- Source: Muhammad Kamalud-Deen Al-Adaby
Muhammad Kamalud-Deen, also known as Alhaji Agba (1893–2005), was a prominent Islamic scholar and the founder of Azumratul Adabiyyah Al-Kamoliyyah, the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria, Muhammad Kamalud-deen College, and Muhammad Kamalud-deen University, Nigeria. Following his passing, he was succeeded by his son, Sofiyyullah Muhammad Kamalud-deen.
Early life
Muhammad Kamalud-Deen was born in 1893 to the Aragbaji family in the Okekere area of Ilorin Emirate, a historic neighborhood known for its association with Islamic scholarship and religious teaching, which helped shape Ilorin’s role as a center for Islamic learning in Nigeria.
He studied the Quran at an early age under Mallam Ahmod Tijani and Salahud-Deen, both of the Baba ita compound in Alore, Ilorin, and graduated in 1919. Shaykh Kamalud-deen continued his education under an Arabic scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Taju al-Adab. On March 28, 1920, Kamalud-deen was admitted to the Adabiyyah School of Shaykh Taju al-Adab. Under the guidance of his mentor, he began delivering public lectures, with his first lecture taking place in Ihumbo, Ogun State, Nigeria. His mentor, Shaykh Taju al-Adab, died in 1922.
Career
Shaykh Kamalud-Deen started his Da'wah after his teacher's death in 1922. He established his Arabic school in 1926 in Lagos, Nigeria. The Ilorin Branch was established in 1930. However, he began his reform activities in 1938 after returning from Hajj. Before this period, he followed the traditional method of teaching. He was the first person to introduce the use of benches, table, blackboard, a curriculum, uniforms, daily exercise and assemblies – pioneering these innovations in Southwest Nigeria. He also reduced the length of learning by organizing his pupils into classes, with promotional examinations conducted at the end of each terms. He introduced staging of Arabic dramas as part of extracurricular activities to enhance language acquisition among his student and promote Arabic education to the public.
Some of Sheikh Kamalud-Deen's notable students include Shaykh Yakub Alawo, Shaykh Sharafadeen, Shaykh Khidir Apaokagi (2nd Mufti of Ilorin), Olushola Saraki, Fatia Williams (former Chief Justice of Nigeria), Kamalud-deen Balogun (Mufti of Egbaland), Moshood Mahmood Jimba (Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Kwara State University), and A. Lateef Kamaludeen (Grand Khadi of Kwara State).
Achievements
Shaykh Kamalud-deen is credited as the pioneer of the modernization of Arabic and Islamic studies education in Southwest Nigeria. He founded the first voluntary Muslim organization in Northern Nigeria, the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria, in 1942.
In 1962, Shaykh Kamalud-deen visited Al-Azhar University in Cairo and reached an agreement with the university's authorities to establish a branch in Ilorin, Nigeria, known as Al-Mahad ad-Dīnī al-Azharī. The school began operations in 1963 as a branch of Al-Azhar University, with some of its tutors being Egyptian scholars sent by the Egyptian government.
In further efforts to advance higher education in Nigeria, the first phase of the university established by the Ansarul Islam Society was launched in Ilorin on January 19, 2003. In 2023, the university, named in honor of Shaykh Kamalud-deen, received official approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and began its academic activities.
Shaykh Kamalud-deen was also the Chairman of the Committee of the World Muslim League, overseeing the translation of the Quran into the Yoruba language in the early 1970s. He led the committee responsible for raising funds for the construction of the Ilorin Central Jumaat Mosque, which was completed and commissioned in 1981. He was appointed to the committee in 1974 after the initial one, established in 1964, had seen little progress.
Between 1958 and 1961, Shaykh Kamalud-deen served as a Councillor and a member of the Transition Committee of the Ilorin Native Authority, formed by the government of Northern Nigeria under Sir Ahmadu Bello. He contributed financially to infrastructure projects in the 1970s, including the Pakata-Omoda-Ita-Ogunbo-Oja-Oba road network and the Government Secondary School, Ballah. His support also extended to the construction of the Ilorin City Hall, where he was a guest speaker at fund-raising events and made significant donations.
Shaykh Kamalud-deen also had connections with several Nigerian leaders, including General Olusegun Obasanjo, General Murtala Mohammed, and Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He accompanied General Murtala Mohammed on the 1975 Hajj pilgrimage. Other notable figures who respected him include:Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Sultan Abubakar III, Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, Shaykh Junaid of Sokoto, and prominent Islamic scholars like Shaykh Nasir Kabara, Shaykh Abubakar Mahmood Gumi, and Shaykh Ahmad Lemu.
Legacy and honors
Shaykh Kamalud-Deen was awarded the MFR (1963) and OFR (1981) by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Kwara State Merit Award(1988), the ORSA(1992) award from Egyptian Government, and an honorary D.Litt.(1998) from University of Ilorin. In addition, the Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies(NATAIS) honored him with a "Fellowship in Islamic Studies, Nigeria" (FISN) in 2002, and the Emir of Ilorin conferred upon him the tittle of the first Grand Mufti of Ilorin in 2005, the highest honor ever bestowed upon an Islamic scholar in the Emirate.
