On Thursday, it was rumoured that Muslim leaders order Ogbomoso Central Mosque locked, urging Muslims to observe Jumah service elsewhere. According to a source, some individuals are ganging against Sheikh Imam Talihat Oluwashina Yunus Ayilara to remove him as the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso.
In a statement signed on behalf of Ogbomoso Muslim Community, Ogbomoso Central Mosque, Ojagbo Ogbomoso by Alao Bashiru Olatunji, General Secretary and Chief Akintoye AbdusSalam Oola, Chairman on 13th October, 2023 debunks the announcement of the cancellation of Jumah Prayer.
The statement with the telephone numbers of officials mentioned above reads: “Debunking the announcement on the cancellation of Jumah Prayer
“I am writing on behalf of the Ogbomoso Muslim Community (OMC) to inform all the Muslim faithful in Ogbomoso and its environs that the Muslim Community is not aware of the recent announcement made by certain individuals regarding the cancellation of Jumah prayer.
“As a result of this, Jumah prayer will proceed as scheduled today, and we urge everyone to remain calm.
Mas Salam.”
However, Daily Post report noted that some Muslim leaders took the decision on Thursday due to the controversy surrounding the selection of the Chief Imam of the town, Sheikh Teliat Yinus Oluwasina Ayilara. “The leaders, therefore, urged Muslims in the community to observe the Jumat service in mosques close to their respective residences today pending the final determination of the matter,” the statement indicated. Meanwhile, Muslims in the town thronged the mosque to observe the Friday Jummat service. According to Daily Post the chief imam successfully led other Muslims to observe the Jummat service, despite the closure order by some Muslim leaders in the town.
In an article written by Bello, a social commentator based in Canada published by Business Day in February, 2023 titled,”Politics of Chief Imamship tussle in Ogbomoso,” said: to the consternation of all and sundry, what started as a miniscule altercation between the current Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land (Imam Taliat Yunus Ayilara) who claimed to have originated from Ayilara ancestral family house of (Oke Agbede) and the acclaimed Ayilara family who disputed his ancestry on one hand, and the faction of the league of him who believed that he does not merit the position base on consanguinity on the other hand, has exponentially festered and divided the Muslims community in Ogbomoso into two unequal groups.
- On one part, is the disgruntled vocal minority mainly made up of a fraction of Ayilara family members, sympathizers and members of league of Imam who feel offended by the Imam Taliat’s sermon of condemning their old practice of mixture of fetish knowledge with Islamic knowledge.
- Then, on the opposing side are the majority Muslims who believed that the Imam’s persistence sermons to the Muslims community to stop patronizing fetish Alfas (cleric or religious leader) who missed Islam with paganism infuriated the league of Imams who drew a battle line and promised to remove him willy-nilly since they are instrumental to his emergence.
“Therefore, this group being frustrated are up in cahoots with the section of Ayilara’s family to remove the Chief Imam either by hook or by crook, hence their last attempt to disrupt Jumat mosque which led to the arrest of some of the perpetrators,” the article explained. He noted that the two opposing groups in this saga, the conservative antagonists (that is those who believe that status quo of the ruling house must be maintained and respected in sequential order), and the liberal supporters of chief Imam (those who believe that Imam Taliat qualifies in all ramifications to continue as the chief Imam) have an argument something that appeal to mind if one dare listen to them respectfully.
