text:
Madani Timbukti Traditions
A Traditional Approach to the Study of Islam
The Nature And Character of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye
Professor. A. A. Gwandu
Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto
Much has been said and written about Shaykh ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye both by his contemporaries and by later generations. A lot has been written about his scholarship and his military prowess, qualities which no-one can contest because they are as obvious and clear as the daylight.
Similarly there is a general consensus that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah was extremely pious and God-fearing and had very strong, deep and unwavering faith. However, although this much was known about Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, no in-depth study known to me has been made about the whole nature and character of this icon of light.
I believe that the study of history is very important because, among other things, history tells you about people and events so that you can learn from the interplay of individuals and groups, people and environment, those elements that can help you in your current situation and environment. I believe that in times like ours we need to learn about the character of people like Shaykh ʿAbd Allah and try to emulate them. Our time in particular needs the likes of the character of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah because our present circumstances and environment are in many ways very similar to those under which Shaykh ʿAbd Allah lived. To be specific, our society today witnesses hypocrisy of the highest order, where-in even the most highly placed officials are generally known to be hypocritical in their utterances and actions, just as was the case during the time of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah. We are living witnesses to corruption of the highest order everywhere, including in the building of Churches and Mosques. We see the elites, who constitute a small proportion of the population, cornering most of the resources of the nation. We see venal and corrupt people parading themselves as Ulamii and Shuyukh. We see those who claim to be representatives of the people sucking such people dry. We see Muslims and Christians who would dedicate their lives to studying in various fields of human endeavour but who will not be willing to make a little time to learn even the most basic things regarding their religion. The last time such people would learn about religion may be when they would have taken Senior Secondary School Certificate examination or even before. The Muslims among them forget or may not even know the verse of the Holy Qur'an which explains the whole purpose and meaning of creation.
In our days the Muslims have even succeeded in the total and wholesale adoption of the modern Christian philosophy which confines the jurisdiction of God to matters relating to rituals only, believing that in all other matters – social, political and economic – God should have no say.
Indeed, as far as such modern Muslims are concerned, morality and ethical questions have no intrinsic value: the end justifies the means. If such people would only acknowledge that their brand of Islam was distorted and that they were ignorant of what Islam is all about. there would be some hope. Unfortunately, however, they would regard their own whims and caprices as the true and only correct Islam which they so clearly understand and which no-one else understands. They, therefore, have no apology to God or Man for what they do, nor do they have to beg God for forgiveness or try to learn the true Islam from its sources.
In a situation like the one described above, there is need to learn about the qualities and character of people like Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, and how such qualities helped not only their possessors but others in their communities as well.
Nature and Character of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah.
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye, described by Hiskett as physically "tall, fat and black"[1] is a rare gem in many respects. His most important quality and the one from which all the others sprang was his deep and unshakable faith in Allah and his complete, unalloyed and absolute submission and resignation to the will of Allah. This is his source of strength. Armed with faith and with submission to the will of Allah, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah tried to model the whole of his life on the teaching of Islam. He had the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as a physical example to emulate and he did everything possible towards that end. It is no wonder, therefore, that the first serious poem he had composed was his takhmis (quintain) on the poem of Shaykh ʿUthman in praise of the Prophet (SAW) [2]. For Shaykh ʿAbd Allah a true Muslim must always be God-conscious and must have Prophet Muhammad as a model to emulate. This quality means that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would direct his attention to the acquisition of learning, but whatever is learnt must be put into practice. This is the only way the individual, the group and the environment can interact and produce the desired objective of creation.
It follows from the above that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would be expected to dedicate himself to study and learning – which he actually did until he became recognized throughout West Africa as one of the most learned scholars. Muhammad al-Bukhari described him thus:
… a Shaykh who has no equal in knowledge in these countries. I mean the Imam of his time, ʿAbd Allah', who led the noble Shaykhs since he was a youth. Master of sciences, their servant and their follower; friend of piety, learned, generous, perfect; …Wide sea of learning, …Firmly grounded in every branch of knowledge, deeply learned, rightly guided in everything he says. [3]
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah is a great authority in Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh, having to his credit, two Tafsirs: Diyā' a!-Ta'wil and Kifāyat Du'afā' as-Sūdān, a work on Hadith Science: Sirāj Jamiʿ al-Bukhari and a number of works on fiqh.
After the acquisition of knowledge ʿAbd Allah did the next logical thing; he taught and wrote. As an author and a teacher he achieved quite a lot. Even in his youth, he participated in the preaching tours of Shaykh ʿUthman b. Foduye. He continued, throughout his life learning, teaching and writing at the same time. An idea about the number of his students can be gauged from the number of his as-hāb (companions) who, according to Salad b. ʿAbd al-Rahman numbered about 750.(4)It is assumed that all these were advanced students who came to him from different parts of West Africa and sat to learn at his feet.
