Who Will Rescue Zakat and Waqf Institutions from the Destruction Agendas Against them by Muslim Politicians in Sokoto State?

(Sat, 29th June 2024)

By Abdullahi Saliu Ishola

My heart bleeds. I feel like the recent ugly developments in Sokoto State, the seat of the Caliphate, where politicians are currently on rampage and head bent towards destroying Islamic institutions (including the Sultanate) were not true! Both the Executive Governor and the House of Assembly in the State are united on this unfortunate mission.

If Islamic institutions can be attacked and humiliated in Sokoto State by politicians, who are themselves Muslims, where else in Nigeria would Islam be secured and honoured by politicians?

As a diehard advocate and promoter of the institutions of Zakat and Waqf in Nigeria (being an academic and practice specialist in the fields), I really cannot believe that efforts of many years by leaders and scholars of Zakāh and Waqf in that State are about to be crumbled.

Revival of the institutions of Zakāh and Waqf in Sokoto started with the setting up of a Committee to oversee their affairs. Luckily for the State, the versatile and intellectually sound personality, in person of Mallam Engr Muhammad Lawal Maidoki, was brought on board as the Committee Chairman, succeeding the pioneer Chairman of the Committee. Seeing that the tasks require full time commitments, he made a huge personal career sacrifice, transferring his services from the Federal to the State. Along the way, the Committee was transformed into a Commission.

Through the efforts of the Chairman, the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment (Waqf) Commission (SOZECOM) became a Model Zakat and Waqf Institution not only for Nigeria but for neighbouring countries, tapping from the remarkable Zakat and Waqf initiatives of the Commission.

To further strengthen the Commission, the last Administration in the State under His Excellency, Aminu Waziri Tambuwa, reviewed the extant law and brought it to the international best standards of Zakat and Waqf laws.

Given the standards which SOZECOM has set, the Chairman of the Commission who is also the Chairman of the Association of Zakat and Waqf Operators in Nigeria (AZAWON), was appointed as the Deputy Secretary General, World Zakat and Waqf Forum (WZWF). Through this again, the Commission registered the State among the Model Zakat institutions in the world.

SOZECOM as a Commission is no longer Sokoto State project, but a symbol of Islamic propagation of Zakat and Waqf in Nigeria, through which hopes and aspirations are being given to the better future for Zakat and Waqf Institutions. Thus, any move targeted at it negatively, is a move negatively targetted against the religion of Islam.

Rather than strengthening the institutions of Zakat and Waqf in Sokoto State further, the current Governor of the State, in connivance with the State House of Assembly, has set out to relegate the Commission to a mere Agency.

By the Draft Bill which is to undergo a public hearing on Monday, 1st July 2024, the followings are negativties which the new law would introduce towards weakening Zakat and Waqf Institutions in the State:

1. Relegating SOZECOM from a “Commission” to a mere “Agency”.

2. The Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the weak agency would be the Secretary and no longer the Chairman. This implies that the Secretary still has a higher officer/authority (the Chairman of the Agency) to be subjected and subservient to.

3. The Secretary of the new agency would be reporting to a Commissioner and no longer to the Governor directly. This would certainly bring about unnecessary bureaucracy into the activities of Zakat and Waqf Institutions in the State. Whereas Zakat and Waqf matters require swift decisions and actions.

4. The Secretary of the new Agency would be a Civil Servant with knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence not below the rank of a Director (not minding his Proficiency in Zakat and Waqf and not minding his integrity which is the most important for the administrators of the two Institutions).

5. The new law clearly demonstrates that it sets out to achieve nothing than weakening the Commission and thereby sending the growth of Zakat and Waqf in the state on a journey of million set backs.

In view of this ugly developments, it only remains for one to ask around about who will rescue Zakat and Waqf Institutions from the Destruction Mission which the State Government is poised to send them to.

Muslims and Muslim Organisations from across the country must not keep mute on this political agenda of the Sokoto State Government. It is an onslaught against Islam.

If Zakat and Waqf Institutions are destroyed in Sokoto State, the Institutons would be immensely affected in other parts of the country. SOZECOM is an inspiration for Zakat and Waqf missions throughout Nigeria. Any negative political agenda against should not be the problem of Sokoto alone, but of all Muslims in Nigeria and even beyond.

Dr Abdullahi Saliu Ishola, CSAA, CISSA is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Islamic Law, Faculty of Law, Kwara State University Malete-Nigeria.

asishola1@gmail.com

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