Isyaka Rabiu: Exit of Islamic icon, business guru

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday described the death of Kano state Islamic scholar and billionaire businessman, Isyaka Rabiu, as a colossal loss to especially the education and business sectors. In a condolence message, the President urged the children of the deceased to build on the remarkable legacy of their father, stressing that the best honour they could do to him is to live by his good examples.
The President said that “no tribute can do justice to the amazing virtues of Isyaka Rabi’u, in view of his vast contributions to scholarship, industrial investments and development in the country.” He said, and rightly so, that the late Rabi’u combined scholarship and business that created job opportunities for hundreds of people.
The President said the deceased had attained success through honest labour and resourcefulness and observed that such virtues are not common in the context of today’s realities where many have resorted to illegal means of attaining success. In fact, many have considered the late Rabiu as a renowned businessman while others viewed him as a devout Muslim and Islamic leader who, until his death, was the leader of the Tijjaniyya Movement in Africa. But, from whatever perspective he was looked at, the fact remains that the late Rabiu was, without any doubt, an agent of peaceful co-existence, patriotic and an upright man whose footprints on the sands of history can never be erased.
He was a devout Muslim who spent the better part of his life seeking to engender better understanding among Muslims of different sects and between the members of the Christian and Islamic faith. He, specifically, would be remembered for his conduct and utterances which were generally acclaimed to be simple, honest, guarded and always intended to promote the image of Islam in good light. Indeed, the late Rabiu was a very good example of how a Muslim should be – peaceful and never engaging in acts capable of breeding hatred for himself and the religion of Islam.
The late Rabiu contributed greatly to the course of Islam in Nigeria, Africa and the world. He would be remembered, specifi cally, by the Muslims in the north for his contribution to the Islamic body of knowledge. It is regrettable that his death came at a time when the country is faced with multitude of challenges, arising mostly from religious intolerance and ethnicity.
No doubt, sharing his wealth of wisdom and experience with the authorities would have considerably helped in tackling the problems. It is in this light, therefore, that many people, including President Muhammadu Buhari, have described the death of the Rabiu as not only the opening of a gap which will be difficult to close, but also the exit of a provider of jobs, agent of peaceful co-existence and an Islamic icon.

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