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Urhobo Historical Society |
Between Sanusi Lamido Sanusi And Ja'far Mahmud Adam
:
A Commentary on Fatimah Sulaiman's Response
By Muhammad Shakir
The moment I saw the title of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's latest article at
the gamji website I knew what to expect. By the time I came to the last
word I said "Ah! Sanusi Lamido has stirred the hornet's nest again and
he should get ready for for the stings." This morning I logged on and
saw Fatimah Sulaiman's response. The first sting! It didn't fail my
expectation. Sanusi had taken a popular and revered Islamic
preacher head-on and must be put in his place. Fatimah, as a
devout student of the mallam, took Sanusi to the cleaners as she
praised her mentor.
My aim in this article is to give my own analysis of Sanusi's position,
take up some of the issues raised by Fatimah and make a conclusion.
If indeed I understood Sanusi properly and got the drift of Fatimah’s
response I have to say that she didn’t address the central issue
contained in the article even though she raised important fresh issues.
Sanusi’s main task was to "deconstruct the origins of his perverted (i.
e. Ja'far's ) morally empty conception of what is a true sense of
Muslim of Fulani identity". That is, he meant to employ the
post-modern critical tool called deconstructionism to expose the fallacy
of Ja'far's position. What position? The position of "those who
feel the need to build up identities out of biological accidents,
fate, providence or serendipity and attach moral worth to
ambivalent facts". Sanusi also set out to assert that "we do not
subscribe to an identity divorced of moral content". Her saying
that "calling on the Sheikh's background to discredit him has proven
that Sanusi is an illiterate in Islamic History" suggests that she
was being simplistic or didn't know what Sanusi was talking about. I
think what is more obvious is that he was offering a perspective on
contextualizing some of the things a person says given their
background. We all walk around with our prejudices, pains and
fears and they all inevitably colour our understanding of the world no
matter what name we eventually give to the system we have have built it
upon. Our duty is to recognize them and be on our guard. No two students
of Islam even though they read exactly the same texts will have the same
outlook, the subjective and experiential component always comes to the
surface. Check out the differences between Abubakar Gumi and his
students Lawal Abubakar and Sunusi Gumbi even on some rather fundamental
issues. We all know that no thought system or philosophy, no
matter how rational or objective it appears, can be totally
divorced from the subjective experiences or events in the formative
years of the life of its proponent. Put another way, one's
outlook on life, regardless of which group-label one bears,
is subconsciously influenced by so many subliminal factors not least
significant events in one's psychological biography. This means
that we would be making a big mistake to think that an Islamic scholar's
opinions and judgements derive only from the sacred texts – Qur'an and
sunnah. What we must hasten to add is that this is in no way to
cast aspersions on the person of the scholar or doubt their
sincerity. It's quite obvious that the extreme tenor of the matyr
Sayyid Qutb's Fi Zilaalil Qur'an and the
Milestones stems from the treachery and cruelty he and others
suffered in the hands of the godless and tyrannical Egyptian
authorities. That's why some of his most articulate critics can be
found in the ranks of The Brotherhood. They drank from the same
source afterall. , why the sharp difference? We cannot simply say he had
more iman, knowledge or intellect than they. We couldn’t
know the former anyway. Just look at how easy it is for a scholar
in the US or even Nigeria, in their relative comfort, to
denounce 'suicide bombers' in Palestine (of course backed by Islamic
texts) and the scholar who witnesses the daily realities of existence in
that most troubled place (who also justifies his support for the method
by invoking Qur'an and Sunnah). Many observers are convinced that
the agnostic temper of Darwin's philosophy is directly attributable to
the pathetic death of his beloved daughter. So many
scholars, Muslim and Christian, also affirm that had the
medieval Catholic Church been less bigoted, less dismissive of
science and less senselessly inquisitorial of men of science etc Europe
and its seeds in the new world wouldn't have been so suspicious of of
religion. It was an attitude that was born of a peculiar history
not an inexorable unanymous conclusion of humanity. So to hold
that "extremism is a route to recognition and vertical mobility'" isn't
such an atrocious analysis.
However the whole corpus of Sanusi's writings tends to suggest there is
more to it than meets the eye. I think, behind the façade of
this particular analysis lurks a profound disdain for people Sanusi has
severally tagged 'fundamentalists', 'religious bigots',
'mullahs' and 'extremists'. In his condescending 'interventions'
his contempt comes up thinly –veiled. I think terms of that
vintage are more properly left in the employ of unsympathetic critics of
a generation of Muslims grappling with the onslaught of
westernisation. Can we comfortably exonerate Sanusi's phrase, in
referring to Ja'far, "an up-rooted, ruddeless exile" of
aristocratic condescension? Can we clear him of disdain and contempt for
the person of Mallam Ja'far? What of the expression "a Kano based
religious demagogue". Sanusi has spoiled an otherwise insightful
and interesting analysis with his characteristic hauteur.
Now, to come to Mallama Fatimah’s comparative juxtaposition of
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Ja'far Mahmud Adam in terms of their direct
service to Islam or benefit to Muslims. The difference is
clear. Even Sanusi, if begrudgingly, concedes this
when he said “Ja'far may claim to be the living defender of
the Prophet's sunna…". I am more inclined to think
that Ja'far is acclaimed to be rather than claims to be, at least
in Northern Nigeria. Only God Himself knows how many people Mallam
has taught the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet at
Gadon-Kaya, Dorayi, Triumph, Beirut Road and so many
fora within and outside the borders of Nigeria. Many also have
entered the fold of Islam via the proselytizing activities of Izalatul
Bid'ah Wa Ikamatus Sunnah of which Ja’far is a pillar. I
personally have benefited from Mallam's erudition, eloquent
delivery and didactic prowess as much as Sanusi Lamido has kindled in me
a critical approach especially in contemporary Islamic discourse.
