I was invited to the Special Northern Ulamah Summit on Contemporary Issues Facing the Nigerian Muslim Ummah, held on 15 October 2025 at Umaru Musa Yar’adua Hall, Murtala Muhammad Square, Kaduna. The invitation arrived with the gravity of a community’s conscience, a chorus of scholars and leaders gathering to speak with one voice about unity, governance, and the healing of a nation strained by fear. Yet the Abuja–Kaduna train refused me entry to the room where those voices were to gather.
The railway—our shared conduit of movement and opportunity—was silent, and in that absence I learned a cruel truth: even corridors built to ferry us toward dialogue can become trunks of delay, choke points where intention falters. There were no rooms available; there were no seats saved for me. So I did not attend in person. And yet, I did not abandon the conversation. A copy of the Communique found its way to my hands through the SCSN’s WhatsApp sanctum—a text not merely to be read but to be interrogated, to be weighed, and, if necessary, to be re-voiced in the interests of peace.
What I Read: A Ledger of Concerns and an Atlas of Remedies
What I read is not a document of triumph or triumphalism. It is a ledger of concerns and an atlas of remedies—formal in tone, intimate in aim. The preamble speaks with the measured pride of a coalition: the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) coordinating with Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyyah, JIBWIS, Salafiyyah, Jama’atu Tajdidil Islamy, the MSSN, the Ulamah Council of Nigeria, Ummah Forum, women’s groups, and respected Ulamah from the South. A congregation of hundreds—“over 600”—gathered to consider insecurity, disunity, moral decay, economic hardship, and the global tremors that touch Muslims in this country.
Resolution I: Unity of Purpose and Collective Action
The first resolution, stated with the quiet authority of a vow, declares unity of purpose and collective action under the Qur’an and the Sunnah. It is not a call for uniformity of intellect but for a disciplined alignment of intent. The Ulamah pledge to strengthen brotherhood, mutual respect, and coordinated efforts to promote peace and stability. It is a practical prayer: that religious leadership translate into coordinated action with civil society and state institutions, so that moral authority is coupled with governance that protects citizens.
Resolution II: Social Media and Morality
The second resolution speaks softly but with urgency: the misuse of social media to propagate hatred, division, and misinformation. The call is simple and wise—use digital platforms to disseminate knowledge, uphold moral values, and foster unity, while avoiding falsehood and divisiveness. In a nation where a single post can spark a riot or justify violence, this is not mere admonition but a strategy for social resilience.
Resolution III: Sulh—Reconciliation as Governance
The third resolution moves toward reconciliation—Sulh—as a mechanism for resolving crises. The government is urged to approach reconciliation with caution, inclusivity, and strength. This is not naïve optimism but a recognition that security and social healing must ride tandem: address the needs of the victims, the bandits, and all stakeholders. Embedding rehabilitation and community rebuilding within the reconciliation project is a humane acknowledgement that security without livelihoods is a fragile peace.
Resolution IV: Unity Across Hausa and Fulani Communities
The fourth resolution condemns efforts to incite discord between Hausa and Fulani communities. The document anchors itself in shared faith, intermarriage, culture, and history, insisting these bonds are indivisible. It is a plea for regional harmony as a bulwark against manipulation by those who would profit from division.
Resolution V: The Qur’an and Sunnah—An Integrated Foundation
The fifth resolution rejects ideologies that privilege mere Qur’an-centrism over the Sunnah. The Qur’an and Sunnah are presented as inseparable, forming the authentic foundation of Islamic practice. Public enlightenment campaigns will counter misleading ideologies and reinforce adherence to mainstream scholarship. This is a call for doctrinal clarity that preserves unity within diversity.
Resolution VI: Decisive Action on Insecurity
In the sixth resolution, insecurity—terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and communal violence—is laid bare. The Ulamah urge decisive state action, while offering to collaborate through peace advocacy, moral reorientation, and community mediation. It is governance grounded in moral legitimacy, seeking to harmonise security with the social fabric that sustains it.
Resolution VII: Addressing Economic Hardship
Economic hardship dominates the seventh resolution: inflation, unemployment, and widespread vulnerability. The call is for urgent, effective, sustainable measures at all levels of government to alleviate suffering, create employment, and ensure equitable distribution. Here is a plea for macroeconomic resilience that recognises the ingenuity and dignity of the Nigerian poor.
Resolution VIII: Interfaith Truth-Telling in a Fraught Narrative
The eighth resolution confronts propaganda alleging genocide against Nigerian Christians. It deems such claims misleading and divisive, arguing that Muslims have been disproportionately affected by insecurity and urging interfaith truth-telling. The call to transparency from CAN, media, and international partners is not a partisan manoeuvre but a guardrail against the erosion of trust between faith communities.
Resolution IX: Solidarity with Palestinians and Global Justice
Nine turns to geopolitics: condemnation of the Gaza violence, expressions of solidarity with Palestinians, and a call for continued advocacy, prayers, and humanitarian support. It places Nigeria within a broader moral conversation—one that recognises international law and human suffering while situating domestic religious leadership within a global chorus for justice.
Resolution X: Civic Responsibility and the CVR
Resolution ten promotes civic responsibility by encouraging youth engagement in Continuous Voter Registration as a legitimate means to advocate for justice, morality, and welfare. This is not mere political mobilisation but a civic pedagogy—teaching citizens that faith and freedom need not be adversaries, that political participation can be a path to peaceful reform.
Resolution XI: Living Conditions and the 2027 Elections
Eleven closes with a sober reminder of living conditions and the approaching 2027 elections. Unity and steadfast commitment to Islamic values become the compass guiding the Ummah, not as a retreat from politics but as a principled engagement with it.
Conclusion: A Call to Action Beyond a Text
The conclusion affirms a vocation more than a document: to champion unity, defend Islam’s principles, and promote peace through dialogue, education, and moral leadership. Gratitude is extended to those who participated; the narrative ends with prayers for divine guidance, peace, justice, and prosperity for Nigeria and the global Muslim Ummah.
Personal Reflections: Absence as Interpretation
What does this sequence of resolutions mean for Nigeria’s insecurity crisis and for the prospects of durable peace? It signals a nuanced, faith-informed approach that refuses to conquer by force alone. It recognises systemic causes—poverty, unemployment, social exclusion—while proposing a framework for community mediation, rehabilitation, and reintegration. It presents a soft power approach: religious credibility harnessed to mobilise civil society, to encourage responsible governance, and to sustain a non-violent politics of settlement.
Yet questions persist, and they deserve the light of scrutiny. How will the government operationalise a reconciliatory impulse without granting impunity to perpetrators? How will the promise of social media responsibility translate into practical counter-messaging strategies that dissuade youths from joining or amplifying violent ideologies? How might the call for unity across ethnic and regional lines be reconciled with Nigeria’s federal architecture, where identities are deeply felt and locally rooted? And what obligations do international partners bear in supporting credible, rights-respecting peace-building rather than merely exporting models from other contexts?
As a reader, I am compelled to reflect not just on a document, but on a people—the assemblies of scholars who gather to shoulder a nation’s moral load. My own absence from that hall was not a withdrawal from responsibility but a reminder that absence can be an occasion for interpretation, for listening more intently to the echoes of a moment being formed. The Communique remains a text to be acted upon: a blueprint for a peaceful settlement rooted in unity, accountability, and enduring social healing.
