Ex-Kwara’s Grand Kadi Ambali dies at 83
Bisola David
A former Grand Kadi of the Sharia court of appeal for Kwara State, Judge AbdulMuttalib Ahmad Ambali (retd), has passed away.
After a brief illness, he passed away in the early hours of Thursday at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Oki-Oyi.
He was 83 years of age.
The late jurist served as the first Chief Registrar of the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal and was the second Grand Kadi after the late justice Abdulkadir Orire.
He served as Grand Kadi for seven years, from 2001 until 2008.
The Grand Kadi of Kwara State, Judge Abdullateef Kamaldeen, who confirmed the occurrence, praised the deceased as a devout Muslim scholar and capable jurist who respected Islamic principles in whatever he did.
To quote Kalamdeen, “It was noteworthy that he passed away during Ramadan, and we prayed to Allah Ta’ala to pardon him and grant him Aljanat Firdous.
The dead, he claimed, was “A capable jurist who adhered to Islamic principles in whatever he did. He is a kind, modest, religious man who doesn’t take anyone for granted. He is also a man of policy and principle. He never lost focus. Indeed, Kwara has lost a renowned academic and jurist. He was everything to me, my role model and mentor”, he submitted.
Judge Abdullateef claimed that his journey to meet Allah began on Sunday when he was speaking about his final moments.
“This ailment only lasted for four days. As the chairman of the Board of Trustees, he arrived at Ansarul Islam on Sunday at 11:00 am and left at 3 pm.
“We talked about obtaining visas for the Arabs in Ilorin whose time in Nigeria is about to expire and how we planned to do so. Before he went, we also talked about the Kalamdeen University and the gift we planned to give them for Ramadan.
“According to his wife, he arrived home that Sunday at 5:00 pm and was taken to the hospital after complaining of a runny stomach.
“We transported him from Olalomi Hospital to the trauma center at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
He said, “upon leaving at 1:30 am this morning, I was there four days ago and also yesterday (Wednesday). I first drove to drop his wife off in GRA only to get home hoping to rest when his wife called and broke the news.”