Ansar Ud Deen - History of Ansar Ud Deen

History of Ansar Ud Deen

In 1923, when the Ansar Ud Deen society was formed, it was originally called Young Ansar Ud Deen and started out in Lagos, a cosmopolitan trading and coastal center with foreign and local traders converging to trade goods. Many members of the Lagos Muslim community were integral individuals in the Lagos trading community and had been exposed to the international and imperial trading groups and non trading ideas they brought along. The Muslim community initially flourished in the migrant communities of the Hausa, Nupe and Kanuri ethnic groups and also a permission granted in 1841, which allowed public prayers. However, in 1908, a dispute emerged in the Lagos Muslim community in reaction to a new water rate effected by the colonial administrators. The majority of the community opposed the rate while the Chief Imam supported the government move. Among many of the young elites who founded Ansar Ud Deen were members who supported the Chief Imam; some were also individuals who left the Ahmadiyya movement in Lagos. A new group of young educated Muslims, who were largely from the factions that supported the Chief Imam in Lagos, was made up of members of a Juvenile Muslim Society. Both were united in finding ways to stem a drift in the community and, importantly, to fund Muslim schools along the lines of western education in Lagos. A series of meetings were held in November and December 1924 to discuss on the aforementioned issues and to form an association. On December 21, 1924, the Young Ansar Ud Deen was formed and led by a committee of 42 gentlemen. A number of its original members were associated with Saros in Lagos, bearing names such as Savage, Carew and Williams. Prominent members of the society were Y.k. Gbajabiamila, Hussein Carew, M.A. Okunnu, Hafiz Abu and Yesufu Tairu.