition—a pilgrimage to Mecca.” Look! She did not ask for money. Not a house or anything material. But just a spiritual journey. I told her that it was a modest request and we will pray that God grants it..

Alhamdulillah. He did. By the time the Hajj season commenced in 2014, I got in touch with a great sister, Fatima Afolore Jimoh, the then Secretary of the Pilgrims Board in Ilorin. She assured me of a seat and helped a lot to see that things went well. I linked her up with Bello in Omuaran and all arrangement were completed. The scheme nearly got k-legged when Aasiyat’s sons and other family members discovered she would travel to Mecca. They started agitating against it but we were faster, alhamdulillah. � We quickly ‘abducted’ Aasiyat from Omuaran, shipped her to Ilorin and hid her in a house until her day of departure to the Holy Land. Kudos to Fatima. What a great sister she is!

Aasiyat performed her hajj successfully without any hitch and returned from Mecca a very happy Muslim. She was all smiles when I visited her. She held a ceremony, thanking God for that. The Muslim community of Omuaran continued to support her especially when she fell sick lately. When we spoke last Monday, Saad told me she has recovered from a severe sickness. This morning, he told me that she relapsed and taken to a hospital in Ibadan, where she died last night. The most interesting part was that she was blessed with the Kalimah as her last word. Mashaallah!

And so was the end, here, for her. I salute her resolve to live by her conviction as I saluted the Boko Haram abducted girl—Liya Sharibu—who refused to convert to Islam as demanded by her captors. Aasiyat and the two cowives that died before her chose to remain Muslim. That is the power of conviction. She would have succumbed to the pressure from her two sons—surely the dearest to her heart—both of whom are now pastors, converted to Christianity by Bishop Oyedepo. No. She chose God over man and the Hereafter over the temporary glitters of this world. She died committed to her choice, a symbol of faith and conviction.

Sister Aasiyat Bello Oyedepo, the Princess of Islam, will be buried tomorrow afternoon in her native town of Omuaran. Our sincere condolences go to the Muslim community of Omuaran and Kwara State in general, to all those who anchored her in faith, including Bello and Sister Fatima. Our condolences also to the Oyedepos, including the Bishop David. May he soon revert to Hasan before he leaves the glitters of this world behind. Amin yaa Rabb! � Nothing is beyond Him.

May the Princess of the Faithful, Aasiyat, meet in Heaven the symbols of faith—her namesake and Virgin Mary—where they will together dwell in the gardens and rivers which their Lord promised the righteous:

“Lo! The righteous will dwell among gardens and rivers.
Firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King.” (54:54-55)

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Bauchi
13 December 2020

We quickly ‘abducted’ Aasiyat from Omuaran, shipped her to Ilorin

Yankee101:
So you're doing it for her just because she's Oyedopo's sister?

Shame on you

Why not help feed or take care of the least among you? Say your neighbour that's going to bed hungry, for example.

sreamsense:
This your testimony get k-leg, perhaps, you have interior motive behind it or not, only God knows. But you need to understand that putting this online will make people view this thing in different perspective. First, you are talking about stepmothers here to Oyedepo; stepmothers are always envy each other; she may choose to remain Muslim because of envy that a son to my other half is successful and try to turn everybody in the family to Christianity so I will never become Christian.

Out of all the family members, how come that is only three step mothers to pastor oyedepo that refused to turn to Christianity and choosed to die as muslim? They may do so out of envy or intrisinc jeleousy and not necessarily because they love Islam. To you now, Aasiyat is in heaven thanking you for not leaving Islam, but what of she is in heaven cursing you for being a stumbling block for her?

Don't you know two might be better than one atimes? For others including her husband and her children to have turned into Christianity, don't you think, they might have seen better than her and even you for not turning back to Islam again ever since their conversion to christianity?

In your submission, you said Oyedepo prophesized that she will die a miserable poor woman. Question is weather she did or not? If she died as miserable poor woman, don't you think God of Oyedepo might be the true God? Don't you also think that Aasiyat might be cursing you and regretting how you misled her? You raised money for her just to go to Mecca, and not because she has her own money, is that not poverty?

You said "Muslim community of Omuaran continued to support her especially when she fell sick lately"; it means she was poor for relying on other people to feed and survive and died due to sickness even when everybody thought she has recovered. Is that not poor miserable death as prophesized? So, what gave you audacity that pastor Oyedepo and other family members that turned to Christianity didn't make better choice than her ?

For what pastor Oyedepo said openly to come to pass means he saw better, clearer and so sure of God that called him into Christianity. So, my brother, only God knows what we don't know, you don't even know whether she prayed and got conviction into Christianity before her last breath. Well, my brother, Aliyu, God will help us all and RIP to her!

sirqeeboi:
Christians saying she died without Jesus (pbuh)..if only u know how we believed in all the prophets and messengers of ALLAH then u know will believe in jesus than u christians.

Where did u Christians put all the remainings prophets and messengers of God. They were all here to deliver the words and messages of God to us including the last prophet and messenger of Allah (pbuh).

Agbegbaorogboye:
Funny enough they have so many poor and deprived women in the north. None will be deemed worthy of Mecca except the one they can use to brag with.
I always feel there's a tinge of innate jealousy among Muslims for Christianity and its many successes.

timibare:
Quran (9:29): “Fight against Christians and Jews until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.” the day I came across this verse I gave up on all Muslims.....how can a holy book have this

Baba40:
Hate speech

somehow:
See foolish people fighting over religion.

Will Oyedepo tell Dangote or any of the rich Muslims they will die poor if they don't convert to Christianity?

Una no dey use una brain when discussing religion.

Respect people's choices as long as it does not infringe on your own rights!

SamNaijaboy:
This is just hilarious.
Is this writer trying to say Christians won't be in heaven while Muslims will?
He wrote " Our condolences also to the Oyedepos, including the Bishop David. May he soon revert to Hasan before he leaves the glitters of this world behind"
He is better served finding his own way to heaven than advocating for a man of God to revert to Islam. Nigeria is full of thieving religious dullards who are more righteous than their actions. Leave others to convert their family members as they will. And leave Yoruba people alone in their fluidity between the religions. They are not fanatic like the Easterner and the Northerners. They see humanity first.

At10tion:
Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me"
She need to accept the Lordship of Jesus into her life for her to make it to heaven hence she's just another toy in the hands of the tormenting demons of hell.

However Bishop Oyedepo should have acted in love.. Love is the fulfillment of all things.. With love He would have easily won her into Christianity. You don't win souls by enforcing salvation on them, they may act up, pretend and not get saved, or they may just hate you and never want to hear or receive what you want to say about it.

With christ love towards them you can always win them over.