Sheikh Yusuf Abdullahi Lokoja (RTA).
Sheikh Yusuf, popularly known as Sheikh Yusuf Lokoja, was born in Bagana in Igalaland to a family of Nupe extraction (Tahir 2005).
At the age of four, his parents moved down to settle at Lokoja and at the age of eight he was enrolled at Sheikh Abubakar Qur’anic School in Lokoja.
He committed the whole Qur’an into memory at a tender age at Sheikh Asafa Qur’anic school where he also read some basic books on Islamic studies. He later studied under different scholars and Sufis in Lokoja.
Sheikh Yusuf was initiated into the Tijaniyya order by Sheikh Abdullahi Haruna in Lokoja in 1949. In 1959, he visited Sheikh Niass in Senegal who granted him ijazah (permission) to confer muqaddamship on his followers. He has travelled extensively in Nigeria, West Africa and the Arab world.
He has visited Kaolac in Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Republic of Benin, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Morocco.
Sheikh Yusuf is versed in Arabic and Islamic studies. He is a prolific writer with more than 100 prose and versified works on various aspects of human endeavour especially Sufism.
His major achievement is his school, Markaz at-Ta’lim al-Araby wal’Islamy (Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies) which he established in Lokoja in 1963.
The College, which is an affiliate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, offers Senior Islamic Studies Certificate (SIS), an equivalent of WAEC, NECO or GCE. The College is attended by students from various parts of the country especially Kogi, Kwara and Niger States.
Most of the graduates of the College later proceeded to university and graduate to become judges, lawyers, university dons, imams and preachers.
فوا أسفا بان النقى ذاك يؤسف#
ترانا كيعقوب نئى عنه يوسف
وإنا لعمرالله فى الحزن حينما#
نئى يوسف اللوجى عنا و نأسف
أضا قبره نور السماوات ربنا#
بسرالمقفى من مصيبات يوقف
الهم اغفرله وارحمه وعف وعف وعافيه واجعل الجنة الفردوس مثواه وادركه اللهم زمرت الشهداء والاولياء والصديقن امين
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