Gumi And His Fatwa opinion By Danlami Baban Takko Kaduna — I would not have bothered to reply Adamu Adamu who wrote under the above topic (Weekly Trust Saturday, September 22, 2007, P61 - 62). If not because he too, like his ilks are either ignorant of what true Islam stands for, or are simply being mischievous because of political or parochial interest. We are not doing this either to defend the president Umar Musa YarAdua or Sheik Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, but our overall concern is the greater interest of Islam of which he Sheik Ahmad Gumi truly represents. Adamu Adamu began his emotional outbursts by informing the world about a meeting held on Tuesday, April 17 2007 between General Muhammadu Buhari (his former boss and candidate), and a group of Ulama which included Sheik Ahmed Lemu, Utaz Musa Muhammed of the National Mosque, Sheik Aminuddeen Abubakar of Daawah and Sheik Dr. Ahmad Gumi. The purpose of the meeting as Adamu Adamu said was, to get undertaking from all the presidential candidates that whoever won, all the others would accept and support him, and none of them would call his supporters out for mass action or anything drastic. There was nothing wrong with this except that it was already clear that they were not acting on their own: and arrangements were being made to rig the election; and the government is not leaving any stone unturned. As a Muslim, it baffles me as to why Adamu Adamu should be unhappy about such an important meeting between brothers, especially on a matter which only demanded an assurance of readiness to maintain the peace by accepting the outcome of an exercise that was not supposed to be a do or die affair. However Adamu Adamu belongs to the Nigerian opposition which believes in winning at all cost, as according to them no result will be accepted unless I am declared the winner! And these are democrats who believe in the tenets of the system, believing however in their myopic thinking, that the masses are always with them. But it should now dawn on the opposition that the masses have become wise and are not willing to follow a man who feels he alone possesses the knowledge and saintly attributes in a country of over 150 million people! After saying some nasty things about Sheik Ahmad Gumi challenging his authority to lead the delegation, which in itself was an insult to the collective intelligence of the Ulamas, Adamu Adamu said the Ulama actually encouraged Buhari to participate in the election. This is doubtful because knowing the antecedents of Buhari and with people like Adamu Adamu surrounding him, and who deliberately absented himself from the meeting in the first place, nobody could have encouraged Buhari to do something outside his bidding. The fact is Buhari participated in the election because of his failure to mobilize the masses for a boycott, and secondly because there was an element of contradictions and indecision on his part, as evident by his earlier declaration not to go to the Tribunal and his decision to go later. Buharis single handedness to do thing his own way encouraged by Adamu Adamus lots of those who see no good in others, except themselves, is responsible for the current bad blood between him and his party the ANPP, and the Nigerian masses in general. Next, Adamu Adamu said, In his interview Gumi reported the Holy prophet (SAW) saying that once a leader is given allegiance by some people, Islam demands that he should be obeyed. And when they asked whether they shouldnt fight oppressors and tyrants, the prophet (SAW) said, no as long as they establish prayer among you This is an authentic hadith and there is no problem with it contrary to what Adamu Adamu would want the world to believe and the government of YarAduwa like previous governments (including Christian led) since independence, have never prevented Nigerian Muslims from performing their prayers either individually or collectively in the mosques. So, contrary to Adamu Adamus wishful thinking, no true and sincere Muslim who follows the authentic Sunnah of the prophet (SAW) will fight this government because of prayer. While Adamu Adamu accused Sheik Ahmad of quoting out of context and of giving a prescription for an entirely different setting, he was not however honest enough to admit that it was he who gave a false commentary of the oration of the first caliph Abubakar Siddiq RA. Adamu Adamu said of Abubakar, On his election, he declared; I have been appointed as ruler over you although I am not the best among you. I have never sought this position no has there ever been a desire in my heart to have this in reference to anyone else. If I do right, you must help and obey; if I go astray, set me a right... Obey me so long as I obey Allah and His messenger. If I disobey them, then you have no obligation to follow me. In citing this declaration by Abubakar (RA), Adamu Adamu should not forget that unlike his Candidate, YarAdua never wanted to be president but was dragged into the race based on his sterling qualities in the midst of nearly 20 candidates in the PDP. Besides, citing this declaration by Abubakar (RA) as Adamu Adamu did was really not a prescription for this setting, because Buhari is challenging YarAdua not for going astray as president (after taking oath just like Abubakar), but Buhari is challenging the method by which YarAduwa came to power. So there is no contradiction between what the prophet (SAW) said (as rightly quoted by Dr Ahmad) and what Abubakar (RA) reiterated. No scholar, whether in the Sihah Sittah or anywhere doubted the authenticity of the hadith which Sheik Ahmad quoted, not even Sheik Nasir al - Din al - Bani, a leading hadith authority of all