The Learner

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234    As I have consecutively written in the past 3 years, astrologists would want me to believe that June 1 st is my lucky day. I don’t and won’t concur as I don’t believe in that pseudoscience. Doubtless, for at least two life-shaping incidents that happened to me on the day in 2012 and 2013, I feel obliged to acknowledge its presence. Perhaps known to some readers of my writings, I was employed by the Bayero University, Kano on the day in 2012 and exactly a year after, in 2013, one Khadija and I were pronounced man and wife. I have since then appreciated living with this lady. All thanks are due to Allah, the Exalted, for His blessings and everything. I think some of the points I wrote a couple of years ago on this day deserve repeating, for they are very topical and ever relevant. I wrote thus: The secret of a happy family is nothing hidden. Quarrelling is more or less unavoidable. That makes a dull life an interesting one. Don’t let...

Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com Facebook, or any other social media, is no longer what it used to be: a mere, innocuous social networking site for friending, chatting, sharing pictures and the like. It is, today, a life shaping platform. This and a whole host of other reasons, therefore, call for parents, guardians and all to be (more) wary of how, and of course who, his/her children, wards, younger siblings, etc interact with. I will give three (3) examples. First , the Intern et, in general, is a harbour for amassed pornographic contents. Recently, the Indian government banned viewing of porn contents in their country. But due to pressure and protests, they had to lift the ban. These days, there are many pages for that on Facebook, chat groups on WhatsApp, etc. The kids can be smart but not really smarter. Devise your ways to curtail this via best possible means. While the first danger could easily be detected, the second one is eerily, barely detectable. This is...

Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com A famous line from Shakespeare’s celebrated Romeo and Juliet poses a question, thus: “What is in a name?” While Juliet believes that there’s nothing significant in a name, for Romeo will remain her heartthrob irrespective of his family’s name, affiliation matters in many other places such as Nigeria. The play, if adapted and set here, would (should) be different. There is so much meaning attached to names in the Nigerian socio-political context and discourse. Perhaps, that is why the former governor of the Nigerian apex bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (SLS) quickly changed his name to Muhammadu Sanusi II when he ascended to power as the Emir of Kano in 2014. Other possible reasons could be his effort to start life afresh, free of politics, and to maintain the tradition, and to revive the genealogy of his grandfather who was also an emir. The then SLS was well-known to be a very vocal, daring and assertive, public intellectual. Lo, the same ol...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 Religion is one single thing many Nigerians of whatever dispensations take in high esteem. Religion is many a time, viewed as the opium for the subjugation of masses or as their Achilles’ heel. To Rahama, the story is different; religion means nothing to her. It is simply an identifier that she’s a Muslim lady. One might think having grown up in a multi-religious house would intuitively teach her to have the respect of some sort for religion, wrong. Her Imams and pastors do not use Qur’an or Bible. A 28-year-old, stout Rahama Tsoho belongs to a disreputable family of three. Her father, an ex-service man, divorced their mother when she’s only two. She stays with the father, her sister with the mother. She had longed to marry since her teenage, but she couldn’t. She always attributes this to her look and family. So, she vows to live a better life in the future by hook or crook and begins to use highly effective and expensive bleaching creams to bri...

The Dilemma of a Plucky Philosopher-Wannabe Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com The world has never been short of the irresolvable arguments of and on philosophy as a field of study. While many people cherish the beast, many more others hate it like they abhor their death. The social media, especially Facebook, has become a platform where raging rows often break out on the relevance or otherwise of studying Philosophy. This argument is nothing that new, unexpected or shocking, at least to me, in this 21 st century. What is astonishing is the way some Muslim brothers and sisters perceive the whole drama, treated by others, while many are left baffled and muted. However, scholars should speak out because not doing so leads many ignorant Muslim youths to reject the religion. This postmodern world is full of challenges posed by the (Western) media peddling post-truths, depicting Muslims as the embodiment of everything evil, Islam in acrimonious light and so on and so forth. ...

Production :    Jammaje Productions Producer:        Abba El-Mustapha Director :         Falalu A. Dorayi Year:              2016 Cast :              Nuhu  Abdullahi, Hajara Jalingo, Abba El-Mustapha, Zainab Booth,   Sani Mu’azu, Umar Malumfashi and others God bless the dichotomy between the rich and the poor, or as the socialists call it: the gap between the lower, the bourgeoisie and the upper classes. If it did not exist, the arts would, perhaps, have to invent one for stories to have conflict, upon which many films, novels, dramas, etc. rely on to intrigue us. This has been the trend since the Victorian Age, or before, with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist down to Femi Osofisan’s Marxist-influenced plays, and so on and so forth. Class consciousnes...

Director :         Iliyasu Abdulmumini Tantiri Producer :       Naziru Dan Hajiya Story:               Iliyasu Abdulmumini Tantiri Language :      Hausa Year :               2016 Company :      Kumo Production Introduction The Hijra (migration/exodus) of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his companions from Makkah to Madinah is an epoch in the history of Islam. It is featured notably in the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Although the Prophet was born and raised in Makkah and had preached there for many years, persecution forced him and the few who believed him to migrate. The Islamic Hijri calendar began at that time. The choice of the title for the film cannot be unconnected to the Prophet’s Hijra. The bond between c...