TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.5 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENT OF OGUN STATE
1.6 THE CONCEPT
OF DA‘WAH
1.6.1 OBJECTIVES OF DA 'WAH
1.7 DA‘WAH
IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ZUMRATUL JAMIU
MUMIN SOCIETY
2.1 BIOGRAPHY OF THE FOUNDER
2.2 THE
BIRTH OF THE SOCIETY
2.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE SOCIETY
2.4 MAJOR BELIEF SYSTEM
2.4.1 THE
INIMITABILITY OF QUR’AN AND SACROSANCTITY OF THE BIBLE
2.4.2 PURDAH
2.4.3 RELATIONS
WITH NON-MUSLIMS
2.5 ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY
2.5.1 WEEKLY
LECTURES
2.5.2 MONTHLY
SESSION LECTURE
2.5.3 OPEN-AIR
LECTURES
2.5.4 FARMING
ACTIVITIES
2.5.5 AT-TA’LIM
2.6 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SOCIETY
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 APPRAISAL OF DA’WAH ACTIVITIES OF ZJM SOCIETY
3.1 ON THEIR IDEOLOGIES
3.1.1 TAWHID
3.1.2
PRAYER
3.1.3 ZAKAT
3.1.4 FASTING
3.1.5 HAJJ
3.2. ZUMRATUL
VERSUS NON ZUMRATUL
3.3 ZJM’S ATTITUDE TO NON
MUSLIMS
3.4 THE DEATH OF ZJM’S
FOUNDER AND SUCCESSION DEBACLE
3.5 DOCTRINES OF ZUMRATUL
JAMIU MUMIN SOCIETY
3.6.1 VEHEMENT REJECTION OF HADITH
3.6.1.1 WHY QUR’AN ALONE?
3.6.2 NO
INTETRCESSION
3.6.3 PERPETUATION OF THE
DWELLERS OF HELL
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 CONCLUSION
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Islam is the religion of
peace and brotherhood. It is a belief in Divine Monotheism, i.e. belief in one
supreme divine being, Allah. It protests against idolatry, inequality and evil
ways of the society. Islam enjoins its followers to lead a pure, simple and
decent life.1Islam, as a universal religion, was conveyed
extensively to the nooks and crannies of the world through Da’wah activities. Islam has, from the outset, been identified with
the act of proselytization. This
religion cannot, therefore, be divorced from Da‟wah and vice-versa. This is
because, the latter serves as tools for the former. In fact, it equally serves as the backbone through which
the Qur’ān enjoins the entire Muslim community to follow the way of
the Prophets by commanding what is good and prohibiting what is bad:
Let there arise from amongst you a
group of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining al-ma„rūf (all that
Islam orders one to do) and forbidding al-munkar (polytheism and disbelief and
all that
Islam forbids) and it is they who are successful) Q3:104
Based on the above
verse, it is crystal clear that Muslims
are to engage in Da‘wah activities.
Not this alone, but to as well act as model of moderation, eradicate evils,
establish justice and deliver supernumerary goodness to the entire humanity.
With this, the Qur’ān extols the Muslims over other creations when it
says:
You are the best nation raised
up for human kind. You enjoin righteousness and forbid corruption and you
believe in Allah…
Q3:110
Da‘wah, as an instrument of propagation of the religion, aims
basically at enjoining what is right and forbidden what is wrong. In line with
the fact that Muslims are to call the people to the fold of Islam, build a
balanced and uncorrupt society and to give adequate sensitization about Islam,
the society, Zumratul Jamiu Mumin
poses a great interest to be studied for its Da’wah activities.
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aims at achieving
the following objectives:
•
To probe into historical background of Zumratul Jamiu Mumin.
•
To examine its Da‘wah Methodology.
•
To evaluate its doctrinal beliefs.
• To
examine the position of Zumratul Jamiu
Mumin with respect to the adoption of Hadith as a secondary source of
Islamic Law.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Unlike other Muslim
organization with main objective of winning new souls and reawakening spiritual
consciousness of Muslim ones, the primary objective of Zumratul Jamiu Mumin is to engage various religious leaders,
Muslims inclusive, in hot debate regarding religious issues. The society
regards only the Quran and Bible as sacred Books of Allah in determining
religious issues. The use of Hadith,
to them, is seen as an aberration. This idiosyncratic religious attitude held
by Ogun State-based religious body is considered worthy to be investigated.
1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The society is recently
confined to Ogun State. Our study shall, therefore, be restricted to its
religious activities with particular reference to its Da’wah activities.
