AL - 'ILAAJ EDITORIAL BOARD, MSSN UCH, IBADAN

  The Da’wah enlightenment program of the second week in February saw the Lecturer – Ustadh Sulayman Folorunsho, talk about the characteristics of the dwellers of Jannah.  He mentioned that the first characteristic is Faith as explained by the second hadith of An-Nawawi collection. He proceeded to mention that Dwellers of Jannah are the “ Ibadur Rahman ”. These are the people who enjoy special mercies from Allah. Using Suratul Fuqaan (Q25) verses 63-77, the qualities of ahl-Jannah include: Those who walk humbly on earth i.e not arrogant, Those who speak softly, courteously and speak well always, Those who spend their nights prostrating and standing up i.e voluntary prayers after performing the compulsory ones. The lecturer further explained that in this series of verses Allah (SWT) mentioned and prioritised human-human interactions before going to the work of worship. He then proceeded to the other characteristics mentioned in the subsequent verses. Umar-Farouq Adeb...

  In Canada, the first and second week of  February saw truckers continue to protest against COVID restrictions. The “anti-mandate”, anti-vaxxers truckers occupied the streets of Ottawa and honk their horns all day long. This has effectively paralysed most parts of the city and they have vowed to remain in the streets until all the COVID restrictions are lifted. The protests soon garnered more supporters who proceeded to occupy more locations in the country including the US-Canadian border bridge – the busiest land border in North America. Following a court order, the police started clearing out the protest grounds. The Protest also spread to some parts of Europe and in France, the protesters were faced with canisters of tear gas and forcefully cleared. Umar-Farouq Adebiyi

  The month of February started like every other cool month. The tempo suddenly changed with Russia’s Vladimir Putin threatening nuclear war. This turn of events can easily serve as a prelude to a post-apocalyptic movie. Ukraine along with 14 other countries broke off from the old Soviet Union after its collapse in the early 1990s. Ukraine subsequently shifted ties away from Russia to European and Western associations. This shift in ties peaked in 2014 when the then President of Ukraine backed more pro-Russian ties. Within days, Ukrainians moved to the streets and he was ousted as President. Russia retaliated by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea; a part of internationally recognised Ukraine. Tension heightened in recent months when Russia expressed concerns that Ukraine's aspirations of joining North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a red line and Ukraine should never be allowed to join NATO. NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries ...

  I was in the midst of some senior secondary students when two of them came running, asking me about courses that one can go for in a particular field ‘because so and so doesn’t have future ambition.’ I then asked who so and so was. It turned out to be the girl who had completed her Qur’aan memorisation and has been on the top of her class for years in a row. Would it then mean that one who has been doing well could be placed at a disadvantage in the coming future? Will those without goals but with the best of habits be placed at risk of being unsuccessful? Goals are meant to orientate one to find meaning with life. The one who has found meaning then he/she can take pleasure in carrying out his daily activities excellently. We all have goals, great or small, things we would like to achieve within a certain frame whether it’s making six figures at the end of the year, losing weight or writing a bestselling book before the end of the next quarter. Habits are algorithms operating...

    Well, congratulations! Love is a beautiful thing. It is an essential part of life, of existence… or so some say. But this love of yours is it well placed? Are you in love with your creator and your deen? Are you in love with the Nabeey, his Sahaba or the Qur’an? Are you in love with the one who bore you for nine months or the ones from which you were brought out of the same w omb? You’re either not sure of your responses or you’re just out of a reflexive attempt to believe yourself. Well, good for you still. Now let us get more serious. Are you in love? Or do you just believe you do? Are you worth the love? Or do they deserve yours? Would they wake you to observe Salat and ensure you take Sahoor? Would they be by you as you stand through the night saying your prayers to your Lord? Are they even of your faith? Or do you intend to let love work things out? Answer the questions and remember, your Lord sees all that lies in your heart. Let me however, answer ...

  O ye tired soul, Allah is aware of your situation He knows you worked hard Consistency has been your mantra Yet it all seems fruitless You are becoming more clueless…   Remember! A promise was made By the Most high as consolation “For indeed, with hardship comes ease” “Indeed, with hardship will be ease”   O dutiful soul, Raise your head high “and to your Lord direct your yearnings” For He is Al-Azeezul-Khabeer. Umar-Farouq Adebiyi

“History is to a people what memory is to the individual. A people with no knowledge of their past would suffer from collective amnesia, groping blindly into the future without the guide post of precedence to shape their course”. - Sir Babatunde Fafunwa (1980) INTRODUCTION History as an academic discipline in Nigeria gained a lot of attention and interest in the immediate post-colonial era. It gave Nigerians a sense of independence and identity following the release from our colonial masters, and so it was seen as necessary and important. Over the years however, the relevance attached to the historical arts dwindled gradually until it became what it is now. This has culminated in a gradual loss of sense of identity, recurrence of conflicts of the past and as a result, stagnancy; for what progress can a nation achieve or boast of when it is riddled with social conflict, intertribal differences and separatist agitations.  To address this, the issue has to be fixed from its roots. Th...