In defiance to whatever the Kano bomb blasts set out to achieve, His Royal Highness, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, cut short his international trip, visited the injured in hospitals around the City, and led prayers in the Kano Central Mosque which was hitherto deserted after the bomb incident. He ordered that the mosque be cleansed of the desecration brought upon it of killing and spilling of blood in readiness for the resumption of normal salawaat. In that connection, the Emir led the Friday prayer in the same mosque and delivered his Khubah on the unfortunate events that occurred there penultimate week.
In gargajiya setting, you cannot write your own Khutbah according to current events in the society. You take from a Khutbah-legacy left by your ancestors or people who have passed away, and repeat what they delivered decades ago to an audience that lived under different circumstances from what obtains today. But His Royal Highness has radically altered all that! Since his ascension to the throne and assumption of the imamship of the mosque, Emir Muhammad Sanusi has shown that traditional rulers are not custodians of gargajiya but instructors in the deen and leaders of the Ummah; that Friday Khutbah means admonishing the people on real happenings around them, preparing them on how to adapt to the vicissitudes of daily life, and warning them of anything capable of distressing or causing them harm.
I got an audio-message of the Khutbah of His Royal Highness through WhatsApp sent by one of my contacts, and I decided to summarise, render it into English and share it with my readers. Listening to his well-articulated Arabic muddles my perception as to which of these languages is the Emir of Kano more proficient in - English or Arabic. Enjoy:
“Whatever Allah wills, shall come to pass; whatever He has not destined will come to naught. In His hands is the dominion of all things. He has power over all things. I glorify His Holy Name with all praise that is His due; what I know of if, and that which I cannot fathom.
“I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, the One and Only, who is without partners. I bear witness that our Master, and Prophet Muhammad, is His Servant and Messenger; blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, and upon his honoured household, and companions, who were superintendents of guidance, and those who followed in their footsteps until the day of the Great Assembly.
“O! Servants of Allah, I adjure you, and myself, to keep your duty unto your Maker. The Allah-conscious is safe and protected. I warn you against sin for it destroys in world, and disgraces in the Hereafter.
“O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam. (Aali Imraan, 3:102) O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered [like seeds] countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual [rights], and [reverence] the wombs [That bore you]: for Allah ever watches over you. (An-Nisaa, 4:1) O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and [always] say a word directed to the Right: That He may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins: He that obeys Allah and His Messenger, has already attained the highest achievement. (al-Ahzaab, 33:70-71)
“Brothers and Sisters in Faith! We have witnessed, in this City, - may Allah guard it against the machinations of evildoers - a disastrous day, a calamitous day in which Muslims were attacked with bombs and bullets while they stood facing the qiblah in Salaah, in one of Allah’s Houses, and in the best day of the week. They were mown down as they stood in adoration to Allah; from those who died on the spot, those whose flesh was scattered, those whose limbs were torn asunder, to those who were severely injured. From those who were drowned in the argosy of their own blood, to those burnt by the raging flames of their clothes. All of them, the living among them and the murdered, after concluding preparations for Salaah, were barred from prostrating to their Lord and Cherisher; after taking bath, leaving home and heading to their Lord’s Countenance, they were barred from chanting His hymn and complying with His commandment.
“What is more ruinous to places of worship than this? Listen to Allah’s words concerning those who purposed to ruin places of worship: “And who is more unjust than he who forbids that in places for the worship of Allah, Allah's name should be celebrated? - whose zeal is [in fact] to ruin them? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter them except in fear. For them there is nothing but disgrace in this world, and in the world to come, an exceeding torment.” (Al-Baqarah, 2:114)
“As for those killed unjustly and in transgression, we ardently hope that Allah will admit them among the martyrs, those who would glory in the Grace and the bounty from Allah; for they died while doing righteous deed. He is a martyr, who dies in a state of obedience to Allah. As reported by Huzaifah Ibn Al-Yamaan, that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said, ‘He who says, ‘Laa alaaha illallaah’, seeking by that Allah’s Face, and his deeds are sealed with it (as his last deed), enters Jannah; he who fasts one day, seeking by that Allah’s Face, and his deeds are sealed with it, enters Jannah; and he who gives charity, seeking by that Allah’s Face, and his deeds are sealed with it, enters Jannah.’
“Also, ‘…he who is killed while defending his deen is a shaheed, he who is killed while defending his blood (person) is a shaheed.’
“Allah said, ‘And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah: "They are dead.” Nay, they are living, though ye perceive [it] not.’ (Al-Baqarah, 2:154) ‘Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord;’ (Aali Imraan, 3:169)
“We beseech Allah, the Lord of the oppressed, in view of the blood split in one of His Houses, to bless the dead, to grant quick recovery to the injured, to establish the light of faith in this City, and make us depart this world with certitude in His deen and on the path of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, (followers of the Traditions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him).
“Those who transgressed, and were haughty against us, were hoping to strike terror into our hearts and distance us from our places of devotion to our Lord. They meditated a plot which failed to yield the desired result. Doubtless, we shall, Allah-willing, doggedly continue to raise the standard of the monuments of our creed, and stubbornly cling to the guidance of Allah’s Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, however much the miscreants are averse.
“O Muslims! Be mindful of your worship to your Maker; for one to be killed when they are in Salaah, advancing (towards the enemy), and not backsliding - that is success indeed, and triumph! And days are liable to mutation; (a day in your favour; another against you). Allah said, ‘If a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days [of varying fortunes] We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses [to Truth]. And Allah loveth not those that do wrong.’ (Aali Imraan, 3:140)
“We certainly believe in Allah’s decree in what He has destined, as we read in the Hadeeth, ‘Whatever Allah wills, shall come to pass; whatever He has not destined will come to naught.’ But do not be in doubt that these transgressors, whosoever they might be, are waging war against Allah and His Messenger, and working corruption on the earth. Between us and them is Allah’s Wrath and Grip. ‘Truly strong is the Grip [and Power] of thy Lord. It is He Who creates from the very beginning, and He can restore [life]. And He is the Oft-Forgiving, Full of Loving-Kindness, Lord of the Throne of Glory, Doer [without let] of all that He intends. Has the story reached thee, of the forces - Of Pharaoh and the Thamud? And yet the unbelievers [persist] in rejecting [the Truth]! But Allah doth encompass them from behind! Day, this is a Glorious Qur’an, [Inscribed] in a Tablet Preserved!’ ” (Buruuj, 85:12-22)
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