The late Alhaji Abdoulie Jobe Imam Ratib of Banjul and the acclaimed chief patron of 26 Islamic organization throughout The Gambia died in the hands of his immediate family on Monday 10th June 2004.He was 94 years old and lived at 39 Lancaster street in Banjul. A renowned scholar in the field of Islamic studies, Alhaji ABDOULIE Jobe did his primary and secondary school education in Banjul from 1917-1930. He also attended various Quranic school and pursued private studies to broaden his knowledge on the Holy Quran and Islamic and Arabic studies. In 1931, Imam Jobe joined the public service and served at the then post and telegraph department in various capacities for a period of 34 years. He retired as district postmaster and inspector of post in 1965. During the period under review,Alhaji Abdoulie Jobe relentlessly engaged in researches and over seas correspondence courses, earning himself a respectable proficiency in Arabic language and religious sciences .He intensified his pursuit of knowledge of The Holy Quran and Arabic studies by addressing himself to a life -long ambition of writing a concise book on the life of the Holy prophet (may the peace and blessing of Allah be up on him). “This desire was reinforced by close interactions with muslim youths, and western educated Muslims anxious to acquire greater insights and understanding of the values and practices of Islam. The misconceptions entertained on Islam and on the true message of The Holy Prophet, the many questions privately addresses to me, strengthened my conviction that a work of this nature would be of great service to the Muslim community of The Gambia and to the Muslim Ummah at .large”, disclosed Imam Jobe. He said “the driving forces for undertaking a task of this magnitude has been the deep-seated desire to seek the pleasure of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful and to serve the Muslim Ummah at large”. The same year Imam Abdoulie sought and obtained a Royal visa from his Royal Majesty, the late king of Saudi Arabia, king Faisal Ibn Abdul Aziz which legitimized his stay in Madinah AI-Munawarah for a period of two years (1967-1968). During this time, Imam Abdoulie produced his first monumental work on Islamic studies. This period was one of remarkable enrichment and widening of Imam Abdoulie’s spiritual education and experience. He had access to authentic material on Islam, and to eminent Saudi and international scholars. Imam Abdoulie succeeded in producing a 56 paged documented work on Islamic religions sciences -RAUDHA T AL-MUASIRIN written in Arabic in Medina AL- Munawarah. This book is in the Royal library of the Islamic university of ALMadinah and the Rabit. It has also been widely distributedin many parts of the Islamic world, particularly in Africa. Imam Abdoulie is a prolific writer who has written the following books-: 1. ETHICS from the Holy Quran and Hadith for Gambian schools-1956 (now out of print).

2. A collection of 500 Hadith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his four rightly guided companions, primarily designed to encourage exemplary character-building in Gambian schools (Book is still in manuscript).

3. English translation of RAUDHAT AL-MU’ ASIRIN- THE Garden of my contemporaries (In manuscript). .

4. RAUDHA T AL-MU’ ASIRIN in Arabic.

5. A Diwan of poetic verses on various Islamic subjects including history, the miracle of the Holy Quran, ethics, exemplary life of famous spiritual leaders and Islamic Sufism.(in manuscript-Diwan comprises over 2000 poetic verses).

6. THE IDEAL PROPHET (completed in December 1995).

7. Ethic on the pilgrimage to Mecca in both Arabic and English ( In manuscript).

8. A number of papers and pamphlets including a general time-table for prayer and fasting hours to last for several years particularly designed for Muslims in the Senegambian Region (printed by the Government printer of The Gambia)

In his book ‘The Ideal Prophet’ Imam Jobe charts the course of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) through childhood, youth, ordination to prophet hood, proclamation of the call, facing the wrath of his people, migration and ultimately leaving behind a community of Muslims united and imbued with a degree of faith capable to inspiring and illuminating the hearts of contemporary and future generations. This book lays special emphasis on the transcendent dignity of The Holy Prophet’s position among the divine messengers of Allah. An attempt is made to demonstrated how his brilliant personality, his unique prophet hood, the resounding success of his divine mission, the wisdom and practicality of his eternal message entitled him to the unique position of the seal of the prophets as described in the Holy Quran - the last of the long line of prophets arid apostles of all ages. His Book - The Holy Quran is also designated the last repository of The Shari’ah laws, which categorically abrogate almost all previous divine laws given to the Prophets before him. The book examines two distinct subject areas. The first four chapters essentially seek to narrate the major events and episodes of the Holy Prophet’s life, (a)the pre-prophet hood period,(b )the Makkah phase,( c )the period spent in Medina,( d)the jihad he waged, (e )the pilgrimage he performed and (f)his demise. The remaining chapters demonstrate the exemplary nature of his unique character, and the functionality and viability of the institutions he left for the Ummah. It is not possible to describe and analyze all these institutions in the pages of the book. We have only concentrated on few of them which we believe, are of profound interest to our audience and which are often subjects of distortions. The institutions presented in this book Cover (1) marriage, (2) the economic and social systems of Islam and (3 )Islamic political values and concept of sovergnity. The final chapters present the greater miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)- The Holy Quran- its characteristics and attributes, and also provide a synthesis of The Holy Prophet’s character and his eternal message. It must be mentioned that from 1962 to 1987, the author made the pilgrimage to Makkah eight times and travelled extensively in West Africa, the Middle East, different parts of Asia and Europe and attended many international conferences on Islamic subjects. As Imam Ratib of the City of Banjul, Alhaji Jobe serves in various capacities in many Islamic, social and philanthropic organizations. He has served in the Central Mosque Executive Committee from 1964 up to his appointment as IMAM RA TIB in 1983. He is the acclaimed Chief patron of 26 Islamic Organization throughout the Gambia. He is a patron to the Gambia supreme Islamic council and serves in the law Reform commission of the Ministry of Justice and in the Gambia Population Commission.