I would not miss Mallam Ja'far's weekly Tafsir sessions at Beirut
Road (which he delivers in his captivating, elegant but succinct
Hausa) for the whole world. But I wasn't an uncritical
student. Many of my friends can testify to this. The Mallam
raised for me so many questions even as he answered a lot more.
And what of Mallam Sanusi Lamido? No doubt he has been outstanding in
stimulating debate on vital topical issues but a man immersed in usury
is hardly the most desirable role model and cannot be an effective
advocate of Islamic values. I eagerly await the banker's
explanation of his cosy romance with riba. But
we must give kudos to people like him for exposing the hypocrisy of the
so-called leaders of Northern Nigeria who whip up religious,
sectional and ethnic sentiments to self-serving ends, those who
exploit their fellow Muslims and ‘Northerners' riding on the crest of
'the northern identity' and Muslim unity and solidarity.
Mallama Fatimah accuses Sanusi of lying on a number of
statements. Let's examine them. She said "Sanusi however
blatantly lied when he said the Maiduguri businessman is a patron of
Sheikh Ja'far". Sanusi should substantiate that himself. As
for the second one that "Sanusi again lied and discredited himself by
identifying the sheikh with a religious sect. Sheikh Ja'far
never identified himself with any sect and says so" (italics
mine), it is simply not true. God is my witness that,
some years back, I heard with my two ears when the mallam declared
that "mune 'ya'yan Izala" meaning "we are the children of Izala".
And it would take hard-headed casuistry to claim that Izala is not a
sect. I would also like to refer Mallama Fatimah to the preachings
of the pre-Saudi phase of Mallam Ja'far's career especially those ones
at 'Masallacin Triumph'. Then he typified a hot-headed Izala
demagogue. No doubt since he returned from his Saudi sojourn he
has been more tolerant, more compassionate. But that his
adversarial stance towards Shi'ites and Sufis continues is just a matter
of degrees. The form has only been gentler, more
scholarly. Even though the Izala of Kano now prefer to be known as
Ahl-us-Sunnah wal Jama'ah and have actually followed it up it up with
actually being more expansive and civil, it would definitely be
standing the truth on its head to say they they never claimed to
be a sect, Izala. They have shifted from the excesses
of former days to more enlightened and more beneficial activities in
contradistinction to the ever-trivial and ever-bickering Izala groups of
many other parts of the country.
Further, Fatimah says that "Sanusi must understand that he cannot
speak on the deen until he studies the deen. He cannot study
controversial philosophical books and claim he has enough knowledge to
speak on religious matters". While it is true that Sanusi relies
on philosophy to marshall his arguments it’s only a person ignorant of
Sanusi's biography would claim that he’s ignorant of the deen. He
actually did four years of Islamic Studies in the Sudan after obtaining
his BSc Econs from ABU. Prior to that he had, in the
traditional way, studied the primary and secondary Maliki
texts, mostly under the tutelage of his learned relatives.
We can only add that a person so educated would be more competent in
handling contemporary Islamic discourse.
Finally the sister says "Another gross deficiency in analysis on the
part of Sanusi became evident when he branded the Sheikh a
racist". Racism is a serious charge to be laid at the door-step of
anyone and Sanusi certainly didn't use the term all he says is that "he
glorifies tribalism". What is glaring is that it would take the
most clever attorney to clear the Shaikh of ethnocentric chauvinism in
the statement attributed to him that "They don't have the identity of
the religion they belong to. They equally don't have the identity
of the tribe they belong. President Obasanjo has his Yoruba
identity and Christianity as a religion which he
overzealously protects; Sardauna had a northern identity and that
of Islam which he overzealously protected; Awolowo had his Yoruba
identity…Ojukwu had his Ibo identity …Every person who knows what he is
doing must have such an identity". Now
tsakani da Allah what does the mallam seem to be suggesting by
overzealously protecting one's tribal (and religious)
identity. May be it was the devil of translation.
CONCLUSIONS
In a world in which what we see on the surface, even if it bears
the label of religion, is the result of so many factors and
motivations. We cannot take things for granted. We have to
develop an intellectual sieve to filter what scholars give us.
Don't get me wrong I repeat this is not to set out to question the
intentions of anybody. My point is not to miss Sanusi's
point. We should be on our guard when traditional scholars take up
contentious contemporary issues such as 'identity',
'democracy', 'pluralism', genetics and complicated
scientific issues that they are not trained to handle, as much as
we must beware of secularists and liberalists masquerading as Islamic
reformers.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is playing a vital role in stimulating dialogue on
contemporary Islamic matters and nudging us to consider things we
hitherto accepted unquestioningly but he could do so without
condescension. He should climb down from his high horse to make
contribution and not 'intervention' not least because the word assumes
superiority and connotes finality. Finality is not exactly a
feature of dialogue. He should be more compassionate to those
'less intellectually endowed' than he.
Traditional scholars exemplified by Mallam Ja’far could also be more
useful by broadening their horizons with the modern subjects of
sociology, political science, space technology,
reproductive health, psychology etc as we do not live in an
intellectually closed system.
Ma'assalaam.
02/05/2005
Essex
England.