By Adan Makina

 “Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return.”

Kenya’s most shrewd Somali leader and politician of modern times, Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji passed away on Monday February 15, at Aga Khan Hospital at 5 am after being flown from Turkey on Saturday where he was receiving treatment since December 2020 and was buried at Lang’ata Muslim Cemetery  in Nairobi. Born December 23, 1940 in Garissa District, Senator Haji was an octogenarian at the time of his death. His burial was simple and did not take even an hour, for it is part of the Islamic tradition to deliver the corpse to the grave for divine exposure to the second part of the Afterlife, with the first being meeting the Angel of Death who will also experience death one day after the earth and the heavens are pulverized by the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth who is the Owner of the Throne of Authority.

Before we go deeply into his short political biography, let’s contemplate on what caused his departure from this world of amusement and play. Death is inevitable and no single creation that is living will escape death. Whether you believe in life after death or not, the departure of our former Senator was predetermined and even the so-called scientists have no answer for why his death corresponded to that specific day of February 15, 2021. The Glorious Qur’an that is a revelation from Allaah was handed over to Archangel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic) who taught the Seal of all Prophets, Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in piecemeal for a period spanning twenty-three years. Thus, as regards creation, Allaah states: “And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a drop of sperm, firmly fixed. Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood, and of that clot We made an embryo; then We made out of that lump, bones, and clothed the bones with flesh. Then We developed another creation out of it. So blessed is God, the best of Creators” (Qur’an 23: 12-14).”

As narrated by Abdallah Ibn Mas’ud, the Messenger of Allaah further elucidated the human creation in the authentic hadith from the two most reliable Hadithic authorities, Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim who recorded using the following words: “Each one of you is constituted in the womb of the mother for forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then God sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his deeds, his livelihood, the date of his death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched. Then the soul is breathed into him…” (Sahih al-Bukhari: 3036).

It was only the Father of Humankind, Prophet Adam who was created from clay and Isa Bin Maryam (Jesus son of Mary) who was created without a father while the rest of humanity were created from drops of sperm. There is an entire chapter in the Qur’an called Maryam that is dedicated to Maryam, the Mother of Isa. On the other hand, Maryam, the Mother of Isa, was among the Progeny of Aali ‘Imran with ‘Imran being the father of Musa (Moses) and Harun (Aaron). Maryam, the Mother of the Messiah Issa, is, according to the Qur’an, the best among all women and has been mentioned in the Qur’an 70 times. “O Mary, God has chosen you, and purified you; He has chosen you above all the women of creation.”[i] The comparability of the creation of the two Prophets Adam and Isa is explained in the Qur’an in Chapter 3 that is known as Aali ‘Imran (The Progeny of ‘Imran), verse 59. Allaah tells those who believe, reflect, understand, and are not deaf, dumb, and blind, in the following words: “The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: “Be”. And he was (Qur’an, 3: 59).”

The last word a dying Muslim should utter verbally or by heart with the reminder of those around is to say, “I testify that there is no god but Allah.” On the same length, it is mandatory for any revert to Islam to say “I testify that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” By saying La ilaha illal-lah, the human tongue does not touch the lips.

It is amazing that there is no doubt in the Qur’an and that it is symmetrical or well-balanced and doubtless. In Al-Baqarah (Heifer, cow) which is the second Surah or chapter of the Qur’an and the longest that is composed of 286 ayats (verses), it states:  This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah (Qur’an, 2:2). The term Al-Mawt (death) is mentioned 145 times while its opposite which is Al-Hayyat (life) is also mentioned in the Qur’an 145 times. Do not be petrified to learn from this eulogy that is exclusively for those who believe in what is concealed from them such as the Angels that are mentioned 88 times and the devils 88 times, and good deeds that appear 167 times while it is the same for bad deeds (167 times).

Senator Haji served the Kenya government for almost 50-years, beginning with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and also Daniel Arap Moi as an administrator. He was a loyal doyen who did his work prudently and served on behalf of his ethnic Somali- Kenyan. Many would attest to the fact that he did good job under both presidents better than some of their corrupt inner-circle comrades and political leaders who were engulfed in malfeasance and corruption conglomerations. For 27-years (1970 to 1997), Mr. Haji served the governments of Mzee Kenyatta and Moi as a Provincial administrator. His first appointment was that of a District Officer 1 (DO 1). Administering a province was a heavy task those days because it was like running part of a state with security being the most important sector since tribal clashes, wildlife poaching, proliferation of armed opposition groups that wreaked havoc, and land grabbing was a common occurrence, and finally, cattle rustling was a common culture.

