Chief Imam Crisis: Inisa Central Mosque Remains Shut 3 Years After

•Clerics Condemn Act, Call For Govt. Intervention

THE Central Mosque of Inisa, Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, has remained under lock and key three years after it was closed down by the state government under the administration of former governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the mosque was shut following the unresolved crisis on the selection of a new Chief imam for the mosque.

Findings revealed that parties in the crisis had resorted to violent attacks within and outside the mosque, a development that necessitated it closure in 2020. 

However, Islamic clerics have condemned the recent squabble among a group of Imams in the town.

The Ameer Jamaat Taawunin Muslimeen Nigeria, Sheik Dawood Molaasan, while speaking on the Inisa Chief Imam controversy on Tuesday, narrated how the crisis began in 2020, leading to the shutdown of the mosque.

Molaasan, in a live video posted on his facebook, stated that the squabble divided the community’s Islamic groups.

According to Molaasan, the crisis escalated because the Olunisa of Inisa, Oba Joseph Oladunjoye Oyedele, allegedly had a favourite candidate to be the Chief Imam despite being a Christian.

He said: “Islamic philanthropists and Aare Musulumi (Muslim head) in Inisa all agreed to select someone with relevant Islamic knowledge, but the king wanted a different person who was not versatile and had a pending case in court.

“The league of Inisa’s Islamic clerics chose someone who had his Arabic education in Saudi Arabia and had been Imam in Canada and Osogbo for over 20 years. Although, the person did not seek to be the Imam of the Central Mosque, the clerics visited him and beckoned him to be the overseer of the mosque.

“The king’s favourite is lower in rank to become Imam. And it is not done that way anywhere in the world.”

Molaasan further called out the king to agitate for an examination between the two contenders to see who is more capable of being the Chief Imam of the town.

“This is not something the League of Imams will be voting for. It is the practice laid down by Prophet Mohammad (SAW), which entails appointing someone with a good knowledge of Islam.

“The two contenders should be invited and asked to sit for a competence exam”, he stated.

Molaasan also appealed to the state government to open the mosque and appoint someone who would be leading the community in prayer tentatively while the selection of the new Imam is done.

Reacting, another Imam from Ilorin, Sheikh Hamad Labeeb, in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by one Hakeem, vehemently condemned the shutting of the mosque over the feud, noting that the matter should have been handled diplomatically.

“How can a personal interest supersede the worship of Allah? On Friday, I will be leading the Jumat prayer to oppose the ‘pray and die’ written on the wall of the mosque,” he added.

In his reaction, the President of the League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Jamiu Bello, represented by Sheikh Iskeel Lawal, said that the mosque was locked on the order of the court and not by Muslim elders in the community.

He noted that the state’s Governor, Ademola Adeleke, is the only one who can solve the lingering Chief Imam crisis in the community, adding, “The Islamic scholars should continue to push for an end to the issue so that the community can resume praying there.”