Abu-Abdullah Adelabu
Encyclopedia
Abdul-Fattah Abu-Abdullah Taiye Ejire Adelabu (Arabic: عبد الفتّاح أبو عبد الله تَائيي أيجيري أديلابو or simply Sheikh Adelabu الشيخ أديلابو also known as Al-Afriqi الإفريقي or Shaykh Al-Afriqi الشيخ الإفريقي) is a West African Muslim scholar, writer, academic, publisher and cleric from Osogbo
, capital city of Osun State
, Nigeria
.
Adelabu studied Arabic and Islamic Studies in Damascus
, Syria
, and acquired a Postgraduate Diploma, Masters Degree, and Ph.D.
, Cambridge
and London in the late 1990s. A scholar of Islamic and Arabic Studies as well as a linguist, jurist and lecturer, Adelabu is the founder and first president of Awqaf Africa
and Awqaf Africa Muslim Open College
in London
where he lectures on Arabic and Islamic studies.
His academic works and publications include an Arabic English Dictionary, an encyclopedic Dictionary of the Quran and Sunnah, Islam in Africa - West African in Particular, and Missionary and Colonization in Africa. He also founded and published in the United Kingdom 1998 Delab International - an African-Asian Middle East magazine and journal covering religion, politics, sociology, and literature.
Adelabu founded the African Muslim portal EsinIslam.com and IslamAfrica.com, both of which are administered and directed by his wife as the director and editor-in-chief, with management by volunteers from the students and followers of Adelabu, especially at Awqaf Africa and its Islamic College in London.
Da’wah activities of the African academic include serving as an Imam Khatib previously as Kuwaiti Cultural Attaché London, working as Islamic columnist for the Libyan Arabic daily newspaper Al-Arab International in London, and serving as Imam and Chief Missioner previously for the Islamic Youth League of Nigeria, Abuja
.
’. Syria, like many other countries around the world, witnessed during this period, a flood of refugees from war troubled nations like Somalia
, the arrival of people from Algeria during the civil war
, resettlement of Palestinians as well as other African migration for many other reasons. As a delegate of the African Students Union and general secretary of the West African Students' Union
in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, the founder visited prisons and hospitals during the time when over 10,000 African migrants had been killed, jailed, or wounded in their adventures to reach the Middle-East, many for sanctuary and others to get to Europe for what they had expected to be a better life.
Horrified at the number of unknown or unclaimed dead among the immigrant prisoners and their wounded countrymen, women, and children in the hospitals, Sheikh Adelabu formed a group of volunteer African students to help. The founder received huge support from the President of the Syrian Scientific Academy and Chancellor of the University of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Abdullatif Salih Al Farfour, and from the Dean of Postgraduate School at the university, Shawqi Abu Khalil, the Dean of Faculty of Literature - both signatories to the fellowship of the founder at Syrian Scientific Academy. Dr. Adelabu called for wider adoption of Islamic values which he claimed would bring about lasting and positive changes while learning from the effects of colonization, slavery, and power struggles. It is reported that influential people met with him in mid 1995 to discuss his ideas.
and Jordan
. Among his teachers and mentors are:
Osogbo
Osogbo is a city in Nigeria, the capital of Osun State and a Local Government Area.The Local Government Area has an area of 47 km² and a population of 156,694 at the 2006 census; the postal code of the area is 230.-Infrastructure and demographics:Osogbo lies on the railway line from Lagos to...
, capital city of Osun State
Osun State
Ọṣun State is an inland state in south-western Nigeria. Its capital is Osogbo. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east partly by Ekiti State and partly by Ondo State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west by Oyo State. The state's current governor is Rauf Aregbesola, who was...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
.
Adelabu studied Arabic and Islamic Studies in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and acquired a Postgraduate Diploma, Masters Degree, and Ph.D.
In The United Kingdom
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was a researcher in Arabic and Islamic Studies in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and London in the late 1990s. A scholar of Islamic and Arabic Studies as well as a linguist, jurist and lecturer, Adelabu is the founder and first president of Awqaf Africa
AWQAF Africa
AWQAF Africa serves all countries of Africa: South, North, West, East, and other territorial geography of the continent including its islands in the Indian and Atlantic oceans and Mediterranean Sea, as well as the West Indies. Awqaf Africa, from time to time, extends its works to all Muslims...
and Awqaf Africa Muslim Open College
AWQAF Africa Muslim Open College
AWQAF Africa Muslim Open College is an institution of AWQAF Africa's educational department. It was launched in London 2005 to cater for educational needs of the Africans and for people of African origin AWQAF Africa Muslim Open College is an institution of AWQAF Africa's educational department. ...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where he lectures on Arabic and Islamic studies.
