For those who didn’t know late Col. AA Ude and the reason why his mysterious death is so painful to us (Igbo Muslims)
Sheikh Col. AA Ude was a Hafizul Qur’an (He memorized the whole Qur’an).
He was a mastery of Arabic Language, he commands the Language perhaps better than the Arabs.
He was a seasoned intelligence military officer and one of the best in Nigeria today.
He was due for his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General next year (a rank no Igbo Muslim ever has attained in the Military).
He had numerous awards commending his rare intelligence and intellect in Military intelligence security (a rare breed).
Above all, he was a very calm, quiet, and composed individual and hardly raises his voice when he communicates! 😭
He was a Teacher of the Qur’an and a great mentor to most of us and Wallahi, it would take a generation to raise his kind again in our midst!
May Allah grant you pardon our dear sheikh and illuminate your grave! May you not be questioned for too long before you are admitted into Jannah!
We lost our hero!
Dear Anonymous,
I spent my entire university life at ABU Zaria hitting back to back first class GPA for 6 semesters in Political Science. My very first GPA was 4.79/5.00 which was the overall best in the whole faculty of social science consisting of over 600 students. I maintained it for almost my entire university life.
Unfortunately, In the first semester of my final year, my CGPA dropped to 4.47 exactly like you, with just one semester to go (see my pinnned tweet). I needed a 5.00 GPA in the final semester including research project to achieve my dream of graduating with a first class and breaking the record in a program that no one believed first class was possible. I was stuck between giving up to avoid last minute heartbreak or try to break a longstanding record as first class in political science was impossible for over 40years and hitting 5.00 CGPA in final semester was something students used to say only God could achieve. The two final year courses were enough hell, but I also needed ‘A’ in research project which further complicated things. Hundreds have tried, Hundreds have failed. People used to mock me in the library saying “haba scholar, in the end it’s just second class upper” just like those who tried before me.
However, I remained focused and locked in with hardwork and prayers. I had to travel twice to my village, stayed for weeks without electricity just to get data for my final year project. I stayed back in school during first semester holiday while everyone else went home to their families. During the dark days of no light on campus, I used ABU streetlights to study outside. Sometimes, I entered the bush behind the hostel to sit around trees to study during exams when libraries got overcrowded (until snake killed one old woman). Those who were close to me said I was going crazy and nicknamed me “books”.
Today, I am proud to tell you that I have a record breaking first class degree from ABU which has changed my life forever. I featured in several newspapers & blogs for achieving the impossible, bagged a fully funded EU scholarship which resulted in me bagging two more first class degrees from the UK & Netherlands and currently working as the only black Analyst in my team at a silicon valley tech giant with a less than 1% global job acceptance rate.
All these dreams were possible because I didn’t give up
I didn’t listen to people
I worked hard and prayed and the almighty lifted me in his blessings.
I hope my story motivates you and others like you who are considering giving up.
And if you see this, please send me a DM I would like to know & support you personally.
Celebrate Ismail Abubakar Muhammad on his outstanding achievement as the Best Graduating Student from Bayero University Kano.
He distinguished himself as:
Best in Biochemistry
Best in Medicine
Best in Surgery
A truly remarkable accomplishment. Congratulations, Doctor!
I would like to express my profound appreciation to all those who have celebrated this great milestone with us in one way or another.
May the knowledge acquired continue to be useful to humanity, Ameen…🌹
The fake christian genocide in nigeria is a psyop to create a real muslim genocide in Nigeria so the US can take all the rare earth minerals in the north in Hausa lands.
This is a matter of survival now. Speak out brothers
Oladélé, this is the logical next step from the conversation we had yesterday. If you still remember, I argued about how we subconsciously shrink God to fit our finite human clock. Today, your question shows how we shrink God to fit human utility.
The question of "what is their purpose" assumes that the universe is centered around human beings. We subconsciously think that if humans cannot live on a planet, build houses on it, or use its resources, then it is a waste of space. However, the universe was not created to be a human terrarium. It is theocentric. That is, it is centered around the Creator, not us as humans.
To make it even clearer, think about it like this. A great king does not build a big palace because he intends to sleep in every single room. He builds it to reflect the scale of his power, his majesty, his wealth, and his sovereignty.
