4th
September, 2024
PRESS
RELEASE:
AGENDA FOR SOUN: BUILD A MOSQUE FOR PALACE IMAM – MURIC
The 28th
Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, appointed a 'Chief Imam' for his
palace on Friday 30th September, 2024. However, an Islamic human rights
organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has asked the monarch to build
a befitting mosque in the palace since there appears to be none at present. The
group argued that the palace Imam will remain idle for a long time if there is
no sign of a mosque within the palace.
The
request was made on Wednesday, 4th September, 2024 in a statement
issued by the Executive Director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
He
said:
"The
last may not have been heard from us on the controversial appointment of a
'chief Imam' of the palace made by the traditional ruler of Ogbomoso, Oba
Ghandi Olaoye. It will be recalled that the king appointed Habib Ayilara as the
palace Imam on Friday, 30th September, 2024.
"But
feelers reaching our headquarters indicate that there may be no mosque within
the palace. It is either there is no mosque capable of holding a Friday
congregation for Jumu'ah prayer or there is no mosque at all inside the
palace. If this is true, on what basis has the Soun appointed a 'palace
Imam'? How can a whole king appoint a palace Imam without a mosque? How logical
is it for a man who has no garden at all to employ a gardener?
"Nullity
upon nullity is nullity. It is a settled law that anything based on nothing is
a nullity and has no legal validity. Also, it can confer no right or
impose any obligation on anybody. If this is so, the office of palace Imam may
end up a nullity, a sham, a pipe dream.
"But
we want to save the Soun from this apparent cul de sac. The way out, his saving
grace, is to build a mosque within the palace, not a small one but a gigantic
edifice befitting the status of his revered throne. That is the agenda we want
to give His Majesty because the question on the lips of many people is: can
there be a palace chief Imam where there is no befitting palace mosque?
"Soun
is on a mission to bastardize Islam and that is the cassu belli for all
his intrusions into Islamdom. He wants to break the ranks of the Muslims in the
land. He is being ably aided and abetted by the governor of Oyo State, Seyi
Makinde whose main mission is to fill all the traditional stools in the state
with Christians. That is the only reason he has delayed the installation of the
Muslim candidate chosen by the rightful kingmakers of Oyo for the Alaafin
stool.
“Many
are wondering if the Soun will queue behind the newly appointed palace Imam.
Will a pastor king pray behind an Imam? Is this pastor converting to Islam?
That is where the intrigue becomes very clear. It is sheer hocus-pocus.
“Again,
the uninitiated ask why did the monarch pick his palace Imam from the same
family that the embattled chief Imam came from? Besides, why did he pick the same
Islamic scholar who contested the position of Chief Imam with the current Chief
Imam, Talhat Yunus Ayilara?
“Is
the king planning a nomenclatural abracadabra? Otherwise how can one explain Chief
Imam Ayilara in the Central mosque and another ‘Chief Imam’ Ayilara in the ‘yet-to-be-built’(?)
palace mosque? It sounds panbolanbolic. Kabiyesi is confusing Nigerians. We
need clarifications.
"On
the other hand, the appointment of a palace Imam by a pastor who became the
Soun may be a blessing in disguise for Ogbomoso Muslims if the traditional
ruler eventually erects a befitting mosque in the palace. Afterall there can be
no palace Imam without a palace mosque. It seems the palace Imam will remain
idle for a long time if there is no sign of a mosque within the palace.
“We
may be wrong, of course. There may be a palace mosque in place already, perhaps
in some underground or another hidden place within the palace. All we need is
to be directed to the location within the mosque. We are itching to pray there behind
the palace Imam, Habib Ayilara. He is not our enemy. He is our Muslim brother.
We can pray behind him. Just show us his mosque within the palace.
“Therefore,
all we are saying is Wanted: palace Mosque for palace Imam. Go ahead, Your
Majesty, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, Orumogege III, the employer, appointer and
turbanner of Imams. We shake, shiver and tremble before your throne. Just give
us a befitting palace mosque to legitimise your palace Imam misadventure."
#Ogbomoso
#WantedPalaceMosque
Professor
Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive
Director,
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC).
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