The Grand Mufti of Yorubaland has strongly condemned the recent launch of a new League of Imams and Alfas, warning that it risks importing violent extremism like Boko Haram and Maitatsine to Southwest Nigeria.
In an interview, Sheikh Abdulrasaz Abdulazeez Ishola described the newly formed group, inaugurated around February 11-12, 2026, in Iwo, Osun State, and extending to include Edo and Delta states as an illegitimate impersonation of the longstanding authentic League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland.
The original league was established in 1964 (with roots tracing back to 1962) and comprises credible Chief Imams from Southwest states.Ishola dismissed the new entity's formation by "two or three people" as baseless and rebellious.
He questioned its inclusion of Edo and Delta, arguing they fall outside the traditional Southwest region, and accused it of pursuing a hidden agenda through plans to align more closely with northern Muslim bodies.
"The authentic league isn't fighting the North," he emphasized, citing past collaborations such as a 2017 seminar with the National Moonsighting Committee.
He contrasted this with northern groups like Jama'atu Nasril Islam (founded in 1962), noting that regional organizations exist without conflict.Ishola rejected any notion that true Yoruba Muslims would engage in such divisive actions, labeling the move as uncharacteristic and potentially crisis-inducing in Yorubaland.
On the separate issue of determining Ramadan dates, he defended the authentic league's use of astronomical calculations deemed the most accurate modern method over traditional moon sighting favored in the north.
The league has announced February 18, 2026, as the start of Ramadan this year, based on these calculations, and Ishola asserted that any contrary sighting claims (e.g., on February 17) would be erroneous and an assault on established knowledge.
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