Coordinator of the Muslims Ummah Foundation (MUF), Ustaz Nurudeen Miftaudeen Adigun Abu Nusoibah, bore his mind in this interview with The DEFENDER on issues bothering on his organization and the Sultan’s leadership of the Nigerian Muslim Community. The MUF leader, who has programmes tailored towards care giving and educating Nigerian youths and women, said it is about the first time in Nigerian history that a Sultan’s charismatic, pragmatic and exemplary leadership would prove blackmailers of Islam and Muslims wrong as, according to him, the image of Muslims is now restored with Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III on the throne. Excerpts:
President Muhammadu Buhari is a good example of what a Muslim in politics should be. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a good example of what a Christian in politics should be. If you look at Mr. Femi Adesina, the spokesman of the President on Media and Publicity, a Christian, you will not need to ask for which other Nigerian is better. That is the kind of word that I want to give to Muslims in politics. This is half a word that should carry more meanings to the wise people who read this.
As Coordinator of MUF, what can you tell us about your organization?
The MUF is acronym for Muslims Ummah Foundation, a registered care giving and education concerned organization. From our logo alone, you will see propagation of peace and unity. To us, MUF means to educate and propagate.
It caters and transforms the lives of the orphans, widows, less privileged and the indigent ones in the community to ensure their needs are met at the appropriate time and are also empowered to setup small-scale things to enable them live well meaning lives.
It is to be noted that the MUF propagates good moral and God-consciousness and educates people and that is the major reason different programmes such as weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual programmes are lined up to educate the young and adult academically, morally and Islamically. They are also taught how to read the Holy Qur’an and how to worship Allah.
What about the periodic programmes lined us to achieve these, could you let us into some of them?
First and foremost, our weekly programmes include Ummuh Forum, organised for women in the community to receive educate and upgrade themselves in knowledge. We also have programme for male and female, young and old whereby they are gathered together every Sunday also for the purposes of knowledge.
Also, the MUF organises public lectures on a monthly basis for the public in order to educate them about public and general issues. MUF as well has a workshop programme that it organises quarterly for students.
When last did you hold any major programme?
That was in February when we organised youth seminar attended by 350 participants from schools across Ogun State which is our state of base. During the seminar, scholars from Ogun and Lagos states were brought to speak to the minds of our youths on how the only great person is one that is not only excellent in the academic but also sound and exemplary in the moral and God-consciousness.
This is one great thing that we also see in the Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN)’s intention for establishing the Crescent University, Abeokuta (CUAB) where he insists on producing Nigerian leaders of tomorrow who are not brilliant beasts but largely excellent in the academic, moral and God-consciousness.
And I must thank The DEFENDER so well for your coverage of the February youth event, which has really catapulted us to places where our legs have never touched. I think the media is very important in every good thing that anybody or organisation does, which it intends should be to the benefits of the generality of the people. If you are doing such great job and there is no media to carry message to those people in their different places, how would they get your message? Even the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad peace be upon him was a publisher and great journalist because he not only caused messages to be spread across Mecca, Medinah, Abasha, Taif and the rest of the places but also, when he gave his last sermon on his last pilgrimage he instructed that messages of Islam be taken to the four corners of the world. That in itself is media.
So, we appreciate The DEFENDER, we will solicit the support of other media organisations to also be in partnership with us so that what we will get to the people for whom we are doing it and for the sake of Allah. And our sponsors will also know that we are not fake.
We are also planning another seminar for women and that is going to come in April. That one too we want the media to support us especially we have succeeded in securing the consent of an Editor and Chairman, Nigerian Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State Branch, Hajjiah Sekinah Lawal, who will be coming to talk to Nigerian women on ‘woman and the media’ and other relevant issues like that. We have other scholars that will also be coming to speak.
The foundation holds a conference for the youth in the month of May to educate them properly and give them the morals.
During the period of Ramadan we organise lectures and also run a programme where we feed fasting Muslims. And in the time of Eid-ul-Kabir which is the Muslim festival when ram is slaughtered, we slaughter ram and cows and we call this Meat Distribution programme at Sallah whereby we slaughter the animal and distribute their meat to people who cannot afford to slaughter ram during the festival so as to enable them celebrate and make their family happy at the festival.
How do you get your funding to do all these great things?
Islam has spelled out the categories of human beings; category of the rich, the not too rich and the poorest of the poor. Now, there are some people who are rich but may not know how to reach out to those that actually have rights to sakat or sadaqat portion of their wealth. There are rich people who at Sallah want to make people happy but don’t know who among the Muslims actually are in need. Some of these people are the source of our funding. Also we, members of the Foundation, are part of the funding because we have our own jobs like I am a school proprietor and we have others among us who have things that they do from which they also contribute to making people happy at Sallah and in Ramadan. We also do self-tasking to sponsor our other programmes.
Don’t forget that we also give out scholarship to indigent students. All of that we do and we pray to Almighty Allah to enable us do more.
