The Muslim communities have been taking sides following the outburst of the Murdir (leader) of popular Islamic school, Markaz Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies situated in the Agege area of Lagos State, Sheikh Muhammed Adam (El-ilory), who accused popular cleric, Sheikh Sulaimon Farooq, popularly known as Onikijipa, of masterminding his recent sickness through diabolical means.
Adam made this allegation on Sunday while speaking at the institution’s 2025 Ramadan Tafseer Programme. Tafseer comes from an Arabic word, “fasara,” which means the exegesis or commentary on the Quran, and aims to provide explanation, interpretation, and context for a clear understanding of God’s will.
The Markaz’s leader said he had always renounced treating personality but issues, stressing that this year’s Ramadan lecture would explain the feud between him and Onikijipa. According to him, the Kwara-based cleric who is always addressed as mufti (an Islamic jurist) had always pointed an accusing finger on his father (late Sheikh Adam) for not including his father’s name in the list of the noble clerics he mentioned in one of his books.
Before the lecture, Adam had challenged Onikijipa to be his subordinate while claiming that the latter came to his father’s institution to learn when he was already lecturing there.
He said, “I had finished an advanced class, gone to Kano State to learn more and returned to Markaz for lecturing after my father insisted that I stay before Sulaimon Farooq resumed Sanawi’yah Idadi (elementary) class. Who am I fighting with? How can he be saying Sheikh Adam (my father) offended him? The offence is that my father listed all the noble Islamic clerics in one of his books and refused to mention his father.
“Who’s even his father? His father is not the heir of the Onikijipa lineage. The people who reside in the compound of the Onikijipa lineage are the original and worthy ones to be referred to as the Onikijipa. That’s their tradition in Ilorin. One Alfa Alabi Onikijipa is the recognized heir of the Onikijipa lineage. He’s one of the first students of Sheikh Taju Al-Adaby.”
At the lecture, Adam did not mention Onikijipa’s name directly, but he had earlier assured his congregation that he was going to give an in-depth explanation of what led to the feud between them. He therefore addressed the Kwara-based cleric as “the person” and “he” throughout his narration.
“I am starting a discussion on this to vindicate Imam Fulani, who was framed for my sickness. Although I have been advised not to speak on the matter, I insisted. The sickness happened to me in 2022. Two months before it happened, I went to Ilorin for a wedding ceremony at Imam Fulani’s house. I wanted to go pay homage to the Kwara governor alongside Imam when he came. We were at Mudir Makama’s place when he met us, and one of his boys used a handkerchief to rub my neck. He collected the handkerchief from him before the clerics finally collected it from him.
“The second month, I travelled to Belgore’s house for a wedding. I was invited to speak, and honestly, nothing happened to me before I got there. When I got to the event with some other clerics who followed me from Lagos, he had already gotten there before me. He was sitting on the right-hand side of the chair that was allotted to me and was pretending to be welcoming me when I appeared. As we sat, he had already put something in my pocket. Although I didn’t know what it was and we never agreed that he should, because I was putting on ‘Agbada’, I didn’t notice on time.
“When it was time to begin the lecture that I was invited to, I greeted the people present there and I lost it on the spot. My speech became distorted. Thereafter, some clerics came to my aid. So, I ordered that the marriage continue while I observed. Baba Oladimeji Igbaja was noticing me and was praying for my well-being. So, one of Belgore’s children conveyed me to a private hospital and was eventually taken to the Ilorin General Hospital. I couldn’t talk neither did I lose my consciousness,” he narrated.
Adam dispelled the rumour that he was down with a stroke while claiming that he (Onikijipa) then approached his personal assistant, popularly known as ‘Abu Apatira’, to retrieve what he threw in his pocket.
The cleric continued, “He told my PA that he should help him retrieve the item he threw in my pocket. When he took the content out, it happened to be two gourds. So, the clerics that followed me suggested that he should be given the gourds because he claimed that they were for protection, and he must slaughter an animal to appease it after usage.
“He left with them. He also noticed that I was still conscious despite not being able to speak. He then returned and brought other items that would be used to touch my head. So, my son disagreed with him. He was now telling the cleric who was with me that I was paralysed. Although they questioned his submission.”
The Markaz leader named three Islamic scholars — Dr Olaoti, Alfa Haroon Rosheed and Alhaji Yusuf Hamrah — as those Onikijipa told at the hospital that he was paralysed.
Debunking the claim on Sunday in Ilorin, Onikijipa swore with the Quran that he wasn’t responsible for Adam’s illness while beckoning the curses in the holy book to be his if he truly were.
“This is the Quran, and we are in the month of Ramadan. We have not broken our fast, and we are in the house of God. Since I began my life, I have not sworn by the holy book, but I will do this time. God, I’m in your house. If I, Sulaimon Farooq, the son of Aminat, know anything about Mudir Markaz’s illness, let the curses in this holy book be mine. I repeat it four times to show my innocence. But if I don’t, and they are framing me up across the world, let the curses be upon them,” Onikijipa said.
The mufti, however, did not comment on the superiority claim and the lineage story told by Adam. Both Adam and Onikijipa are respected clerics in the Southwest and some northern regions of the country.
