Nupeland is a theatre of charade & shenanigans. Perhaps one of the catalysts for the pervasive absurdities in Nupeland is the Sūfī's unnecessary emphasis on, nay exaggeration of the concepts of wilāyah & karāmāt, & their inability to differentiate between the latter & sorcery.
As a Muslim & researcher, I totally believe in the concepts of wilāyah & karāmāt. However, I have a problem with the fact that Sūfīs tend to have monopolized these concepts & arrogated to their acclaimed saints the power to exhibit karāmāt almost to the exclusion of others.
Allāh defines his awliyā in the Qur'ān as:
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ
"The ones who believe and are God-fearing." (10:63)
Thus, the criteria to be a waliyullāh are: Īmān (faith) and Taqwā (piety) and this is open to every Muslim.
It's very hard to see ahlussunnah making claims of wilāyah the way Sūfīs do. How many scholars among the ahlussunnah have you heard claimed wilāyah for himself or was attributed to same by his disciples? This is unlike in Sūfism where wilāyah is shared like gúgúrú & groundnut!
Sometime in the early 2000, a certain underage Tanzanian boy named Sherifdeen Kalifa made headlines with his Khutbahs & lectures. People became fascinated by his eloquence despite his age & he was soon branded a waliyy. His pictures were hung in many homes and people were
seeking tabarruk from them. Some even went as far as calling him the much awaited Mahdi. So many stories were told about him and his parents. Today, all of that nonsense have vanished.
People of Nupeland fall cheaply for fake and deranged fellows parading themselves as awliyā.
It is very common to see criminals who call themselves Sheriffs (grandchildren of the prophet) & descendants of Shaykh Ahmad Tijani or Ibrahim Niyās moving around freely and exploiting the gullibility of the people to extort them. When dad رحمه الله was alive, some of these
con men were brought to greet him by their hosts as the Chief Imām of the town. Dad رحمه الله was NEVER convinced about their claims of lineage and wilāyah. So many times, he criticized them and ask their hosts, "what intellectual value have they to offer to the people?"
Just take a look at the deranged fellow, Hasan Patigi, & His protégé, Yunusa Mokwa ask yourself, what value have they added to people's life in Nupeland? What's their spiritual, social, economic or even intellectual significance and contribution to Nupeland?
In the unnecessary quest for wilāyah and karāmāt, our people have become so naive and vulnerable that sorcerers, mentally deranged and Jinn infested persons as well as fake witchdoctors are easily mistaken for awliyā!
It's a shame!
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