Open Letter to Professor Isa Ali Pantami

Open Letter to Professor Isa Ali Pantami

Ya Shiekh,

I love you for the sake of Allah. And I praise Allah the most exalted any time I witness the display of your uncommon erudition in the realm of islamic knowledge and your almost perfect memory and effortless recall of Quranic and other references in a fashion that is inarguably uncommon. I also commend your performance as a public servant during your stint as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. You are indeed a testament of Allah’s grace and divine benefaction. Tabarakallah!

I have been an ardent supporter of your person, an admirer of your evolution as an Islamic cleric and an advocate of your espousal of a rather diverse worldview in your dispositions. I have sticked my neck out in your issues to the extent that I was labeled a terrorist sympathizer solely because I recognize the significance of your proven efforts against terrorism and extremism as a departure from any past verbal validation of their methods implied otherwise.

I love your book whose title has been described by Aliyu Dahiru Aliyu as the most misunderstood in the 21st century. I feel it communicates and emphasizes the imperative of honing one’s skills to complement academic qualifications thereby enhancing personal and community value. This is a fair call, as ‘skill’ here encompasses a spectrum of capabilities, in both soft and hard dimensions.

However, Sheikh, I must admit my struggle to support you amidst the ongoing controversy that your publications have raised regarding your professorship’s legitimacy and the moral consistency of the process of its acquisition with the higher values you represent.

And Ya Shiekh, believe me when I say I want to support you but I have not been able to reconcile this dilemma of a situation in a way that invariably convinces me of your rightness.

This has become the bane of your professional life Ya Shiekh. And while we might argue in favor of separating the scholar from his scholarship in the spirit of academic culture, it becomes hard when we consider the fact that reputation forms the foundation upon which one’s actions are judged.

Your books are products of your professional and academic credentials. And unfortunately, these credentials are subject to mass scrutiny by the very constituency and platform you seek to identify with. This situation complicates the task of defending your contributions. It also makes it arduous to shield your works from these unfavorable perceptions and to criticize those who cannot adhere to the “message, not the messenger” principle, especially when they argue that the message seemingly seeks to validate the messenger’s contentious professional standing.

Ya Shiekh, Allah has blessed you beyond measure. He has bestowed upon you erudition in matters that He exclusively holds the prerogative of acceptance and validation. Masha Allah!

As for worldly titles that inherently require worldly validations, Ya Shiekh, it may be prudent to strive towards substantively proving the procedural and moral integrity of the process that led to the acquisition of the title that has sparked this outrage within the very constituency that holds the prerogative of validating such titles vis-a-vis the process or simply relinquish it until it can be rightfully earned through established processes and recognized channels that will be insulated from scrutiny.

For that is the only way to unravel this seeming moral contradiction and castigation from the academic and public quarters.

Your Habibi Fisablillah,

Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim

Author, Pantami Is A National Benefactor