THE CONTROVERSY AROUND THE EID-FITR PRAYER LED BY OBA ABDUL-RASHEED ADEWALE AKANBI, THE OLUWO OF IWO LAND AND MY SCHOLASTIC POSITION WITH THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE
THE INRODUCTION
This is my response, after a protracted silence, to numerous phone calls which I continue to receive from pious Muslims since I have arrived from Makkah after this year Lesser Hajj (Umrah). All the callers from within and outside Nigeria have a unified message. They are all curiously perturbed to know whether the action of our father- Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, in leading this year Eld-Fitr prayer which was held on *Wednesday 6th of June 2016 at Yidi Oba Praying Ground in Iwo Local Government of Osun State* is Islamically justified or not.
The position I would like to take here will be purely Islamic and I believe shall be enough to answer too many questions and calm down the tension being generated from the vexed issue by many pious but confused Muslims. However, mention needs to be made from the onset that issue like this needs systemic and chronological approach for the attainment of transparency and evasion of subjectivism.
THE QUALIFICATION
That a Muslim leader leads prayer for his people is not bizarre in Islam. It is an issue of record and its occurrence will be eternal. But as a matter of clarification, Islam is a religion of total perfection and it underlines certain prescribed qualifications that a leader who will lead Muslims in prayer must possess viz:
1. He must be a total Muslim
2. He must be a scholar with charismatic prowess in Islamic Jurisprudence, the quality that allows him to give verdicts on knotty Islamic issues.
3. He must be able to perfectly recite Qur’an especially Suratul Fatiah and knowledgeable in virtually all conditions that make and mar Solaat.
4. He must not have questionable belief in the ONENESS OF ALLAH.
A leader that equates Allah and HIS Prophets with deities like Oduduwa, Oranmiyan, and other gods and goddesses cannot and must not lead Muslims in either obligatory and non-obligatory prayers.
These qualified conditions and many others are copiously discussed in one of my publications titled: REGULATIONS GUIDING IMAMSHIP IN THE SHARI’AH.
THE OBSERVATION
Considering his various actions, inactions and other body languages which attend his pre and post arrival period to the palace, a keen observer’s experience may like to instantly conclude that our father Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi has no records that match the above conditions as stipulated by ALLAH (S.W.T). Ordinarily, it is unreligious of our father to profess that he has transcendental authority that always enables him to commune with God. The king constantly avers it that all his judgments are the products of the inspirations that he daily receives from God. This is purely unislamical. Allah communes only His Prophets and Angels, and not with ordinary beings.
Record also has it that immediately after the turbarning ceremony, our king, my father, and an acclaimed Muslim king, did the unusual. After swearing with the Holy Qur’an, the Kabiyesi was ushered out of the place by Egungun (Cult Masquerade). This has never happened in the annals of Kingship installation in Iwo Land. Leaving the place to where he would observe traditional conferment, our kabiyesi was also seen propitiating and pouring libation to deities and progenitors supplicating for pacifistic reign through them (both deities and primogenitors). This claim cannot be repudiated as the picture of where our king carries in his hand _a palm-oil filled heathen lamp_ has gone viral in social media. This should not be an archetype of the Muslim king that led his people in Eld-Fitr prayer, or any other congregational prayer for that matter.
Also, our kabiyesi affirmed his unislamic stance the day he invited Iwo Muslim Community for their support on his proposed OLA DAY CELEBRATION. [OLA not as in Yoruba transilation of “wealth” but OLA as an acronym that has alphabetic derivation from the first letters of deity and primogenitors: O for ‘Oduduwa’, L for Luwoo Gbagida and A for Adekola Telu]. An institutionalized sacrilege, you may say!
All the clerics that were present at the palace on that day experienced a bone -marrow shock. Many felt disappointed and many were disappointed in the nominalization of my father.
THE SUBMISSION
Considering the traits that our father has flaunted since he became the king, it is unequivocally proper to religiously submit that our king Oba *ABDUL RASHEED Adewale Akanbi Ilufemiloye Telu 1*, has no justification under Islamic jurisprudence to lead Muslims in any Solat. His paganish behaviourial attitude does not qualify him (under Islamic law) for the task. He equates prophets of *Allah* with ordinary deity- Oduduwa. He engages in fetish dealings.
Not only this, he has little or no knowledge about the religion-ISLAM-and this he unskillfully displayed at the Eid-Fitr congregational prayer that he led. After Surat Fatiah, he was expected to recite another obligatory Surah but instead he darkly recited ordinary prayer *AZKAR* and then another Surah again. This showcases his low level of Islamic knowledge, and this is in total contradiction to the requirements stated under *The Qualifications* above. The Eid-Fitr prayer of that day was so bedevilled by injury and some Islamic scholars and enlightened Muslims were seen observing another two Rakat prayer to replace the one he led.
THE CONCLUSION
Worshipping Allah and practising His Religion requires better understanding. Anybody who wants to play save in Islamic matters should fundamentally seek for knowledge. After all, there is no sin in seeking for knowledge. My father should try to proclaim the *Oneness of Allah* and seek for forgiveness from Him for equating Oduduwa with His Prophets.
I also admonish my father to strive to read Qur’an 3 vs 83-91, Qur’an 4 vs 59-63, and Qur’an 3 vs 26-29* and make use of the messages there within.
IMO LOL’ADIINI OGBON O GBE
Written by : DR. SIRAJUDEEN BILAL AL-ASRAU
