Oyo Grand Chief Imam Calls for One Voice at Rabitoh 1964
Sheikh Bilal Akinola Akeugberu urges the Islamic body to establish a professional media team to communicate its positions clearly while preserving legitimate differences within the Muslim Ummah.
By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Grand Chief Imam of Oyo Land, Sheikh Al-Imam Bilal Husayn Akinola Akeugberu, has called on Rabitoh 1964 to establish a professional media team capable of giving the organisation a clear and unified public voice.
The recommendation was contained in a statement released on Monday by Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade, Director of Media and Publicity to the Grand Chief Imam, in Oyo.
Sheikh Akeugberu said the proposed team should be headed by a seasoned media executive with experience across print, broadcast and digital platforms and should be responsible for accurately communicating the organisation’s vision, principles and official positions.
He said a coordinated media structure would help ease the communication burden on the Rabitoh’s principal coordinators, particularly the Mudeer Markaz, while ensuring that official positions were properly articulated and understood by the Muslim community and the wider public.
The Grand Chief Imam also urged Rabitoh 1964 to guard against being identified with any particular ideological sect, jurisprudential school or group within the Muslim Ummah.
He said the organisation should remain a broad Islamic platform guided by the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah while recognising legitimate differences of opinion in matters of Islamic jurisprudence.
He specifically cited issues surrounding the commencement and end of Ramadan, crescent-moon sighting and whether Sha’ban should be completed with 30 days as matters requiring knowledge, consultation and careful communication.
“Differences in such jurisprudential matters should not be allowed to create the impression that the Rabitoh belongs exclusively to one sect, creed, group or ideological tendency,” he said.
Sheikh Akeugberu further described Rabitoh 1964 as an open Islamic platform rather than a conclave association, saying its affairs should be conducted with openness, transparency, consultation and collective responsibility.
He recommended that consultation should precede positions taken on matters affecting the Muslim Ummah and that agreed decisions should subsequently be communicated clearly as the official standpoint of the organisation.
Under his proposal, the media team would also monitor public narratives concerning the Rabitoh and respond promptly to misinformation, misrepresentation or inaccurate attribution of positions to the organisation.
He said the structure would strengthen the Rabitoh’s relationship with the wider Muslim Ummah in Yorubaland and help promote greater understanding of its objectives while protecting the unity and dignity of the Muslim community.
The Grand Chief Imam urged the Rabitoh leadership to give immediate consideration to constituting the team under professional leadership capable of translating its decisions into clear and authoritative public communication.
The ultimate objective, he said, should be for the Rabitoh to speak with one clear and responsible voice without compromising legitimate jurisprudential diversity within the Muslim Ummah.
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