A Tribute to Ahmad Muntaka Coomassie and the Coomassie Family of Zaria

In the city of Zaria, Kaduna State long regarded as one of Northern Nigeria's foremost centers of Islamic scholarship few family names carries the weight and reverence of the Coomassie family. Today, that legacy finds a worthy custodian in Alhaji Ahmad Muntaka Coomassie, eldest surviving son of the revered Islamic scholar Sheikh Muntaka Coomassie, and brother to the late Justice Muhammed Saifullahi Muntaka-Coomassie of Nigeria's Supreme Court.

A Lineage Rooted in Scholarship
The Coomassie name is inseparable from the story of Islamic learning in Zaria. Sheikh Muntaka Coomassie, patriarch of the family, was a scholar deeply devoted to knowledge and to the scholars who carried it, and he left behind a legacy that extended well beyond his immediate household. Among his enduring contributions was his role in the establishment of an Islamic library in Zaria a project he championed with the support of former Nigerian Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida, and which was completed with the intervention of the late former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, who secured the backing of the late General Sani Abacha to see the project through.

Sheikh Muntaka Coomassie was survived by thirty-three children eleven sons and twenty-two daughters along with numerous grandchildren, a testament to a household built as much on faith and discipline as on scholarship. Today, Alhaji Ahmad Muntaka Coomassie stands as the eldest among his surviving children, carrying forward the family's name and its association with learning, integrity, and quiet service.

A Brother on the Bench
Ahmad Muntaka Coomassie's brother, Justice Muhammed Saifullahi Muntaka-Coomassie, brought the family's tradition of discipline into the Nigerian judiciary. Born on February 10, 1946, in Zaria, he began his career as a teacher of Arabic and English before turning to law, earning his LL.B from Ahmadu Bello University in 1976 and being called to the Nigerian Bar in 1977. He rose steadily through the judiciary from magistrate to Chief Registrar of the Kaduna State High Court, to judge, and ultimately to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, where he retired in 2016 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of seventy, having distinguished himself as a foremost authority on Islamic law within the appellate courts. Justice Muntaka-Coomassie passed away in October 2017 at the age of seventy-one, and was laid to rest in his beloved Zaria, with funeral prayers performed at the palace of the Emir of Zazzau a fitting tribute to a life spent in service of both faith and justice.

Carrying the Name Forward
It is against this backdrop of scholarship, public service, and quiet distinction that Ahmad Muntaka Coomassie continues to represent the Coomassie family today a lineage that has given Zaria, and Nigeria more broadly, an Islamic scholar whose devotion built institutions of learning, and a jurist whose judgments shaped the nation's highest court. May the family continue to be a source of guidance and pride to Zaria and to the wider community it has served for generations.

Du'a for the Departed
For Sheikh Muntaka Coomassie and Justice Muhammed Saifullahi Muntaka-Coomassie, and for all beloved members of the family who have returned to their Lord, we offer this prayer:

Allahumma-ghfir lahu warhamhu wa 'aafihi wa'fu 'anhu.

"O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grants him strength and pardons him."

Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu wa la taftinna ba'dahu waghfir lana wa lahu.

"O Allah, do not deprive us of the reward for his patience, and do not put us to trial after him, and forgive us and him."

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un to Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.

May Allah grant them Jannatul Firdaus, illuminate their graves, and reunite the family in eternal peace. Ameen.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.

International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP

mustysallama@gmail.com
+233-555-275-880

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