He invited us to talk about peace. He was murdered before the day arrived.
I am still in shock.
Last year, after reading some of my writings about him, Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim Masussuka reached out to me. He later personally invited me to the National Peace Dialogue scheduled for today, 31 October. I could not attend.
On Monday, he was assassinated.
Yesterday, crowds gathered for his burial on a scale I cannot remember seeing in Katsina for many years. Today, people from different religious communities attended the dialogue he had planned.
The guests came. The man who invited them had been buried.
I keep returning to that.
My affection for Masussuka came partly from my upbringing. Our father was a scholar and a reciter of the Qur’an. Wherever I have lived, I have found myself drawn to people who study and reflect on the Book.
Masussuka’s knowledge fascinated me: his recall, his ability to trace words and passages across the Qur’an, his familiarity with the hadith literature he questioned.
How could I fail to be interested?
I did not agree with everything he said. Must we agree with everything a person says before we recognise their knowledge—or defend their right to live?
