JTI@20: “BE STEADFAST!” MUSLIMS URGED IN GUSAU Alif (or Alihi as Sakkwatawa would call it, or Alu as Kanawa would) is ‘A’, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. In actual Arabic writing, whether on paper or slate (allo), Alihi is rendered as ‘I’ – straight, unbending, upright, steadfast. This week in Gusau, capital of Zamfara State where the Jama’atut Tajdid al Islamiy (JTI - The Movement for Islamic Revival), celebrated its twentieth year, Islamic leaders urged Nigerian Muslims to be such steadfast – as in Tsayuwar Alihi Ga Allo – (literally, the ‘Steadfastness’ of Alif as written on a slate). In return, the temporal and spiritual leaders themselves (including the Sultan of Sokoto, the Governor of Sokoto State, the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, a former Governor of Zamfara State and now a Senator, among many) also promised to lead us by ‘Alif Steadfastness’. Gusau has therefore made history as the place where the ‘Aluvian Steadfastness Theory’ was mulled, and espoused. And it so happens that the Sokoto Governor’s nickname is Alu. The JTI is the original Islamic Movement of Nigeria, containing the original Muslim Brothers since its split from the rump Movement which had since become what is today known as Nigeria’s Shi’ite Sect centred in Zaria. The Nigerian Islamic Movement, closely modelled after the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al Muslimun) – albeit at the beginning a tad more radical than the Ikhwan – was the thorn in the flesh of many a Nigerian military and civilian regime from the late 1970s to at least the late 1990s. Populated by mainly tertiary institution students originally radicalised by the successful Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, its leaders came about with the slogan Islam Only to demand that Nigerian Muslims be allowed to govern themselves according to the Islamic Shari’a. By 1994 however, after many of the leaders of the Movement had been in and out of Nigerian prisons dozens of time, a self-assessment began when some leading lights began to question the apparent drift towards Shi’ism as a doctrine, even though the original struggle was more political than sectarian. When a faction of the Brothers took a definite about-turn towards Shi’ism, many leaders insisted that the Movement should, like African and Nigerian Muslims, and like the Ikhwan, redefine itself and remain rooted in the ethos of Ahlus- Sunnah wal Jama’ah, drawing inspiration from the da’awah of Shaykh Uthman Danfodio locally, and Imam al Shahid Hassan al Banna of the Ikhwan globally. At the time of the split, the JTI re- presented its graded objectives to include producing an ideal Muslim individual; producing an ideal Muslim family; producing an ideal Muslim community; the establishment of Islamically-oriented government; restoring the global Islamic Caliphate; and spreading the Islamic message to all the nooks and corners of the world. Those, almost exactly, were also the principles by which the Ikhwan had stood, and still does. This week, therefore, was a milestone in the twenty-year history of the JTI, led by Engineer Shaikh Abubakar Muhammad Mujahid. (Interestingly, in the 1970s and the 1980s, the trend was that many of the Movement’s leaders dropped out of higher institutions, out of disdain for the non- Islamic bent of the system. Luckily, many leaders retraced their steps and they are today professionals and academics. Evidently, Boko Haram has taken a more sinister and dangerous bent). Even though the radicalism of the ‘70s and ‘80s remained – especially in the poetry and takbir of the Movement represented by the JTI, the organisation is now quite mellow and mature, and could these days sit down and dialogue with authority, whereas it was bara’a and hijrah from government and its institutions that defined the Movement; today, JTI has succeeded in its re-integration tactic of “Reform from Within”, as it can now count among its members many high profile office holders, including an Emir and a Deputy Governor, not to talk of Commissioners and Special Advisers. When the Shari’ah was first declared in Zamfara State at the beginning of this Republic, the JTI was among the first to welcome it. In fact, it was the JTI that formed the bulk of the Shari’ah advocacy movements in many states. Subsequent upon the return of Shari’ah in Zamfara, the movement supported Shari’ah- inclined politicians and some of its members joined active politics. Today, the JTI concentrates on spiritual, social and economic developments of society. In several towns, schools were established to provide qualitative education. It also established grains selling and medical centres to provide affordable food and medical services, especially for the poor. It was also successful in reforming members’ perceptions as it transformed itself from a mere mass movement into an organised contemporary Islamic movement, while at the same time playing the important role of bridge-building between Islamic organisations. In Gusau this week, the Anniversary was themed “Musulunci Da Kishin Kasa: Mafita Ga Matsalolin Da Ake Ciki A Najeriya” (Islam and Patriotism: Towards Resolving Challenges Facing NigeriaToday). It was effectively and eloquently addressed by the Guest Speaker, Professor Isa Maishanu of Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto and Northwest University, Kano, who is also an Adviser to the Sultanate Council of Sokoto. In his presentation, Dr. Maishanu averred that “Nigeria’s socio-economic and political challenges, especially confronting Muslims, are all too well-known to be re- enumerated. But suffice it to mention ignorance of the religion itself; selfishness; injustice; fraud; hypocrisy; etc. These attitudes have exposed Muslims to being treated as second-class citizens in their own country, primarily because they have turned away from the core of their religion’s teachings.” Maishanu therefore rhetorically asked: “Are we devoid of any systemic in-built organisation? Do we lack thinkers who can chart ways for us? Is it our selfishness and greed that is causing our weakness? Are we suffering from a lack of accurate forecasting of events? Are we oblivious of what station Allah has promised us Muslims? Indeed, what is wrong with us?” Quoting Imam al Banna on Patriotism, the Guest Speaker said “Islam has made it incumbent upon us to be patriotic towards the nations we happen to be physically domiciled in, and to do our utmost to bring development to these nations. Therefore a Nigerian Muslim, based on this, should be the most patriotic of citizens.” On the way out, the speaker reminded all of Allah’s exhortation to us Muslims; that we should always be on guard – that we should not be so lax and lackadaisical in our affairs; and that we should copy our compatriots where they excel, especially in unity of purpose. In his intervention, the Sultan called on the well-to-do Muslims to use their resources to establish media houses (newspapers, radio, television) so that Islam can be explained to those that do not understand it, and can also be used to further teach Muslims themselves what they need to know about the religion. Such media, the Sultan said, can help us define Islam the way it is, not the way it is being misrepresented by those who claim they are working for it. He noted with dismay that, so far, Sunnah TV is the only Muslim medium on the Nigerian airwaves, compared to the dozens our fellow citizens can boast of. And on learning that the JTI’s own newspaper, At Tajdid, which had been quite popular, had since died, the Sultan, supported by the High Tablers, promised to revive it, and invited the JTI to Sokoto for its 21st Annual Convention in 2015. Therefore, BE STEADFAST defined the ‘Aluvian Steadfastness Theory’ of Sokoto Governor Alu and other leaders. May we be as steadfast as our members at the just-concluded National Conference, and the leaders of Chibok Community who resisted midnight Presidential largesse- sharing. May Allah make us STEADFAST in our journey through His trial, as we continue to invoke HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal Wakeel!
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 10:18:58 +0000
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