Who Killed Sheikh Ja'afar?

By

Isa Muhammad Inuwa

ismi2000ng@yahoo.com

Early morning hours of Friday April 13, 2007 Kano people woke up to receive the shocking and nerve chilling news of the assassination of renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmoud Adam, who was gruesomely murder by some heartless gun-happy night marauders, while he was prostrate right before God, leading a congregation in the Dawn Prayer. It is exactly one year now since that tragic incident, but the still, neither the Police nor the State Security Service produced an iota of clue or fact as to who was or were behind the murder of the Islamic scholar. A murder that occurred just a day to Nigeria’s General Elections, of a scholar who was ever vocal and a hard lined critic of Nigerian politics, left many people in doubt with a lot of misgivings as yet another political killing, beclouded in questionable and mysterious situation. More so, the late Sheikh was said to have delivered a very controversial and radical speech late night to his assassination, promising to further blow the whistle and to blow open the garbage can of scandals of some political figures on the following day. But before he could fulfill his vow, he was sheepishly killed by some hired thugs while praying with people in his mosque, as it might have been planned earlier. Sheikh Ja’afar was an erudite and versatile commentator of current affairs, which he analysed on the Islamic point of view and through his Qur’anic commentary (Tafsir), obviously to enlighten the Muslim community, with a specific focus on their religious teachings and ways of life. That was how relevant and enlightened the late Sheikh tried to make his teachings to be, the bottom line that made his speeches and commentaries ever lively and timely, which also continued to sale like hot cake, even after he passed away.

Man of many parts, with deep dedication to depend the course of justice by telling the truth in its naked reality, late Sheikh Ja’afar was known to have criticized many people, social and religious groups, politicians and government top-notch officials and bureaucrats, traditionalists and the likes. While some people viewed this characteristic of late Ja’afar as normal and a distinguishing factor which made him a complete scholar who preaches the truth, no matter whose ox was gored, yet many people saw him as a controversial fellow and crowd-rousing who displayed radicalism just for a show-off and only for the sake of it. Until he was finally blessed with martyrdom in the noble course of preaching the truth, late Ja’afar proved himself to all, as true believer in what he preached.

As a result of his vast unbiased and un-selective preaching of the truth, people thought that Sheikh Ja’afar has stepped on many toes and had offended many people and many members and followers of many institutions and groups, as such, people kept contemplating and guessing which group, organization, institution, persons or individuals might have killed him, in vengeance to his offence to them. Even among the Muslims sects and groups whom late Sheikh Ja’afar was known to have challenged and confronted while he was alive, shared part of the speculation and blame for his murder. However the most disturbing thing and the most mind-boggling thing is how the matter is just allowed to pass and to fizzle out unattended, without finding or declaring the results of the findings about the assassination of the famous Kano scholar of international repute.

While the sate and the Federal Government tend to show a lackluster attitude towards unearthing killers of Sheikh Ja’afar, the Council of Ahlussunah Scholars have convened on several occasions questioning the carefree and lackadaisical manner with which Sheikh Ja’afar’s murder was held by the authorities. The latest of such public outcry by the scholars was in the recent month, when it was about 9 months after the assassination. The scholars who addressed the press at Gadon-Kaya mosque said they sensed something fishy about the so-called investigation over the murder of Sheikh Ja’afar. They concluded that although the authorities could deem it wise to cover-up facts and hesitant to disclose the killers, on the other hand, it was even more unwise and dangerous to bottle-up information and leave people in dark about the real killers of late Malam Ja’afar. They warned that they would never relent on their effort to trace the blood right of the late scholar, no matter how long and no matter what it would cost. The scholars who talked through the Council’s chairman, Sheikh Adam Koki, also questioned the Human Right posture of Nigeria’s Democracy, for such a dastardly homicide to have been let in abeyance.

The greatest challenge before the authorities now is to endeavour and come up with their findings on the sinister move that led to killing of Sheikh Ja’afar, as well as to let the law take its course on the real culprits and their mercenaries. On their parts, Islamic scholars have great lesson to emulate from the lifestyle of Sheikh Ja’afar, who, as any religious scholars should copy the ways of the Prophets, preached the truth, lived by the truth and died for the truth. It should also be kept at the back of the mind that to expose or not to expose killers of Sheikh Ja’afar, they too shall definitely die, unless they prove more powerful than the formidable Angel of Death. Nor would they escape punishment hereafter, until they prove more powerful than the Angels of Hell and Chastisement.

ISA MUHAMMAD INUWA is a Journalist in Kano, Nigeria.

E-mail: ismi2000ng@yahoo.com, P.O. Box 4534, Kano.