Imam leads Muslim Prayers for Imam Shuaib Agaka

Tick tick tick And the breath stopped suddenly at 11.33 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

It was the moment I lost my beloved motherly father and brotherly friend, my dad, Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka (PhD).

I had arrived Ilorin on Friday and met him at a private hospital where he had been admitted for the treatment of malaria. I gently collected the prayer rosary from his fingers and held his hand gently, even if a bit tightly He responded with a very brief smile, without uttering a word.

Inside me, I felt that his prayer over the past two years was about to be answered But I refused to accept that it could come so soon. I recall that on his 75th birth in February 2020, he told me, as the eldest child and in the midst of my siblings, that we should be strong, as he would soon depart for the world beyond.

That encounter influenced my homage to him during my birthday on October 10, 2020, titled, Imam Agaka: A Tribute To My Father” https://yashuaib.com/2020/10/imam-shuaib-agaka/

While he prayed for his transition to occur, we prayed vehemently against it. We were not unmindful of the fact that he had been having a running battle with diabetes and hypertension. He was even advised to reduce his participation in public engagements, which was quite hectic, including his weekly Islamic radio programmes, sermons, advocacy visitations and other activities outside the house.

From that period in 2020, he had devoted more of his time to Quranic recitations, remembrance of the Almighty, and prayers and nothing else.

Late Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib

As I held his hands tightly, praying, and with tears rolling down my face, I had a sudden recall of the circumstances of the year 1998, when he finally agreed to accept the title of Imam Agaka, a community with close proximity to the Emir of Ilorins palace.

Since he had made up his mind, we couldnt stop him from leaving Kano, where he was fully established as a respected spiritual leader, Islamic preacher and Arabic scholar, even with a PhD in Arabic Morphology and Quranic Grammar from Bayero University Kano in 1992.

He voluntarily retired from the public service afterwards and started a new life in Ilorin.

His family compound in Agaka hosts one of the oldest Quran as well as a Quranic centre in Ilorin, where members of the royal family, including the late mother of the current Emir Sulu-Gambari, learnt basic Islamic teachings.

Apart from his prayer to be buried close to the grave of his parents in Agaka, he had refused all appeals to travel outside the town in the last five years, not even for a visit to Abuja, for the fear that he could die far away from his preferred burial ground close to his parents.

We shared great moments together and he was always glad about his children’s accomplishments.

On May 26, when I told him about my plan to travel to Daar es Salaam in Tanzania for the annual African Public Relations Conference and Awards, he had urged me to return as soon as possible to Ilorin with the award, in order for him to bless it as he had always done on similar occasions in the past.

On my return, I received a message that he had a fever and had been admitted into a private hospital. Earlier on that Friday morning, I had packed the awards that I intended to present to him, as part of my most recent professional acknowledgements, which I was certain would cheer him up, and boarded a 40-minute flight to Ilorin. On arrival, I rushed to the hospital to see him. As mentioned earlier, he noted my presence by opening his eyes, but he could not talk.

As I collected the rosary of prayer beads from his hands, he was still using his fingers consciously in counting the Tasbiu (Muslim prayers). I clapped his hands and he responded with a brief smile.

At that moment, I pleaded with the Almighty Allah to kindly grant my father more time, so that he could counsel and pray for me as he usually did, at least for the last time. I wanted to experience his jokes, smile, prayers and embrace, even if for only one more moment.

I beseeched the Almighty to restrain the Angel of Death for another instant to allow me to present our latest publication and awards to him in a state of full consciousness.

With my eyes raised to the high heavens, I implored: God, this man has devoted the last few years doing nothing else but just praying and praying and praying. Please spare him some moment so we can talk.

I was at this and hardly knew when my sister and in-laws took me away for medical attention in a nearby health centre. I was thereafter checked into a hotel close to the hospital, to calm down, while sleeping away the stress and trauma.

