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Minister Dr. Isa Patami”s Salafi Movement

By Elempe Dele
WHEN the news first broke out early this week about Dr. Isa Patami’s ties with fundamentalist Islamic groups in Nigeria, especially Boko Haram, and that he was under America watchlist, hell was let loose. He threatened to sue the paper that published which resulted in the paper retracting its publication. Now, new information has been discovered with authentic speech recordings of his ties and sympathy for Boko Haram.
First, the Islamic University of Medina (IUM) is globally recognised as a cesspool for Salafist Islamic terror recruitment. While it does not itself teach or openly condone terror, it is the undisputed global headquarters of Salafist fundamentalism.
The second reason that we should be very interested in Pantami’s undisclosed sojourn within the world of Islamic education is that according to multiple sources, he studied the teachings of hardline Salafist scholars including Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Uthaymeen. For those who do not know Sheikh Al-Uthaymeen, a man described as a “Giant of the Salafi movement.”
Let’s understand what the Salafi is first. The Saladfi movement also called the Salafiyya movement is a conservative revivalist and reform branch movement within Sunni Islam. The name derives from advocating a return to the traditions of the “ancestors” (salaf), the first three generations of Muslims said to know the unadulterated, pure form of Islam. Those generations include the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions (the Sahabah), their successors (the Tabi‘un) and the successors of the successors (the Taba Tabi‘in). Salafis consider the Quran, the Sunnah and the consensus of the Salaf as the primary Islamic sources and maintain that Muslims should give precedence to these sources over the rest of the latter-day (Khalaf) Islamic hermeneutics. Taking inspiration from the 18th-century Islamic reformers, the movement emerged during the 19th century in various parts of the Islamic World and also sought to challenge European imperialism. By the 21st century, Salafi teachings and ideas have become mainstream that many modern Muslims, even those who do not self-identify as Salafi, have adopted various aspects of Salafism.
Academics and historians have used the term “Salafism” to denote “a school of thought which surfaced in the second half of the 19th century as a reaction to the spread of European ideas” and sought to address them throughout the Islamic World. Various Salafiyya reform movements exist across the Islamic World such as Ahl-i-Hadith in subcontinent and Afghanistan, Najdi da’wa in Arabian Peninsula, (also referred to as “Wahhabism”), Muhammadiyya in South East Asia, Mujahid Movement(Kerala), Sailaifengye (China), etc with indigenous cultural diversities united by a common Manhaj (methodology) known as the “Salafi Manhaj”. Contemporary Salafis look up to Ibn Taymiyyah and his disciples such as Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Kathir, etc as important classical scholarly figures. Prominent figures in the movement include Muhammad Rasheed Rida, Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen, Rabee al-Madkhali, Abdul Azeez Ibn Baaz, Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi’i, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani and Saleh Al-Fawzan.
Salafis consider the hadith that quotes Muhammad saying, “The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them.” as a call to Muslims to follow the example of those first three generations, known collectively as the salaf, or “pious Predecessors” as-Salaf as-Ṣāliḥ. The salaf is believed to include Muhammad himself, the “Companions” (Sahabah), the “Followers” (Tabi‘un), and the “Followers of the Followers” (Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in).
Views on violence
In recent years, the Salafi methodology has been associated with the jihad of extremist groups that advocate the killing of innocent civilians. The European Parliament, in a report commissioned in 2013, claimed that Wahhabi and Salafi groups are involved, mainly via Saudi charities, in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world. Some Salafi scholars appear to support violent extremism. The Egyptian Salafi cleric Mahmoud Shaaban “appeared on a religious television channel calling for the deaths of main opposition figures Mohammed ElBaradei – a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi”.
Researcher Anabel Inge stated:
“I found no evidence of so-called brainwashing. On the contrary, I found that the Salafi conversion process was largely intellectual, rather than based on social or other pressures.”
Prominent Salafi ulema have condemned the use of violence. The Saudi scholar Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen condemned suicide bombings, ruling that it “necessitates entry into Hell-Fire” rather than martyrdom. Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz and Albani also condemned suicide bombings. Scholar Abdul Muhsin al-Abbad wrote a treatise entitled: According to which intellect and Religion is Suicide bombings and destruction considered Jihad?. Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani stated: “History repeats itself. Everybody claims that the Prophet is their role model. Our Prophet spent the first half of his message making dawah, and he did not start it with jihad”.
In his treatise “Warning Against the Fitna of Takfir”, Al-Albani condemned the Takfiris for their methodology of excommunicating sinful Muslims as well their double standards. Refuting the extremists, Albani pleaded:
“.. it is not possible for you to make a judgment upon every ruler who rules with the Western laws of unbelief or with even some of them. … Then, if we look to the people who are ruled – and from amongst them there are the scholars, the righteous, etc. – how can you then pass judgment upon them with disbelief just because you see them living under the these laws… ?.. Sadly, we are being tested with the occupation of Palestine by the Jews. What can you and we possibly do about it? Is it really important to stand up, alone, against those rulers whom you claim and consider to be disbelievers?.. If only you had left this issue alone, and started laying down the foundation for the structure… This structure is following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and this is how he educated his companions. … Establish the Islamic state in your heart, it will then be established for you on earth.”
His staunch stance against extremism and Khariji tendencies made Albani a victim of organizational boycotts by Qutbist radicals.
Some other Islamic groups, particularly some Sufis, have also complained about extremism among some Salafi. It has been noted that the Western association of Salafi ideology with violence stems from writings “through the prism of security studies” that were published in the late 20th century and that continue to persist.
The irrefutable evidence of Isa Pantami’s own pronouncements, hitherto hidden behind what he considered to be the veil of the Hausa and Arabic language tells a very clear story about exactly who Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is, and what his existential goals are. It is no longer a conspiracy theory. There is now hard evidence.
At this point, the only course of action left is for President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly and unceremoniously fire Dr Pantami from his sensitive job where he sits on the National Executive Council and has access to the personal data of tens of millions of Nigerians. Nigeria can definitely do better than have an openly self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda sympathiser as its Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

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