In few hours from now, my alma mater, the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, will be hosting the 196th Inaugural Lecture of the University, to be delivered by the respected doyen of Islamic law of banking and finance, Prof. AbdulRazzaq AbdulMajeed Alaro FIFP, MCIArb, CIAE, the current HOD of Islamic Law Department in the most-sought-after nation’s university. The lecture is titled; “Islamic Financial Services: The Interplay of Religion, Law and Corporate Social Responsibility.” I consider it necessary to write on a day like this on account of my constant interface with the department, in different capacities, for a period of one decade and still counting– even though I presently hold no official position in the said Department.
Today’s lecture is both historic and symbolic; it is historic for being the third inaugural lecture from the Department of Islamic Law, University of Ilorin. The first and second inaugural lectures were delivered by Professors Abduqadir Zubair and Abdurafiu Omotosho. The former is the first professor of Islamic law in the West African sub-region, while the latter is a household name in the twin field of Islamics and Islamic law in Nigeria. It is also symbolic for the reason that the first three inaugural lecturers of the department were products of both eastern and western education. They are alumni of the revered Islamic University of Medina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and at one time or the other, they had their post-graduate and/or professional studies in Western-oriented higher institutions of learning either at home or abroad.
I have been privileged to have learnt from a number of highly cerebral scholars in the academia, right from my LASU days up till the present moment. In the process, I have found the issue of balancing between classical and contemporary Islamic scholarships to be a recurring phenomenon among academics in the field of Islamics and Islamic law – to which I belong as a matter of academic qualifications and practice. Three different groups of scholars have emerged in this regard. The first group possess sound knowledge in classical Islamic scholarship while their knowledge of contemporary Islamic scholarship as it applies to Muslims and Muslim societies requires some improvements. Scholars who belong to this group are a reflection of the scholarship orientation of those who studied Shari‘ah in the Middle East or North Africa, where Arabic is the medium of instruction.
The second group are scholars who are academically sound in the latter while the need to improve on the former has been noted. Some scholars who studied Islamic law in western-oriented universities where English is the medium of instruction and with an average Arabic/Shari‘ah background, belong to this group. The third group are scholars who successfully combined both scholarship orientations with background in eastern or western education. They are scholars with sound Arabic/Shari‘ah background sufficient for Islamic legal scholarship, regardless of whether they possessed the Arabic or Shari‘ah knowledge at home or abroad. The inaugural lecturer of today belongs to this group.
Without attempting to dignify the witless emissions of people who put a question mark on Alaro’s scholarship, yours sincerely considers an occasion like today’s event to be an opportunity to rehearse Alaro’s intimidating profile. Some mischievous elements, sadly within Nigeria and more unfortunately within Ilorin –the city Alaro cherishes so much and revers as his cradle– have found a hobby in badmouthing Alaro’s scholarship and arbitrarily calling for the withdraw of his professorial title!! The majority of those involved in this unholy practice are people whose penchant for raising controversial issues, is sine qua non in the Da‘wah space of Yorubaland. For the umpteenth time, yours sincerely is categorically saying that Alaro’s scholarship is not open to debate!!
Having earned his first degree in Shari‘ah, his Master and Doctorate degrees in Islamic theology, all with a first class from the renowned Islamic University of Medina, Alaro had a stint at the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Glorious Qur’an as a researcher/ translator, where he completed a number of research works. Prior to this time, he had co-reviewed the Yoruba translation of the Glorious Qur’an, with Dr. Ibrahim Abdulbaqi Muhammad (May Allah have mercy on him), as a Master student at the Islamic University, which project was completed in 1997. After his Ph.D in 2002, the thought of coming back home pre-occupied his mind, but this didn’t materialize until 2008 when he joined the services of the University of Ilorin, as a Senior Lecturer, at the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin. It was a unique opportunity for the University to tap into his rich academic profile and international exposure, after all the beauty of a university lies in the caliber of its researchers.
Realizing the need to obtain further post-graduate and professional certificate in law in good time, and in accordance with the extant law on legal education in Nigeria, Dr. Alaro swung into action to attend Bar I and Bar II vocational training programme at the University of Abuja and Nigerian Law School, which saw him to be admitted into the Nigerian Bar as Barrister and Solicitor of Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2016. Earlier, he earned his LL.M and Ph.D, specializing in Islamic Law of Banking and Finance, from Omdurman University, Sudan, in 2006 and 2013 respectively. Both his dissertation and thesis were recommended for publication by the panel of examiners. I once had a rare opportunity to read through some pages of the voluminous theses, during my frequent use of his personal library at As Sunnah Academy of Da‘wah and Research, Ilorin, between first and second quarters in 2019.
I have also listened to his presentations both in Arabic and English on several issues, from theological discourse, Shari‘ah, law, to finance, religion and whatnots, and could only conclude that he is a repository of both classical and contemporary Shariah-legal scholarship. The period within which he acquired both substantive and procedural legal knowledge expected of a law teacher in common law jurisdiction, still remains a puzzle to many and a serious headache for ill-wishers in Yorubaland. It is therefore not surprising to see that his sterling achievements have become a nightmare and source of worry to some ‘forces’ who have finally –and without being ashamed of it- resorted to inglorious act of detraction and labeling.The same scholarly feats, however, is the reason he was feted in 2017 by his alma mater, the Islamic University, Medina, along side other worthy ambassadors of the institution, as “worthy alumni”. There were only two Africans on the list; Prof. Alaro and Mufti Menk of Zimbabwe.
On the legal research plane, Prof. Alaro had written widely in both local and international reputable journals. As at 2017, when he was appointed a Professor at the University of Ilorin, the respected don has written well-researched original learned articles in Arabic and English in reputable academic outlets within and outside Nigeria. He has also attended learned conferences in Europe, Asia and Africa. He is a Shari‘ah Advisor, Consultant and Accredited Arbitrator on Islamic Banking and Finance; Head, Committee on Research, Studies and Translation of the Union of African Muslim Scholars, Bamako, Mali; Member, Advisory Council of Experts, Non-Interest (Islamic) Banking, Central Bank of Nigeria; and Member, Takaful Advisory Council, National Insurance Commission. He is also a member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom, Fellow, Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals and scholar-participant at the International Shariah Scholars Forum of the International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA), Malaysia. This is not to mention long list of awards and recognitions, both at home and abroad. How many teeth do we count in Adipele’s multi-layered dentition?!
Where a person parades intimidating credentials like this, he is usually extolled in the Arabic parlance with the saying: “laqad at‘aba man qablahu wa a‘jaza man ba‘dahu” (he has overburdened scholars before him and incapacitated others coming after him). This is true of our teacher and mentor, Professor AbdulRazzaq AbdulMajeed Alaro. It is only people who know next to nothing in matters of academic scholarship that would make a careless remark about the scholarship worth of a thorough-bred university professor!!
As you deliver today’s inaugural lecture sir, I wish you more of Allah’s guidance in your post professorial years. On behalf of myself and Al Idrisi Hub for Studies and Translations, I want to specially congratulate you sir. May the Almighty Allah accept your efforts as genuine acts of worship. Aameen.
Idris Alao, Esq. is the Chief Operating Officer, Al Idrisi Hub for Studies and Translations.