I returned to the hospital the following morning to see him. He was sleeping and breathing normally, without being unconscious. By evening, however, the rhythm of his breathing had become a bit faster.

At 11.33 pm on that Saturday, his breathing stopped, and his prayers had been answered.

I momentarily became an adult orphan’ and lapsed into deep grief. My thoughts were suffused with sadness, loneliness and an overwhelming sense of grief. I equally experienced fatigue, confusion and anxiety in heightened measures.

YAShuaib with Emir Sulu Gambari after the death of Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka

We were consoled by the kind words of many leaders and scholars, and even the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu-Gambari whose exhortation reminded us of how Imam Agaka had positively impacted Arabic scholarship and Islamic teaching in the North.

It has now dawned on me how it really feels to lose a truly loved one.

My sincere apologies to all those whose calls I have been unable to pick or whose messages I am yet to respond to in the last week of a final caregiving leave in the honour of my late father. May we all find the fortitude to bear the deep losses that come with life when these come to our way, while still retaining the presence of mind to keep giving thanks to God despite everything.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Editor-in-Chief PRNigeria
Abuja

The post PHOTOS: A Week without Imam Shuaib Agaka appeared first on YAShuaib.

Yushau Shuaib and his parents

Most tributes are written to eulogise the dead and not the living. I often ask the questions: Must our guardians and mentors die before we honour them by commending their outstanding qualities and exemplary lifestyle as enduring lessons? How sure are we that we would not leave before the demise of such beloved ones, as we constantly defer or procrastinate about giving honour and expressing appreciations when due?

My father, Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka is very much alive, continuously playing a major role in my life, and generally being a source of wisdom for life situations in our very regular chats. I sincerely can understand the deep sense of loss of those who have lost their parents; some too early in life.

As a significant part of the reflections on my 51st birthday today, I wish to celebrate this courageous and resourceful man of God and father of mine.

With ancestry from the Kanuri nationality of the great Kanem-Bornu Empire, whose vestiges survive in the present Borno State, Imam Abdulhameed was born into the family of Imam Shuaib Said, a renowned Quranic teacher and Islamic leader in Agaka, a community with close proximity to the Emir’s Palace and the Central Mosque in Ilorin Emirate of Kwara State.

Yushau Shuaib as a child

Apart from teaching the children of the royal families and artisans about Islamic knowledge in the ancient city, the family’s Quranic Centre hosted one of the oldest handwritten Quran, reputed to be over 200 years old. Imam Said sponsored his male children to the best Arabic and Islamic Schools in Nigeria, with some of them attending Markas in Lagos and the Arabic Teachers’ College in Sokoto. My father attended the School for Arabic Studies (SAS) in Kano before proceeding to Bayero University Kano, where he obtained a Ph.D in Quranic Morphology and Arabic Grammar.

In the tradition of our family, my father ensured that we, his children, went to the Quranic Madrasa at tender ages, the Islamic School for secondary education, before permitting us to pursue other fields of endeavour at the tertiary level. Constantly showering us with gifts, especially when we performed well in schools, and applying the cane – the traditional African discipline enforcer known as Bulala and Koboko – when we misbehaved by performing woefully. He nevertheless allowed us to play, not only for fun but also for physical exercise, and raised us to be strong and fearless when it comes to calling a spade by its name. He still teaches us about the power of prayers and fasting, and the significance of “being our brothers’ keepers” till date.

In my father’s sojourn in Kano, he was the Head of Arabic Studies departments of top institutions of learning, including the School for Arabic Studies, the Women Arabic Teachers College and Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies, among others. He has equally been a guest lecturer and Islamic preacher at various higher institutions, and during notable Islamic events. Even while ever busy as a scholar who regularly travelled when we were young, he has always been an overprotective father, closely monitoring our progression in life. He provides us a sense of physical safety and emotional security, with words of encouragement and assurance, and citing mostly verses from the Holy Quran and Hadith.

