Sheikh Muhammed Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory

By Nurudeen Ibrahim

PRESENT PROPRIETOR

Sheikh Muhammed Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory is the present proprietor of markaz he is a prominent personality and Islamic scholar in South-West, Nigeria.

He is a profound and highly informed scholar. He is indeed talented in the field of scholarship and his being an erudite intelligentsia is incontrovertible.

Just like his father, Sheikh Habibullah is a very talented and highly informed scholar about both local as well as international Islamic issues. He is a celebrated member of the intelligentsia as mentioned earlier and his Ramadan Tafseer attracts thousands of listeners gathered at the Great Markaz of which no other Tafseer in South West Nigeria if not the whole of Nigeria attracts such a great number of listeners. Today his Tafseer has a very large number of viewers online because of the knowledge and information he shares.

Sheikh Habeebullah El-Ilory is a scholar of contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence. He is vast in Tafseer of the Holy Qur’an, Arabic interpretation and history. He is unique and a rare breed among the scholars of Nigeria today in terms of quality of knowledge and research. He is highly charitable, selfless and apolitical.

BIRTH AND EDUCATION

Sheikh Muhammed Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory was born on the 17th of November, 1958 in Lagos, Nigeria.

He started his Islamic and Arabic education with his father, an erudite and highly respected scholar, Sheikh Adam Abdullah El-Ilory.
Sheikh Habibullah was born 6 years after the establishment of Markaz in 1952.

Sheikh Habibullah was enrolled for his primary education and later he attended Anwarul Islam Secondary School, Agege, for his secondary education. He also attended Arabic and Islamic Training Centre (Markaz) Agege established by his father and he graduated in flying colours.

In 1981, Sheikh Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory travelled to Kano where he worked at a Government Training College as a teacher.

While in Kano, he joined the mentorship of the eminent Sufi Scholar, Sheikh Muhammed Nasir Al-Kabara who was the leader of the Qadiriyya Sufi Order then.

In 1984, Sheikh Muhammed Habibullah returned to Lagos on the request of his father, Sheikh Adam Abdullah El-Ilory to join the teaching staff at the Markaz Agege.

Sheikh Habeebullah then began his job as a teacher in Markaz since 1984 where he taught Astronomy (‘ilmul falak), Philosophy (falsafa) and other subjects. He worked together with his father until demised of his father on the 3rd of May, 1992.

In 1986, Sheikh Habeebullah El-Ilory embarked on a journey to the prestigious Al-Azhar University for a course for Imams and scholars. He was conferred with the title Fadeelat-ush-Sheikh.

SUCCESSION TO SHEIKH ADAM HIS FATHER

He became successor of his father after his death and so recognized and respected by all and sundry.

CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Sheikh Habeebullah El-Ilory introduced a lot of developments at Markaz which are still ongoing one of which in terms of intellectualism is the Annual Cultural Week where scholars are invited for paper presentations on important issues facing the Muslims of Nigeria in particular and the Muslim of the world in general.

LITERARY WORKS OF SHEIKH HABIBULLAH EL-ILORY

Sheikh Habibullah El-Ilory he has some books to his credit and many articles which are considered major sources of Islamic knowledge by researchers. He is well known for his antagonism against extremism in religious matters

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

Sheikh Habibullah El-Ilory has participated in several conferences within and outside Nigeria. These contributed to his vast exposure and rational thinking.

In 2010, Sheikh Habibullah Adam Abdullah El-Ilory was honoured by the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan with the national honour (OON).