Sheikh Abdul-Qadri Abdul-Azeez Akanni; proprietor and founder of the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Law for Charitable Organization, expressed awe while recounting an encounter he had with a revered scholar and cleric; Sheikh Abdul-Yekeen Olaniyan Kaffi, who recently died at the age of 93.
He made this known in Egan, Lagos State, during a funeral prayer attended by family, friends, scholars and students of the late Tijanniya scholar who headed Tijaniyatil Ibrahimiyat Movement of Nigeria (TIMON).
According to the cleric, his last trip with the deceased sheikh was to Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana where they paid courtesy visit to Sheikh Zul Nurein Zul Qarnain; a devout and respected leader of the Tijanniya sect in Benin Republic and many others in West Africa.
He detailed how the late Sheikh Kaffi was able to scale through the immigration procedures without a passport; a feat he described as astonishing considering the strictness of the custom officers on duty.
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“What I want to say is that whenever we got to the borders, I was always with my passport, my teacher; Alhaji Modina had passport too. We were bent on observing protocols but the late Sheikh Kaffi would say ‘meet me ahead’. Wallahi, he would pass through the custom posts and would not be stopped. We got to a point where we took bike, between Lome and Ghana, it was a bushy path where our destination was nearer but we were ordered to take a longer and exhausting route. Again, the late Kaffi said; ‘meet me ahead’. He had no passports but passed through the shorter route unstopped.” He said.
Speaking on the generosity of the late sheikh, he described him as an overwhelming giver, recounting how he (Sheikh Kaffi) had in his luggage sixty-six pairs of brocade guinea sewn into complete ‘agbada’ set and how they were all given out as gifts from Cotonou to Togo and to the border of Ghana.
The cleric concluded by making prayers for the deceased sheikh, his family and the entire Muslim communities.
Earlier, Sheikh Nozir Kaffi; the Khalifa of the deceased had during the jum’at qutbah, lectured on the suddenness of death which gives no room for preparation on the part of its next victim.
He said; “An eighty-five years old scholar once wished to return to his youthful days so he could tell him how aging has completely changed him. That is impossible talk less of the reality of righting our wrongs when death beckons.”
He therefore admonished all to run to repentance and seek the mercy of God before death comes knocking.
While committing the body to the grave, friends and followers spoke glowingly about the deceased Kaffi’s commitment to worship, justice and human right and also of his relentless benevolence which endeared many to him.
The event was replete with the presence of many scholars and clerics like Imam Tesneem Ajakaiye; Chief Imam of Eganland, Sheikh Abayawo, Ustaz Idris Al-Fikri Azaetowiy, Sheikh Abdul Wahab Abu Fa’idah, Sheikh Zikrullahi, Ustaz Sa’eed Odunsi, Sheikh Akorede, Sheikh Abdul Rasheed Eesa, Sheikh Akorede amongst others.
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