Feeding the poor and the vulnerable in Ramadan

Ihad intended for the publication of this column to be coterminous with “Teacher Appreciation Week” (which is celebrated in the US during the first full week of May), but since a teacher’s impact on a student is an abiding presence, there is no temporal restrictionon when a teacher can be appreciated.

One of the teachers who nurtured my passion for the written word, who fertilized my imagination beyond his own imagination, who cultivated and tutored my creative impulses, and whose pedagogical excellence continues to be a source of inspiration for me is Professor Saleh Abdu who taught me European Poetry at Bayero University Kano’s Department of English and European Languages in the early 1990s. He is now Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at theFederal University, Kashere,and is on sabbatical leave at the Gombe State University. I can’t thank this enormously talented but self-effacing man enough for the impact he had on my life.

I recall that the first attraction of Professor Abdu’s course for us was its subtitle: “English Romantic Poetry.”We were initially victims of what one might call a false attraction: the appearance of the word “romantic” in the

Gratitude is due alone to Allah (SWT) who again spared our lives till this day in 1439AH to observe another Ramadan fast. In Nigeria, today is the third day in this year’s Ramadan.The month of Ramadan is one unique opportunity by which Muslims do not only strengthen their spiritual ties with the Creator of the Heavens and the earth but also renew the bond of brotherhood among themselves.

Pubic feeding of the poor and the needy in Ramadan which is an aspect of spending in the way of Allah is generally exhorted in Islam. It is called Iftar Jama’i in Islamic literature. Informing us about the inestimable reward for every act of charity, Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 2:261 that “The parable of those who spend their substance in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn; it grows seven ears and each ear hath a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He pleaseth; and Allah careth for all and he knows all things”.

Anyone who feeds a fasting course title misled us to assume that we would learn about the expressive techniques of love poems, with which people in our age bracket were obsessed. It bespoke Professor Abdu’s consummate pedagogical genius that he captured and sustained our enthusiasm throughout the semester even when we realized that the course wasn’t about love poems but about the celebration of simplicity, nature, imagination, and emotions in the poetry of William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and others.

In my February 1, 2014 column titled, “A Comparison of Nigerian and American University Teachers (II),” I said this about Professor Abdu:“One of the best teachers I’ve had in all my life, for instance, is a Nigerian university teacher by the name of Professor Saleh Abdu who taught me European poetry in my second year at Bayero University, Kano. He was passionate, enthusiastic, cerebral, creative, patient, and made learning fun and worthwhile for students. He made us look forward to every class with dewy-eyed eagerness. He never missed a class, never dictated notes, encouraged us to challenge him, and graded us fairly. (My friend and former classmate at Bayero University, Dr. Moses Ochonu, who now believer in Ramadan receives the same reward given to the individual that was fed without reducing anything from the reward of the person(s) fed. For instance, if you feed 10 persons who are fasting in a day, you are due to receive a reward equivalent to the reward given to 10 persons that fasted on that day. This is besides the reward that accrues to you if you also fasted on that day. This is one difference between feeding others in Ramadan and in other months of the Islamic lunar calendar. Let us therefore take advantage of this ‘promo’ which is exclusive to the month of Ramadan. And as we may have learned, fasting as an act of worship is so revered that Allah (SWT) said fasting is for Him, and He (not the angels), gives the reward for it.

Nonetheless, this handsome reward is only assured if the financier of the feeding remains sincere, modest and God-fearing in his act of charity or feeding others. The feeding, for example, must be for the sake of Allah (SWT) and not for any cheap political or worldly gains. Also, the teaches at Vanderbilt University here in the US, has suggested that we write a joint article in honor of Professor Saleh Abdu, whose pedagogical excellence both of us benefited from and still cherish. I’ll take him up on the suggestion someday soon).

That day has come, and it is today. Moses Ochonu, who is now an endowed Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, shared these thoughts about Saleh Abdu, which brilliantly encapsulate and reflect my own recollections of and perspectives on the man and his pedagogy:

“Professor Saleh Abdu was my favorite lecturer in BUK and he has been instrumental to my love for the written word, my love for literary texts of many kinds, and my ability to recognize the humanizing, ennobling effect of prose and verse. This says a lot because I was a history major and only took English electives. Farooq and I took the class he taught on English Romantic Poetry. Even back then, several of us would often gather and praise the class, its content, and especially Professor Saleh Abdu’s ultra-effective lecturing style. We even memorized some of the poems and verbalized their philosophical imports to one another.

“Professor Abdu made the act of feeding must not be followed by public references or reminders intended to bring the good deed to public knowledge. Yet, the act of feeding others must, by no means, cause anger or discomfort to the person or group that was fed. The spirit of charity is destroyed when the benefactor of a public feeding arrangement tells the beneficiaries that his benevolence brought them relief in the hour of need. This is sheer hypocrisy.

