TRIBUTE ON SAYYIDA BILQIS NIASSE
By:
HON. JUSTICE MUSA IBRAHIM OHU
(Hon. Qadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Lokoja)
Sayyida Bilqis, the only Nigerian wife of Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass. She passed on on Saturday 15th April, 2017, at Abuja after a brief illness. The death occurred as the preparation for Moulud of Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass, which she initiated in Okene was at its peak.
According to reports, she was born on 31st December, 1939. She was nobility exemplified. She was the daughter of the first Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sheikh Abdul Malik, who was a highly revered Prince and the son of first Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Attah Ibrahim Onoruoiza. The mother of Sayyida Bilqis was Hajia Amina. Sayyida Bilqis married to Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass in 1954. She was extremely loved by her father which gesture she reciprocated by total submission to his wills and commands.
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| Alhaji Abdul-Malik (First Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom & Father of Seidah Bilqis) |
By my perusal and knowledge of Sayyida Bilqis, she was very humble, caring and loving. She tried all her life to be in the shade of her husband, Shaikh Ibrahim Nyass. She would do anything enjoined by Sheikh and abandon anything distasted by Shaikh no matter how alluring it might be.
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| Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse, Seidah Bilqis and her Father (Alhaji Abdul-Malik) |
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| Alhaji Abdul-Malik, Saida Bilqis & Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse |
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| Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse & Abdul-Malik's father (Alhaji Ibrahim Onoruoiza, the first traditional head of Ebira land, Atta of Ebira land in Kogi State (Nigeria)) |
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| Seidah Bilqis, Imam Hassan Cisse and her step-sons (Shaikh Baba-Lameen and Shaikh Makki Niasse) |
🌺 وهب لي وهب عبد المليك مراده##
لدى حضرة الربّ المليك ولا تخزي
And fulfill my need and the need of Abdul Malik ##
(By) the pre-eminence of the Lord of Maleek and do not dishonor (him)
🌺 وتكسوه في الفردوس بالسندس الذي##
يباهي به أبهى وألين من خزّ
And clothe him in Firdaws with fine brocade which ##
Is ennobling and flamboyant, that eases (his) pain
🌺 وكنْ حصنه عمّا يخاف وكنْ له##
كذا لإبنه مشهود من غير ما ميزِ
And be as his safeguard against what he fears and be (there) for him ##
Just like his son, Mashood, without any discrimination
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| Sayyida Amina with her children (Saidi Mashood & Sayyida Bilqis) |
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She (Saida Bilqis) was a true answer to the prayers of Shaikh that:
*كذا بنته بلقيس تحيا كريمة*
*بأولادها من دون خدش ولا وخز*
“…just like his daughter Bilqis, (make her) live in honour (and dignity), with her children without any scratch nor any prickle (physically and morally sound)”.
Sayyida Bilqis cherished long time relationship and was very appreciative of sincere loyalty. She would always appreciate my late father’s loyalty to her, for which reason, she was close to my family and identified with us in our moments of grief and happiness. She personally visited our family when my father died in August 1998 and when I lost my mum in August 2012. She visited my home in Lokoja twice on the occasion of my Mum’s death and after I built a new house in Lokoja. Her humility was unequalled.
Sayyida was an amiable and likable personality to be around with. She will tell you her life experience with Shaikh Ibrahim Nyass and her relationship with her co-wives in Madina Kaulaq. I remember in one of her visits to Lokoja some months before her demise, I visited her at Papinda Hotel and expressed to her the need to put some of her narrations in Video and Audio cassette for posterity, a proposal to which she absolutely agreed, which was not achievable before her sudden demise.
She was the spiritual leader of the Tariqah in Ebira land and Nigeria as a whole. She exercised the character of a true leader in the way she settles disputes and her penchant to speak the truth not minding whose ox is gourd. She was very forthright, blunt and spoke truth to power.
She was a true mother of all, irrespective of individual religious or sectarian belief. She was an icon of our time. The like of Sayyida Bilqis would be difficult to be found in many distant years. She was Nobility married to Nobility and lived a great and noble life.
