On the passing of Ameer Faal, a pioneer of Da’wah and The Gambia Tabligh
Dear editor,
“When the effort of ?in is taking place, Allah will make saints from a family of wrongdoers. And when the effort stops, Allah will make wrongdoers from a family of saints,” Ameer Faal (ra?imahu Allahu)
Recently, our prominent Sheikh Ameer Faal passed away. Ameer Faal was one of the pioneers of the work of Da’wah and Tabligh in The Gambia. In the early days of establishing the work, he would often walk to people’s homes calling them to the Masjid for Salah. He was appointed the Ameer of the Tabligh Jamat and remained as such until his death.
His first position was as Imam at the Markaz Masjid, a position he shared with his co-Imams. Ameer Faal would teach at the Madrasah as well, but his main focus was always Tabligh.
Ameer Faal’s dedication for Tabligh was unique in his time. If one was to sit with him for even a few minutes, all one would hear would be Khuruj, Fikr for the Ummat, how Sahabah left their homes for Din, and sacrifice for Allah’s Din.
Ameer Faal spent most of his time outside of the country than inside it on the khuruj. He never tired of traveling for the sake of Din. Wherever he went, people would flock to him and listen to his simple but penetrating words of advice.
A brother testifies that he would get up very early for Tahajjud and would cry profusely while making Du’a for the Ummah. An amazing aspect of his Du’a was that he would make Du’a for whoever had done him a favour, going through a long list of names during his Du’a.
Ameer Faal passed away on Wednesday between Zuhr and Asr on the night of Alqamish, 12th of Safar, 1439 / 1 November, 2017.
Our community greatly feels the loss of such an esteemed du’at, with his friends and brothers and talibes recounting memories of his impeccable character and the closeness they felt toward him:
He would walk from mosque to mosque to give Dawah, get spat at just so that we could have the comfort of practicing the Deen easily today. He loved youth and said the future of the Deen relies on them.
May Allah grant Ameer Faal the highest stages in Jannatul Firdous.\
Insha Allah, every life touched, and every person guided through the efforts of Ameer will serve as Sadaqah Jariyah for him. It is at the time of death and afterwards, that the true believer begins reaping the reward of all he has sown in this life.
Allah’s Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said,
Death is a gift for the believer.
May Allah (sub?anahu wa ta?ala) accept Ameer Faal’s efforts, have mercy on him, forgive him and elevate his ranks in Jannah.
May Allah (sub?anahu wa ta?ala) grant patience and strength to all his family and associates, Ameen.
The Janaza Salah for Ameer Faal took place today 2nd November, 2017 at Markaz at 2PM.
Muhammed Lamin Juwara
Latri Kunda Sabiji
The Public Order Act
Dear editor,
A year ago, you and I, and indeed the majority of Gambians would have been in complete agreement about the fact that ‘The Public Order Act’ is injurious to our democracy. Many of us saw it as a tool being used by the then government to suppress citizens’ rights to differ in opinion and manifest that through protests and demonstrations. There is no argument on this.
This was why, perhaps, Barrow and his Coalition peers, made it part of their pledges in their manifesto to repeal this law within six months of taking office. We are now in the tenth month of your government and lo and behold! that obnoxious law is still there, untouched. Worse, the government seems to delight in using it. What an irony!
Recently, some citizens planned to protest to express manifest their dissatisfaction with the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) only to be denied permit to protest by the police, citing ‘national security concerns’. How interesting! When Solo Sandeng and co planned to protest it was the same excuse that was used against them. When Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, our current minister of Foreign Affairs went to prison to save us, it was because of this law. How then can we, in good conscience, continue to use this law? What is it that we fought so hard for?
There will always be those people who will tell the president what he wants to hear. These people will only be concerned with short-term benefits and not the long-term plan to have a vibrant democracy. They will say to him that the constitutional review board will do a comprehensive job of looking at the constitution in its entirety. While that sounds plausible, it is no excuse to use a bad law. Why can’t we just ignore it until such time that it can be repealed or amended?
There is no worse concern of national security than a dissatisfied population which is agitating for a better service delivery and can’t have it. The excuse of national security is overused and overrated. We must dare to confront the future with bold steps into democracy. The road to democracy is not always rosy and cozy. It comes as a package: the good, the bad and the ugly.
We must put a strong step forward!
Musa Bah
Nusrat SSS
