My first sight of Dr. Ahmad Bamba was 37 years ago in 1984 in the Ummah Mosque at the Old Campus, Bayero University Kano where I just got registered as a pre-degree student.
Although the Central Mosque in Bayero University Kano would always be the first sight of any visitor or newly arriving student to the university, having been strategically located near the Main Gate, the Ummah Mosque may be the first place of worship for the new resident (on campus) student because of its location between the two major and oldest faculties of the university – the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies (FAIS) and the Faculty of Education. Because of its lively nature and vibrancy – series of nasihas, ta’alims, Qur’anic study circles and Tajweed, Arabic classes and even sometimes, very hot intra-faith dialogues and debates – Ummah Mosque, therefore, would always easily capture every newly arriving young Muslim student.
It was quite rare to see non-students’ faces at the Ummah Mosque except during Zuhr and Asr prayers when some visitors and lecturers might be around to join the congregation. There was however, a non-student face that was very familiar in the mosque most especially, during Zuhr prayer and seldom during Maghrib; that was Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ibrahim Bamba’s. He would certainly be the first lecturer students that used to regularly attend congregational prayer in Ummah Mosque would be familiar with because of his regular presence.
My first countenance of Dr. Ahmad in mosque reminded me of my first IRK teacher at Teachers College – Sheikh Yahya Abdul’Azeez – a fully bearded Pakistani Sheikh. On my first sight of Sheikh Dr. Ahmad in Ummah Mosque the memories of Sheikh Abdul’Azeez suddenly came back to my mind. More strikingly however, the sights of the two gentlemen present to the heart a mien of piety that sometimes made you think of the countenances of the Sahaba, or so we used to think as young people that still had some elements of naivety in our thoughts.
Our admiration of Sheikh Dr. Ahmad was ceaseless whenever he came and prayed with us in Ummah Mosque and left. But our interaction with him was no more than the salaam and typically, he would wave at you and make his way out or extend his hand for a shake when you happen to be close enough to him. The first time I had a conversation with him or heard him speak to me was when I was appointed as an imam in the mosque.
With the vestiges of adolescent exuberance and obsession for fashionable and smart appearance, my wardrobe had more of the fashionable shirts and trousers of the time (TOBI shirts/jeans and HARA trousers) than kaftans. Invariably, therefore, the imam in me would most of the time lead prayers in the said kinds of fashionable shirts and trousers in Ummah Mosque. I led the Maghrib prayer one day. After the prayer, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bamba called me, held my hand and led the way outside the mosque. In his typical gentle manner and way he said, “Liman, yaya kokari”. I replied, “Alhamdulillah”, with a mixture of exciting and nervous mien. He then said to me, “Toh liman ga karatu mai kyau, amma kuma kullum ana mana Sallah kai babu hula?” With a sigh of relief, I said , “Na Gode Mallam, insha Allah, za a gyara.”. It was both an awesome and joyful moment for me. But what was most instructive was the fact that that simple and gentle counsel not only made me appreciate that I was no longer just an ordinary student on campus but I was treading the path of spiritual leaders, it also changed my life in terms of personal disposition and appearance on campus and beyond.
A second experience with Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bamba made me a witness to his magnanimity. It was in the case of attending his Hadith class for students offering Islamic Studies as Special Honours. I was not one, so I could not register for that course. I offered Islamic Studies as a subsidiary course but I was interested in attending his special or rather advanced Hadith class. All my friends and classmates were encouraging me to just enter the class and that they were sure Malam would not send me out. On the second or third lecture day, I joined some of these mates. I sat in the class with some bit of nervousness. Sheikh entered the class, conducted his lesson and alhamdulillah, he did not send me out. He definitely saw me, and he definitely knew that I was not duly registered for that course because it was a small class of less than 15 students. By virtue of my imamship in Ummah Mosque, I was already a familiar face to him. With a deep sense of appreciation, I must say that, that opportunity was my first experience with not only some of the basic and essential rudiments of Ilm al-Hadith but was also the greatest inspiration for deeper and more advanced study of the field.
After graduation in 1988, I got intellectually and personally reconnected with him when I returned to Bayero University Kano in 1991 to pursue my Master’s degree. That was the year Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bamba started his very awesome, weekly/weekend Hadith Ta’alim sessions, beginning with Sahih al-Bukhari in the BUK Central Mosque, a teaching-cum-admonishment exercise that he continued to conduct uninterruptedly with a great sense of passion, vigour, consistency and rare faith and commitment for 30 years.
In the Hadith Ta’alim sessions, we did not only learn the texts of the Hadiths and elements of Mastalahul Hadith but we also learnt to be much more committed to Sunnah in terms of faith and practice. Quite instructively also, we learnt lots and lots and lots of the Aqwal (wise or sayings) of the salafs, many aspects of Usul al-Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), Qaw’id al-Fiqh (Jurisprudential principles and maxims) and many Islamic religious and Jahiliyyah poetries (Qasa’id and Shu’ara’ al-Jahiliyyah).
Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bamba did not only contribute to the knowledge of Hadith through the Ta’alim sessions, he also contributed to it through authorship. Within the first three years after the commencement of the Sahih al Bukhari lessons, one of his very scholarly Hadith works was released was his Takhreej and Tahqeeq work on Imam al-Bukhari’s “Juz al-Qira’ah Khalf al-Imam.
For Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bamba, it was a life well spent. Thirty solid years of uninterrupted teaching of the Hadiths of the Prophet (s.a.w) was not just a monumental intellectual and scholarly contribution but evidence of true love of and for our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).
The death of our most honourable Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ibrahim Bamba is certainly a tragic loss to the world of knowledge and Da’awah.
Professor Salisu Shehu is the Vice Chancellor, Al-Istiqama University, Sumaila, Kano State
