Sheikh Adamu Tsoho Ahmad 1962-2024

By Mahdi Garba

Today, around 3:00 pm while on an assignment, I saw three calls from different people. The calls came in contemporaneously. Initially, I ignored them with the intention of calling back after I retired in the evening.

Another came in from my friend, @Ammar Muhammad Rajab. I sensed something was wrong. So, I answered immediately. Ammar called to verify the information –the death of Sheikh Adamu Tsoho –going around on WhatsApp. As I was offline, I could not have that information, so I called someone close to the family. He confirmed immediately that Sheikh Adamu Tsoho died some moments after he was rushed to the hospital after complaining about how he was feeling this afternoon.

I said, ‘Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un’ and ended the call.

The calls seeking for confirmation continued to swarm in.

I started thinking about so many things that I knew about him and how I missed the chance to meet him when I was in Jos the last time, because he travelled to the Islamic Republic of Iran to seek for medical attention; and I how I could not call to check on him after he had returned.

He returned before Muharram and held some Ashura sessions on some days. On some days, others would lead when he was absent as result of his health condition.

The news of his death brought so many memories we shared. One of them was when I was involved in an auto crash along Bauchi-Jos road.

I was unconscious for about five days, the day I became conscious was when he paid a visit to me at Bingham University Teaching Hospital in Jos. Sheikh Adamu Tsoho alongside his entourage prayed profusely and even gave me money.

When I recovered, his house was among the first houses I went. He was so happy to see me. After we exchanged pleasantries, he advised me to stay at home until I recover fully before I should start going out. I told him I have even gone back to school to continue with a postgraduate degree I was pursing then.

He did not say more. Till date, I feel it is as a result of his love for education.

Sheikh Adamu Tsoho was not just learned, but this erudite scholar was passionate about seeing people, especially younger ones engage in scholarship. While alive, he had gone through thick and thin just to ensure his sons and daughters acquire the best education.

Many people would think the standard of the schools his sons and daughters attended that translates to affluence. Not for Sheikh Adamu Tsoho. For him, he had the will to send his children to wherever he could to acquire Islamic and modern knowledge.

The personal library in his house was like a public one for us. We could enter at any time, pick up the books we wanted, read and return. At different occasions, he had gifted me books; books that have positively transformed my life forever.

At the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lockdown imposed in some states in Nigeria. Plateau State, where Sheikh Adamu Tsoho lived until his death, was one of the states that experienced lockdown. Ramadan was approaching and in order to curb the spread of the virus, I was not sure the classes of his annual Qur’anic exegesis sessions would hold. So, one evening I trekked down to his house because movement had been restricted.

On my arrival, I suggested we get him a Facebook page, where he could teach virtually and disseminate other information. Elated about my suggestion, he responded affirmatively.

That was how I opened the page, recruited and provided other forms of support to its managers within a short period of time. In at least four years, its followers grew from 1 to 43,000.

In December 2022 when Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara was sentenced to death, he released a video through that page. The video had 85,000 views and 248,928 reach.

On a normal day, he would humbly send a WhatsApp message asking me for observations on the page and its reach. Sometimes, we would call on phone to ask for suggestions on how to improve.

Sometimes, he painstakingly replied comments and criticisms against the Ahlulbayt school of thought.
Similarly, during the attack that led to the demolition of the Jos centre (Markaz) of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, he insisted we followed legal means to seek redress. At that time, we collaboratively worked a team of lawyers to ensure that justice was served.

For reason best known to them, people who lead such projects would always want to sideline me. But Sheikh Adamu Tsoho or Abba or Malam as we fondly addressed him would say, ‘Mahdi should be involved in the entire process.’

Abba’s humility, generosity and steadfastness was second to none. The doggedness and tenacity of the late Sheikh made Islamic Movement in Nigeria in Plateau State to eschew sectarianism and hold unto unity as Allah commanded in Qur’an, ‘And hold firmly together to the rope of Allah and do not be divided….’ 3:103

On his generosity alone, one can write chapters. Even when he did not have it, he would think of a way to extend helping arms to you. ‘Use this’ or ‘Take this’ he would say calmly while giving you the little he had.

Also, his oratory skills made him stand out everywhere. Whenever he opened his mouth to speak, even his adversaries envied his oratory skills. From choice of words to diction and his vast knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, hadith and current affairs had made me frequented his classes while growing up in Jos.

But death as I listened in his last classes, one should not be afraid of death but prepare for it. Because one is expected to fear, what they can evade. But since death is inevitable, it’s better for one to get ready for it than to fear it.

Allah Ya gafarta wa Malam, Ya kyautata namu karshen!

Tuesday, 30th July 2024