By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Each of the 15 years on the throne of Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, and son of 17th Sultan, Sir Siddiq Abubakar (1903-1988), GCON, GBE, who ruled for 50 years precisely between June 17, 1938 – November 1, 1988, has come with one improvement after another. By virtue of his position, over half Nigerian population that is of Muslims look to Sokoto for leadership in effort to practice their Allah-chosen religion with right coordination.
Guiding Muslims of this magnitude in a country of many, diverse, vested interest cannot and has not been an easy task. It is the reason, although naturally selected, the person that occupies the throne in that part of Africa must be exceptional: vast in all ramifications. He knows the Qur’an by recitation and meaning, he has requisite requirements for leading the people knowing that every happening affecting his followers is tied to his neck by Allah, and has, to some extent, prevailing knowledge of life.
His Eminence General Dr. Ambassador Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, LLD., is the man. Little wonder the very undeniable difficult terrain of leading Muslims of an heterogeneous society like here has left no room to feel because, the occupier of the office is capable. Some say it is because the leader is a General but the more popular position is that there is more to the successes by this Sultan than said. He is well learned, incontrovertibly civilised and does not lag behind neither suffers from any deficit as far as the Islamic knowledge of leadership is concerned. To help him the more, his military education and training by the Nigerian Army equips him with precise discipline expected of a Muslim leader. It makes the Nigerian Muslim Ummah more a blessed community.
This will convince people in the South, who because of the nature of kingship in their part of the country once expressed the fact of kingship as reason they did not follow Sultan especially in time of new moon sightings of Ramadan and Shawwal. They have gotten to know that unlike in the South, where occultism reigns supreme in the making of a king, in the North, the establishment already provides a system, through which a king naturally emerges. To be vast in Islamic fundamentals and guidance is grundnorm. To such a system, it will be unfair to one’s own soul to dish out a counter that a king cannot be leader of Muslims. That problem was long solved especially with the coming the new Sultan.
And a warning can therefore be sounded that he that has problem with this Sultan has problem with Allah because, a leader cannot be doing what he is doing, giving not only Islamic society of Nigeria glory of being the freest and most revered in terms of everything and most noted for contributing to the security, peace and stability of Nigeria and still be disparaged by anyone without such person or group of persons facing the consequences, naturally. The leadership of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah has its intention to lead by example laid by headquarters of Islamic World in Madinah, where, die to education as per how Muslims should relate with their Lord, their fellow Muslims and non-Muslims, those that gave Prophet Muhammad Al-Amin (The Trustworthy) were non-Muslims. That has replicated in Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar because he is one Sultan that is not only acceptable and respected by Muslims across the regions bit also Christians, who have the true mind Jesus, fall over one another to be counted as men around the Sultan of Sokoto.
For this reason, Muslims anywhere in Nigeria including Sokoto, entire Northern Nigeria and South particularly the Yoruba Land should go and relax with full confidence that with Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, they are in good hand. He once said, “Take my declaration, act on it and leave me to my Lord if I deceive you.” That is vintage “Saadu” like his colleagues in the military fondly call him. I do not talk about those that respect him for being a guru in football field. Jasper could be so dribbling too. But, the retired Major General, Tajudeen Olanrewaju CFR, never told one day he beat the leader of over 100 million Muslims today in the pitch.
You cannot have a man, who excelled in footballing Qur’anic knowledge, sports administration, military diplomacy and above all is a retired General, as your leader of the Ummah and you still believe that the moon he announces for commencing and ending Ramadan fasting is unacceptable to you. For that, you have a case with your Lord.
To the majority of Muslims, who obey and follow his directives in the North and South, this occasion of 1443AH Eid-el-Fitr celebrations provide them with opportunity to be congratulated. Allah bless you all. Yes!
It begins with the mechanism with which he coordinates the conduct of one of Islam’s only act of worship that Allah says belong to only him, Fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan, which, by divine instructions, is heralded by searching and is commenced upon sighting of new moon of the ninth month of Islamic calendar and terminated upon search and sighting of new month of the 10th Islamic month, Shawwal.
The Sultan, by establishment, could not have had a surpass in the provision of leadership of this nature because, to lead the Muslim Ummah in successfully practicing their religion to please Allah requires a figure, whose detribalised spirit cum fairness and essential pragmatism stand on the high side.
Eid-ul-Mubarak! And God bless Nigeria!!!
*Bashir Adefaka is a Prince of Isolo, Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State, and Lagos based Journalist. Reach him via his email: omope72@gmail.com
