Sheikh Abdulraheem Oniwasi Agbaye - Ikokoro

Sheikh Oniwasi Agbaye- ISUNMO OLOUN

The erudite scholar, Shaikh Alhajj Abdur-Raheem Ameenullah Al-Adabiyy, Abata, was born in the year 1921 into a learned Muslim family of intellectuals and teachers. His father, Sheikh Ameenullahi Al-Adabiyy, was initially a bosom friend and companion to the eminent Sheikh Tajul-Adab and later became an accompanying student to him. He, the father of the deceased scholar, Shaikh Ameenullahi, also learnt the fundamentals of Islamic Religion from the Eminent Sheikh Tajul-Adab until he became (Ajanasi) spokesman to the Shaikh during his preachings. His mother, Ruqayyah and his grand mother, Bilqees, were learned Muslim women scholars in Qur’anic education. The second of the two mothers, Alhajja Bilqees, was a highly productive Islamic educationist resident in a building which later became known as “ILE IYA KEWU” (The House of the Mother of Islamic Knowledge). His father’s family house was known as Alawuyan which descended from Alawuyan Village, one of the administrative provinces / districts in Ilorin.
Shaikh started his early education from the lowest elementary Qur’anic School of his father and, thereafter, proceeded to Shaikh Muhammad Kamalud-deen Al-Adabiyy (May Allah’s choicest blessings be rained upon them all). Under the tutelage of Shaikh Kamalud-deen where he was given access to drink from the fountain of Arabic and Islamic Knowledge together with its teachings in an interactive way, including some of the students of Shaikh Muhammad Kamalud-deen Al-Adabiyy such as Shaikh Alabi Onikijipa and Sheikh Khidr Salahud-deen, the present Mufti, and others, just as he benefited from different scholars of Al-Azhar who came as delegates to Ilorin Al-Azhar Islamic Institute of Ansarul-Islam Society of Nigeria, among whom were Shaikh Ad-Danasuri as well as from his educational services to them.
Shaikh was talented with prodigious and extraordinary educational refinement in Arabic and Islamic Religious knowledge to the level that bewildered and astonished other contemporary scholars of his, despite the fact that he was not trained in any of the Arab countries. Consequently, he became enamoured and infatuated with research and facts finding and therefore got addicted to or obsessed with many books of Arabic language and literature, even in his special private hours. He was also filled with brilliant reasoning and uncommon sagacity; just as sufficient reserve (of knowledge) of English (western) civilization was deposited in him. Whosoever listened to his lectures and sermons would bear testimony to all of this, when he would instantaneously translate simultaneously some Arabic words into English and vice – versa. He was indeed an encyclopedia of the knowledge of Science and Art to the extent that the Eminent Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilori (May the blessings of Allah be upon him) described him in his well-edited book, LAMAHATUL-BALLUR”, as “the translator”. Shaykh Abdulrahim Oniwasiagbaye

Shaikh was always in love with quoting sound and clean poetry in teaching his students and patronisers of his lectures and sermons in addition to his love in quoting some Qur’anic verses and prophetic traditions to buttress and substantiate his claims at his various lectures at different occasions. This is in accordance with the saying of Sayyidina Umar Ibn al-Khattah that: “Teach your children good poetry to reform their behaviour”. To this end, Shaikh (May Allah be pleased with him) had reasonable lines of poetry he composed to which he was naturally disposed at different fora.

Fadilak Sheik Abdulraheem Oniwasiagbaye

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