Stakeholders have urged Nigerians and Muslims to go beyond mourning the late renowned Islamic scholar and Tijjaniyya leader, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi and instead translate his enduring legacies into meaningful contributions to society.
They encouraged investment in knowledge-sharing, moral leadership, and selfless service to humanity as the true measures of honouring and remembering the late cleric.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Islamic Scholar Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Dies
These were the central messages of speakers at the 40-day Fidau prayers organised by the Alumni Association of Markaz Rahmati Llahi Litahfizi Qur’an Schools in Ilorin, Kwara State, one of the vast networks of Qur’anic memorisation and Western education institutions founded on the ideals of the late scholar.
Speaking at the event, Islamic cleric Shaykh Abdulganiy Abdulsalam enjoined Nigerians, especially Islamic scholars, to emulate the virtues and ideals of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, describing his life as a model of faith, humility, and service to humanity.
READ ALSO: President Tinubu Mourns Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi
Abdulsalam extolled the late scholar as a towering figure whose impact transcended Nigeria and resonated across Africa and beyond. He said the revered cleric left an indelible legacy defined by piety, scholarship, tolerance, and selfless service to humanity.
“Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi’s life offers enduring lessons in the harmonious balance between deep Islamic knowledge rooted in the Qur’an and Sufism and practical humility, peace-building, and community development,” Abdulsalam said.
READ ALSO: Thousands Mourn Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheik Dahiru Usman Bauchi
Shaykh Tajudeen Arowolo-Sholagberu noted that the late sage stood as a model of unity, whose teachings bridged faith with reason and spirituality with compassion, leaving behind significant lessons on how religion could inspire harmony and uplift society.
“Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi was a detribalised Nigerian and an unbiased Muslim leader who devoted all his life to the worship of the Almighty God and humanity,” he added.
Speaking on the educational legacy of late Islamic leaders, Abdulsalam recalled that Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi made a profound impact through his commitment to Islamic education. He said that, with the family of Dr Mohammed Haruna, the late scholar established an Islamic academic initiative that produced 82 Qur’anic memorizers and 326 reciters.
READ ALSO: President Tinubu Renames Azare Health University After Sheikh Bauchi
According to Abdulsalam, the programme was designed to support the development of a balanced blend of Islamic and Western education, with a strong emphasis on knowledge-sharing across North-Central Nigeria.
“The idea of the establishment of the Qur’anic school combined with Western education was conceived in 1994 to fill the vacuum that existed in educational development. This was way before the government even conceived the idea of Almajiri schools. Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, leveraging his relationship with late Dr Haruna Abubakar, birthed this school in Ilorin, Kwara State, and we believe it served as a model to other Islamic Qur’anic schools recently established across Nigeria,” he said.
Abdulsalam said that with the support of the Kwara State Government, many of the graduands of the Markaz were able to further their education in various institutions of higher learning, both within and outside the country.
He noted that the school had produced professionals across diverse sectors of society, including Professor Mohammed Abubakar Mohammed, a Geosciences scholar at the Irkutsk National Research Technical University.
“The Markaz Islamic school has indeed produced many students. They are doing very well across the world and these students have a good blend of Islamic and Western education,” he said.
“We are proud of Prof. Mohammed Abubakar Mohammed. He was a student here and he is into research in Geosciences amongst many of them. We also have some of our students who graduated from this school two decades ago that are working with the World Bank and some are also in the field of accounting,” he added.
He stressed that the school had achieved the purpose of its establishment in promoting mutual understanding and the eradication of poverty and illiteracy among the populace.
In his lecture in honour of the late Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, Shaykh Arowolo-Sholagberu urged Muslims to remain God-fearing and committed to serving humanity. He called on the faithful to put the knowledge they had acquired to good use in the propagation of Islam, in line with the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith.
Earlier, the convener of the 40-day Fidau prayers, Professor Mohammed A. Mohammed, urged Muslims to invest in the development of humanity through education and sustained support for the less privileged. He also admonished the faithful to uphold justice and fairness in all their dealings.
“The late Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi and the co-founder of this Markaz Islamic school were true leaders who prioritised humanity. Sheikh Bauchi was a living institution and a father figure who mentored generations and as you can see he left behind a flourishing legacy through his many students who carry forward his values and teachings,” Professor Mohammed said.
The forty-day Fidau prayers featured the recitation of selected chapters of the Qur’an and poetic renditions reflecting on the life and times of the revered scholar.
Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, who died on November 26, 2025, was widely celebrated as a towering Islamic scholar and a foremost leader of the Tijjaniyya Sufi order.
He was renowned for building one of Africa’s largest networks of Qur’anic schools, a legacy that earned him global recognition for producing the highest number of Qur’an memorizers within a single family.