It was in 1998 when Mr. Haji bowed out of the provincial administration and switched to politics. In 2002 he was nominated Member of Parliament for Ijara Constituency and five years later in 2007, Haji became an elected MP. President Mwai Kibaki appointed him to the position of defense Minister, a position he held until 2013. When he was holding the defense portfolio, Haji played a significant role in the pacification of Somalia. In 2011, while leading a Kenya delegation, Haji signed an agreement with the Somali Transitional Government to fight together to tranquilize all sorts of threats especially armed solipsistic fundamentalists. Haji has been an elected senator from Garissa County from 2013 until his sudden departure for the Afterlife.

The longest serving official in the Kenya government since independence, Haji will indisputably remain in the memory of Kenyans for a prolonged time. His burial that caught the attention of those logically thinking Christians like Pastor Nganga is really appealing when you read the contents of his tweet.

Unlike the rapacious and ignoramus leaders who emptied state coffers for their own benefits, in terms of religious benevolence, Haji contributed a lot to the development of his community and those outside of his domain and never did he ever, at any time, refuse to donate to general issues that were of paramount importance to human development. Obviously, he was a wealthy man because he was born to a family of hardworking men and women who climbed the ladder of success through hard work and determination. In the 70s, those who lived that era know that he was the top Somali echelon in the Kenya government. His arrival in Garissa would reverberate in every corner of Garissa that was a mere settlement and not a big town like in modern days. While those wealthiest Somalis drove the old type Land Rover, the man whose name was Yarowle, drove a Range Rover that was the prestige of Great Britain. To avoid conjectures, it would be wise to have the right statistical calculations in order to determine the number of mosques and madrassas that were built with his efforts, donations, and proposals. Before his departure, Yarowle was responsible for the feeding and maintenance of over 400 orphans.

A close relative of Yarowle who chose to remain anonymous, told a friend, “Yarowle had no big corrupt business in Garissa.” On the other hand, he told his children, “since he was absent from work for six months, let them return his six months’ salary to the public coffers.” The previous indictments or attempts to discredit his reputations by judges who were handling numerous cases that were related to public evictions from their lands, previous government instigated massacres like that of Wagalla Airstrip in 1984 in Wajir and other regions that suffered the brunt of well-organized and effusively sentimental actions by top government and security officials, were nothing but attempts to conceal reactionary government infidels.

With the exception of the Shia sect who consider their Imams infallible, Senator Haji was a Sunni Muslim and now, the good part of his deeds or character of the Senator is now emerging with his positive deeds overweighing his negative deeds. Those who are regurgitating negative perceptions of the Senator are replicas of Marcus Junius Brutus–a man who, according to Dante’s Inferno, together with Cassius who was the brother-in-law of Brutus and Judas Iscariot deserved to be devoured by one of the three mouths of Satan. As an individual who admires polymathy like the philosophers of the past and one who gives preference to the study of human behaviors especially Somali leaders, Haji was a man of courage who had no tolerance for lawbreakers, troublemakers, and underperforming office holders.

Regarding the conditions of judges on the Day of Judgment, according to Kitab Al-Aqdiyah of Sunan Abu Dawood (3566), “Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said: Judges are of three types, one of whom will go to Paradise and two to Hell. The one who will go to Paradise is a man who knows what is right and gives judgment accordingly; but a man who knows what is right and acts tyrannically in his judgment will go to Hell; and a man who gives judgment for people when he is ignorant will go to Hell.”

