Dr. Suleiman Muhammad Adam has emerged the substantive Chief Imam of Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna.
He scored the highest mark in an examination organised by the Zazzau Emirate for potential Imams of the mosque.
The development followed a crisis that erupted at the Mosque with the appointment of the Secretary General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu as the interim Imam of the mosque by the JNI.
Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Gummi had insisted then that Dr. Khalid Aliyu was not the choice of the people and faulted the manner he was appointed.
Dr. Suleiman Adam who was a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies at the Kaduna State University (KASU) before his appointment as Imam of the mosque, was turbaned yesterday by the Emir of Zazzau at his palace in Zaria.
A copy of a JNI letter signed by the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris quoted the President General of the JNI, Sultan Saad Abubakar as having approved Dr. Suleiman’s appointment with immediate effect and instructed Dr. Suleiman to start leading the Jumaat prayers this Friday, January 6, 2017.
A breakdown of the scores of the interviews shows that Aliyu Al-Hafiz scored 52%, Dr. Lawal Abdullahi 78.7%, Abubakar Sani 78.7%, Dr. Ahmad Jafar 74.7%, Umar Osamat 55.3%, Aminu Abdullahi Yusuf 54.7%, Mohammed Zakariyau 48%, Aminu Yusuf Abdullahi 62.7%, Usman Ahmed 68%, Sa’idu Abubakar 60%, Dr. Suleiman Muhammad Adam 80% and Hussain Zakariya Yawale 60%.
As a result of the security threat the crisis at the mosque caused, Governor Nasir El-Rufai waded into the crisis by summoning a meeting in October 2016 at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House with the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, Sheikh Dr Ahmad Gumi, Dr. Khalid Aliyu, representatives of the JNI and the Sultan Bello Mosque Committee as well as security chiefs in attendance.
It was said that the governor at the meeting suggested that the Zazzau Emirate who oversee’s the selection of Imams in the state nominated six persons, the JNI as stakeholders in that regard to nominate three people, the mosque committee and Sheikh Gumi school representing late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi institute to nominate three persons each while the Kaduna State Government appointed the secretary of the committee.
The new Chief Imam is a holder of two PhDs in Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) and Arabic language. He also has a Master’s degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, and Bachelor of Arts (LLB), degree in Sharia Law. He studied in Madina, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Nigeria.
Dr. Suleiman was born on 14th June, 1962.
