The Coordinator of the debate/dialogue between Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara and Kano Islamic scholars, Prof Salisu Shehu has passed his verdict at the end of the exercise.
Prof Shehu said Abduljabbar has Abduljabbar has failed to answer the questions he was asked by the Ulama satisfactorily.
This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the exercise on Saturday.
Read full communique below:
COMMUNQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE CONDUCT OF DEBATE/ DIALOGUE BETWEEN ABDULJABBAR NASIR KABARA AND KANO ISLAMIC SCHOLARS HELD AT THE SHARI’A COMMISSION ON SATURDAY, 1 JULY, 2021
The dialogue between Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara and Coalition of Ulama was organized by Kano state Government, following persistent public outcry and written complaints from concerned majority segment of the Ulama in the state on the manner exhibited and statements being made by Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara in his preaching, lectures and writings regarding Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), his companions and some notable Islamic scholars of high repute, which are considered disrespectful, sacrilegious and inciting.
The objective of convening the dialogue was to give the cleric an opportunity to defend and prove his contentious viewpoints as requested by himself, which the government accepted his request and, therefore, set up a committee to draft a blueprint for the successful conduct of the dialogue. Government received four representatives from the ulama to participate in the dialogue drawn from Kano Islamic Scholars.
CONDUCT OF THE SESSION
The session was conducted under the Chairmanship of Prof. Salisu Shehu, Director, Centre for Islamic Civilization and Inter-Faith Dialogue, Bayero University, Kano.
A total of six question-and-answer sessions were held with equal alocation of time to both sides. The main question by the representatives of the Ulama revolved around the use of vulgar, inappropriate and defamatory language which Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara was accused of in his teachings, summons and preaching.
Audio recordings were played quoting him employing those wordings after which he was asked to respond by way of showing where he sourced them from authentic books.
In each case, he complained that the time allotted for response was inadequate for him, thereby avoiding the questions or issues raised, ending up in introducing unrelated issues.
The Kano State Government had earlier served both parties the audio recordings that were to be the focal points of the questions before the date of the debate/dialogue and they were played to the hearing of all at the venue.
OBSERVATIONS
Arising from the conduct of the debate/dialogue, the following observations were made:
- The debate/dialogue was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere;
- Each question was allotted 5 minutes at first instance, 10 minutes for explanation and 10 minutes for response and 5 minutes each for conclusion. This was the case in every round of the six sessions.
- All the Ahadith Albduljabbar Nasir Kabara quoted were found to be wrongly translated and interpreted while some were weak.
- None of the representatives of the Coalition of the Ulama was satisfied with each of the response by Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara.
CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS
The chairman of the session, Prof. Salisu Shehu, passed a verdict at the end of the debate that it is clearly established that the several questions raised in six rounds of the dialogue by the Coalition of the Ulama to Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara were not satisfactorily answered.
Instead, he mixed up the issues, going off track and introducing irrelevant topics.
On the strength of the above, the Chairman implored the state government to take next necessary line of action in order to ensure peace, law and order in the state.
The Hon. Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Ahmad Tahar (aka Baba Impossible) called on both parties to shun any inflammatory comments capable of upsetting the fragile peace in the state.
At the end of the debate/dialogue, the Chairman, presenters and discussants commended the State Government under the able leadership of His Excellency the Executive Governor, Dr. Abdultahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, for accepting to conduct the dialogue with a view to giving a fair hearing to both Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara and the Ulama.
Prof Salisu Shehu
Coordinator/Chairman
COMMUNIQUE DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
- Dr. Mu’azzam Maibushira
Bayero University, Kano.
- Yahaya Umar
Director, Archives& Publications,
Council Affairs Directorate,
Government House, Kano. - Nazeer Tanko Kyaure
Under Secretary,
Ministry of Information, Kano.
