Misbahu El-Hamza

I love literary works. My fiancee, having known this of me gave me from her collection a book of Shakespeare few months ago: "As You Like It." It's a play, rich in poetry and comedy in the Shakespearian style, phraseology and vocabulary. I must confess, without a thing of shame, that as a beginner, I was faced with considerable difficulty in the language of Shake speare. But my enthusiasm and love for art and literature smooth the path for me. The play treats of the gift of Nature and the ways of Fortune. In it, Shakespeare made number of amazing characters. One of them I love to turn a page to read is Jaques, the only wise man in the play. A poet. Jaques is the only character who's not moved by Fortune. Life does not interest him; his interest is in his thoughts about life. One of his thoughts I found so alluring, is the one I wish to share below. He said: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exit and...

Aminu Ala, popularly known as Alan wak’a, a renowned Hausa musician who’s celebrated throughout Northern Nigeria and some part of the world even by academicians in various universities across the region released a song titled of which I think was “Bayi” (slaves), in one of his albums few years ago. In his style of integrating music in education, in it simple and catchy form, the song “ Bayi ” summarizes slavery in Africa and Northern Nigeria in particular, from time, to when it was outlawed in the early 20th century, it also highlighted and caution what it referred as “Modern Slavery!” In it, he advocated justice, good governance, humility and self reliance. The intent of this piece isn’t to write a review on Ala’s “Bayi” or to market his song but, a reflection of one thing it highlighted. Not withstanding, “Bayi” is educative and entertaining. To the main issue… In one of my Probability Theory classes, I have a student who, hardly can we finish the 2-hour period without her taking exc...

"Because of the consequences of morality and the consequences of immorality, the subject of morality becomes one of extreme importance" - Yasir Fazaga. It’s a natural human desire, a desire which is also a creation of God just as humans themselves. For everything that is created, there is a purpose. The pleasure and the intimacy resulted from copulation isn't the main goal but the outcome; a baby - procreation - God's natural intention of it. To keep it pure and sacred, bereft of shame and remorse, a universal law regardless of our faith and creed recommends it with the right person (we're married to), at the right time (perhaps the night the knot is tied, and those that follow) until death or circumstances do us apart. In fact, it is said that (in both Islam and Christianity) one earns a reward by satisfying his or her own personal sexual desire through the proper means. Naturally, there is nothing wrong with sex, per se. What is only despised and abhorred is th...

I know of a woman who's like a mother to me who never fast, not just the month of Ramadan, but at all! Not because she don't want to, but because she's suffering from ulcer, a chronic one for that matter. "I cried for myself every Ramadan Misbahu," she once told me. I myself have one time happened to only fast for just three days the entire Ramadan because of the same problem - ulcer. That was a bitter experience I can't take off my head. It's accompanied by lot of pain; not been able to fast while others are doing is a pain in itself, it makes one reluctant in other spiritual actions during Ramadan especially Qiyam al-lail, feeling a kind of shame inside you, especially when you hide to eat your halal meal during the day. And to talk of paying it back when you're healthy after Ramadan, that's the worse part to me. Many people today suffer from this illness and as a result miss out to fast the days of Ramadan. So I have a piece of advice for us as ...

W e all want to enjoy the sweetness of freedom, Justice and happiness. In this world of illusion where you see one thing, but the reality is different. Thirsty to be respected, just as we crave to be valued. Often time we think, that if only the 'society' will give us a chance, we can not just change, but save the world. I once asked a friend why she chose to wear what she wore, outside, though it makes her uncomfortably happy. She couldn't lie but said, society thinks she looks good (in them). See, in the pursuit of happiness and the quest for 'liberation,' Justice and (embracing) the fact that we all are slaves; to either our desires; our various slave masters; our parents, peers, teachers, the CEOs or the politicians are key. Last time I checked, you didn't chose your race, your ethnicity or gender. Subhanallah you didn't even chose your parents and DNA - that priceless molecular basis of heredity passed on to you from generations -- Someone, does! The sa...

I was in primary school when a family friend brought a video cassette of Zango Kataf crisis, somewhere in Kaduna state, to watch in my mother's room. My family, having let him watched with me in place, had to pay the price of sleepless nights for my horrible nightmare. I also missed classes for a week. Sick. While in Junior secondary school, like everyone, we were running carelessly and confused from school back home, for the first time, I saw and jumped over a dying man in blood, crawling helplessly, butchered by angry youths in what was termed 'ethno-religious crises' in Jos. Minutes after we arrived home, out of fear, I was arrested by fever, diarrhea and expectedly, the horrible nightmare. Till date, I have no idea what triggered and misguided hearts in Kataf, but I have hundred stories on Jos. I did not know a single person in Kataf neither do I lose a single relative, directly, in the more than decade crisis in Jos. Yet, my health and mental state were hit hard.  Othe...

We the youths struggle hard to wake for Fajr (dawn prayer). In most cases we largely depend on our alarms or a door knock from Mommy, Daddy or our neighbors etcetera. By all indications, few of us developed a comprehensive solution that addresses their deeper issues of waking up to not miss Fajr. The proportion of the married men and probably women (since I'm not certain but hoping. No hard feelings please) who wake for Fajr on the other hand is significantly awesome. Probably, that has to do with being conscious of their responsibilities of being 'shepherds.' These shepherds, to be honest with you, to say that you people are really trying is an understatement. We are seeing the flow of your flock (the school aged-kids and teenagers especially) to the Masjid (mosque) for Fajr. I don't know how you manage to do that, but that's really commendable of you. However, I noticed something with these young stars; they mostly spent this blessed moment in the Masjid in slumb...