Yushau Shuaib and his beloved younger brother, Yerima Abdul

Due to his deep commitment to scholarship, he turned his homes at Kofar Nasarawa and Kofar Dukawuya in Kano City to semi-hostels for accommodating relatives and students from far and near, who come to school in the ancient city. Apart from facilitating the admission of some of the students into different institutions, he provided them with free meals, and paid the tuition of a number of indigent students, many of who grew close enough to become extended members of our family.

It wasn’t until I came into adulthood that I realised that many of those who I called ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ were not my father’s biological children, due to his non-discriminatory attitude among all of us. Although, back in the day, out of childishness and unfathomable jealousy, I once asked him if the equal treatment he meted out to everyone was necessary. He replied that: “You will be treated the way you treat others.”

When cakes were not yet fashionable, he had special ways of ‘spoiling’ us on our birthdays, with specially prepared Tuwo and Amala, which came with assorted meat. Also, preparatory to Islamic festivals, he purchased and distributed large yards of clothing materials to family members, relatives, neighbours and even the poor in the community. I enjoyed participating in cutting the yards of materials and labeling them with names of beneficiaries. On Sallah Days, we helped him in distributing minted coins of ‘Kobo’ to kids and the needy from currency pouches.

Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka

After the demise of our grandfather in 1996, my father, Dr. Abdulhammed Shuaib, voluntarily retired from the service of the Kano State government and accepted his appointment as Imam in Agaka, within the Ilorin Emirate in 1998.

He has committed his life to the service of God and humanity, as he facilitates the establishment of worship centres, offering educational scholarships to indigent students, providing guidance and counselling to the distressed and sponsoring Islamic moral teachings in radio programmes through a foundation named after him.

Even though in old age, with its attendant health complications, he remains in good humour and is persistently cheerful. A thoughtful jokester, my dad lifts our spirit and makes us smile and laugh a lot about life. He once asked me, “Where can we find a medic who will recommend sweet drinks and tasty meat for healthy living?” Also at the peak of the coronavirus infection curve, when elderly people were yielding to the infection and becoming victims of the pandemic in drones, he asked if we could pray for him to ‘depart the stage’ during the holy month of Ramadan. We obediently refused, and the mercy of the Almighty Allah has spared his life to survive till this moment, and very hopefully for many more years to come.

Yushau and his father, Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka Phd

While he stands behind me, as a strong moral pillar and prayer warrior who boosts my courage and confidence, he always tells me that ‘tolerance and compromise are not signs of weakness but tools for peace and relationship building.’ As an Islamic scholar, he buttresses his points in relation to various issues, while citing copious verses of the Holy Quran and the Hadith in fascinating acts of story-telling.

I’m still proud to be referred to as a “daddy’s pikin,” though devoid of the connotations of a pampered offspring. I will forever cherish his tutelage and guidance. In fact, after his initial reluctance, he ultimately supported me in the choice of a career in communication, which is also a channel for public outreach on a purposeful and virtues-driven experience. Apart from his unfaultable counsels on my family, works and matrimonial relationship, he guided me in making good investment decisions, such as in acquiring my first pieces of land in both Kano and Ilorin Emirates for residences.

Yushau and his father Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib

Dr. Abdulhameed Shuaib, our very dear patriarch, an honourable father, friend, and community leader, is an exemplar of good conduct, a reliable confidant, moral teacher, spiritual healer and my superhero. He is not only one of the friendliest dads ever, he also provided motherly care when it really mattered, easing the burdens of his children and saving us from pain.

Alhamdulillah, I am proud and blessed to have Imam Shuaib Agaka as my father as I pray to Almighty Allah to continue to bless him with good health, peace of mind and the uncommon wisdom that crowns decades in the service of God and mankind.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author and PR Practitioner

The post PHOTOS: A Tribute to My Father, Imam Shuaib Agaka- YAShuaib appeared first on YAShuaib.