Sayyida was a woman, who in my opinion, when great women of history like, Fatima bint Rassulullah, Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet, Asiya, the wife of fir’aun, Rabbiyatul Adawi, Asmau Bint Usman bin fodio and the likes are mentioned. Her demise was a tragedy for not only Ebira land and Kogi State, but to Nigeria and the whole world.
Sayyida Bilqis was always at home with everybody. She was jovial and accommodating. From the totality of the information I gathered from her disciples and some of her children, she was always ready to put her loyalty aside and come to the level of anybody and identify with you.
One other amazing thing about Sayyida Bilqis was her intelligence and deep understanding of issues. She would relay events that happened during the life time of Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass with precision, correctly noting the dates and times when such occurrences happened. Sayyida was proud of her background as an Ebira woman, even when living with Sheikh in Kaloaq. Nonetheless, she imbibed some Senegalese Culture in the way she dressed and her fluency in Wolof language.
In conclusion, the demise of Sayyida Bilqis, the beloved and only wife of Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass in Nigeria was a calamitous and irreparable loss not only to the people of Ebira land and Kogi State, but to the whole Nigeria and the world. She would be greatly missed especially in the area of the Annual Moulud which she initiated solely for the demonstration of her love for her Husband and the expansion of Islam in Ebira land. This particular venture has brought commercial relevance to Ebira land and greatly enriched many who looked forward to this religious carnival every year.
Sayyida will also be missed in the area of annual trip to Senegal for Moulud Nabiyy which she made easy for the down trodden, to the extent that with the payment of a maximum fee of N50,000, an intending visitor to Senegal can accomplish his desire. Only Allah can thank and reward this hero of our time, Sayyida Bilqis Nyass (RTA).
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| Hajiya Amina (Wife of Alhaji AbdulMalik and Mother of Seidah Bilqis) |
The remains of Sayyida Bilqis Ibrahim Niass was buried on Sunday 16th April 2017, in Okene local government of Kogi State.
May Allah grant her Aljanatil Firdaus…Ameen!
SUFI BOOKS BY/ON SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASSE AND THE TIJANI TARIQA (AVAILABLE FOR SALE)
1. Vessel of Spiritual Flood, Translation of Goran Faydah by Shaykh Balarabe Haroon Jega - (Translated by Khalifah Awwal Baba Taofiq)
2. Rihlat Konakriyah (A trip to Conakry), Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse - (Translated by Khalifah Awwal Baba Taofiq)
3. Shariah and Haqeeqah: In the Light of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions (Compiled by Khalifah Awwal Baba Taofiq)
4. The Icon of Mystics: Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kawlakhy (Compiled by Khalifah Awwal Baba Taofiq)
5. Dala'ilu l khairat of Shaikh Sulaiman Jazuli (Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Imam Marooph Raji)
6. Hizbu Sayfi & Hizbul Mughni (Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Imam Marooph Raji)
7. Hizbul Bahri (Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Imam Marooph Raji)
8. Kano Conferences (Majlis Kano) and the khutba titled (Hadiqat al-Anwar fii ma ihtawa alayhi qawaaid al-Islam minal hikam wal asrar) - (Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)
9. Katsina and Kaduna Conferences (Jadhbul ahbab ila hadrat Rabbil arbab) and Mecca Conference - (Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)
10. A Brief Biography of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibrahim Niasse (Compiled by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)
11. Risalat at-Tawbah (Epistle of Repentance) of Shaykh Ibrahim Niyass al-Kawlakhi" – (Translation & Commentary by Dr. Razzaq Solagberu)
12. Islamic Law of Inheritance, by Sayyid Ali ibn Abubakar al-Muthanna ibn Abdullah Niasse (Translated by Dr. Sulaiman Shittu)
13. Muassasah Nasr al-'ilm Int. (AAII) Magazines No. 13, 14 & 15 (with Articles like Outline of Life of Sufi Heros & Heroines like Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse, Shaikh Abdus-Salam Oniwiridi Pakata, Shaikh Muhammad Bello Eleha, Shaikh Ahmad Rufa'i Nda Salati, and others...this magazines also features other interesting Articles).
14. Numerous “English” Sufism & Tijaniyyah Tariqah E-books/Journals/Articles (soft copies - to be sent via email)
15. Numerous “Arabic” Sufism & Tijaniyyah Tariqah E-books/Journals/Articles (soft copies - to be sent via email)
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