Monday 23 June 2008

THE SATAN AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN

Coming to the real issue of our relationship as human beings with the Devil or Satan. i will put it in a story form but it is how the scholars of Islam explained it.Long before man was created, a being was among the angels. Angels don't disobey the commands of God. They are created that way. The duties assigned to is done to perfection and they engage in the glorification of God all their lives. Among the Angels was the Devil or Satan or Jinn. He was created from Fire. He served among the Angels ,at one point rose to be among the leadership. What causes a high ranking being among the Angels to be banished to oblivion? God in his infinite plans, started creating our ancestor Adam. As Muslims we believe that God created Adam with his own hands. when Adam was laying in a form of clay or mud. the Angels will be wondering what being God is creating. The Satan started to be jealous of Adam has he lay in a lifeless form. It is reported that, The Satan usually point its finger at Adam's Tummy saying " i don't know what is this but if any thing his tummy will be a big temptation for him". to this many scholars said, the Satan's words proof true against us as humans, our quest for livelihood make us do many horrendous things. all we pursue in life is related to our happiness and comfort. from thief's to murderer.When Adam was completed to the human form, God then created a soul. The soul is not from God. The soul is created. Then Adam's soul is breath into him. Then God authorised the Angels and Satan to prostrate to Adam. God created us with honour and respect. To this request the Angels fall down and prostrated. But the Satan refused.He disobeyed the command of God. This is a serious issue but the Satan was ready to face any consequences. He was asked, why did you refuse to obey the command of God? his answer, which is similar to what many human beings say to day is " i am better than him, you created me from fire and him from clay". God told the Satan ," i know things you don't know". but the Satan was adamant. It refuse to bodge. He sealed his faith. What is the difference between committing a sin and falling in a state of disbelief? to commit a sin one knowingly do an act that he is forbidden from doing. to commit disbelief or kuffur, one denies the the validity of there being anything wrong in his or her action. he/she don't belief the commands are reasonable and valid. this is disbelief.an example, God command Muslims not to commit fornication and adultery. we as humans have many temptations. one way or the other, you find yourself committing fornication. you accepts that it is wrong but you followed your desire and commit a major sin in Islam which has a stipulated punishment in here and the hereafter. but still you do it. That is a sin.but if you don't belief that fornication is a sin and that why should it be a sin? it is a relationship between two consenting adult, it is unreasonable for God to regard it a sin, then you have disbelief and disregard God's commandments and his validity and existence.What the devil did was the later. He told God, i am better than Adam ,meaning human. i am made of fire, still coming to the discrimination issue. the statement of the devil is thus, you God made a mistake. You were irrational and unjust to tell me to bow down to an inferior creation of yours. Whom he thought doesn’t deserve any honour from him.God then asked him the Satan, what do you want. i reward you now all the past deeds you have done or later? he opted for a condition that He the Satan live till dooms day. That wish of him was granted. Before parting he made a promise to God. That is “I will make all the offspring of Adam, the man who is responsible for my banishment to disobey you" .God replied ,you can only make those who listen to you disobey me.This is the condition we are in.
God never abandon us as humans. he throughout our existence have send men among us with his message, his guidance and word. What is important for us as people to realise is that, God has given us a brain. That set us apart from all other creatures. We can differentiate between good and bad, depending on our state of mind. We can take time to read the books containing the words of God; we can take time and asked those who spend their time learning about God and the way to him. This is all our choice. But let no one mistake the words of God's punishment for disobeying him. There is a hell fire and there is paradise. There is a day of judgement. Yes we may not be able to do acts that will guarantee us paradise but obeying God's commandment is an indication that we held him high and respect his words.

THE MARABOUTS (spiritual doctors)

The marabout world
The work of majority of our marabouts, seriegns, moro’s and chernos. the majority of the holy men or spiritual doctors are involving the contact of the jinn world.
The work they do is described in the Quran as SIHR. Sihr is describe by many scholars of the past as “uqad ( blowing on knots), Ruqha (incantations), and words uttered or written, or carried out in such a way as to affect the body of the target. To affect his heart or mind without him even coming into contact with the practitioner, here the moro, cherno,or sereign.
this marabouts are host to many gullible senegambians who take them as problem solvers. you find people who careless about their prayers and sexual behaviours frequenting this marabouts for solutions, yet the solver of all problems is avoided. how strange.
The practice is an art which has it own methodology and ways. It has nothing to do with the Islamic creed or system.
The reality of sihr according some scholars is that it can cause one to die, cause people to fall ill or acts as obstacle against a man having sexual relation with his wife. Other types can separate husband from wife that is divorce
Ibn Al-qayyim state that the effect of marabout work or sihr “consist of the effect of evil souls and the reaction of the resultant forces.’’. From our senegambia experience, many of us have seen this men, we held them highly and accord them respect because we tend to believe that they are Godly men but on the contrary. These men are mostly greedy men who mortgage their life for easy life and fame. Traditionally they have an understanding of the Islamic knowledge and aura. But they know, they cannot use the Quran to get money of people by doing the acts they do. Yes, God conscious people can pray for others but they don’t have any extra-ordinary powers to do things out of the ordinary.