If we apply this analogy to an infinite Creator, what does that tells you? It means that if God only created one tiny rock called Earth suspended in an empty void, it would not reflect infinite majesty.
The terrifying vastness of space, the billions of galaxies, the brightness of stars, and the countless planets are there to force the human mind to look up and realize how incredibly small we are, and how immensely powerful He is.
As a Muslim, I am forced to reflect how the Almighty God in the Quran addresses our human arrogance directly. In Surah Ghafir 40:57, Allah states that the creation of the heavens and the earth is far greater than the creation of mankind, but most people do not know.
If we reflect on this, we would see that we are just a fraction of the story. The rest of the cosmos is fulfilling its own purpose and glorifying Him in ways we do not comprehend.
Having said that, even on a purely physical and mechanical level, those other planets in our solar system serve a direct purpose for our survival.
Take Jupiter and Saturn for specifics. Those huge gas giants act as cosmic shields. Their immense gravity pulls in comets and rogue asteroids that would have otherwise struck Earth and wiped out life long ago. They are standing guard in the dark so you can live down here.
God did not create anything as a meaningless accessory. Every single rock floating in the dark has a purpose. We are just too focused on ourselves to see the broader architecture.
Allah knows best.
Now, it is unjustifiable to arrest Nigerians for expressing their views or opinions about other countries, while at the same time allowing a foreigner to operate freely within our borders, publicly spreading hatred and attempting to incite violence. The relevant authorities should take immediate steps to caution Alex Babir and, if necessary, apprehend him, then send him back to his country in the interest of maintaining peace and order.
Please study the Qur'ān. I beg you, don't just listen to the sweet voices or just read in Arabic. Study it in your preferred language and make sure to think over it.
Muslims are thinkers. Muslims are ponderers. Muslims are readers. Pleased read. Read Islamic contents. Read Islamic History. Read Islamic legislations. Please read, as a Muslim.
There's so much abundance of knowledge, nuance and guidance in this deen that will never be exhausted. And the fun fact is that all of them are derived from the Qur'ān. All with basis and rulings. This is why scholars derive immense depths and benefits from verses you would randomly skim past on a windy Tuesday evening.
Please, read the Qur’ān. Please. May Allah grant you steadfastness upon haqq.
When you stop reading books, you start losing verbal dexterity, depth of thought and imagination.
A closed book is a closed mind.
Don't EVER stop reading.
ILORIN as a case study.
As someone who live in family house all my life, I can tell you for sure that cooking like this doesn’t happen everyday and whenever it happens, everyone participates, the husbands, the wives, both old and young, even the kids will happily come out to do it. We also enjoy doing it, nobody force anyone to do it.
In fact some family members who doesn’t stay at family house will come to sleep a day before or come very early to observe subhi at family house so they can also participate. Aside Eid, occasions like these are part of what units us as family. The gist, banter and fun that happens during the cooking is so relaxing, the tasting of food and meat, very interesting. Even some of us that now live outside the country join them on video calls on occasion like this, send money for the iyawos to buy “minerals”.
What some of you don’t understand is that during cooking like this, you don’t get tired or get choked with lot of things to do, it might just be the seasoning they’ll give you to peel and mix, some it’s onion they’ll cut and that’s all, some will only wash rice and pour it in the pot, mind you, men are also outside slaughtering cows, while children are running around arrange chairs. So if cooking like this is happening, it’s not only women that get involved.
And if you as a Gen-Z wife decided to be woke and not do it, there are tens of other wives ready to do it, they’ll not call you, they only wait for you to have something to do too and people will not show up, you’ll think you can do it all alone with your money, until then, even if you or your husband is a billionaire, you’ll still feel the absence of people and that’s when you’ll know everything is not about money.
It’s also funny how some of you ladies here are already planning war against the family of husband you don’t even have yet.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله:
The effects of sins:
“Acts of disobedience have ugly, blameworthy, and harmful side effects that extend to one’s heart, body, this worldly life and the hereafter; [the details] of which no one is fully aware of except for Allāh.”
