By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
The Minister of Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami has traced the history of university establishment with the revelation that the first two universities in the world, emerged from two Masjids, with the first one as ‘Jami’atul Kirawai’ in Morocco built by a female, named Fadimatu Fijiri.
According to the minister, Fadimatu inherited enormous wealth from her late father and utilized it to build a Masjid, named as Masjidul Fitiri which formed the origin of establishing the first university in the world, that was University of Kirawai established over 1,200 years ago.
Speaking as the Guest Speaker at the commissioning of a newly constructed Kaltungo Central Mosque in Gombe State on Friday, the minister gave the second university to be established in the world which also originated from a Masjid, as Masjidul Zahara in Cairo, Egypt, which produced what the world has today known as University of Azhar.
“University of Azhar is the second oldest university and second oldest Degree Awarding Institution, the second oldest Msc, PhD Awarding Institution in the World”, Pantami positioned, saying it was after Azhar that the first University in Europe was established in Italy.
“Some years later, University of Oxford was established in England, and some years later the University of Cambridge, and after that with many years the first University was established in the United States of America”, the minister told the crowded mosque commissioning ceremony in Kaltungo.
He stated, “This is to show to us that Masjid is not restricted to only five daily prayers, but rather we are urge to make sure our Masjid to be a multipurpose centre where we pray, reorient our younger ones, teach our children and at the same time teach our wives, and it should be a centre where Muslims are united and support one another”.
Prof. Isa Pantami who stressed the need for the Muslims Ummah to maximize the benefits drivable from Masjids, expressed confidence that the committee charged with the responsibility of managing the Kaltungo Mosque would come up with initiatives where the Masjid would effectively be utilized for the promotion and development of the society.
Pantami prayed to Allah to reward all those who in one way or the other contributed to the construction of the Mosque with Jannatul Firdaus, quoting a hadith from the Prophet Muhammad which relates that “Whoever built a Masjid, Allah will build a Palace for him in Paradise”.
Commissioning the new mosque earlier, the Shehu of Borno, Dr. Abubakar Umar Al-Amin El-Kanemi urged the people of Kaltungo to always preach peace, unity, religious understanding, tolerance and peaceful co-existence among the Ummah, as well as respect for constituted authorities.
Shehu thanked the Mai Kaltungo, Engr. Saleh Mohammed Umar for dignifying him to the historic making event in the ancient city of Kaltungo, and commended the Gombe State Governor, Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya for facilitating the construction of a beautiful place of worship, and prayed Allah to reward them abundantly.
He congratulated the people of Kaltungo for having such a magnificent Mosque as place of worship, and prayed for all those who travelled from far and near to witness the occasion a safe journey back to their respective places.
Gombe State Governor, Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya has in a speech stressed the need for the government, people and all operatives within the environment to work together for the smooth advancement of the society in all aspects of human endevours.
Governor Yahaya described the Mosque as a place of worship, educational institution, a place of dispensing justice, as well as a place for bringing social justice and ethical orientation to the people.
Yahaya said, “So if we work hard to either build a Mosque or Church or any other place of prayer, it is going to help in the bonding of our society, as it would be better for the betterment of the society and the Government”.
The Governor therefore urged each and every citizen to contribute and emulate the Mai Kaltungo for his efforts and efforts of all other leaders in building the society socially and infrastructure wise with a view to curb any foreseeable crisis, saying “This is the essence of leadership and the spirit upon which my government stands for”.
The Mai Kaltungo, Engr. Saleh Mohammed Umar while thanking dignitaries that graced the occasion, particularly expressed gratitude to the Shehu of Borno, Alh. Abubakar Umar Al-Amin El-Kanemi for having time to commission the edifice, saying he was highly delighted with the epoch making event.
The Chairman of the Masjid Building committee, Prof Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi (Madakin Kaltungo) had while welcoming dignitaries to the occasion, said “Alhamdulillah for a successful and remarkable ending of a project that started in November, 2018”.
Madakin Kaltungo stated, “The Mosque Building committee is overwhelmed with joy for the uncommon generosity and cheerful contributions, pieces of advice, constrictive criticisms, and prayers of Muslim Ummah all over the world. These culminated in execution of the project in record five years”.
Njodi appreciated the massive turnout to the historic event, telling the visitants, “May Allah record your names amongst those who will be forgiven. May Allah grant you the strength to fulfill your obligations to the best of your ability and confirm your entrance into JANNAH”.
