By Aboo Aamir
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Those among our fathers who were mubtadiʿah or not upon the Sunnah don’t we still owe them some gratitude?
Imagine if those babas had not held on to Islam, even in the little way they understood it, many of us might not have been Muslims today.
Pause a minute, if your present parents were Christians what do you think you would most probably be today?
Look at Islam all over Yorubaland today, who were those the Sabab for its spread?
Just know that many of those Babas who called to Islam in the past, as meagre as you may think the call was, some of them would have some reward from our own Islam of today.
The Messenger of Allaah - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam - said:
«من دعا إلى هُدىً، كان له من الأجر مثلُ أجورِ من تبِعه، لا ينقص ذلك من أجورهم شيئًا، ومن دعا إلى ضلالةٍ، كان عليه من الإثم مثلُ آثامِ من تبِعه، لا ينقص ذلك من آثامهم شيئًا»
"Whoever calls to guidance will receive the reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without that detracting from their rewards in the slightest. And whoever calls to misguidance will bear the burden of sin like that of those who follow him, without that detracting from their sins in the slightest." Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2674
Yes some of those Babas did many horrible things in the name of Islam yet some of them did good things, Allaah would reward all of them accordingly, but by and large, that they remained in Islam was a good precursor for whatever 'massive' and 'splendid' things we do in Islam today.
This piece is not aimed at praising certain Muslim individuals of the past who might have some questionable character rather it is aimed at appreciating what they collectively did for Islam in their little way that paved the way for us - their successors.
I grew up in a village in Ondo State in the mid-80s, a village known for its fetish practices and Christian propaganda. My primary and junior secondary schools were completely Christian.
But Allaah used my maternal grandfather to make me love Islam. He would always take me to the masjid - Subh, Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ (he would have been on the farm during Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr). That small gesture from my grandfather planted in me the awareness that I was a Muslim.
Even though I didn't have the opportunity to attend Ile Keu, in my tender age, like several other kids, I could still say that I was a Muslim.
While in the boarding house in Ondo Town, I survived several attempts to convert me to Christianity.
May Allaah also reward some of our seniors from Iwo, Senior Wasiu and Senior Marufu. They were not people of Sunnah, but they played a part in helping me identify with Islam.
In our MSS programs, it was mostly dancing and singing, yet we were happy as we dance to 'Muhammadu l'ẹ́ni tọ̀ Ọlọ́hun rán, aláàánú sì gbogbo agbaye....'
It wasn’t until I came to Osun State that I got a glimpse of people upon the Sunnah.
Yes, we used to appreciate those babas whenever we wanted to call them to the Sunnah.
We would say: “We greet you, our babas, your prayers for us have been answered. You are the ones who used to say: ‘Kí Ọlọhun bawa gbé Sunnah Anabí ga, kí ó bawa wá paná bidʿah àsàetánì adebọrẹ́.’ Baba, we are here now with that very Sunnah.”
So those babas knew Sunnah was the ideal thing to do and that bid'ah was satanic? May Allaah reward the person that first taught our babas that fact. How I wish I could know him by name so that I can make special prayers for him.
Of course, some of those babas were soft towards us, while others were not. But many were simply indifferent.
My own dad and mum were indifferent, but when I embraced the Sunnah, they supported me. My mum came back and died in Islam. All of us the kids are Muslims now, walhamdulillah.
My dad was even the one that held my hand and take me to Bàbà Maye (the current mufassir of Ikire) to register me in the madrasah.
There were many other parents like that.
My dad - rahimahullah - told me the history of Islam in our own family house in Ibadan.
We are from Ilé Alapa-aasha of Ita-biigbo Compound in Bẹẹrẹ, the heartland of Ibadan.
My dad said his own grandfather was the one that accepted Islam from among his siblings, that a brother of that old Papa rather embraced Christianity. They were all living in a very large compound at the time. To avoid mutual misgivings, a partion was built to separate the whole building into two, a Muslim side and a Christian side. Those who chose Islam went with my great grandfather, and they were much in number, and those otherwise went the Christian side. That other side are among the prominent members of that big church at Oke Dada today.
As kids, anytime we came for Ileya, I used to wonder why the partion, and why were the other side of our compound used to be very quiet (since they were not many) and not join us in the celebrations. So later my dad told me the story. That day I felt like meeting my that great grandfather and give him a kiss on his forehead for being a good chooser of faith. May Allaah reunite all of us in Jannah.
Back to the issue at hand, it would be ungrateful to now say that those who taught Tawheed and Sunnah, under the difficult circumstances we all know in Yorubaland, did nothing, or spoilt things for the successive youths.
To say that people like Prof. Alaro and others did nothing for Tawheed and Sunnah in Ilorin and beyond is the height of ingratitude.
As for the exuberant youths, I am a youth myself, such a thought should be discarded.
Yes, Prof. Alaro has his flaws, just like every other scholar. If you cite any of those, correct them in the best of manners. But to say they did nothing, past or present, is egregious foolhardiness.
Allaah the Mighty taught us to say:
وَالَّذِينَ جَاءُوا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَٰنِنَا ٱلَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِٱلْإِيمَٰنِ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ فِى قُلُوبِنَا غِلًّۭا لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ رَءُوفٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
"And those who came after them say: 'Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not place in our hearts any resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful.'" [Surah Al-Hashr 59:10]
Before you came, young brothers, those who were there before you had fought a lot of heresies, and they would continue to.
It is sheer stupidity to say the Da'wah is not strong when callers to it are not incarcerated for one thing or the other.
E má shey pẹlẹ pẹ̀lẹ́ fà.
Read more about the history of Islam in Yorubaland here.