1. The Effects of Sin: Distancing Oneself from Allāh:
From them is loneliness that the sinner feels in his heart between himself and Allāh; [the pain of which] is incomparable to the enjoyment [of sin]. Moreover, if all of the enjoyment of this dunyā was brought forth in its entirety, it could not make this resulting loneliness worthwhile. This is an unappreciated matter except to one whose heart possesses the remnants of life. For injury cannot pain what is already devoid of life. For any mindful individual should abandon the engagement of misdeeds even if it be for no other reason than out of fear of falling into this loneliness.
A man had complained to some scholars of the loneliness he felt within himself, so it was said to him: ‘If sins have caused you loneliness, then leave them if you will, and continue [your refinement of them].’
There is nothing more bitter for the heart than the loneliness borne from sin followed by consecutive sin, And Allāh alone is the one sought for help.
2. The Effects of Sin: Loneliness and Isolation:
From them is the loneliness that one feels between himself and those around him, especially the people of goodness. Indeed, he will feel a detachment and loneliness from them; as his loneliness becomes deeper he is proportionally distant from them and their company. Moreover, he will be prevented from the blessings of benefitting from them. Thus, he brings himself closer to the party of the devil for every step he takes away from the party of the Most Merciful. Loneliness will grow and strengthen until it begins to infect; bleeding into his relationship with his spouse, his children, his relatives, and even his own self. Indeed, you will find such people acting as if they are a stranger from their own selves! Some of the pious predecessors used to say:
‘Truly, I disobey Allāh and I see its [deleterious] effects in the behaviour of my livestock and my wife.’
3. The Effects of Sin: Finding Difficulty in Worldly Affairs:
From them is that the affairs [of the sinful] become difficult such that he does not turn towards a matter except that he finds it locked before him, or it causes him adverse hardship. Just as the one who fears Allāh finds ease in his affairs, whoever allows himself to be completely devoid of this fear of Allāh will find his affairs trying and stressful.
O Allāh, how surprising is it! A slave [of Allāh] finds all the doors of goodness and favour shut before him, the paths towards its attainment rife with difficulty and hardship, and he can still dubiously wonder where has it all come from?
4. Effects of Sin: Prevention of Knowledge
Among them is the prevention of knowledge. For, indeed, knowledge is but light that Allāh has allowed to possess the heart. Misdeeds extinguish this light. When al-Shāfiʿī sat with Mālik and read to him, [Imām Mālik] was impressed with his rapid astuteness, his apparent cleverness, and the maturity of his comprehension. He said:
'I believe that Allāh has allowed light to possess your heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of sin.’
[Imām] al-Shāfiʿī said:
‘I complained to Wakīʿ [his teacher] concerning the deficiency of my memory. So he guided me to the staying off of misdeeds. He said: Know that knowledge is a bounty. And the bounty of Allāh shall never be granted to the sinner.”
[Source: Al-Dā wa-al-Dawāʾ: 133-134]
You know how before frying stew, you make sure the pot is completely dry? Because if there’s even a drop of water, that hot oil will start splashing everywhere and you could get burnt.
Or if you are used to cars, think of your body like an engine. Before a mechanic starts working on it, the engine must be turned off and cleared because fixing a running engine is risky. Things could spill, burn, or go wrong.
That’s similar reason doctors ask you to fast before surgery.
Before major surgery, majority of people get given muscle relaxants as part of the anaesthesia.
This makes all your muscles floppy as the anaesthesia puts your whole body to sleep including the reflexes that protect your lungs.
If your stomach isn’t empty, food or drink can come up and slip into your lungs.
That’s what doctors call aspiration, and it can be very dangerous.
So fasting isn’t punishment, it’s protection. It’s not spiritual protection either so don’t say you will eat because you’re not a religious person.
Before the surgeon begins the work, we just need your “pot” to be dry and your “engine” safely switched off.
You people should not say doctors don’t teach anything on this app sha.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله:
“A protection from the Shaytān is restraining the glance, avoiding excessive speech and food, and not mixing with the people excessively. The Shaytān gains mastery over the son of Adam through these four doors.
Some people recite the morning and evening adhkar to protect themselves from illness, hardships, and life’s troubles—and that’s a beautiful thing.
But even more beautiful and complete is reciting them so Allah protects you from sins, temptations, and misguidance; to ask Allah to