•How He Became Popular With His IG Page, AL-MUKHTAR-Official
He is the rave of the moment right now in Lagos. Many celebrities, both male and female follow him Online. It is not as if he is new on the scene. No, he is not. But he became popular during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. He has the largest followers on IG with 21k.
He is the Chief Missioner of Al Huda Islamic Movement. He has so many celebrity followers and he is the most sought-after Muslim Cleric on Instagram Live Prayers. When he is online for prayers you will see several people online with him.
During Ramadan, because of lockdown, you can see up to 4,000 Muslims online watching him. He is an Alfa to many big people.
Last week, he was our guest on City People Instagram Live Chat with Seye Kehinde, the Publisher of City People Magazine and he revealed a lot about his life.
We asked him how he became an Islamic Cleric. Did he learn it? Or did he take after his dad, late Sheikah Ibraheem Bukhari?
“Let me tell you that I am a result of both parts of this single question i.e. learning and taking after my father. It’s so because Islam as a religion is a religion which is based on vast knowledge. No one mounts the responsibility of being a Cleric without the deep knowledge of it.
Nevertheless, if I were to tell the history of my seeking knowledge, I will tell you that my father played a major role in it. He taught me just as he got me enrolled. He nurtured me spiritually and mentally. So, I am a product of the 2”.
Where is he based?
“I am based in Surulere, Lagos”, he explained. How many followers does he have on Instagram each time he goes online? “At least 600 Plus pray with me each time I come on I.G.”.
Why did he take to going online? “To be able to reach out to many people. I have 2 purposes for coming online. First is for lectures and spiritual doctoring, every other night. Two is soul-soothing special prayers for Fridays/Sundays. Many of them follow me @ all-mukhtar-official.
Tell us a bit about you. Where are you based? And what you do. “I am a spiritual leader, Muslim leader and a prayer warrior. I am based in Lagos. I have the privilege to travel around the globe. I have members around the globe in the UK, Canada, America. My first campaign is Peace because Islam comes with Peace. When you look at the name Islam it was derived from the word Peace”.
“That is why whenever a Muslim greets, he says Asalam Alaikum, which means Peace be upon you. It is when a Muslim sees a Christian brother as his brother, that he will have more peace”.
“When there is no Peace, your prayers, even if you pray, God will not answer you. When there is no Love, if you keep praying, God will not answer you. That is the problem we are facing in Nigeria now. We pray more than those in America or the UK do. But the love they have for themselves is much bigger than the one we have for ourselves here. That is why God listens to them first before us. I always tell my people that you are not here to judge anybody. You cannot say you are the best. As a Christian, you cannot say you are the best because you are not ready to die yet”.
“Whatever you are doing here, do it with sincerity. That is what the Quaran teaches us. We need to love ourselves. We have to be sincere. Don’t point bad fingers at another person”.
How did Sheikh Muktar become so popular within so short a time?
“I have always been around for so long but I came to limelight probably through Social Media”.
“This is the way I have been praying for the past 20 years. This is the way I talk to God. This is the way I handle things. But when it comes to a time like this, when people don’t have time to come to you, social media is there. They get to know what they didn’t know before. And they will say this is not common. That is why they have come to stay. Not that I will pray for them alone, I will teach them how to pray”.
“In Islam, we lack that a little bit. Traditionally, when you go to an Imam, all you will say is Imam, please pray for me. And he will say, Go. I will pray for you. And your prayers will be answered. Whatever he says, you don’t know. What he does, you don’t know. But now, like I tell my people, I don’t want anybody to be deceived any longer. Now, I don’t want anybody to be booed again. You should know what they are saying when you were not there.
So, you will know what to say when they are not there.
You will know the right thing to say at the right time. Nobody will take you as a business centre to milk you so that you will always come to them when you have problems. Because they will charge you when you come to them. But if you know what to say, it is now left to you, if you are ready to pray except if you are a lazy man. You can then give your religious leaders willingly what you want to give them and do it for them willingly”.
“If you know what to say, you don’t need to keep going to them, all the time. So, when you have problems you can direct it to God directly. I have Muhammed Wasumilahi Global Family, around the world and we have Aluda Alutari International Prayer Mission, which has been in existence for almost a decade now teaching people how to be more spiritual, how to be prayer warriors by themselves without the need to see anyone”.
What is his message to his fans?
“I am an advocate of Peace, Prayer and the love of our Prophet. A lot of Muslims around the globe, know ISLAM but they don’t really know much about the prophet of Islam. When you don’t understand the real person that brought the message to you there is the tendency to misinterpret the message. So I am teaching them how Islam got started. Who is that Prophet Mohammed we are talking about? So if you get to know the man Mohammed you will get to realise the real Islam from the fake ones and from the one the terrorists are trying to introduce to you. Insha Allah when they follow my teachings, when they follow my guidelines and pray the way I say they should pray Insha Allah, miracles will start happening without needing anyone”.
He holds the Al-Hudah International every year where over 1,000 people gather every year. What happens there? What brought about the programme? “The mission is a special programme where we teach ourselves about Islam and we celebrate the Prophet of Islam. You get much more knowledge about Islam”.
“People gather from all over the globe from the US and UK.
“We have done the one for this year and we are looking forward to the one for next year. It’s a Garden of Love. Allah will make it easy for us. This years edition was fine. We were meant to hold 5 programmes. We have done only 1. That is the International Conference. It comes first before other programmes. We hold it for I week”.
“So people know how to fix it into their programme for one week. People come in from abroad. We invite scholars from around the country, even non-Muslims attend the conference. It was held at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos. It was after the programme, by Allah’s wish, that Lagos State Government announced Social Distancing Policy. So we were not able to hold the other programmes. We only hosted the International Conference alone. It’s on my Instagram page”.
How has social media helped to propagate your message?
“Social media is good but it also depends on what you use it for. That is what I say to people. You can use it for positive things. You can also use it for negative things. But I always say if people use social media for bad things, how come I can’t propagate good things through social media as well. That was the motive. That is what brought me to Instagram.
