Image Of Dead Imam Attracts Crowd

Muslim faithful this morning at the mosque where an apparition was seen

 Muslim faithful have continued to besiege a mosque, popularly called Alfa Shehu Mosque, at Owode-Onirin along Ikorodu road, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, where they claimed to have seen the apparitions of  Sheik Ibrahim Niyyas, Sheik Hamad Tijhani and Shehu Bulala, on the walls of the mosque and neighbouring houses.

People were still trooping to the mosque today, four days after the apparitions purportedly appeared on the walls.
We gathered that the images had appeared a few days before the Ramadan fasting period ended but the Imam of the Mosque, Alhaji Shehu Nurudeen, had advised his children not to make the strange discovery public because people may find it difficult to believe, until a man (name withheld), went there from Apapa area of Lagos State on Tuesday morning to confirm that he had a revelation about the incident.
The Imam’s son, Ibrahim Nurudeen, who spoke with our correspondent on behalf of his father, said that it was after the stranger’s visit that people started besieging the mosque to see the ‘wonders of God’ on the walls of the mosque.

“When we were about rounding off the fast, my dad saw the image on the wall inside the mosque but he warned us against publicising it because people may not believe. We were however surprised on Tuesday  morning when a man whom we had not seen before, came around to say that he got a revelation about Sheik Niyyas, Tijhani and Bulala, appearing on the wall.

“Before we could address the issue, people had started trooping in from various parts of the country to see what was happening here. My dad had to leave the house since people started coming to confirm for themselves. I’m not surprised at the way people have been coming because those people who appeared on the walls are our legends in Islam,” he said.
Another Islamic cleric, Jamiu Afeez, stated that the images were looking so real at the initial stage of appearance but people trying to touch the walls made them to disappear.

Sheik Ibrahim Niyyas

He also explained that they had a torrid time controlling the crowd at the mosque who came to catch a glimpse of the images.
The young cleric further stated that people had been there from Offa, Ilorin and some parts of the country to confirm the incident.

“The images were looking so real initially but the more people touched them, the more they disappeared. We had to call mobile policemen and soldiers to help us control the crowd here yesterday because people have not stopped coming.
“We have been praying here since that Tuesday morning, day and night because it is a revelation from God and a clear indication that our prayers have been answered. The more we prayed, the more the Sheiks appeared. People have come in from Ilorin, Offa and other parts of the country to see for themselves,” he explained.

One of the Muslims who spoke with us, said that a Christian neighbour also saw it on the wall and called the Imam’s attention to it, a scenario she believed is a clear indication that God is one. The woman clad in a hijab, also said that it portrayed the height of God’s presence in their midst and to further prove to the world that Islam is a religion of Light and Peace.

Some worshippers with bottled water seeking blessing from the apparition

“This is the work of God and nobody can fault it. Their neighbour who also saw it is a Christian and this clearly shows that our God is one. It is also a clear indication that God is in our midst and that he has answered our prayers; Islam is a religion of Light and Peace, this incident has proven that again,” the eyewitness said, pleading anonymity.

At the mosque people were still praying fervently while others bought bottled water and rubbed their bottles against the wall on which the apparition appeared, while making requests from the perceived images.
Worshippers inside the mosque continued shouting ‘Allahu’.

At the time of filing this report, more Muslim faithful were still trooping to the mosque.
Sheik Niyyas, whose appartion is causing the huge stir, was a popular Islamic cleric who was born in 1900 and died in 1975. He was born in Senegal where he is still being revered and whorshipped by some Islamic adherents in the West African country.

September 06, 2013