Popular Islamic cleric and leader of the Tijjaniyya order in Nigeria, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, is dead.

Naijaonpoint reports that his death was confirmed in the early hours of Thursday by former presidential media aide, Bashir Ahmad, in a Facebook post.

He wrote, “It is with a heavy heart and complete submission to the will of Allah (SAW) that we receive the news of the passing of our revered leader, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, one of the leaders of the Tijjaniyya order in Nigeria. May Allah forgive his shortcomings, accept his noble deeds and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.”

The cleric, who died at the age of 98, was born on 29th June 1927, and details surrounding his death are still sketchy at the moment.

According to Wikipedia, as a youth, Dahiru Bauchi studied the Holy Qur’an under the tutelage of his father, Alhaji Usman.

Eventually, he learned to recite the entire Qur’an from memory, as his father could. He studied under scholars like Shaykh Tijani Usman Zangon-Bare-bari, Shaykh Abubakar Atiku and Shaykh Abdulqadir Zaria.

He received the Tijjaniyyah Tariqah. His father was a Tijani muqaddam (Imam), who was granted authorization (ijāzah) for tariqa.

Dahiru Bauchi, until his passing, was the deputy chair of the Fatwa Committee of the Supreme Council Of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in Nigeria.