FUNTUA DECLARATION SPEECH BY SHAIKH IBRAHEEM ZAKZAKY (H) 5/04/1980

Admonishment to Nigerian Muslims!

In the name of Allah the destroyer of the oppressors.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah.

A hadiths narrated from Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) that says; “Oh You people, surely the Messenger of Allah said; ‘whoever sees any government that takes injustice as it's motto, and transgresses the laws of Allah, and despises the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and is oppressing the servants of Allah. In such a situation, whoever fails in using his hands and mouth to fight this government, should know this. That Allah will make his abode same as that of the tyrant leader.”

Not that the rulers of this country only take injustice and oppression as their motto, the whole system is built on the basis of injustice and oppression. It is not only that they transgress the laws of Allah, they have disregarded it as a whole and replaced it with man-made laws. And it is not only that they transgressed the bonds of Allah, they even have no regard for such a bond. They have rejected the covenant of Allah, in it's place they have accepted the covenant set to them by transgressors. They are not only unjust and oppressive, they make tyranny and oppression their norms and values.

And certainly it is not that we have just failed, to use our hands and mouths to confront this looming injustice and oppression. But we, ourselves give them the go ahead to oppress us, we voted for this unjust government with our own hands, and we are the ones supporting the government with our tongues. We have definitely offered them the chance to oppress us, we give them the chance to do away with the laws of Allah. We allowed them to substitute it with man-made laws.  We give them the chance to transgress the bonds set by Allah. We gave these chances to them to be unjust and to even legalize their transgression.
We have not only failed to confront them ourselves, but we are  encouraging them in their it.

Alas! Dear Brothers and Sisters, if the above quoted hadiths said so much about those people that have failed to confront the unjust tyrants with their tongues and actions. If they will be doomed and placed in the same abode as the transgressing rulers, what will our situation be? It means we will not only be doomed together with them but will also be termed and treated as the transgressors.
Yes of course that is what we are.

Why will I not say so? We voted this tyrants ourselves, and we are regarding them and their system as our own government. We have even named them as the ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people.’ And we the people, are the same thing as the government.
If that is so, how can we say then that only the ruling class are the unjust ones?  And that we are clean of all their wrong doings? We as well as the Chairmen, Governors and the heads of State are all transgressors. And we all are sinners!

Why will this not be so? While the Almighty all knowing Allah has planned and perfected his system, and has sent down to us his holy book the Qur’an as a guide. But we have rejected His wish, and opted for the constitution of Nigeria?
The Constitution which is the handwork of only about 50 people? People who we have chosen as our representatives, to act on our behalf?
Allah wished for us that Islam be the system governing our lives. But we rejected that, and took democracy in its place to govern us.
Allah’s commandments are what He has chosen for us, as a way of life. But we have chosen for ourselves the commandments of the English men!  Allah's command to us is to seek the hereafter, but we seemed to be contented with this world, as if this is our final abode.

Why will this not be the reality?  When Allah has ruled that only He, is worthy of being worshiped. But we are worshipping the country instead.

Dear Brothers and Sisters! You may be confused by what I am saying, but by Allah I am saying the truth!  You may not believe me, but the truth is, we are living in a state of disbelief.  There is nothing like Islam in this country! Islam here, is practically non-existant, it is not even up to a zero mark here. Although we had a corrupted version of Islam which is full of traditional beliefs of our fore-fathers, joined with the colonial system of the  invaders, which was brought to us. This corrupted version of Islam is same as nothing.
The example of Islam in this Country of ours is that of an airplane that has crashed, got burnt to the ashes.

And it's debris can not be termed as a complete airplane. Or do you believe that the remains of the burnt airplane will be gathered together to enable a flight? That’s the instance of Islam in this country.

Sometimes back Shehu Usman dan Fodio and his followers established Islamic system in this very land. After their demise some wicked traditional rulers started deviating from the path of Islam; eventually the colonial invaders (Staunch enemies of Allah) invaded the land and did away with everything remaining of Islam. Surely the Europeans destroyed Islam in the land, and have replaced it with their own traditional values which is of ignorance. And made sure to train their puppets who in turn will be their replacements from amongst us.
They handed over the established system of disbelief to them, when they were leaving. And today we are the offsprings of those trained by the colonial invaders. We have always been doing their biddings by furthering their system of disbelief.

In reality we are living in a period of modern ignorance, we are helping to further all its causes, by these we are even worse than those muslims who have refused to confront an unjust system. Our current situation is that of the Muslims who have accepted to live in the system of disbelief. What do we expect to be our destination? Which excuse will we forward to Allah on the day of Judgement?

Based on all the things I mentioned above, I am declaring this before you, and Allah (SWT) is my witness that, I have rebelled against the constitution of Nigeria, the whole system and its leadership! I accept none of it! I am therefore affirming my belief in the book of Allah, His laws and the leadership of His Messenger (SAWA).

I will not sit down before giving you a glad tidings. There is a hadith (saying of the Messenger of Allah) (SAWA) that says; “Allah will bring someone to revive your religion in beginning of each century.”

Alhamdulillah we have just entered a new century (15th Century, Hijiriyya). And that’s the reason we have chosen the theme of this gathering to be on the 15th century. In fact this gathering is the 25th of its kind. Out of the 25 this is the second gathering in this new century. The theme of the previous one is ‘Faith: the weapon with which we will destroy disbelief.’ And our hope is to see the promised reviver as said by the Messenger of Allah (S).