How do the marabouts have the knowledge or power to do things they do? The man who sacrifices is life to the Satan, use the name of a certain jinn that are with people in that line of business. If you have the names of a jinn, you call upon them for several days or weeks and you do things that will please that particular jinni. The marabout and the jinn or satan form an agreement. The jinn or Satan command the marabout to do certain acts to proof himself. This may involve sacrifices and other acts against God. To an outsider, the marabout is on the path of God but to himself he knows what he is doing.
It is claim that some of this people do filthy things like, writing anagrammatized (writing in reverse) the Quran. Some perform salat without wudu, they tell their clients to sacrifice animals on certain days. This animal is to please the jinn. The greater the power of the Jinn, the higher the demand for sacrifice. The marabout also use the stars as a guide in their work.
Some big marabouts who obey the commands of jinn get their own family affected by the jinn. the following Quranic passages talks about the existence of jinns. Surah 36:29,6:130,62:1,45:33,62:6,5:91,24:21 .
There are many hadith that confirm the existence of jinns.
Satan can transform into many things. We cannot see them.

People from our region go to this people to solve their problems and difficulties for them. But our people don’t examine the method this men use to do things that seems like solving peoples worries. They pass themselves off as great Muslims that are their outward persona. If say a certain person go them to make a certain individual lose his job, do you think this grand marabout will open the Quran and copy a verse to make that person lose his Job? No. this is where their double life comes into play. Anything to do with causing harm and instability, their jinn is invoke and he carries out the duty diligently. They prey on people’s weak beliefs and lack of knowledge about their evil actions. This is why they are relevant and respect still today. Some grand marabouts even make their students beg in the streets. Some exceed the sharia even in marriage. They don’t attend jamat community prayer in the mosque yet this men show their Islamic side to trap customers.
How holy is a marabout who hardly go to mosque were the prayer perform is of higher grade than that perform at home?

The specialist marabout or serign can send his jinn on missions to cause harm. The jinn can cause someone to get mental illness.
The methods of getting a jinn are in many categories. One of them is swearing by and seeking refuge in the master of the jinn’s. This is usually done with the method referred to as thoo batooo ( calling on a name) this practice is done in a dark room, smoke incense. the marabouts who practice this evil, do acts that pleases the jinn. If the jinn is satisfy with the marabout, it will undertake task assign to it. If it is steering up hatred, that is the mission.
Another common method of getting the jinn’s attention is slaughtering an animal. The blood that is what the jinn needs. All sacrifice under taken by muslims should be for the sake of God only not any other beings.
Another method is anagrammatizing words of the Quran. This is locally refer to as katim. Katim is very dangerous method of harming people. It involves the connection of evil forces. Many are making lots of money by using this method of deceiving people. Other methods include using star signs to do incantations and other evils.

Before the marabout or moro under take a task for people, they ask for peoples mothers name, some ask for animals with certain specifications, white lamb, spotted sheep etc. they also give clients item to burry in the ground,
This men can surprise people. They can tell you your name even without you telling them, they narrate thing that happen to you in the past etc. this information is given to them by jinns.

I stated earlier that, some of the marabouts are only taken to be spiritual by people but they don’t invite or call people to themselves, they work hard and attend jamat prayers. They eat from halal or legal acceptable earnings. They don’t cause any harm between people. They don’t deceive using katim or korteh. They pray to God for that person’s well being. We need to stop making this people carry on this profession. They are all over the place. Banjul , Dakar ,Serrekunda, Bansang, Basse, everywhere. Some of them are very powerful and dangerous. To proof their power they can do wick things.
Next I will write about the Quranic verses to prevent you and me from their magic and demonic tools. Many know this topic more than myself but they are quiet with their knowledge. We need to explain the implications regarding going to this people. It make us fall into shirk or associating partners with God. That is an unforgivable sin. May God strengthen our imaan.

