Almighty Allah declares in the Holy Qur’an, Suratul-Israa, 17: 105-111 thus, “We sent down the (Qur’an) In Truth, and in Truth Has it descended: and We sent Thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn (sinners). (It is) a Qur’an Which We have divided (Into parts from time to time), In order that thou mightiest Recite it to men At intervals: We have Revealed it by stages. Say: ‘Whether ye believe In it or not, it is true That those who were given Knowledge beforehand, when It is recited to them, Fall down on their faces In humble prostration’. And they say: ‘Glory To our Lord! Truly Has the promise of our Lord Been fulfilled!’ They fall down on their faces In tears, and it increases Their (earnest) humility. Say: ‘Call upon God, or Call upon Raḥman: By whatever name ye call Upon Him, (it is well): For to Him belong The Most Beautiful Names. Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, Nor speak it in a low tone, But seek a middle course Between’. Say: ‘Praise be to God, Who begets no son, And has no partner In (His) dominion: Nor (needs) He any To protect Him from humiliation: Yea, magnify Him For His greatness and glory!’”
From the outset, the spread of knowledge was the foundation for the establishment Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA) on Saturday, January 20, 1996 (Ramadan 1, 1416 A.H.) when we hit the airwaves on the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC II 90.5 FM Stereo).
It began with my presentation of the 15 minutes programme titled ‘At-Tanzil – The Revelation’ from 0610 to 0625 reciting the Glorious Qur’an in Arabic and translation in English for three years on the radio station, for the 30 days of Ramadan fasting and every Friday in other months till 1998 when we completed the Holy Qur’an.
After all, the first five verses of the Holy Qur’an says, Iqraa or ‘Alaq, 96:1-5, “Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name Of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created— Created man out of A (mere) clot Of congealed blood : Proclaim! And thy Lord Is Most Bountiful,— He Who taught (The use of) the Pen,— Taught man that Which he knew not”.
Thus, the Africa Islamic Research Centre (AIRC) was commissioned in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on June 16, 2001 by then Governor Bola Tinubu, with the facilities of IMA Library and Audio-Visual Centre, Multi-purpose Hall, Guest House, Imam’s Lodge, IMA Hospital, IMA Model Nursery/Primary School, IMA Model College, IMA Mosque, and hostels for the students.
Meanwhile, we placed advertisements in the newspapers and the electronic media to organise a four-week programme on the ‘Essence and Essentials of Islam’ between September 23 and October 18, 2002, covering the syllabus of one, Tawhid – oneness of Allah; two, salat – five daily prayers; three, zakat – compulsory charity for the needy; four, sawm – fasting; and five, Hajj – holy pilgrimage.
We had over 50 professionals as participants, including doctors, nurses, teachers and journalists for the programme, from 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. daily.
The resource persons were Barrister Mas’ud Taiwo, Imam Mas’ud Adebayo (of blessed memory) then of Zulikha Abiola Arabic and Islamic Studies Centre and later Chief Imam of Oyo; Alhaji Sulaiman Osho, Secretary-General of IMA and Mass Communications lecturer at the Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta. The others are Imam Sharafadeen Abdul-Kareem of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Alhaji Abdul-Kabir Bakre (of blessed memory), Imam of Seliat Agbaje Mosque, Quarry Road, Abeokuta.
All the lecturers taught in all the five courses during the four-week programme with books and hand-outs to the candidates.
Judge Bola Ajibola, SAN, signed the certificates issued to the participants at the graduation ceremony as the president and founder of IMA.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the 2005 Hajj, where 21 Hajj tickets were given to IMA by individuals, the Ogun State government and the Federal Government, it was too bad that all those who went with the Ogun State government didn’t come with their luggage. More so, they all suffered untold hardship before embarking on the Hajj journey in Abeokuta and Lagos Hajj camp.
On my visitation to the Ogun State Pilgrims Board office at Oke-Ilewo in Abeokuta, I saw many of the pilgrims sleeping in the open and taking showers in the open. It was shoddy arrangements for the pilgrims.
Immediately, I phoned the President of IMA, Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, in Europe about the bad situation of the pilgrims in Ogun State.
He asked me to phone the Secretary to Ogun State Government, Alhaji Sharafadeen Ishola about it, and offer the option to take the pilgrims to the IMA Research Centre where we had the facilities to take care of the pilgrims before moving them to the Lagos Hajj Camp.
Our offer was turned down by the SSG with the excuse that the IMA was a non-governmental organisation, and the pilgrims paid for the services to the Ogun State government.
Yet, the pilgrims further suffered untold hardships at the Hajj camp in Lagos, where they were already spending their Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as governor of Lagos State then, didn’t align with the Federal Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo on Hajj arrangements for the Lagos State pilgrims, by arranging chartered flights for the pilgrims without hitch.
As sympathy for the Ogun State pilgrims, Tinubu visited the Hajj camp and gave $100 each to the Ogun State pilgrims, and asked the Lagos State Airport Hotel to bring food for all the depressed Muslim pilgrims and ate with them.
Watching the action of Tinubu in the media spurred the Ogun State governor, Mr Gbenga Daniel, into action and he eventually evacuated the Ogun State pilgrims through a chartered flight in 2005 Hajj.
Eventually, I recounted the ordeal of the Ogun State Muslim pilgrims in my ‘Muslim Sermon’ column in the Nigerian Tribune under the title, ‘2005 Hajj – Matters Arising (I)’.
Embittered Governor Gbenga Daniel, on the article, reported me to Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, to help intervene in the matter and to help stop me from further writing of the topic because I indicated number one.
However, Judge Ajibola, SAN, who was the head of the Ogun State delegation to the national conference holding then in Abuja, had a meeting with me on the matter and pleaded with me on the article.
My spontaneous response was a cry, telling Judge Ajibola that I had submitted four articles already to Nigerian Tribune on the topic. On my telephoning the Editor of the Nigerian Tribune about it, he said Governor Gbenga Daniel had complained to the Chairman, Mrs H.I.D. Awolowo about it, whereas what I reviewed in the article had already been reported by the newspaper. The rest is history.
May Almighty Allah accept our dawah efforts as acts of ‘ibadah (worship), Ameen.
and then