20/02/2025
ABDUR-RAHMAN, THE ILORIN RITUAL KILLER; WHY WE ARE ALL PRETENDING?
By Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
News broke out recently about a 29-year-old man called Abdur-Rahman, who killed and dismembered a lady identified as Yetunde Hafsah Lawal in Ilorin, purportedly for money rituals. The incident is indeed a sad one.
A lot of people have condemned the dastardly act and have called for the young man to be prosecuted. I have seen many Alfas (a local term for Muslim clerics in Nigeria) also coming on social media to condemn the action of the young man. Some have even said that the young man should be executed with immediate effect, without waiting for any court verdict.
I must, however, ask a few questions. Why are we all pretending? Yes, all of us are pretending. As Islamic clerics are pretending, other Muslims who are not Islamic clerics are also pretending.
Let me begin with the Islamic clerics. Where have Muslim clerics (Alfas) learnt that after graduation from Ilekewu (a term for an Arabic school in Yoruba Land) they should make Jalabi their source of income? Where have they learnt that they should not go for Western Education, learn a vocation or go into a business venture after graduation? Where have they learnt that a graduate of a conventional Arabic institute should only go full-time into Jalabi, and nothing else? Where have they learnt that a graduate of a conventional Arabic institute should only rely on earnings from naming ceremonies, wedding ceremonies or Fidau programmes?
Why are Muslim clerics pretending? Don't graduates of conventional Arabic institutes mock their former classmates who go in pursuit of Western Education or vocational skills after graduation? Don't they ridicule their former classmates who become teachers in public or private schools? Don't they see such former classmates as useless individuals? Don't they limit their definition of a successful Alfa to being someone with many Agbadas (local attire), many followers, and being invited to come
