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Call to Worship
T
he days of man in this world are definitely numbered. This he is aware but his actions depict otherwise. He sleeps and wakes but fails to see it as the two sides of life – living and dying. From the day the first man came to this world, people have never stopped dying and there is nothing anybody can do about that. The sojourn of man towards his death commences from birth. As he grows older, he gets nearer to his grave. He may not live up to sixty years before he answers death’s summon. It puts all on equal footing. Everything that lives must die. The male and female, the old and the young, believer and the unbeliever, the Muslim and the nonMuslim, the righteous and the unrighteous; the knowledgeable and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the healthy and the sick, the president and the citizen, the oppressor and the oppressed are all equal before death. It was the turn of Alhaj (Dr) Abdul Lateef Adegbite last week to return to the earth – the real interim home of every man. People have not stopped lamenting his death and as usual talking of his great virtues to the extent of their knowledge. Here is a man who lived for what he believed. Here is a man who struggled against his old age to attend to the concern of the Muslim Ummah and the nation in general.
Yaum al-Jumu’ah, Dhul Qaddah 21, 1433AH Friday, October 5, 2012
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
…And He Died THE FACT THAT DEATH
CAN COME AT ANY TIME
- IT DOES NOT MATTER
WHETHER ONE IS FLOWN ABROAD FOR TREATMENT IN THE BEST HOSPITALS -
IS ENOUGH TO PUT EVERY MAN ON CAUTION Here is a man who is consistent in his positions. Here is a man who actually united the youths, the old and the nation. But now when it was time for him to part, no mortal could stop death from its divine action. May Allah have mercy on him and grant him al-jannah firdaws. While it is natural to miss and lament the dead, it is the living that should actually learn and retrace his steps. But we are too arrogant to learn the reality that we shall leave this world one day and account for all our deeds. The fact that death can come at any time - it does not matter whether one is flown abroad for treatment in the best hospitals - is enough to put every man on cau-
tion. Let us remember that we shall all remain standstill on the Judgment Day until we have been questioned on how we have spent our lives, utilized our knowledge, got and spent our wealth. Let us remember, this world is ephemeral. Let us all remember that nothing is as certain as death. We may dwell in this world for years, but death remains inevitable. The poor may not get rich, the oppressed may not get strength, the barren may not give birth, but all shall drink from the cup of death. Let our religious and political leaders always remember that they will die one day. This consciousness is enough to nip corruption in the bud. Let them remember the world of no return. They should know that there is consequence for every action of theirs before Allah on the Great Day of judgment. When a man dies, he will part from his beloved wives, children, family, friends and political associates. He will bid adieu to this world and proceed to that of loneliness in the grave. He will leave all wealth behind for others to inherit. He will travel with his deeds to the grave. Today he eats what he likes but a time is coming when his body will be laid to rest or suffer in the grave. Then, creatures like earthworm, maggots
and the like will feed on him. His body will decay under the earth while his soul is either tortured or made to enjoy. Today man drives his cars to anywhere but that time is coming when he will be carried (or driven) in mat or coffin to his grave. All spending on caskets and the like are nothing bur wastages. Today, man wears all kinds of clothes but that time is coming when he will be wrapped loincloth and buried in the grave. If only man can think of this reality, he will not engage in any evil not to talk of doing it to others. Every man’s death is the greatest and the surest reality in life but he believes more in mirages of life. We must realize that, “The best of the religions is the faith of Ibrahim. The best of the ways is the path of the Prophets. The greatest blindness is going astray after guidance. Dr. Zafaran is the Director, Vanguards Academy
Dr Abdul Lateef Adegbite: Eclipse of the luminous moon
D
eath is, perhaps, the only occurrence whose choice of victim is beyond the notion of prejudice. It does not consider the abundance of wealth, religious relevance, intellectual value and the social status of its victims; neither does it strike down its victim for his lack of wealth or religious devotions. It comes, like an intruder, strikes and throws a supposedly happy community into mourning; leaving grief, tears of sorrow and dashed dreams in its wake. If death were considerate, Dr Abdul Lateef Oladimeji Adegbite wouldn’t have been its right choice at this trying moment of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah. But the occurrence of anyone’s death is a mere phenomenon, which is beyond the decision of even the angel of death. It is indeed by Allah’s decree that any dying soul drops out of the surface of the earth. It is also by His permission that the soul perishes on a certain day, in a particular land and manner. It is therefore unpardonable that anybody should ask “why” with respect to the death of Dr Abdul Adegbite. After all, from Allah we come and to Him is our return. We are thus free from blaming Allah for extinguishing the most luminous of our guiding lamps. We do not question His decision for eclipsing our Deen-adorned beautiful moon; but in pain and faith we endure His decree. For the Muslims, no loss could be more painful than this demise. Dr Adegbite was perhaps the greatest Islamist in the contemporary Nigeria. Though of little skill in the knowledge of Arabic, he ranked above many notable scholars of Islam whose eloquence in Arabic language deceptively dazzled the masses. His rays of light shone beyond the Southwest Nigeria where he was born as he struggled, right from his youth days, to partake in every effort that could make Muslims relevant in the country. Adegbite,
