Suspension of Imam Khalid; Goodluck Must Be Laughing... By Ahmed Kabir

 

Imam Muhammed Nuru Khalid

"Take it or leave it, the Dansadau committee decision, going by the public opprobrium it has drawn, fell face down."

Imam Muhammed Nuru Khalid, the suspended Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque,  Abuja, is no stranger to controversy. But more importantly, he is a fearless Islamic scholar that tells truth to power. He holds no one prisoner. 

In another term, you can say he is not of the class today known as "alert Imams or alert Islamic clerics.

Apo Legislative quarter was built by General Sani Abacha, but sold to politicians by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. 

But for Obasanjo, Senator Saidu Dansadau from Zamfara State would not have remain a tenant as not a sitting Senator, talk less of heading the Mosque Committee to have the power to suspend the Imam.

While his committee swims in the euphoria of its unpopular act, Apo larger Community may also utilize the bigger hammer on the committee.

Take it or leave it, the Dansadau committee decision, going by the public opprobrium it has drawn, fell face down. 

In some quarters today in Nigeria, some people ironically or wrongly believed that northerners, nay Muslims "lie" behind the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and support all he does rightly or wrongly. Their perception is that the North or Muslims practice the "namu namu" creed. 

But with the likes of Senator Dansadau and his ilks, do you blame those who erroneously hold on to that belief. But Imam Khalid has also deflated that over bloated lie.

There are many Northerners nay Muslims who are rabid critics of Buhari, especially with regards to the INSECURITY that daily snuff lives out of innocent Nigerians. Many from the backyard of the President. 

Imam Khalid has not said anything new. He has been consistent in his call for security of lives and property across the nation. 

Unlike some Islamic clerics who dine, wine and collect money from people in power, keep mum about the plight of the commoners, Imam Khalid speaks truth to power.

His call for the President to visit the victims of the latest terrorist attacks in Kaduna as against just mere verbal condemnation is not new. As far back as early 2016, he said he was ready to face the consequences of his call on government to halt the spate kidnappings for ransom, killings and banditry. 

He said as a father, he can't keep mum in the face of children being kidnapped and women raped at will. His conscience won't allow him he said.

Senator Dansadau in varied interviews in defense of his committee's now unpopular decision, said the Imam is delving into politics. He said the committee had told the Imam what to deliver his Friday sermon on.

You see the irony. The Mosque is not just a worship centre, it is a classroom, it is counciling Avenue, it is a court, it is a social centre, it is so many things rolled into one with Qur'an and Hadiths as the constitution. Infact, the agreements of clerics are also unofficial bylaws that aid the unity, security and harmony of the Umahi.

Since when do Mosque Committees dictate to Imams what their Friday Sermons should be on. Sadly, if Imam Khalid had ask for prayers for President Buhari or any politician who had come to worship in that Mosque, the Dansadau Committee would not have seen that as politics.

That is what Imam Khalid has been judiciously carrying out. That is what Senator Dansadau and his ilks don't like. Never mind that under President Goodluck Jonathan, Dansadau went as far as calling press conference on the insecurity then. What has changed?

Lest we forget, many who are today justifying and opposing clerics speaking against the scotch earth insecurity in the land, in the days gone by under Goodluck Jonathan, were same people who called the President then unprintable names. They advocated for Imams to lead and recite alqunut. What has changed.

Today, those who mobilize and randomly called Jonathan ineptitude and told the whole world it was their responsibility to echo and even tell lies on what we face then, are today feeling the pinch of worse insecurity and expect people to keep mute. Some of them then in opposition, but today in power.

I sat back and reflected on the happenings now in and around us. With this suspension of Imam Khalid, which I am also sure the presidency may not have anything to do with or even supports, Goodluck Jonathan must be laughing. 

Like Shakespeare says, he who steeps his safety in blood, would have but a bloody safety. 

May truth always prevail and trump lies. Suspended Imam Khalid adds to his credibility, advocacy and popularity. 

He is not suspended because he spoke the truth. He is suspended because he spoke the truth in the interest of the poor, against the rich and powerful. 

That stands him out. That makes him a true Islamic cleric. That makes him first and foremost human. 

Remember, in those terrorists attacks, humans; muslims, Christians, atheists lost their lives, others injured. Imam Khalid spoke for all. Not just for one.

May we have the last laugh.