His academic works and publications include an Arabic English Dictionary, an encyclopedic Dictionary of the Quran and Sunnah, Islam in Africa - West African in Particular, and Missionary and Colonization in Africa. He also founded and published in the United Kingdom 1998 Delab International - an African-Asian Middle East magazine and journal covering religion, politics, sociology, and literature.
Adelabu founded the African Muslim portal EsinIslam.com and IslamAfrica.com, both of which are administered and directed by his wife as the director and editor-in-chief, with management by volunteers from the students and followers of Adelabu, especially at Awqaf Africa and its Islamic College in London.
Da’wah activities of the African academic include serving as an Imam Khatib previously as Kuwaiti Cultural Attaché London, working as Islamic columnist for the Libyan Arabic daily newspaper Al-Arab International in London, and serving as Imam and Chief Missioner previously for the Islamic Youth League of Nigeria, Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
.
In Syria
Sheikh Adelabu was a postgraduate in Damascus in the early 1990s when Syria reviewed its national security after the ‘Oslo AccordsOslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
’. Syria, like many other countries around the world, witnessed during this period, a flood of refugees from war troubled nations like Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, the arrival of people from Algeria during the civil war
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
, resettlement of Palestinians as well as other African migration for many other reasons. As a delegate of the African Students Union and general secretary of the West African Students' Union
West African Students' Union
The West African Students' Union was an association of students from various West African countries who were studying in the United Kingdom.-Origins:...
in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, the founder visited prisons and hospitals during the time when over 10,000 African migrants had been killed, jailed, or wounded in their adventures to reach the Middle-East, many for sanctuary and others to get to Europe for what they had expected to be a better life.
Horrified at the number of unknown or unclaimed dead among the immigrant prisoners and their wounded countrymen, women, and children in the hospitals, Sheikh Adelabu formed a group of volunteer African students to help. The founder received huge support from the President of the Syrian Scientific Academy and Chancellor of the University of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Abdullatif Salih Al Farfour, and from the Dean of Postgraduate School at the university, Shawqi Abu Khalil, the Dean of Faculty of Literature - both signatories to the fellowship of the founder at Syrian Scientific Academy. Dr. Adelabu called for wider adoption of Islamic values which he claimed would bring about lasting and positive changes while learning from the effects of colonization, slavery, and power struggles. It is reported that influential people met with him in mid 1995 to discuss his ideas.
Mashayikh Adelabu
Dr. Adelabu studied under scholars in Syria, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. Among his teachers and mentors are:
- Abdul Qader ArnaootAbdul Qader ArnaootAbdul-Qader Arnaout, born Kadri Sokoli was an important and influential Islamic scholar of Albanian origin, of the 20th century; he specialised in the fields of hadith and fiqh.-Early life:Abdul Qader was born into a poor family in the town of Vrela in Kosovo in 1347 AH/1928...
Damascus, - Dr.Shawqi Abu-Khalil Damascus,
- Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-ButiMuhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-ButiMuhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti born in Jilka, Turkey is a prominent Syrian professor and Islamic scholar specializing in Islamic theology and Islamic law. He has authored of numerous books, some of which have been translated to English....
Damascus, - Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani Jordan,
- Abdul-Latif Salih Al-Farfur Damascus,
- Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn BaazAbd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn BaazAbdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz , was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, considered as one of the renowned Sunni Muslim scholars of the twentieth century...
, Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World... - Muhammad ibn al UthaymeenMuhammad ibn al UthaymeenSheikh Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen at-Tamimi an-Najdi was one of the most prominent Sunni Islamic scholars of the latter half of the twentieth century...
Saudi Arabia, - Wahbah Az-Zuhaili Damascus,
- Shu'ayb Al-Arna`uut Damascus,
- Mustapha Al-Bouga Damascus, and
- Muhammad Said Al-Qasimi Damascus.