This debate on Maulud exasperates me. On one side are the Izala followers who call it – Bid’ah (an innovation with no roots in Islam), on the other hand are the Tijjaniya followers who believe there’s nothing wrong in celebrating the prophet’s birthday. A needless argument; not necessary for our society’s collective progress if you ask me.
Needless because, no Tijjaniya follower would abandon what Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi says to accept what one Anas from Magama Gumau says on Facebook. Same with the Izalas, none of whom would leave what Sheikh Daurawa says to accept what a stranger says on Twitter. It’s an endless and highly unproductive squabble that does not help anyone.
This has though been the Northerners’ only concern on social media, apparently. What is really happening in northern Nigeria tells a different story. The Northeast still struggles with Boko Haram while residents of both North Central and North West barely sleep with two eyes closed because of rampaging banditry. In fact, the whole of Northern Nigeria is looking like a failed state because of the numerous security and economic challenges it faces.
One would have thought that a vastly dominated Muslim northern Nigeria would have been running two or three universities somewhere for educating their people, considering the numerous universities owned by denominational churches in the country, thereby helping to bridge the educational gap between Nigeria’s two regions and giving its people more opportunities to compete with their southern counterparts.
But no, to some – and perhaps most – Northern Nigerian muslims today, Maulud is a bigger source of concern than Boko Haram, almajiranci and banditry. That is why we talk about it more than we do of the over 10 million Almajiris roaming the streets lacking access to good food, home and healthcare.
That is why the rich among us would rather build mosques and sponsor pilgrims to Makkah while those of us online undermine each other arguing on whether Maulud is Haram or Halal. No wonder Boko Haram and bandits found easy converts in our midst.
The ignorance of some of us is so petrifying that I wonder if we truly practice Islam. A society bedeviled with almajiranci, and terrorism all of which is carried out in the name of Islam, has no business engrossing on things as mundane as the argument we witness every year on Maulud.
So, followers of Izala and Tijjaniya itching for a fight should sheath their swords. If anything, Maulud doesn’t de-market Islam more than terrorism and almajiranci. Let’s stop chasing shadows over substance and join hands to strategically deal with the menace of Boko Haram, Almjiranci, Banditry, kidnapping and all other menace trying to kill our society.
Abba II an opinion writer and lives from Yola, Adamawa state