IMAM JOBE was appointed Justice of the Peace by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II in 1948. He was decorated with the insignia of Officer of the National Order of The Republic of The Gambia -ORG in 1989 by the first President of The Gambia Alhagie Sir Dawda Jawara. In October 2000, he was appointed to the rank of commander of the National Order of The Republic of The Gambia (CRG).

One Binta Kuyateh, a supposed in-law to the 6th accused person, Alieu Jobe, in the ongoing treason trial, yesterday appeared before Justice Anin-Yeboah as hearing continues into the accused’s cautionary statement.

In her testimony Binta Kuyateh stated that she lived in Fajikunda and was unemployed. She added that she was residing at Alieu Jobe’s compound together with her older sister’s children. She adduced that she is of the same mother and father with Alieu Jobe’s wife. At that point she identified the 6th accused in court, affirming that he was currently in detention at the Mile 2 prison.

Continuing her testimony, Binta told the court that it was in the month of April when someone she had never seen before came to the accused’s compound. According to her the stranger told her that the accused was in need of some clothes, but was quick to add that she could not describe the man because it was during the night. She also told the court that the man did not identify himself, revealing that she was scared when the man mentioned the name of Alieu Jobe. She added that she nevertheless managed to give the man a pair of green trousers and a white T-shirt for the accused.

Further testifying, Binta informed the court that since Alieu Jobe was arrested, she had not known his whereabouts until the time the man appeared in their compound. She then identified the said T-shirt in court, before informing the court that at the time she was giving the T-Shirt to the man, it was clean and ironed and not in the dirty state in which she saw it in court. "When I visited Alieu Jobe at Mile 2," the witness went on, "I asked him whether he ever sent anyone to collect any clothes for him and he responded in the positive."

Under cross-examination by DPP, defence witness said that she could not remember how long she had stayed in Alieu Jobe’s compound. She also stated that she was not present when Alieu Jobe was arrested and that it was three days after the arrest that the man came to collect Mr. Jobe’s clothes. She also told the court that she did not frequently visit Alieu Jobe and that she could not also remember how many times she had taken clothes for him to change.

Hearing has been adjourned to Wednesday 18 July.

Defence to Appeal against Dismissal of Application

Baba Jobe and co-defendants are said to be considering filing an appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of their application contesting the plaintiff’s suit. This was revealed by the defense counsels, who also applied for a stay of execution shortly after the ruling.

The High Court, presided over by Justice Haddy Roche on Friday, 15th June, dismissed the defence’s application filed before the court, contesting the plaintiff’s claim on the grounds that the wrong people had been dragged to court.

In her ruling, Justice Roche stated that the application filed by the defence is for the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim, adding that the application is not contesting the jurisdiction of the court.

She further stated that the court was in disagreement with the defence as there is a breach of contractual agreement between the defendants and the plaintiff.

Justice Roche stated that the plaintiff’s claim shows a cause for action against the defendants, which however needed to be proven. She said it is the defendants who are on a fishing exhibition and not the plaintiff, noting that the defendants had waited for two years to contest the plaintiff’s claim against them.

Justice Roche finally ruled that the defendants’ application was therefore dismissed and the plaintiff should be allowed to prove its case.

It could be recalled that Guaranty Trust Bank had filed a claim of D7m (seven million dalasis) against four defendants, Philip Thompsett, Lynn Wilson, Lloyd Bourogh and Baba Jobe.

Lawyer Janet Sallah-Njie represented Phillip Thompsett, Lynn Wilson and Lloyd Bourogh while Lawyer Lamin Camara represented Baba K. Jobe.

The plaintiff, Guaranty Trust Bank, is represented by Lawyers Ida Drammeh and Mene.