How do you relate with the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in ensuring that the unity of the Ummah the Sultan is known to have achieved is not eroded from your side of the Ummah?
First and foremost, we recognise and accept the leadership of Sultan of Sokoto particularly Alhaji General Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III as the Amir of Muslims in Nigeria. For that reason, in line with the traditions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, we obey and follow his guidance because there is no evidence that he has no capacity to lead us well.
This Sultan, Ahaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, is particularly the first Sultan of Sokoto that has taken peace and unity to all parts of Nigeria and beyond. Remember that he had been chosen to speak on global peace at the Vatican in Rome. He has spoken at the United Nations. He has spoken about national security at military functions in Nigeria and he has so much carried himself greatly in accordance with the dictate of Islam to the extent that not only Muslims but Christians and even Igbo people of South East Nigeria recently eulogised the virtues of the Sultan as a leader that has blended Muslims and Christians in Enugu State and the rest.
So, we respect the Sultan and recognise him as our leader. That is the best way we can relate with him. Very soon we shall make ourselves available to him for him to see what we are doing and will let him know that we are willing to continue to follow for as long as he continues to lead us the way he is doing.
I must tell you one thing, we Muslims in Nigeria used to be blackmailed as the spoilers of Nigerian government and nation. Although I know it was a lie. But with this Sultan on the throne, many good things about Muslims of Nigeria, which you people in the media had covered from public sight, whether any effort is made to cover it or not, the good character and charismatic leadership offered by this Sultan, who along with President Muhammadu Buhari is currently in the range of 16th to the 22nd most influential Muslims in the world, I can say clearly that the image of Muslims is now positively restored. No doubt about that.
Finally, what is your word to other Muslims who probably are in position of authority?
You see, I just spoke about Sultan. He is not a politician but he is a Muslim in position of authority. Yes he was a military General but today he is traditional ruler and religious leader. What many of our Muslim people in Yoruba Land don’t know about monarchy in Northern Nigeria, especially in core North of Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara, Kebbi and so on, is that they hold two offices of traditional and religious leadership and they do it well and greatly. For you to be a Sultan, you must be vast in the religion of Islam and must know the Qur’an very well. That is correct about Sultan and other Emirs in the North.
So, in traditional authorities, I want to tell the Muslim Obas in other parts of the country to look at the good example of Muslim traditional rulers in the North so that their Muslim followers will follow their footsteps. When you say you are Muslim Oba and you are insisting on appointing the Chief Imam yet you are the worshiper of Ogun, Sango and the rest of them, you will definitely have division among your Muslim subjects.
I know a traditional ruler in Ijebu, who is a Christian. He said in a newspaper interview that the law of the country allows everybody to practice his religion without hitches. He said although he is Oba for Christians, Muslims and pagans in town but that he is Christian by personal faith and that he has perfected arrangement that nothing unchristian is done as ritual at his burial if he dies. He said it has been sealed by the law of Ogun State and that it stands.
The Olowu of Owu, Abeokuta we have watched his lifestyle as a Christian Oba. He is doing well without mixing his Christian religion with others yet he does not deprive others from practicing their own religion under his kingship.
How come therefore you cannot stand to your own religious right as a Muslim Oba so that you can have people trust you? That is what separates Obas in Southern Nigeria from the Sultan and Emirs in Northern Nigeria.
What our Muslim clerics in Yoruba Land should have done is ensure that they preach this great message to their own in kingship so that they can make religion pure for Allah by not allowing paganism into their lives in the name of being Yoruba Obas. But instead of doing this, what you see some of our Alfas doing is to go against the leadership of the Sultan especially during Ramadan moonsighting at the beginning and at the end of fasting, under the claim that a traditional ruler cannot decide Islamic guidance. You can’t compare the two sides. Impossible!
We have some Muslim Yoruba Obas trying to make this change happen in their kingdoms and some of them are the Oluwo of Iwo, Osun State, Attah of Ayede Kingdom in Ekiti State and I do know of Agura of Egba Agura and, somebody said something about the Awujale of Ijebu Land but I am not clear about that.
What Muslim like Christian Yoruba Obas should know is that, paganism is a religion just like Christianity and Islam. There is no compulsion by anybody to force his own religious practice of paganism on you just because they are made Oba. Just like Muslim in politics cannot stop certain behaviourS that politicians display, although he has the right to stand by his own Muslim character as politician to distinguish himself from others, Muslim or Christian Oba has the right to stand by his religion although may not stop paganism because the law of Nigeria does not allow him to force his religion on others who don’t believe in his own faith.
What about Muslims in politics?
President Muhammadu Buhari is a good example of what a Muslim in politics should be. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is a good example of what a Christian in politics should be. If you look at Mr. Femi Adesina, the spokesman of the President on Media and Publicity, a Christian, you will not need to ask for which other Nigerian is better. That is the kind of word that I want to give to Muslims in politics. This is half a word that should carry more meanings to the wise people who read this. Thank you.