with four other secondary students among his class mates, founded the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria in 1954. Imagine the dream of that secondary school boy, perhaps as a teenager, metamorphosing into a virile ideological Islamic movement today, from which several other movement-oriented groups and leaders have emerged. Imagine our schools without the MSSN. Look in your surrounding and see if that reputable Muslim leader at the helm is not a trained product of this potentially great organization. I have always marveled at Adegite’s sense of mission. I wonder how ecstatic he would feel, during his earthly sojourn, watching MSSN grow into a mother of all Islamic organizations in Nigeria. Of course, the leadership of Islamic Study Group (ISGON) in Lagos; El-Zakzaky’s Islamic movement in the North; Nasfat prayer group across the country; the Muslim Congress in the South-west; Al-Usra Society in Porthacourt; Da’wah Front in Abeokuta; the Companion brothers in Lagos and the Islamic movement in Ilorin were among those trained by MSSN. Ideological diversity is the beauty of all these organizations. Each group is known for its unique methodology and principle of propagating Islam which does not hinder their sense of cooperation, when necessary, in the pursuit of the common good. Today, what makes the Muslim voice heard is the occasional collective agitation of these groups each time the Ummah is challenged. Each stands in defence of Islam and clamours for the Muslim’s right, using the least controversial methodology that is peculiar to it. Dr Adegbite was indeed a bridge builder per excellence. His name was in fact synonymous with reconciliation in all respects. His person filled the spacious gap of occasional misunderstanding between the Muslim youths and their
IF DEATH WERE CONSIDERATE, DR ABDUL LATEEF OLADIMEJI ADEGBITE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ITS RIGHT CHOICE AT THIS TRYING MOMENT OF THE
NIGERIAN MUSLIM UMMAH elders in the South-west; his moderate approach to religious issues, especially of national interest, creates a better understanding between the Muslims and their Christian counterparts; his least resisted methodology grants him the audience and respect of both the radical and moderate Muslims. Even though a devout Muslim, the royal authority of his birth place in Egba land accorded him a place of honour in the palace. As the Seriki of Egba land, he was one of the high chiefs of the Alake. But this honour, unlike others, was not only untainted with paganism; it was equally as prestigious as that of a king. Who does not know that Seriki, as a title, connotes a king in a predominantly Muslim community? The Seriki of Egba land represents the interest of all Egba Muslims in Alake’s palace, which is another kind of bridge-building in an African traditional environment. The Nigerian Supreme council for Islamic Affair, under the Sultan of Sokoto, is of course the official mouth-piece of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah; and few are those who know that, like MSSN, it was another brain child of Dr Abdul Lateef Adegbite. Many Muslims, as well as non Muslims, could only identify him as the secretary General; but Adegbite it
was who conceived the idea and nurtured it administratively. In his capacity as the secretary general, he was not only vocal in protecting the values and ideals of Islam (such as his role during the Sharia saga and the miss world beauty contest), he had also remained the bridge builder between the South west Muslims and their brothers in the North. Gone are the days when the Southern Muslims were always suspicious of their Northern brothers and also when the Northern Muslims would hardly pray behind their brothers from the southwest fondly accused of both moral and religious infidelity. Indeed, Adegbite’s interaction with the northern emirates, in the course of discharging his duty as the secretary general, must have arrested that tension as the Muslim leadership from the north of Nigeria came to realize that Yoruba Muslims are, after all, as loyal to Allah and righteous in their religious commitment as the northern Muslims do claim to be, judging with the character of the secretary general. It is therefore not an over statement to declare that the Nigerian Muslim Ummah is bereaved with this eclipse of the luminous moon? Of course, the South-west Muslims, in particular, are shut out of that illuminating light that had always guided their path in moments of darkness. In that region, Adegbite’s glorious but painful exit marks the commencement of the end of his own generation of reputable Muslim leaders who never betrayed Islam; but – I am afraid - with the blurred vision of the succeeding generation, it may be difficult to replicate that character - of humaneness, integrity, sagacity and unapologetic approach to critical issues – that set Adegbite ahead of his contemporaries. Abu Mazeedatil Khayr Abdur Rauf Bn Sa’eed is the Managing Direcor, De Minaret International, Abuja.