BRIEF HISTORY OF SHEIK NDA SALATY

Shaykh Ahmad Rufa’I, Ibn Abubakar, Ibn Ahmad Rufa’I, a mystic, a native of Ilorin, a Nupe tribe, a Maliki doctrine, an Ash-arite tenet, and a Qadiri sufi order. It had been seen thatShaykh Ahmad Rufa’i Nda Salaty would be a light to the world as a result of the good deeds of his fore-fathers. At the tail end of the reign of the Emir of Ilorin Alhaji Abdul Salam 2 known as Mohmoh, Nda was born in the year 1895. His mother was Sa’adah who waited for a long period without pregnancy until she attained the age of fifty years. She then went to her father Shaykh Khalilullah Gbodofu to seek from Allah to bless her with a fruitful child, who will uplift the pillars of Islam to the mankind which Allah granted the supplication by blessing her with a male child, young Nda. He was Ahmad Rufa’i son of Abubakar An-nufawy. A lineage is said to linked to the Arab tribes, who emigrated from Timbuktu to Bida in Niger and down to Ilorin. His father (Abubakr) named him Ahmad Rufa’i in seeking the blessing with the name of his father (Ahmad Rufa’i). The word “Nda” is added to his name by his father which in Nupe to mean (father). And the word “Salaty” was taken from a verse of poem recited continuously with unspecific number of recitation during the Islamic activities. The poem states: ﺻﻼﺗﻲ ﻭﺗﺴﻠﻴﻤﻲ ﻭﺃﺯﻛﻰ ﺗﺤﻴﺘﻲ ** ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﻄﻔﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺨﺘﺎﺭ ﺧﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﺒﺮﻳﺎﺕ My prayer, my salutation and my sincere greetings ## are on the chosen Mustapha the bestcreature (i.e prophet Muhammad) . For this reason he was called Nda Salaty. Testifying to this, in his own poem which states: ﺇﺳﻢ ﺟﺪﻱ ﺳﻤﻮﻧﻲ ** ﺃﻟﻔﺎ ﺇﻧﺪﺍ ﻟﻘﺒﻮﻧﻲ Meaning: I was named after my grandfather name and my moniker is Alfa Nda Shaykh Ahmad Rufa’i Salaty’s father was from Malefu and mother from Gbodofu in Ilorin, kwara state. During his lifetime, Nda Salaty he maintained peace and live in harmony with his wives, children and his co-neigbours either Muslim or Christian. Ahmad Rufa’i the grandfather of Nda Salaty.