times, denied the authenticity of the hadith. The accusation by Adamu Adamu that Sheik Ahmad notoriously followed Albani, who according to Adamu passed by all the hadiths on the illegitimacy of tyrannical government in total silence, is not only absurd but a deliberate distortion of history designed to achieve a diabolical aim, Sheik Ahmad has the right to follow the teachings of any scholar of the Sunnah, and it is on record that Al-bani really had problems with the rulers of the Saudi kingdom, not unexpectedly, because of this writings, and one report had it that even before his death he was deported out of the Saudi kingdom. Adamu Adamu failed to give names of past generations of Ulama who hadnt wished to be counted questioning the infallibility of the Sihah Sittah, and their varying fatwa on the intent of the hadith which Dr. Ahmad quoted. The only conclusion we are forced to arrive at is that Adamu Adamu is bereft of knowledge and Sheik Ahmad whom he considers as only a Ramadan preacher in Kaduna, has scored a point over him which in itself was not unexpected, since the two are incomparable both in orientation and Islamic knowledge. Adamu Adamu was an accountant turned journalist, while Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi grew up in an Islamic environment just like the families of revered Sheik Usmanu bin Fodiyo. The similarities between these two great families of Islam was that Sheik Abubakar Mahmud Gumis father was a renowned Islamic scholar of his time, while Sheik Usman Dan Fodiyo was the son of Fodiyo the learned one. No wonder Muhammadu Bello who was the son of Sheik Usman bin Fodiyo and the first Amirul Mumineen of the Sokoto caliphate, excelled in Islamic scholarship, an area which Dr. Ahmad Gumi excelled in the same manner because as one may put it, it runs in their blood! So, it can be rightly said that, Dr. Ahmad did not pick Islamic knowledge from the streets, and certainly his akida is not distorted in either Qom, Basrah or Kufah even though there are good and sound Muslims who truly follow the teachings of the prophet (SAW) in Iraq in particular. Since Dr. Ahmad did not grow up under the environment notorious for rebellion and castigation of early generation of Sahabahs, including denials of the authenticity of two great books of hadith (Buhari and Muslim). His orientation will always be focused on the true Sunnah. Those who sow the seed of discord by rebelling against the authenticity of Buhari and Muslims and even questioned the legitimacy of caliph Abubakar, Umar and Usman have always found one excuse or the other to advance their distorted version of Islam by promoting their different Quranic interpretation, different collections of hadiths and other jurisprudence. For example, the claim by such people that Marwan bin al- Hakam was exiled by the prophet for his anti-Islamic activities is doubtful because during the life time of the prophet (SAW) there was no crime that escaped the sanction of Islam to warrant the criminal from being exiled. Exiled to where? Besides, what was the anti-Islamic activity that Marwan committed which Adamu Adamu found too hard to reveal? We can only take it as being one of those fabricated and distorted version of Islamic history intended to promote the Akida of those rebellious to the true and authentic teaching of the prophet (SAW) as is best exemplified by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr Ahmad Gumi and some sincere and committed Muslim are proud to be associated with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the seat of the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina. Nothing can prevent us from drawing our spiritual and political inspiration from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Muslims are today living in hard times, a moment of trial of their faith when respect for Islamic scholarship is being attacked right from its foundation, by those with distorted faith and having little or no knowledge of Islam. Otherwise, how can an accountant turned journalist condemned and attempt to rubbish great work of a famous scholar like Ibn Taymiyyah who is acknowledged as one of the greatest gift by Allah (SWT) in the area of Islamic scholarship? The fact is whether Adamu Adamu likes it or not, Ibn Taymiyyahs commentary on the hadith by the prophet in which he said, Muslim must discharge their duties to the ruler to the fullest even though he may be a tyrant, is the correct version upon which Dr. Ahmad also relied upon. Adamu Adamu also noted that the prophet (SAW) did not himself compromise with the illegitimate leadership of his time, as such he could not have ordered Muslims to do so as religious duty. Here again, Adamu Adamu is wrong because the illegitimate leadership which the prophet (SAW) did not compromise with was one based and headed by non-Muslims, while the hadith which Sheik Ahmad relied was talking about giving allegiance to a Muslim ruler once he has been given such by some section of the Muslims. How can Adamu Adamu even make a faulty comparison with what happened between Sheik Usman Danfodiyo and Yunfa, and what is happening now between Buhari and YarAduwa? In the first place, Sheik Usman Dan Fodiyo was genuinely fighting to restore the glory of Islam and to establish the true teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Is Buhari fighting in the name of Islam? Let him say so if he is brave enough. Or is he today fighting Ume-Ezeoke (ANPP Chairman) because he Ezeoke is a Christian? Adamu Adamu wanted us to believe that Yunfa whom Dan Fodiyo fought was given the bayah by the people and as such Dan Fodiyo shoud not have fought him. Here again Adamu Adamu is questioning the