Alhaji Yusuf Adebayo Ibrahim, the national vice president, Ansar Ud Deen Society of Nigeria which comprises the 19 Northern States and FCT in this interview with TAOFEEK LAWAL talked on the role his organisation has played in propagating Islamic and western education and advised Islamic organisations to live up to their responsibilities by helping those in need.When was Ansar Ur Deen founded and what are your core objectives'Ansar ur Deen Society of Nigeria was founded over 90 years ago in Lagos and our aim is to propagate Islam and western education. During the year under review, Ansar Ur Deen had schools in all the states of the federation including the FCT. We are trying to contribute our own quota in those states and the development of the country at large. By and large, we have contributed immensely in training millions of people both in Islamic and western education. We discover that inasmuch as we have schools, we also have mosques and in each of the mosques, five daily prayers are conducted in them and Jumat congregation prayer every Friday. Everybody comes for Jumat and the Imam will make sure that he delivers sermons that touch the lives of those in attendance. In the structure of Ansar Ur Deen, we have the national headquarters, the state headquarters but I will restrict this interview to the council under me. I am the vice president, Northern States council from Omu-Aran in Kwara State to Maiduguri in Borno State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. We have many branches in all the states. In Kwara, we have in Ilorin, Ipe, Omu-Aran, Erin Ile and so on. In Niger, there are branches in Birnin Gwari, Lapai, Mokwa, Kotangora, Bida. In FCT here, we have branches in Abuja main, Bwari, Gwarinpa, Gwagwa, Dutse Alhaji, these are some of the branches I will mention because of space. We have branches in all the state capitals and in area councils in the FCT. Each of these branches virtually has schools and mosques except the new branches. So, you will discover that we are contributing religiously and to the educational development of the states where we have our branches. It will also interest you to know that these projects are not funded by government but by our members through their contributions. For you to become a member, you must pay a token and monthly subscription and that is the money we put together to finance our projects. And once you become a branch, it is incumbent and mandatory for you to have a mosque. It is in that mosque that you will be doing your weekly asalat (devotion and prayer). We do weekly asalat and it depends on the area. While some have their own on Saturdays, others fix theirs on Sundays. It is mandatory and you must observe Islamic obligations and injunctions and lectures. In the mosque, you must do Maulud Nabiyy (birth of Prophet Mohammed), the Eid-el-Fitri (breaking of fast prayer) and Eid-el-Adha (Big Sallah). We do all these things to raise funds and to propagate Islam. If all Islamic organisations could wake up and do what we are doing, everybody will have a sense of belonging. We started with primary schools, secondary schools, we also have a college of education and now a university, Summit University in Offa, Kwara State. All these are funded by our members with no government contribution. If all Islamic organisations could wake up, we would be able to eradicate poverty and illiteracy in our communities. All organisations should copy what we are doing. The schools take care of the education aspect while the mosques or the Islamiyyah (Arabic and Islamic centres) take care of the Islamic education. So, it means that after your primary school, you go to secondary and after, you proceed to the college of education or the university. With this, we have been able to reduce social menace in the society like Boko Haram and begging will be eradicated too. An idle man, you know, is the devils tool and can do a lot of negative things.Are you saying that government should hands-off funding of education because your society is a self-funded organisation taking care of the needs of its members'We are not saying that government should hands-off education, ours is just to complement what government is doing. Everybody has come to realise now that government cannot do everything, it is not possible. If religious leaders should live up to their responsibilities, things would go very well for all of us. Look at the investment summit in Kaduna on Wednesday (KADINVEST), the Emir of Kano and the Sultan of Sokoto called on all Islamic organisations to wake up to their responsibilities. It goes beyond your family and you should extend whatever you have to others who are in need. Our primary schools are free and it is in the secondary schools that you pay a token. A lot of people want to go to school but because of funding, many of them cannot attend government schools. According to Islamic injunctions, our duty is to train every Muslim to become a better human being and not to become beggars or extremists.You just spoke on the KADINVEST where two frontline religious leaders from the north passed a very important message to the Ummah on the importance on education. On your own part, what message do you have for wealthy Muslims out there who can sponsor the diligent and poor Muslims'My message to Muslims is that we should look beyond our families and extend our assistance to those who need it. We must be our brothers keeper and that is what Almighty Allah has commanded us to do, that we should be nice to our neighbours whether they are Muslim or not. What bonds us is the brotherhood we all belong to irrespective of your status or background in the society. Extend your blessing to the less privileged so that they can acquire better education so that Islam and Muslims will not be relegated to the background. If you look at it, we are in the majority, but when it comes to education, we are behind. We should be able to balance Islamic and western education.How do we balance it'We already know there is poverty in the land. We should give to charity and ask Muslims to pay their zakat (1/20 of their earnings monthly). Once you pay your zakat, those who are in dire need of assistance will get it as at when due. If we perform our duties as Muslims, poverty in the society will reduce drastically. If God blesses you and you extend your hand of fellowship to those who need it, you are invariably eradicating poverty in the society.What role do you think the religious leaders should play in this aspect'First and foremost, our religious leaders must be honest because most of them are not honest. Some collect the zakat but they dont disburse it the way Allah has commanded us to do it. People who want to pay zakat should look for reputable organisations to disburse their zakat to get to those who really need it. If we do this, we will be able to complement governments effort and at the same time reduce poverty and increase productivity in the country.What role is Ansar Ur Deen playing in the Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the country'We have it in mind but apart from this, we have always woken up to our responsibilities by feeding Muslims during the month of Ramadan in our mosques. Every Muslim goes to these mosques to break their fasts. God willing this year, plans are on to visit the IDPs camps to put smiles on their faces and it doesnt not matter whether they are Muslims or Christians, all we are concerned about is to put smiles on the faces of those in need. All of us are creatures of Allah, whether Muslims or Christians.
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