Agege, Lagos state – Sheikh Farouq Onikijipa, the grand mufti of Ilorin emirate in Kwara state, has strongly refuted allegations that he tried to kill the proprietor of Markaz Arabic and Islamic Training Institute, Agege, Lagos, Sheikh Habeeb Abdullahi Al-Ilory,
During a Ramadan lecture at his mosque on Sunday, March 23, Onikijipa swore with the Quran that he was not responsible for the Markaz Agege boss’ health challenge.
Legit.ng recalls that the news of Sheikh Habeeb’s sudden collapse had circulated in early February 2022.
The incident happened in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, during a wedding ceremony of one of the children of a former chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Salhiu Belgore.
The event reportedly held on Thursday, February 3, 2022.
Legit.ng learnt that the scholar, who arrived at the venue and exchanged pleasantries with other guests and fellow Islamic scholars, religious, and political leaders, suddenly collapsed as soon as he began to deliver his sermon. Subsequently, it became public knowledge that he had stroke. Stroke is a serious and life-threatening medical condition that occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted, either by a blockage or a ruptured blood vessel, leading to brain damage.
However, on Friday, March 21, 2025, Sheikh Habeeb Al-Ilory publicly declared that he would use Ramadan 2025 to “treat personalities” and not religious matters. He went further to strongly condemn Onikijipa and appeared to accuse him of spiritually attacking him and causing his present health challenge.
Reacting to Mudeer Markaz’s heavy allegation during his daily Ramadan lecture on Sunday, March 23, Sheikh Onikijipa vehemently dismissed it and alleged that some people are trying to blackmail him. According to him, he decided to react because the allegation also came from the horse’s mouth.
Legit.ng reports that while quashing the allegation, some of the lecture’s attendees shed tears.
Raising the Quran, he said:
“This is the word of God. We are yet to break our fasting, and we are in the house of God.
“If, I Sulaimoin Farouq, know about Sheikh Habeebullah Adam’s ailment, all the wrath of the Quran should be on me. But if that is not the case, ‘Oh God, I am in your house, and they are trying to rope me (sic) throughout the world that I know about it, that I want to kill him, that I did him evil; if I am innocent, in this Holy month of Ramadan, I beseech God’s anger on my slanderers’.”
The video can be watched below:
Furthermore, Sheikh Onikijipa narrated how he was among the people who helped Sheikh Habeeb and rushed him to the hospital when he collapsed in February 2022. He shared the purported compassionate parts he played at the time, using it to stress that he does not wish the Mudeer evil.
Sheikh Onijikipa clarified that “mischievous” individuals brought back the issue to add fire to Sheikh Habeeb’s grouse against him. He pointed out that the man in question already stated that the handkerchief was not diabolical, and that he only used it to clean sweat from the Mudeer’s body due to the deep admiration he has for the cleric.
Onikijipa v Sheikh Habeeb: Stakeholders call for truce
Meanwhile, stakeholders in Ilorin have urged relevant personalities to rein in Sheikh Habeeb.
In a statement obtained by Legit.ng, on Sunday, March 23, the Magaji Onikijipa Compound, Alhaji Abdulrahman Suyuti Onikijipa, on behalf of the family, said there is no distinction between the descendants of Onikijipa as they remain an indivisible entity.
The statement clarified that the statement credited to Sheikh Habeeb that the father of Sheikh Onikijipa was not a member of the Onikijipa family was not only false but “a lie from the pit of hell”.
The statement alleged that Sheikh Habeeb’s claim was borne out of mischief and a ploy to create a wedge among the Onikijipa family.
The statement partly reads:
“We are compelled to release this statement in view of the recent shenanigan being displayed by Habeebullah Adam Al-Ilory.
“He (Mudeer Markaz) attacks without a reason. He comes up with all sorts of theories just to prove anything. There are instances out there. There is no separation among us.”
The stakeholders, therefore, asked eminent Ilorin indigenes to ‘call the Mudeer of Markaz to order’.
Imam dies while performing Fajr prayer
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a video from a surveillance camera in an Indonesia mosque revealed the moment an Imam, who was performing fajr salat, early morning prayer, for his congregation, suddenly passed away.
The Imam was leading prayers, but when he knelt, he was like in a position longer than expected before falling to the ground dead.