The reward for feeding others in Ramadan is jeopardized when the financier verbally humiliates the beneficiaries. Allah (SWT) cautions us in Qur’an 2:264 and states “O ye who believe! Cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury like those who spend their substance to be seen of men…” The essence of charity including feeding the poor, needy and the vulnerable is sure to be preserved if the giver turns a blind eye to the predicaments of the receiver(s). The sanctity of any act of charity is further protected when the left hand of the giver does not know when the right hand gave out alms. verses come alive to us in ways that no teacher had done with any material. In my four years at BUK, I never saw my classmates, or any students for that matter, get as excited about a course as I saw them do about his course. With some classes, we were sometimes happy when they were cancelled or when the lecturer did not show up because it saved us the boring routine of the predictable. With his course, we eagerly looked forward to class every week because he lectured from a reservoir of unscripted knowledge.

“He never read or dictated. Instead, he oozed insight extemporaneously and effortlessly. He was coherent and delivered with discipline, authority, order, and clarity. It was pedagogical bliss for us his students. His teaching was remarkable; he had clarity, patience, passion,and a rare ability to combine erudition and simplicity of delivery. He enthralled us with his expositions, and I remember that we never wanted the class to end because we enjoyed it so much. It was as though he was directly pouring knowledge and all-purpose poetic wisdom into our craniums.

“Over the years, Farooq and I have reminisced about our lifechanging experience in that class, and about how Professor Saleh Abdu is an unsung pedagogical hero who has quietly and modestly molded the intellectual quests and trajectories of a generation of students. I want to use this opportunity to thank him for shaping, even without realizing it, my intellectual journey; and for setting a standard of teaching and knowledge impartation that I have been striving since I became

To feed a person or group during Ramadan or carry out any other acts of charity in order to be seen of men is actually no charity. If anything, it is false charity. Such is metaphorically compared to a hard rock on which a little soil had fallen by chance. When rain which benefits soil falls, it will simply wash away the little soil and leave the rock as bare, as it were. The lesson here is that sponsors of hypocritical charity derive no benefits from the wealth they may have amassed.

Allah (SWT) likens genuine feeding of the poor and sincere charity to a farm with fertile soil that is further matched with abundant showers of rain. Favourable weather conditions and the moistures that penetrate the soil all add up to increase the yield from the farm. Allah (SWT) mentions in Qur’an 2:265 “And the likeness of those who spend their substance seeking to please Allah and to strengthen their souls is as a garden, high and fertile; heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest; and if it receives not heavy rain, light moisture sufficeth it. Allah seeth well whatever ye do” This implies that a Muslim who is sincere in his acts of charity is spiritually healthy and best situated to attract the bounties of Allah (SWT). Even in hard times, such a person still puts forth good works of charity and remains content with what he has.

The act of feeding the poor and the needy in Ramadan could be carried out directly by the financier an academic to emulate.

“Saleh Abdu will always be a reference point for me in my quest for teaching excellence. That class, for me, represents the ideal classroom experience. We learned so much and it was a thrill. He made us fall in love with the distant poetic offerings of long-dead white men and the philosophical insights embedded in them. That is no mean feat when dealing with easily bored undergraduates. He was calm and not showy. His explanatory power was second to none.”

Moses and I emailed Professor Abdu and let him know how much impact he had on our intellectual growth. We were amazed that he had no self-awareness of his matchless pedagogical wizardry. I think this speaks to why student evaluations are important. They aren’t just meant to ensnare lazy, ineffective teachers; they can also encourage and recognize great teachers. The absence of student evaluations robs great teachers like Saleh Abdu of the joy of knowing what students think about their efforts.

Apart from periodic endof-semester evaluations, many universities here in the US ask graduating students to mention the names of professors who have had the greatest impact on their academic careers, and professors whose names are mentioned in the surveys get a nice letter from the university career services informing them of this. I get this every end of semester and it gratifies me to no end. I’d encourage Nigerian universities to institutionalize this as well. It’s a great psychological boost.

Thank you so much, Professor Saleh Abdu! or indirectly through mosques where formal arrangements for such public feeding in Ramadan exist. Some mosques have even developed the system further by defining what it costs in naira and kobo to feed a person or 10 persons or 15 persons so that interested financiers would only be required to pay the amount it costs to feed the number of persons they choose.

As some state governments announce various sums they have appropriated for public feeding of the poor and the vulnerable including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during this Ramadan, we appeal to those put in charge of the arrangements to fear Allah (SWT) in coordinating the public feeding. The food items should not end up in the houses of officials entrusted with the food items. Neither should the raw foods supplied for the exercisefind their way to retailers’ shops in various markets.

According to the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), charity including feeding of the poor is a strong instrument of salvation from illnesses and a means to averting calamities. The Prophet (SAW) exhorts us to in one of his sayings to treat the sick among us with alms. As we engage in feeding the poor, the needy, IDPs, orphans and widows in this Ramadan, we pray that Allah (SWT) will deliver us from all our national challenges and personal worries including insurgency, kidnappings, armed robbery, illnesses, abject poverty and unemployment, amin.