1.5 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENT OF OGUN STATE
Ogun State is one of the populous states in the South-western
Nigeria. It was created on the 3rd of February, 1976 with Abeokuta
as its capital. Abeokuta is the
largest city in the State and comprises the old Abeokuta and Ijebu
provinces. It was one of the nineteen states created out of the former twelve
state structures of 1976. The state shares an international boundary with the
Republic of Benin to the West and interstate boundaries with Oyo State and Osun State to the North, Lagos State to the South and Ondo State to the East.2
Ogun State, ab initio,
had seven Local Government Areas (LGA) at its creation, out of which three
additional ones were created to bring the number of local government areas in
the state to ten. These are Abeokuta,
Egbado North, Egbado South, Ifo/Ota, Ijebu East, Ijebu North, Ijebu Ode, Ijebu Remo, Obafemi Owode and Odeda local government areas.3
In the further creations
of Local Government Areas in 1981, 1989 and 1991, the former Abeokuta LGA became Abeokuta North and Abeokuta
South LGAs, Ifo/Ota became Ifoand Ado Odo/Ota LGAs, Ijebu Remo
became Sagamu and Ikenne LGAs, Ijebu Ode became Ijebu Ode
and Odogbolu LGAs and Ijebu East became
Ijebu East and Ogun Waterside LGAs, making the total
number of LGAs in the state to become fifteen.4
The last local
government creation exercise of March 1997 added five more LGAs to the fifteen
in existence. There by bringing the total number of Local Governments to twenty
LGAs in the state. These are
Ewekoro (from Ifo LGA) with its headquarters at Itori, Ijebu NorthEast with Atan
as its headquarters, Imeko Afon
having its headquarters at Ipokia and
Remo North having Isara as its headquarters.5
Summarily, the state contains the following twenty Local Government Areas:
Abeokuta North ImekoAfon
Abeokuta south Ipokia
Ado-Odo/ Ota ObafemiOwode
Ewekoro
Odeda
Ifo Odogbolu
Ijebu East OgunWaterside
IjebuNorth Remo North
IjebuNorth East Sagamu (shagamu)
Ijebu Ode YewaNorth(formerlyEgbadoNorth)
Ikenne
YewaSouth (formerlyEgbadoSouth)
1.6 THE CONCEPT OF DA‘WAH
Da’wah is Arabic word from the root word “da’a” which means “to call, to invite and to supplicate i.e. to
call on God”. In Islamic context, it is used to refer to the act of conveying
or calling people to the message of Islam. By this, Da’wah simply means any effort to communicate the message of
surrender to God (i.e. Islam) to other people whether through word or example.6
Quran buttresses the importance of Da’wah
and those who engage in it. Allah says:
And who is better
in speech than he who calls people to Allah, works righteousness sand declare,
„I am one of those who surrender to Allah.
Q41:33
Da’wah, in fact, was the basic mission
of the prophets of God. They were raised up among their respective people to
call them to the worship of Allah alone and to abandon the worship of the
various false gods that they had invented.7 Allah says:
And verily, We have sent among every
Ummah (nation) a messenger
(proclaiming): „worship Allah (alone),
and avoid Taghut (all false deities). Q16:36
Also the task of spreading
the message of Islam became a duty on every Muslim when the prophet (S.A.W), in
his farewell message, enjoined Muslims who were present to convey the message
to those who were absent8. In addition to this, Quran explains the
quality of Muslim Ummah as the best Ummah based on the sole duty of
enjoining righteousness and forbidding corruption. Allah says:
You are the best nation raised up for
humankind. You enjoin righteousness, forbid corruption and you believe in
Allah… Q3:110
Calling people to Islam (Da‘wah) is an important task and a
glorious mission because it means calling people to worship Allah alone which
is the sole essence of creation. Allah says: And I (Allah) created not the Jinn
and mankind except that they should worship Me (alone)
Q51:56
Furthermore, Allah does not only encourage Da’wah in the Quran but also explains
the way it should be carried out. The methodology to be adopted for Da’wah is clearly explained in the Holy
Quran. Allah says:
Invite (call) to the way of your
Rabb (Lord) with wisdom and beautiful preaching and argue with them in ways
that are best
(and most gracious)…
Q16:12
The analogy of the above
verse, by virtue of extensive deduction, forms the real concept of Da’wah, which is calling with Wisdom,
Beautiful preaching and Best argument. This is best way of calling people to
Islam.
