Shariah Council appoints Bashir Aliyu Umar as new president

The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has appointed its Vice President, Sheikh Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar, as the new President of the Council following the death of its former leader, Sheikh Abdul Rasheed Hadiyatullah.

The announcement was made in a statement released by the Council’s Secretary General, Malam Nafiu Baba Ahmed, who described Sheikh Hadiyatullah’s passing on Monday as a profound loss to the Council and the broader Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and beyond.

Offering prayers for the late cleric, the Council noted that Dr Bashir’s appointment was made in line with the organisation’s constitution and established procedures.

“The Vice President, Sheikh Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar, OON, has been unanimously confirmed as the new President of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria,” the statement read. “We express our full confidence in Sheikh Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar’s leadership, scholarship, and unwavering commitment to the ideals of Shari’ah and justice.”

The Council added that a new Vice President will be announced in due course and called for continued prayers and support from the Muslim community as it pursues its mission to uphold Islamic principles across the country.

Dr Bashir is widely respected in the fields of Islamic studies and Islamic finance. He holds a Ph.D. in Hadith and Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Madinah and has served on several key national and international Shari’ah and Islamic banking committees, including the Shari’ah Advisory Committee of Stanbic IBTC Bank and the Council of Experts on Islamic Banking under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

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