Sunday 22 June 2008

THE BLIND HEART

"So have they not travelled through the earth and have (they lost) hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but hearts which are within the breasts. " (Surah Al-Hajj verse 46).

The blind heart
Man is not without a mechanism to warn
When one think low of the revelations
When It is the heart that refuses to heed to the internal warnings
When one trivialises the commands of God
When one is engage in only enrichment and fun
When one cannot be moved by the statements of God

Then the heart is blind and not the eye
Blindness of the heart is much worst
It leads one to damnation
Thinking you know better, whilst you only know glimpses
Thinking your education is sufficient to guide you away from God

Then your heart is blind, and dead
When only music is that which moves you
When only the expectation of cohabitation is that which touches your heart
When it is pride and name that you seek

Then your heart is blind and dead
Repair it before it is too late
Seek religious knowledge, don’t thrive on ignorance in religion, you shall have no excuse
Soon, you will grow old, weak, tired and sick
Then you, your heart, ego and life shall depart
The timing, you cannot know and the consequences, severe
May God open our hearts to his commands. Amen

Thursday 12 June 2008

THE MAN

It’s not about the colour, the man

Love for every thing
But the man
The Mercedes, the suit
The shoes, the tele
The dress and the computer

It’s not about the colour, the man
The hair dyed with the colour
No problem
The leather sofa
The different cars
Party and respectable occasions
The colour is seen

So it is about the colour, but the man
Yes, the black man
He is the problem, not his colour
But why?
May be we haven’t done enough
May be we are bad competitors
May be we are less ruthless
May be we are less determined
May be we are too perceive and soft
Yet our statue, so strong
Evidently we are not united
Factually we are divided

It’s not about the colour, the man
We will not be loved unless we love ourselves
Man is dignity and dignity is respect
Do we want dignity and statue?
Do we want grace and honour?
Let’s look into ourselves
The solution is there
No more blames
This world is hostile, stand firm you win
Are we standing? Are you standing?
You see what matters is our collective success and respect
Let’s do it, we can

Tuesday 10 June 2008

One year anniversary Letter to Senegambianews.com

Dear Editor Jambang,
Allow me to extend my happiness to you and associates on the occasion of your one year anniversary. Indeed, you have come a long way from the first day you set out to implement another platform for news dissemination to the global readers.
The Gambia needs the good works of all the online editors in the Diaspora and back home. It is the day for Senegambia News to reflect on its performance and outputs. I, as a Gambian reader is satisfied with the news and other items on the pages of Senegambianews.com. It is not easy as I always reiterate to other editors; running a news paper is difficult.
You require a good communication base and news providers back home. The cost of maintaining the paper is also not cheap; bearing in mind the cost of phone calls, verifying news and answering to critics - these are not easy at all.
Fortunately, editors and reporters of Senegambia News have ride through the storm successfully. Keep up the good work and hold your heads high. Your past experience in the field of journalism has shown a distinguished mark in your style of reporting news.
My only advice to you would be this: Do not personally get affected by critics, delineate yourself from the paper and respond with carefully authored editorial. As the Nigerian would say, "all shall be well with you, Yankuba". www.senegambianews.com

Sunday 8 June 2008

TABAA KONKORON.

The story of the mystical trees

This story is close to home. I am no historian or anthropologist but I believe in unearthing our hidden so-call mysteries. Africa rank high among continents with many hidden and mysterious place. A large number of mysticism is set around saints or perceive great men. The holiness and spiritual powers attributed to dead religious men continuous the legend which leads to spirit calling. This is sinful in the Muslim traditions but like many cultural systems, believe has its sophisticated understandings.

