Sometime
in 1983, my mother broke the news to me that henceforth, I will be joining my
father to attend Friday prayers at the Bayero University old campus mosque,
where my father regularly prays. It was an excellent news for a little kid. Apart
from attending prayers, it was an opportunity to go out, and as you know, when
you go out with your dad, you get a treat, and I still remember those days with
nostalgia.
On
arrival at the mosque, sitting by the side of my father, we listened to the
sermon delivered by Imam Abbas. But even as a kid, I noticed a man sitting slightly
ahead of the first row, listening attentively to the sermon, you can’t miss his
exceptional devotion from the way he sat. Immediately after the prayers, this
gentleman stood, and after some introduction in Arabic, he started translating
the Khutbah (sermon) in Hausa, our native language. Instead of people leaving
the mosque shortly after the prayers, they started moving forward, those
outside the mosque where trying to find a space inside in order to listen to
the translation of the Khutbah. The man was dressed in a long gown, an ash
coloured jallabiyya, and a cap made from wool, also an ash colour with some
black stripes.
I
asked my father, who is this gentleman?
He said this is Shaykh Aminuddeen Abubakar. He was looking youthful,
most likely in his mid or late thirties at the time. Then comes another good
news. “We will pray Asr, (the late afternoon prayer) in his mosque”, my father
told me. It means we will stay some more hours before returning home. After listening to the translation of the
sermon, we came out of the old campus mosque; there was a convoy of cars, one
of them an SUV with public address system on top. The translation of the sermon
was played, and the convoy started moving, which we also joined, and move
straight to No 483, Sulaiman Crescent in Nassarawa quarters, Kano metropolis.
Again
I asked my father, to tell me more about this place, and he said, this is Da'awah
Group of Nigeria founded by Shaykh Aminuddeen Abubakar. Inside the compound was
a newly built school, a mosque made from wood, painted in blue, but made bright
by the number of fluorescents in and outside. Some feet away from the mosque
was a construction site, which later became the current mosque within the
vicinity of the centre, some classes as well as the office of the Shaykh.
We
prayed Asr in the mosque shortly after Shaykh Aminuddeen arrived from Bayero
University. He attended to a number of students and visitors afterwards before
entering his house briefly, to be ready for the Magrib (night prayer), where he
also deliver different lessons on daily basis in between the Maghrib and Isha
(late night) prayers. After spending the entire evening at the centre, my father
broke another news to me, "a new Islamic school has started here at night, and
you would be enrolled in the night classes", he said. I still remember with ecstasy when
my father took me to Shaykh Muhammad Sanusi Abubakr, the brother and one of the
closest associates of the Shaykh, to interview and register me for the classes.
The
founding of Daawah Group of Nigeria was in my opinion one of the major legacies
left by Shaykh Aminuddeen Abubakr for a number of reasons. First, it was the
first modern religious organization of its type established in Kano, and one of
the first in northern Nigeria with a completely different approach to Islamic
education.
Da'awah
Group was a major religious centre with a global worldview, but rooted within
the local culture. Shaykh Aminuddeen Abubakr has established strong partnership
with international organisations particularly in the Middle East and other
parts of the world. As such, the centre was a major hub for international
visitors from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, United States, United
Kingdom, Morocco, Algeria and different parts of the world.
Whenever
these visitors came, he seized the opportunity either to ask them to deliver
the Friday Khutbah (sermon) or dedicate to them one of the slots during the lessons he
delivers between Maghrib and Ishaa. This culture established by the Shaykh
contributed significantly in creating a worldview among the visitors, which made
them understood global issues, and learn how Muslims live in other parts of the
world, as well as the challenges they were facing.
This
culture provided an opportunity for comparison between various Muslim nations
and what obtains in Nigeria. I can still recall the visit by Shaykh Babandi
Abubakar Gumel in the early 1990s, who took his time to lead a delegation of
Muslim reverts to Nigeria, and they camped at the Daawah Mosque sharing their
experiences on how they came in contact with Islam, and why they devote their
time to the propagation of Islam.
Secondly,
Daawah Group was unique because of the chain of schools established by Dr
Aminuddeen Abubakar. The schools include a modern primary school which combines
both Islamic and Western education. In the evening there was a school for
married women which I shall elaborate on later. The school for women runs
simultaneously with a section for children learning the memorization of the
Glorious Qur’an. The children school was a perfect fit, because the women do
not have to worry about their children, as the section takes care of the kids,
with an added value, which is learning the Qur’an. At night there was the
school for children which runs for four nights at the time, and the remaining
three nights dedicated to male adults. These chain of schools completely revolutionized
the running of Islamic schools in Kano, a feat that continue to be replicated
to date in Kano and other parts of Nigeria.
Thirdly,
Da'awah Group was unique with the daily lessons between Magrib and Isha
delivered by Dr Aminuddeen. This contribution was unique because he brought for
the first time a different methodology of teaching which was different from the
traditional system of Makarantun Zaure. Under makarantun Zaure, as I witnessed
with my late grandfather, Malam Yusuf Abdurra’uf, a group of students will
visit the scholar, each of them with his book(s), usually, Taalimul Muta'allim,
Al Akhdari, Al-Izziyya, Arrisala and Mukhtsar Khalil. There were other books like Aajurumiyya, Muwatta Malik and Tafsir Al
Jalaalain, as well as the Sihah Assitta for more advanced students. This system
treat each student according to his learning ability. The scholar listens to
each student while reading from the text, and then translates and provide
interpretation in Hausa.
It
was a unique system that has value till date, because apart from the textual
lessons, the students learn from the character of the scholar, listening to
more advanced students and becoming more familiar with advanced texts before
reaching that level. The student also has a more learned authority to make
reference to whenever the need arises. It is a system that the Muslim community
should pay significant attention to its revival, especially in this age when
people accord to themselves the status of scholars without going through
tarbiyya that is associated with learning from pious scholars.
What
Dr Aminuddeen Abubakar did was to add a spice to the traditional system of
makarantun zaure by encouraging the learning of Arabic as a language, at least
ensuring that students have an excellent reading and writing proficiency. Then he
transformed the Da'awah mosque to provide multipurpose function by serving as a
mosque and library.
The
first thing a visitor will notice in the 1980s and 1990s when he enters the
mosque, which differentiates it from many mosques, was that it was covered by
bookshelves. The bookshelves contain abundant copies of books from the Sihah
al-Sitta (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhy, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja, Nasaa’iyy, and Sunan
Ahmad), Riyad Assalihin, Kitaab Al Kabaa’ir, Fath Al Majid, Bulugh Al-Maram and
several books of Tasfsir (Quranic exegesis) and Dhikr (remembrance of Allah).
He
ensured that enough copies were made available. Between Maghrib and Isha he
teaches one book only from the collection stated, and each student attending
the lesson has a copy available for use. A student does not have to worry about
purchasing a copy, especially those who cannot afford to do so. For those with
strong thirst for knowledge, they can utilize the time after prayers to revise
the lessons and even read from other books. At any time, the mosque was a
reference point.
This system that he established contributed greatly in producing a
lot of youths with a sound understanding of Islam, some of whom later developed
to study in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria and others in
universities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan and Niger among others. In
those days, we have witnessed people who embraced Islam in Daawah Group, or
came to the centre with a very weak foundation, yet develop sound understanding
of Arabic and other religious texts, which enables them secure admission into
secondary and post-secondary institutions in Nigeria and abroad in order to
advance their studies.
To
be continued insha Allah.
03:22
am
24/10/1436
09/08/2015
