Southwest: Idol Worshippers on the Prowl

By Abdulfattah Abdussalam

Today, Islam worldwide presents an image far removed from its true teachings. It has become a cauldron of corrupting influences and appalling practices, particularly among some Muslims in Southwest Nigeria. These individuals have, in their sinfulness, embraced idolatry, mistakenly believing it to be a part of Islam.

The recent brazen entry of idol worshippers (Isese adherents) into Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State, Nigeria, has left many discerning Muslims bewildered. They question the audacity and identity of these idol worshippers who dare to desecrate a land revered as a center of Islamic knowledge and pride in Nigeria. For the people of Ilorin, the occurrence of such depravity is simply confounding. Similarly, the repugnant foray of a Muslim group, RMQK, into the Southwest Islamic space has shocked observant Muslims. Painfully, they are daily making inroads into homes and families, misleading them away from true Islam.

These numerous aberrations in the Southwest are transforming the region’s Islamic landscape from a monotheistic faith into a pluralistic religion rife with pagan rituals that are mistakenly considered sacred. Their activities mirror the Jahiliyyah period, an era dominated by cannibalism and darkness. They are emboldened, showcasing their practices in the Southwest with impunity, and social media is inundated with their activities. The granting of public holidays to adherents of paganism by some Southwest states, ironically, started by a former Muslim Governor of Osun State, AbdurRauf Aregbesola, provided the impetus for some Muslims to ensnare their families in idolatry. He granted them unhindered freedom of worship, instituted a state public holiday for them, and committed state funds to their practices. This emboldened the idol worshippers, prompting them to demand more, penetrate the fabrics of Southwest communities, and grow increasingly daring, using sorcery on gullible people, particularly Muslims.

On major towns in Southwest, Nigeria, these groups masquerade as Muslims, but in reality, and according to Islamic teachings, they are not. Allah is one true God, and Islam is the only true religion. The Quran admonishes us to enter Islam wholeheartedly and to not follow Satan’s footsteps, for he is a cursed one. The Prophet of Islam, the Seal of Prophets, said, “Islam came as a stranger and it will become stranger as the world comes to an end.”

Idolatry is a betrayal of Allah’s oneness and a rejection of true faith, which carries severe consequences. The Prophet, in many Hadith, foretold that some people who call themselves Muslims will unite with polytheists in every affair, including the worship of idols and jinn, in the End Times. “The Hour shall not be established until tribes of my Ummah unite with the idolaters.” Some tribes among my Ummah will worship idols.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 3952). Sadly, the dimensions of this issue defy logic. The few Muslims who still hold onto the chord of Islam are cowed into inaction. It has become a case of “if one cannot beat them, join them.” One may recall an apostate named AbdulJabar, who held sway in the Southwest many years ago. In that era, he misled many of his followers with false powers, ultimately dying in penury and disgrace. what we witness today has gone far beyond AbdulJabbar schism.

Because of the pernicious influences of these so-called Muslim traditionalists, many Muslim youths and families are now engaged in paganism, money rituals, kidnapping, banditry, alcoholism, unbridled sex, and idol worship. The large number of adherents and leaders in these too-numerous groups are Muslims, and they instill fear in weak Muslims, flaunting fake spiritual powers across the Southwest. One leader of a so-called Isese group recently confronted Oba Abdul Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, the Telu I, the Oluwo of Iwo land, but beat a speedy retreat when the Oluwo rubbished his bravado. The Oluwo has furiously confronted them severally, but his effort is a drop in the ocean because other kings seem to be accomplices.

At this juncture, pertinent questions must be asked: Where are the umbrella bodies of Muslims in Southwest Nigeria? Where are the Islamic leaders, clerics, and Imams upholding pristine Islam? Where is the League of Imams and Alfas in the Southwest? Where are the true scholars of Islam, hitherto known in the Southwest? Where is the association of Arabic and Islamic teachers in the region? Where are the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs of Nigeria and the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN)? These bodies and the individuals must awaken from their slumber and find ways to curtail the menace of these pagans, who currently pervade the Yoruba lands like a colossus and foist their brand of worship on the people of Southwest Nigeria. The truth is that pristine Islam is ebbing away from the Southwest, and pagans have a strong hold on the Yoruba race across its enclaves. They are on the prowl, a situation occasioned by both remote and immediate factors that stem from Muslim docility and poverty. This is a wake-up call.

Published in the current edition of the PEACE  Magazine , Safar/ Rabiul Awwal  14447 AH

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