motives of Usmanu Dan Fodio Jihad (of which he Adamu is not in a position to do so since he is not a scholar), and if Adamu Adamu could dare confront Usman Dan Fodio on the motives of his Jihad, then you could best imagine what the man (Adamu) can say or do to be little scholars like Dr. Ahmad Gumi! For the benefit of those who do not know, Dan-Fodiyo did not give Yunfa allegiance because the later was not a true and sincere Muslim as evident by his attempt to kill Dan Fodiyo and his open declaration of war against Muslims. Adamu Adamu also wanted to draw a comparison between the Wahhabi forces which attacked Mecca, Medina and Ta if in the 1820 and what is happening now between his political candidate, Buhari and YarAdua, and he (Adamu) is trying to make it to appear as if Buhari is also fighting a religious war like Muhammed bin Abdul Wahab. As I have stated earlier, unlike Sheik Ahmad Gumi, who only quoted one hadith to justify his position, Buhari had never been heard quoting a Quaranic verse or a hadith in order to justify his ambition of becoming the president of Nigeria. And Adamu Adamu should know that Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab fought the Hijaz controlled by the Ottoman Empire (including Mecca, Medina and Taif) in order to reform Islam just as Sheik Usman Dan Fodiyo fought Yunfa in order to reform Islam in Hausa land. Therefore if Buharis aim is to reform Islam, then he is welcome as president. For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to make it clear that anyone who follows a person not willing to obey the hadith of the prophet (SAW), is certainly doing so at the risk of losing his faith. And if Buhari and Atiku decide to ignore the Hadith of the prophet (SAW), no sincere Muslim should follow them and whoever does so, does it at the risk of losing his faith. It is therefore highly irresponsible for anybody to question Dr. Gumis comment on this issue, since the lack of faith of anybody who decides not to follow the hadith of the prophet (SAW) is as clear as the light of day. Gumi is not preaching any new religion as Adamu Adamu would want us to believe, but it is their types who believe in Buharism as a political philosophy, which preaches disobedience to the hadith of the prophet, that are now busy trying to adjust the setting of the moon! They cannot succeed as long as the likes of Sheik Ahmad Gumi are alive and preaching the true Akida of Islam. Again, it should be made clear that it is not the number of hadith which you memorized that matters in Islam, what really matter is the faith and sincere commitment you put in following the teaching of such hadith. It does not matter either whether you have known 52 important branches or 100 disciplines in Imal - diyarat before you quote a hadith. Besides, who is that al Hazimi? I am surprised that Adamu Adamu would even mentioned the smattering nature of Sheik Ahmad Gumi as if smattering itself is a curse. Adamu Adamu then went on to described Sheik Ahmad Gumi as a military deserter (although the army headquarters is yet to say so), and Sheik Nasirudden al-Bani as a watch repairer, who jumped into Islamic scholarship overnight. In the case of Sheik Ahmad Gumi, the method through which he left the Army was the same due process through which Buhari followed when he left in 1985. Perhaps the only difference being that in the case of Ahmad Gumi, he voluntarily left in order to pursue Islamic studies (something which Adamu Adamu was not opportune to do), while Buhari was forced to leave because of what his colleagues saw as his high-handedness. If Sheik Nasirudden Albani was a watch repairer before he jumped into Islamic scholarship overnight, all prophets of Allah were mere shepherds before they jumped into prophethoods! And I believe, Adamu Adamu also jumped from accountancy into Journalism overnight! Any attempt to discredit the person of Dr. Sheik Ahmad Gumi will not succeed. Whether Dr. Ahmad accepts ambassadorial appointment or not as is being insinuated by Adamu Adamu, the fact remains that Dr. Ahmad has said the truth. The attempt by Adamu Adamu to incite Christians against the Muslims, using the Ramadan Tafsir of Dr. Ahmad as a reference will also fail, because Christians are wise enough to ignore the warning of someone who believes his candidate (Buhari) is the only Messiah around. The families of the Gumis have a cherished history of Zuhd, running away from the pleasure of life; not to talk of ambassadorial appointment, and have a tolerant nature for all Christians. In the early period of independence, the Sardauna could have appointed the late Sheik Abubakar Gumi (Dr. Ahmads father) as the first Nigerias Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. However, Sheik Abubakar refused the offer. During the last civil war, Sheik Abubakar Gumis house in Kaduna was to became a safe heaven for thousands of Igbo and other Christians who took refuge and were well taken care of. Adamu Adamu is not in a position to apologize to anybody on behalf of Muslims especially to the Christians, since nothing wrong has been done to them by Dr. Ahmad. Of course, when Dr. Ahmad does anything wrong to the Christians, he will duly apologize. In so far as this case is concerned, what he has said was the greatest thing that could happen to Islam as it has uplifted its prestige because it was not intended to provoke any one. Finally, we have accepted Sheik Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi to be our spokesman and we are proud of what he has said, and satisfied with him as our guide. Source: Africa. com
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 20:58:42 +0000
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