OAU Hall Mosques in Another Shape Again By Kamoru Sodiq

kamorusodiq03@gmail.com

Typical of the Nigerian clime, good news is no news. But the bad news reverberates across the land like a thunderbolt. Anyway, the gist in town right now is that Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) hall mosques have turned around. Or put mildly, an eldorado. It is a classical case of grass to grace. I doubt anyone who the mosque has housed at one time or the other would be able to recognize the old structure anymore now due to the supersonic upgrade and sophisticated outlook.

Cast your mind back to June 4, 2017, exactly 4years, 1month, 12days ago, OAU campus saw a black Sunday during which the hall mosques were shutdown in a staccato fashion. People were caught off guard. Everyone was stunned. The atmosphere that day was toxic. The memory till today remain an open sore. The aftermath was brutal. But then, life goes on.

Whichever way you may try to look at it, the frenzy event abruptly and unceremoniously signalled the end of an era. Albeit, there have been many fables suggesting several failed attempts in the past to close the mosques. The point really is what could have been the reason to take a mosque out of operation? Well, the authority said to restore sanity and decency. What is obvious is that things were not at ease then and the rest as they say is now history.

On a more introspection, we have to see beyond the surface (structural edifice). Truth is, the mosque commands both the physical building as well as the spiritual presence. It is in this the essence of a mosque cannot be over-emphasized in the life of a Muslim. Routinely, we open and close our days inside inside the mosque. Absence of a mosque in a community thus mean absence of a conscious Muslims in that set up.

Also, when Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) migrated (Hijrah) to Medina, the first thing he did was to establish the mosque because the mosque is the Islamic hub for da’wah activities, knowledge acquisition and general coordination of Islamic affairs. At Medinah, the mosque was used as Modrasah (school), court, social events, spiritual garden and lots other sundry functions individually or communally. The import of this is to show how key the mosque is to the well-being of Muslims. It is as important as water.

The greatest holiest sites for Muslims on the planet earth are mosques, to wit; Masjid Haram (Mekkah), Masjid An-Nabawiy (Medinah) and Masjid Aqsah (Jerusalem). Looking at the Islamic history, precisely during the reign of Al-Walid Ibn Abdul-Malik Bn Marwan, the 6th Ummayad Caliph, one of the major relics of the Ummayad dynasty was the construction of an impressive public work called “The Great Mosque of Damascus.” Today, Hagia Sophia in Turkey is the delight of Muslims worldwide.

It is then safe to say that since the closure of OAU hall mosques, spiritual life of an average Muslim students on campus has long been damaged. This is very lethal for growth as students and community to say the least.

Now, the river must flow uphill. The trial of the mosque has come and the worst is over. We have to walk into the future with renew hope and resolutions. We have to replace aggressiveness with kindness. We have to throw away crudity for sagacity and be generally progressive in acts or words. It is on this note that would-be Muslim student leaders on campus should see themselves as part of the whole and not the whole on itself. Students ignore the community at their own peril.

In the same vein, proper and harmonious synergy shoulder be maintained with the community. Strong bridges should be built with the outside big brothers like Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA), Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) higher hierarchy and other relevant bodies that could be of help without compromising the core principles of the society.

Most importantly, the mosques must be kept tidy at all time. Soul lifting talks must be instituted. Islamic teachings and other da’wah activitism should always operate inside the mosque. The manager of our new fortune (mosque) should never assume to know it all. They should be humble, knowledgeable and responsible. In all situations, students welfare should take precedence over and above all other things.

Nothing comes for free even in free town. The new success recorded could be solely attributed to UNIFEMGA as a body and as an individual. Over the years, there is hardly any Muslim students on campus that have not enjoyed the golden cake of UNIFEMGA either through scholarship, support, empowerment, mentorship and other great interventions they do. So, it is not surprising that they have done something big again now in a soothing style. It is only Allah that can reward them because they give and they don’t expect. Charity!

When the community go South, someone is always take responsibility. When it also soars, someone must be responsible. That persona is the Chief Imam. I feel our Baba Imam has preserved his legacy in gold. The Imam has come to campus without a central mosque or hall mosques. Under his watch, the community paraded a world class central mosque and now a first among equal University Hall mosques. May history continue to be kind to him. In another breadth, this is just one out of numerous blessings he has brought into the community.

This victory belongs to the OAU Muslim community, Muslim students on campus and all other relevant stakeholders as far as MSSNOAU project is concerned. We cannot pray not to disagree, we can disagree but we should tolerate and understand one another. We should continue to walk as one indivisible and invincible community under Allah. May we never walk alone anymore.