Regarding the Wagalla Massacre of Wajir, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya (T&JRCK) carried out broad investigations into the factors that instigated the widespread slaughter of the residents among themselves and the involvement of the military. In an interview conducted on June 19, 2011 by WardheerNews with the retired and deceased Major Gen. Ahmed Sheikh Farah of the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation (TJRC) of Kenya, he intelligently without fear or favor exposed what transpired in dictatorial Kenya since independence in 1963. Associating the deceased Senator Haji who claimed “my hands are clean” with dirty politics was immaterial and senseless accusations. Before passing on, the Senator was appointed by the current President of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, CGH, Commander of the Armed Forces to be the Chairman and Member of the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI) that was created to catapult corrupt-ridden Kenya to greater heights together with a strong taskforce using Gazette Notice No. 5154 on May 31, 2018.[ii]

It is mentioned in the Qur’an that it is obligatory to help those in need. Building a borehole for human and animal consumption is a gateway to paradise for the practicing Muslim. Feeding the poor, visiting the sick, educating humanity, and playing every positive role for the sake of seeking Allah’s pleasure and being a leader who avoids prebendalism are all the best characters required of a human being. “Whosoever saves the life of one person it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind” and the same applies to killing a life unless in self-defense. “Whosoever has killed a soul, it is as though he has murdered all of mankind (al-Maida, verse 32).” In the New Testament what the Qur’an refers to as Al-Maida that is Chapter 5 with 120 verses and translates to “The Table Spread” is the “Last Supper” and is mentioned in the three Synoptic Gospels Mark, Mathew, Paul and the Corinthians–letters written by Saint Paul to the Corinthians in Greece.

Our departed Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji who was known to the Somalis of Garissa District or Garissa County by his nickname Yarowle, was a very religious man for he was among those who walked to the Masjid in the darkness of the night to perform Salatu Layl that very few dared to perform. In Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith no. 561, Buraydah ibn al-Hasib narrated, “The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said: Give good tidings to those who walk to the mosques in darkness for having a perfect light on the Day of Judgment.” In Surah al-Isra (The Night Journey) that is the 17 chapter of the Qur’an, verse 79, Allaah exhorts the believers with the following words: “And pray in the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee: soon will thy Lord raise thee to a Station of Praise and Glory.”

While Kenya has lost a great philosopher and administrator, on the other hand, the Muslim community and Somalis are condoling the departure of a philanthropist, wealth donor, and a man who was well versed in the management of clan rivalries through the application of logical reconciliations. The departed Senator was working on a massive project that would exclusively serve as a rehabilitation center and regardless of his departure, the project is expected to continue as previously planned. The departed senator had a charitable foundation that cared for the less fortunate, not in Garissa District or Garissa County, but specifically in Central, Nyanza, and Western Provinces. Those were the provinces he was deployed as a senior administrator before joining politics.

After his burial in Nairobi, there was a large gathering at a prestigious hotel in Garissa that brought together his nearest relatives and friends, the best Islamic scholars who knew the role he played in creating harmonious human relationships during his half a decade of work with the four presidents of Kenya, his admirers and followers and political supporters alike. The venue was overcrowded with people of faith who felt that it was one of the most grievous day in Garissa history. The gathering in Garissa brought together people from all walks of life. Those Ulama who presided over the convention of the believers, gave historic khutbas or sermons that were exclusive to Haji’s behavioral mannerisms, and his political, social, and economic and religious activities that left many in tears of grief. Some of the conveners experienced reflex tears, emotional tears, and basal tears, according to a reliable source who attended the gathering.

As per the Kiswahili saying “hasidi hana sababu” that translates to ‘a malicious person is devoid of good intentions’, the good-for-nothing, jealously regurgitating, obnoxiously poisonous human tarantulas, and the media Mafiosi who spend inconsiderable time and energy to undermine the integrity of a man who served his nation and its leaders to the highest standards, are divinely overreacting forsaken obnoxious bunches who are satanically possessed. Using democracy as a tool to criticize innocent humans, the host of frivolous pyromaniacs driven by huggermuggerish arrogance and clandestine conspiracies should be given deaf ears and thrown to the dogs.

My last duca (prayer) to the deceased Senator is “O Allah, forgive Mohamed Yusuf Haji and elevate his station among those who are guided. Send him along the path of those who came before, and forgive us and him, O Lord of the worlds. Enlarge for him his grave and shed light upon him in it.”

Adan Makina
WardheerNews
Email: adan.makina@gmail.com 

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[i] Qur’an 3:42; cf. trans. Arberry and Pickthall; Stowasser, Barbara Freyer, “Mary”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

[ii] Building Bridges to a United Kenya: from a nation of blood ties to a nation of ideals. A Report by the Presidential Taskforce on Building Bridges to Unity Advisory. Retrieved from http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/BBIFinalVersion.pdf