Saudi Arabia has stopped Sheikh Gumi from participating in 2025 Hajj Pilgrimage by deporting him back to Nigeria.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that Saudi authorities have deported prominent Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, to Nigeria to stop him from participating in the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.
In a post on Monday via his verified Facebook page, Sheikh Gumi confirmed that although the Saudi government had issued him a visa, he was denied entry into Medina upon arrival and was subsequently deported.
“Due to some reasons related to my views on world politics, the authorities in Saudi Arabia do not want me to be present at Hajj even though they have granted me a visa,” Gumi stated.
He also expressed appreciation to Nigerian authorities for pledging to engage with their Saudi counterparts to resolve the matter.
Findings indicate that Sheikh Gumi was part of a delegation of Islamic scholars sponsored by the Nigerian Hajj Commission (NAHCON) to provide religious services during the Hajj.
He arrived in Medina last Saturday at about 10:30 pm aboard an Umza Air flight, alongside other clerics. However, he was stopped by Saudi immigration officials at the airport and denied entry.
The cleric has since returned to Nigeria.
Recall that in 2010, the Saudi Arabian government arrested and detained Sheikh Gumi for over six months over alleged links with the Nigerian underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
The arrest reportedly followed a request by the United States government, which reportedly uncovered email correspondence between Gumi and Abdulmutallab shortly before the latter attempted to bomb a US-bound plane on December 25, 2009.
At the time, Gumi was first taken to Jeddah and later returned to Mecca, where he was placed under house arrest. His release came only after intervention by the Nigerian government.
Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate an explosive device concealed in his underwear aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
He admitted in court that he had been inspired by US-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Gumi has in recent years advocated for dialogue and amnesty for bandits in Nigeria.