Date: 2018-04-17

The Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki, his eminence Alhaji (Dr) Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar II, the Sultan of Sokoto and Senator Ibikunle Amosun the Governor of Ogun State on Monday in Lagos joined other Islamic scholars to laud the roles played by late founder of the Arabic and Islamic Training Centre, (Markaz), Agege, Lagos, Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory.

Speaking at the centenary week in memory of the late Arabic-Islamic scholar that died in 1992, the Senate President like other eminent persons present at the event held at the Main Auditorium of the University of Lagos, lauded the footprints of the late scholar, saying that the reflections about the life and times of the Sheikh Al-Ilory is a pointer about what people will say after the transition of every individuals' soul.

He commended the late cleric for his outstanding contributions to the development of great Islamic scholars and urged the Muslim community to give education priority to young girls and boys, saying that education for all will bring about desired change and the world will see the nation as the gathering of peaceful people.

The Sultan, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar in his address said the centenary week was not to mark the death of the great icon of Arabic and Islamic education nor mark his birthday posthumously but to tell the world about his achievements, his legacies, and his steadfastness for the benefits of mankind and generation yet unborn.

"All that Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory stood for was to take Dawah to a greater level, teaching and preaching and focusing on the training of a new generation of people that will continue the Dawah he preached," he added.

He tasked the Muslim Umah (community) to consider the necessity to publish the great works of Sheikh Al-Ilory for the development the religion of Islam and urged the admirers and followers of the late sage to ensure that the legacies he left behind subsist.

The Sultan charged Muslims across the country to begin to contribute meaningfully to the development of education and emphasised that education is what pushes human beings around and resolve a lot of issues amicably.

Governor Amosun praised the late Sheikh for institutionalization of human capital development among the Muslim community, saying that his legacies had outlived him as the Markazu’t-ta limi l-Arabi al-lslami he founded in 1952 in Abeokuta, Ogun State has continued to thrive as the first organized Arabic School with distinct physical structures of classrooms, hostels, mosques clinic and block of offices for teachers in the Southwest.

Mr. Abdul-Fatah Ahmed, the Governor of Kwara State, lauded the firm control and management of the centre under the watch of the Mudeer, Sheikh Muhammed Habibulah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory for sustaining the legacy left by the late Sheikh.