Also in another verse of the Quran, Allah enjoined Moses to
be lenient when talking to Pharaoh. Allah says:
Go both of you
to Fir‟aun (Pharaoh), verily, he has
transgressed. And speak to him mildly, perhaps he
may accept admonition or fear (Allah). Q20:43-44
1.6.1 OBJECTIVES OF DA 'WAH
Da‟wah, as an instrument of
calling people to the Islamic fold, therefore, aims to achieve the following
objectives:
•
Conveying the message of Islam to non-Muslim and
inviting them to Allah.
•
Making efforts to remove misconception about
Islam and Muslims.
•
Making efforts for the integration of new
converts into the Muslim community.
•
To develop material resources, recruit manpower
(volunteer) and provide training for Da’wah
workers.
These and many more are parts
of the objectives of Da’wah.
It is important to know that the goal of
Da‟wah is not to force the non-Muslims to convert into Islam but inform them
about the religion. They are to make the decision based on their own freewill
after the message is conveyed to them. This is evident in the Holy Quran where
Allah says:
There is no
compulsion in religion.
Verily, the right
part has become
distinct from the wrong path.
Q2:256
The purpose of Da‘wah as well, is to bring all people
out of darkness and into the light. Islamic Proselytizers are to convert the
non-believers neither through compulsion nor coercion rather through
persuasion, proselytization, true-faith and realization. They are to purify people
of unwanted qualities and teach them the way of Allah and wisdom behind the
acceptability of Islam.
1.7 DA‘WAH
IN NIGERIA
Da’wah in Nigeria is as old as the religion itself. This is because
the religion got to the country through the instrument of Da’wah. In Nigeria, according to I.O. Oloyede (2014), Islam was
first accepted by the Kanem Ruler, Umme
Jilmi (1085-1097). He was introduced to Islam by the scholar, Hamed Muhammad Mani.9 This
made the scholar, Muhammad Mani, the
first person who introduced the religion to the country. Ummi Jilmi‟s son, Dunama 1 (1097-1150), also followed his
father‟s interest in Islam, learning and practising it and was reported to have
gone on Hajj, Oloyede maintains.10This
trend continued till the reign of Idris
Alooma when the religion flourished more. Mai Idris Alooma
(1570-1602) of Bornu had far-reaching and more extensive Islamic campaign than
his predecessors, building mosques and Islamic schools, thereby strengthening
the foothold of Islam in Bornu-Kanem axis.11
Historical antecedents
show that a time was in some parts of this country-Nigeria-when Islam comprehensively governed the lives of
the people. Everything, at that time, was being done within the framework of
Islam. In fact, there is no doubt that Arabic was more or less the official
language and Muslim
scholars were alive to their responsibilities moving from one town to another
spreading the religion of Allah, promoting the Islamic education and purifying
the society from corruption and Kufr,
e.t.c. Undoubtedly and without any exaggeration, that time could be
marked as the golden era of Islam in Nigeria.
The
exact period that Yorubaland came in contact with Islam is still unknown, but
historians between the
14th and 15th
centuries during of Mansa Kanka Musa
of Mali Empire. The first mosque was
built in Oyo-Ile in 1550 A.D, although it was to serve foreign Muslims
in Oyo as there were no Oyo Muslims at that time.12 Islam was known
to Yoruba people as Esin-Imole, a patronymic reference to Mali. This means that
the Malians were the pioneers of Islam in the region, Yorubaland. The
activities of Du’at, especially
during the jihad of Uthman Dan Fodio
(1804-1810), helped the religion to spread to other parts of Yorubaland in
which Ogun Sate is not left out. This was when many scholars, from Hausaland
through Ilorin, came to Yorubaland with sole aim of spreading the religion.
However, with the
colonialists‟ invasion of this country, the tempo with which the Da‘wah was progressing was halted. This
was done through numerous measures notably but certainly not exclusively such
as modification of the Sharȋ‘ah,
relegation of Arabic and Islamic education to the background. The measures
increased tremendously and multiplied to include imperialism, Zionism,
secularism, communism and socialism among others. All these forces combined
together to ensure that the cog put in the wheel of Islam is not removed. The
unscrupulous activities of the whites sprang the Muslims to come up with many
strategies to revive Da‟wah‟s spirit of the Muslims. This led to the formation
of different organizations, societies and group of individuals to engage in
various forms of Da‟wah in their respective domains. These societies and
organizations include the following among others: Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama’ah, Ansaru-d-Din
Society, Jama’tu Tabligh in Nigeria, Zumratu-l-Islamiyyah Society of Nigeria,
Nawairud-Din society of Nigeria,
Muslim Association of Nigeria, National Council of Muslim Youth Organizations
(NACOMYO) and of course Zumratul Jamiu
Mumin Society on which this work is based.
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