Thousands
of Muslims thronged the streets of Bansang town in the Central River Division
from last weekend to attend the 36th Annual Ziyarrah held in honour of the late
Sheikh Alhaji Bubacar Zaidi Jallow (RA), a well-known Islamic Scholar, Imam,
Tijanniyya Khalif and community leader.
The
participants came from near and far such as Casamance, Futa Toro, Guinea
Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Mali, Benin, Cote D’Ivoire and Daira
branches in the United Kingdom and United States of America as well as The
Gambia.
This
year, the Ziyarrah, held on 24 and 25 April, coincided with the 26th and 27th
of the Islamic month of Rajab.
The date for the Ziyarrah was chosen by the
Sheikh himself some 36 years ago and it is significant.
It
falls on Al IsraaWal Miiraji, the occasion of the night journey of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to Jerusalem and then to the heavens to receive
instructions from Allah (SWT) on the obligatory five daily prayers.
The
Ziyarrah was opened on Monday morning of the 24th at the home of the late Sheikh
with the recitations of the Holy Quran followed by the chanting of the poem
“Wasiilatu AhluNuha” written by the Sheikh in honour of the Holy Prophet.
In
his opening remarks, the current Khalif Sheikh Alhaji Hassan Bubacar Jallow,
who is also the Chief Justice of The Gambia, recalled the origin of the
Ziyarrah.
He
exhorted the adherents to hold first to the three things left behind by the
Sheikh; the five pillars of Islam, the principles of the Tariqat Tijanniyya and
the bonds of Kinship and neighbourliness.
In
his address to the gathering, Alhaji Saibeh Darboe, deputising for the absent
Alkalo Alhaji Kebba Corrah, welcomed the guests on behalf of the elders and
people of Bansang.
After
Zuhr prayers followed another recitation of the Holy Quran.
The
night programme saw three more recitations of the Holy Quran followed by
religious songs, sermons and duas till the dawn prayer.
The
master of ceremony for the night programme was Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tijan Jallow
with Alhaji Mam Sait Jallow and Cherno Junaidu Jallow (all of them sons of the
late Sheikh) doing the presentation of the foreign guests.
Amongst
them were prominent Islamic scholars many of them students of the Sheikh from
Ziguichor, Kolda, Wellingara, Tamba, Jawbeh, Mampating, Kaolack, Dakar, Wuro
Soggi in Senegal. From Bissau, Mansuang,
Ngaabou, Baafata Madina Bansang in Guinea Bissau.
The
preachers for the night were Alhaji Ousman Jah, Amirul Hajj and Imam of the
Taqwa Mosque in Bakau/Kanifing, Sheikh Sering Modou Kah, Sheikh Alhaji Asaf
Jallow Imam Ratib Bansang, Sheikh Alhaji Bubacarr Jallow President of the
Council of Imams in Guinea Bissau, Sheikh Alhaji Abdul Qadir Jonfo of Futa
Jallon Guinea, Sheikh Alhaji Karamba Jabbi of Jarra Sotokoi.
They
spoke on the life and works of the late Sheikh Alhaji Bubacar Zaidi Jallow (RA)
and on various aspects of Islamic worship.
In
his address after the Subha Fajr prayers, the current Khalif emphasised the
importance of Verse 10 Surat Rahman of the Holy Quran in which Allah (SWT) says
that He has spread out the earth for all his creation.
This
verse, the Khalif said, is a call to peaceful co-existence and the tolerance of
diversity. Despite our differences in
sex, tribe, race, religion, tariqat, wealth, etc, Allah has chosen to create
only one earth for us.
We
must therefore learn to cohabit peacefully on this single earth despite our
differences. The failure to observe the dictates of this verse according to the
Khalif is the root cause of intolerance and of conflict in the world today.
We
must, he emphasised, learn to live together peacefully and with respect,
however different we may be in some respects.
The
final stage of the Ziyarrah on the morning of Tuesday 25 April saw the
graduation of nine students (six male and three female) who had concluded the
Tafsir – i.e. translation and commentary of the Holy Quran.
The
ceremony was conducted by the venerable Islamic Scholar Sheikh Alhaji Alieu
Thiam from Wuro Soggi Futa Toro, himself a student of the late Sheikh assisted
by Sheikh Sheriff Zawiyya.
The
Ziyarrah also witnessed the admission of new members into the Tariqat
Tijanniyyasufi sect and the renewal of the vows of the existing members by
Sheikh Alhaji Hassan Bubacar Jallow, the current Khalif.