This story is similar to much shrine worship. The concept of grave veneration. The graves of men like Shiek Amadou Bamba, Baye Nyass, Sinmoto Kemo Sanou, Malick Sey, etc venerated by common people.
Our region is not alone in this, many Asian, North African, South American, and even European countries practice some form of people worship. When I say worship, it is not meant in the ritualistic manner, but the way this people’s life’s are celebrated is close worshiping them. In many European cities and the Americas, the statues of past former leaders can be seen in parks, in front of historical buildings and many squares. This isn’t just innocent coincidence; it is a deliberate ploy to make this people stay in the memory of the future generations.
Others can go and perform some rituals, whilst some only place wrapped around the graves and remember this men, but in reality, people take this respected dead men/women venerably.
The story of a place called TABAA KONKORON
This place is where people in the old days would scare the hell out of thieves, fornicators, adulterers and adulteress, and murderers. Even in communal feuds, people threaten to go to Tabaa Konkoron.
What is tabaa konkoron?
This is a place located in a border town between The Gambia and Senegal. The nearest way to get there is by heading for the famous lumoo (one day market) Sereign Ngai. The town is Makka Kolibantan. But what peole mix is the name of the place. The real location of tabaa konkoron
Is Kolibantan. A twin town located close to each other. You can hardly go to Makka without entering Kolibantan. So the name became Makkakolibantan.
In Kolibantan, there use to live two brothers who were great spiritual men. According to reliable sources, this two brothers helped lots of people through their spiritual powers and kindness. They died in the town. But these two brothers had two people who worked for them. A blacksmith and a servant. when all of them passed away, they were buried at the out scat of the village kolibantan.
This burial place is mystical by itself. The location is where three trees stand facing each other. These trees are known in Mandingo as tabou. The verb is tabaa. So people rather refer to this trees as tabaa konkoron. Konkoron is mandinka adjective which I don’t fully understand yet.
It may have to do with the mode the trees are standing or how they look like. But the two brothers, their servant and blacksmith were buried in the place of the three tabous.
Over time people started placing gift under the threes close to the graves. This went on for a long time. And the place became legendary when people would go making prayers for finding lost properties and seek vengeance against their tormentors. Strangely, this prayers was said to be answered. A floodgate begun. People go there for all sorts of reasons, but the common reasons are when one is in difficulty or when people wronged you. They will take all sorts of gift; common gift is cola nuts, candles and even money.
People will openly confess to sleeping with other spouse when threaten with tabaa konkoron. Thieves will return stolen properties and seek forgiveness from property owners if tabaa konkoron is mentioned.
All young bolongba folks like me who were young at the peak of the mystics of tabakonkoron is wonder what evidences or success stories made people to fear the spirits of tabaa konkoron?
What is clear is that the place is where two holy brothers are buried, with their servant and blacksmith. And the actual location is where three tabous stand facing each other.

We see graves and the calling of ancestral spirits still playing huge importance in Africans religious believes. This is an avenue for future research. The magal in Touba Senegal, the Gamou in touba wulli for Sinmoto kemo sano and countless others are places of annual festivals.
In the town of Makka the famous marabous reside. The Jabbi kunda family(karan Abdoulie Jabbi, the late Banfa Jabbi and the late Soriba Jabbi). kolibantan is famous for tabaa konkoron and makka famous for the jabbi marabous, most kombo and Banjulian knew about this places. No one do marabourism pass our capitol country men and women.

LINKS

A good link to some Gambian websites. bantaba more site links.
http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2673&whichpage=1

Tuesday 3 June 2008


BLOODSHED

OUR LOVE OF IT
MOST GREAT MEN DID IT
NAME A WARRIOR
WHITE OR BLACK
ARAB OR ASIAN
HE IS GUILTY OF IT
IS IT BAD?
IS IT GOOD?
NATIONS ARE GREAT THROUGH IT

BLOODSHED
WHO IS ALLOWED TO ENGAGE IN IT?
TODAY'S FRUITS OF PLEASURE WAS DIRECTLY FROM THE BLOOD OF OTHERS
GREAT NATIONS AND NOT SO GREAT NATIONS
WHO IS INNOCENT OF IT?
NOT RELIGIOUS FOLKS
AND NOT SECULAR FOLKS
WE ARE ALL GUILTY
DO YOU DENY THAT?
TELL ME WHY YOU THINK YOU ARE DIFFERENT?
DO YOU LOVE BLOOD BEING SHED?
I HEAR YOU SAY NO
BUT I THINK OTHERWISE
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
THE WEST OR SOUTH?
EAST, MIDDLE OR NORTH?
BLOOD IS BEING SHED EVERY WHERE

HUMAN BLOOD
FOR MONEY OR OTHER THINGS
APPARENT OR HIDDEN
BLOOD IS CHEAP
HUMAN BLOOD
WHO IS GUILTY?
UNRULY YOUTHS, FANATICS OF ALL SHAPES AND FORMS
RELIGIOUS OR RACIALIST
POWER HUNGRY OR CONTROL FRIGS

BLOODSHED
HERE I STOP, AND OVER TO YOU
BLOODSHED, A DAILY OCCURRENCE
MEN ARE GREAT BECAUSE OF IT.