بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful
From the desk of Hamidah Sẹ̀gílọlá Abbas, at a Thinker's office in Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
Distinguished worshippers of ALLAH, I present…
An Introduction: Who's Hamidah?
Asalamu Alaykum.
I am Hamidah Sẹ̀gílọlá Abbas, a knowledge worker.
I have always been a genuine seeker of answers. A thinker. An attentive person of reflection. In order to paint a complete picture, I'll tell you two stories from highschool.
Story One: I was published.
Led by genuine concern, at the age of 13, I submitted three articles to at-Taleem magazine — and SubḥānAllāh, all three were accepted and published. All. Three. Not one was rejected. AlhamduliLLAH.
For context, at-Taleem is a publication of IIRO, Saudi Arabia, Ibadan (UQHS regional office). Two of my submissions were Islamic-themed, while the third was titled “Agriculture in Nigeria Today.”
Years later, I went on to earn a degree in Agricultural Science at Africa’s very first university of agriculture — and the 7th university of agriculture in the world, FUNAAB.
The subject of my research was AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF SOYBEAN (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) SOWN AFTER SESAME IN AN ORGANIC CROP ROTATION SYSTEM.
So you can imagine my joy and surprise when the Federal Government of Nigeria signed an export agreement of one million tons of soybeans with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SubḥānAllāh — of all crops, it was soybean.
Allāhu Akbarrr
Moving on to the second story.
Story two: Once Upon a Hadith Question
My copy of the Quran till today was a gift by the Director of Ummul-Qura Institute. It was one of the many gifts that I received on that beautiful afternoon from various teachers, principal, and members of staff, including, ultimately, the director of the institute.
SubhanaLLAH. It all started with a simple Hadith question that no one was able to answer, I answered and several teachers were so excited they started raining gifts on me. And even those who couldn't give me a gift, made a pledge. I can only describe the excitement of my teachers upon my correct answer, as euphoric.
It was so simple. It was supposed to be a normal afternoon after Salah in the school field. However, for some reasons, as Almighty ALLAH has decreed, an Hadith question was asked and it became a big deal because no one was able to answer correctly.
So all praises belong to ALLAH who has bestowed the success and honour of successfully answering the question on me. It was a collective gathering of students of knowledge and high school students. I was a normal High school student who studied Islam in Yorùbá and English languages. I wasn't part of the Islamic Diploma students who studied Islam in Arabic language only. All I'm trying to say is that I am a simple believer who Almighty ALLAH has given the gift of autism and understanding. So all praises belong to ALLAH for the blessings of the day of the Hadith question.
May Almighty ALLAH honour you.
Sincerely,
Hamidah Sẹ̀gílọlá Abbas (HSA)
Author, Hall | Letters Of Light
