A group of Muslim professionals under the aegis of ‘No Dull Moment in Islam (NDMI)’, has advised the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Olaoye, to withdraw a query dated 10th June 2024, served on the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland, Sheikh Teliat Yunus Ayilara, over the latter’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia for holy pilgrimage.
In the said query, a copy of which was seen by The Daily Crucible, Oba Ghandi ordered the chief Imam to disembark from the trip for not seeking his (Oba) permission before the trip, saying the Imam should ‘immediately return’ from Saudi Arabia.
While speaking on an alleged threat to review the appointment of the Chief Imam, the group said the provocative shenanigans against the Imam must stop forthwith.
NDMI described the order as an insult not only on the headship of muslims in Ogbomosoland, but the entire muslim ummah in Oyo State.
The group in a reaction to the alleged threats by the Soun to remove the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland, Sheikh Teliat Yunus Ayilara for allegedly violating his oath of office, called on the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, to caution the monarch what it considered as attempts to ignite religious crisis in the peaceful ancient town.
A statement released on Friday by the group and signed by the Coordinator and Secretary, Professor Abdurazaq Kilani and Barrister Mojeed Abolore Oloyede respectively, reads:“Imam Teliat Yunus Ayilara was accused of embarking on his journey to the holy land and appointing a surrogate to act as the Chief Imam Agba Ogbomosoland without informing the palace as prescribed by the said Oath of Office.
“In the query, the Imam was ordered by the Monarch to “immediately return” to Ogbomoso from his journey to rectify the purported violations. This is not only an insult to the Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland, but the entire Muslim Ummah of Ogbomosoland.
“The provocative shenanigans being perpetrated against the interest of Ogbomoso Muslim Ummah must expire forthwith. Oba Ghandi must stop the harassment of the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland, while we request that he withdraw immediately the threat to review the appointment of the Imam.
“We call on the Christian Association of Nigeria and the leadership of The Redeemed Christian Church of God where Oba Ghandi Olaoye was ordained as a pastor to call the monarch to order and tell him to stop his overbearing incursion into the affairs of Muslims in Ogbomosoland.”
The group expressed concern that given the recent query, certain elements in Ogbomoso in alliance with the palace would stop at nothing to relegate islam to the background in Ogbomosoland as evidenced in the routine onslaught on the Imam.
“Given the foregoing, it has become apparent that certain resentful elements in Ogbomoso in collusion with the palace would stop at nothing to relegate Islam to the background with their incessant onslaughts on the headship of the Ogbomoso Muslim Community in the person of the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland.
“It is more disgraceful to note that the alleged plot by the monarch to remove the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland is becoming manifest by the day, a move that will be met by every resistance from the Muslim community not only in Oyo State but the country at large,” NDMI stated.
The group also expressed worries that an oath of office sworn by an Imam before a Muslim Oba, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, is being manipulated during the reign of a christian monarch for mischievous reasons.
The group challenged the Oba to point to any of the five items in the undertaken sign by the Imam during his installation that has been violated.
“How could an Oba, on whose behalf the most recent but ill-fated query was issued be ignorant of the content of the undertaken he is purporting to act on? Does Pastor Ghandi take time to vet correspondences from his office before they are released to the public?
“We challenge Oba Ghandi to point to an item in the undertakings signed on the 19th of November, 2021 where it was stated that the Imam must take orders from him before traveling out of Ogbomoso; we also challenge the Oba to tell us if the Imam went to Makkah to ‘officiate’ as contained in the Undertakings. It has now reached a point where the rest of the Muslim Ummah in the Southwest and beyond should rise in the defence of Islam in Ogbomosoland.
“Is it now obvious that an oath sworn to by an Imam before a Muslim monarch is being manipulated during the reign of a Christian monarch for a mischievous end?! It beats a sound imagination that queries upon queries are emanating from the palace of Soun in defiance of a subsisting court order,” it added.
NDMI maintained that the privilege position of the Oba does not translate to over-lording stance of the Oba in the affairs of Islam and Muslims in his domain.
“Is Oba Ghandi on a mission against Islam in Ogbomosoland? Is Pastor Gbandi on a mission to ignite a religious war in the peaceful land of Ogbomoso? If these are his goals, his mission has failed ab initio.
“The fact that the palace is accorded a privileged position to have a say in the appointment of an Imam does not in any way translate to the over-lordship stance by any Oba in the affairs of Islam and Muslims in his domain as in the case of Ogbomoso presently.
“Indeed, Islam teaches reverence and loyalty to constituted authorities but Muslims will not use the same head with which we bow to the Almighty Allah, the Lord of Incomparable Majesty to bow before any authority that cringes before a mere mortal and carries around a false sense of entitlement,” the group concluded.
