The aim of this paper is to enlighten the Yoruba Muslims, in the light of the
Sharīᶜah, scales that would assist them in placing religious obligations in the right
order. It has been observed over the years that a number of Yoruba Muslims give
preference to acts of worship whose virtues are not only contestable among the
scholars but less meritorious in deeds than those whose extra virtues are not
contestable and also solve social problems of the society. A typical example is the
issue of ᶜUmrah and subsequent voluntary Ḥajj undertaken on annual basis. Despite
the need for spending much money on issues like feeding the poor, treating the sick
and promoting education, Yoruba Muslims, particularly the wealthy individuals
prefer to undertake the ᶜUmrah and voluntary Ḥajj annually with colossal amounts
in quest for a reward on an act of worship that could afford to wait than divert the
use of the money to address urgent needs of the Muslims. Reason for all this cannot
be unconnected with the fact that they lack detailed information and good
understanding of their religion. This paper therefore, was able to explain the Islāmic
jurisprudence of priority in a number of ways and illustrations that make the relative
merits of issues clear to them, individually and collectively, so as not to trade off or
forsake the obligatory duties for the sake of supererogatory, or fall into a major sin…
Source: Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
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