Clerics condemn feud over Osun mosque’s Imam selection

Islamic clerics have condemned the recent squabble among a group of imams in Inisa town, in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun state, leading to the death of two of the five contenders for the community’s Central Mosque Imam.

In a live video done on Facebook by the Grand Mufti of Yorubaland, Sheik Dawood Molaasan, on the controversy on Tuesday, he narrated how the imam crisis began in 2020, leading to the shutdown of the mosque.

The revered Islamic cleric stated that the squabble divided the community’s Islamic groups (sects), adding that it got really escalated because the king, Olunisa of Inisa, Oba Joseph Oladunjoye Oyedele (JP) Fasikun II, allegedly had a favourite for the position despite being a Christian.

“Islamic philanthropists and Aare Musulumi (Muslim head) in Inisa all agreed to select someone with relevant Islamic knowledge, but the king wanted a different person who was not versatile and had a pending case in court.

“The league of Inisa’s Islamic clerics chose someone who had his Arabic education in Saudi Arabia and had been Imam in Canada and Osogbo for over 20 years. Although the person did not seek to be the Imam of the Central Mosque, the clerics visited him and beckoned him to be the overseer of the mosque.

“The king’s favourite is lower in rank to become Imam. And it is not done that way anywhere in the world,” he said.

Molaasan further called out the king to agitate for an examination between the two contenders to see who was more capable of being the imam of the said mosque.

“This is not something the League of Imams will be voting for. It is the practice laid down by Prophet Mohammad (SAW), which entails appointing someone with a good knowledge of Islam.

“The two contenders should be invited and asked to sit for a competence exam.

He also appealed to the Osun State Government to appoint someone who would be leading the community in prayer tentatively while the selection of the new Imam is done.

Reacting, another Imam from Ilorin, Sheikh Hamad Labeeb, in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by one Hakeem, vehemently disapproved of the locking of the mosque over the feud, noting that the matter should have been handled diplomatically.

“How can a personal interest supersede the worship of Allah that two people out of the five? On Friday, I will be leading the Jumat prayer to oppose the ‘pray and die’ written on the wall of the mosque,” he added.

In his reaction, the President of the League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Jamiu Bello, represented by Sheikh Iskeel Lawal, said that the mosque was locked on the order of the court and not by Muslim elders in the community.

He noted that the state’s governor, Ademola Adeleke, is the only one who can solve the lingering Imam crisis in the community, adding, “The Islamic scholars should continue to push for an end to the issue so that the community can begin praying there.”

Recall that in 2021, the Osun State Government shut the mosque following a report of loss of lives over a disagreement on who emerged as the new Chief Imam of the town.

However, a statement signed by the then Deputy Chief of Staff to the state Governor, Mr Abdullahi Binuyo, disclosed that the state government decided to reopen the mosque after a peaceful resolution of the crisis that bedeviled the community.

The statement reads, “The Government of the State of Osun wishes to announce its decision to reopen the Inisha Town Central Mosque, following the ongoing peaceful resolution of the crisis that plagued the community.

“The government had ordered an indefinite closure of the Mosque to prevent the possibilities of an intra-religious or communal crisis trailing the inability to choose its substantive Imam.

“But with this new directive, worshippers can now congregate at the Mosque for their Juma’at and Eid prayers.

“The government hopes that the community will justify the confidence reposed in it, to allow peace to continue to reign,” he said.