How the Chief Imam got his name 'Sharubutu'

The wife of the National Chief Imam, Adiza Osman, has explained the circumstances that led to the coinage of her husband’s family name, Sharubutu.

She explained that while that name is a family name, it carries an interesting history that started with from how the Chief Imam’s father was born.

Adiza Osman said that during the pregnancy that brought forth the Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu’s father, his mother (Chief Imam’s grandmother), carried the pregnancy all the way to the 12th month.

Becoming more and more difficult to give birth to her child, they resorted to a more orthodox, yet religious technique of helping the baby get born.

She explained that the Muslims have a belief that when the words of Allah are written on a slate for someone and that person washes those words off into a cup and drinks it, it is able to bring about miracles.

This, Adiza Osman said, was what was done for the Chief Imam’s grandmother, and through that, she was able to successfully put to birth.

“The Chief Imam’s father was born very late. His mother’s pregnancy travelled to the 12th month but he still had not been born, so the teachers of the Islamic schools scribbled some things on a slate for her.

“This slate is something that the Muslim community believes in as possessing the power to cause great miracles. So, the scribbled writings on the slate were washed off with water and then his mother kept drinking it until he was born. So, the process of washing and drinking is what came to be known as Sharu-butu (to wash and to drink). It is not just any regular writing, but the word of God,” she said.

The wife of the National Chief Imam made this known when she interacted with Theophilus Annan of Oman Media, which was shared on Facebook.

Watch the full interview below:



AE/BOG