Although one has no concrete evidence of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah having directly involved in teaching at primary level, yet one would assume quite reasonably, that he must have undertaken that at some stage in accordance with the general practice during his time. This assumption has some support in the fact that he showed a lot of understanding of the atmosphere in a primary school environment as depicted by his views on the handling of small children in the maktabah. Such detailed and precise discussion can only normally come from someone who has experienced the teaching himself.(5) While dealing with the issue of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah as a teacher, one would like to refer to his wonderful methodology of addressing his students according to their level of understanding and their standing in society. This methodology was employed also in addressing audiences, readers and others. Examples of this can be seen in the way Shaykh ʿAbd Allah writes his books. Those of them meant for the ordinary people are written in a simple language and are all based on the Mālikī School of Law. Even within that School, only the views acceptable to the majority of the Mālikī scholars were adopted. The book Diyā' ʿUlūm al-Dīn is an example of this sort of writing, so in Taqrib Darūri al-DIn. When writing for scholars and those in authority on the other hand, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would include a lot of details such as differences of opinion of scholars from within the Maliki School of Law. He also at times brought in opinions from outside that School. An example of this is his Tafsir, Diyā' al-Ta'wīl meant for advanced students, and his book on constitutional theory and the administration of the state Diyā' al-Hukkam.
In such books Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would treat issues in some detail, providing various options to a given issue, hoping thereby that those for whom the book was written, who were supposed to be qualified to use it, would consider the various options and use the one most appropriate in their particular situation. Such scholars were learned enough not be confused by the various views and opinions expressed on one issue, unlike the ordinary readers. However, in order to ensure that justice is not miscarried with the resultant negative consequences, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah restricted the judges to the application of only the most well-known rulings (Mash-hur al-Mazhab) which must be drawn from the Mālikī School of Law. With this, uniformity is achieved and the danger of personal, selfish and capricious actions by the judges was curtailed.
Before we leave the subject of teaching, it is pertinent to point out that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah expected parents to bear responsibility for the education of their children. Under no circumstance should a parent dump his child in school in order to get rid of his nuisance and escape responsibility for providing for him or her. No-one should be condemned to begging, a practice ʿAbd Allah seriously criticized. Parents should cater for their children and pay for their children's education. Teachers should, therefore, have no cause to send the children begging.(6)
Now apart from preaching, teaching and writing, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah as an admirer and emulator of the Prophet (SAW) turned his attention to the other qualities of the Prophet (SAW) among which is courage of conviction and action. Just as the Prophet (SAW) refused pressure from all quarters to give up his mission so did Shaykh ʿUthman and ʿAbd Allah. No amount of gifts from the Gobir kings could influence them.(7) They believed that worldly possessions are worth nothing compared to the reward they anticipated from Allah if they should remain steadfast in pursing their objectives. These objectives are expected to lead to the creation of a just, Allah – oriented society that lives in happiness here on Earth and in the Hereafter. However, this mission can only be fulfilled by following the teaching of Islam as expounded by the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). These qualities of courage and steadfastness can also be seen when the Jama'ah (Community) of Shaykh ʿUthman b. Foduye, led by Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, resolved to offer oath of allegiance to Shaykh ʿUthman as the Amir al-Mu'minīn – a decisive factor which marked a watershed in the struggle of the Jihad leaders to create a conducive environment in which the Muslim Community could live and practice their religion unmolested.8)
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah's courage is perhaps demonstrated best when he came out openly to disagree with some of the views expressed by his brother Shaykh ʿUthman, despite his high regard for the Shaykh and reverence with which he held him. While making public his disagreement with these views, however, he exhibited other important qualities he possessed. He was polite, courteous and respectable in the language he used and in the manner he expressed his disagreement. In all he did, he was guided by the general principle that people should act according to facts available to them, but should be prepared to accept the other point of view if and when evidence is made available to establish that view. (9)
Let us consider also the instance when Shaykh ʿUthman, basing his ruling on a fatwa given by Muhammad b. ʿAbd al-Karirn al-Maghīlī, ruled that any scholar or student or ordinary Muslim who offered assistance to non-Muslims should be considered as an unbeliever. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah said that Shaykh Uthman's :
"generalization in anathematizing those who mingle the truth with bāṭil (untruth) is clear if (that charge) is established. This is because the truth (here) means Islam and the bāṭil means unbelief; and clearly anyone who mixes Islam with Kufr (unbelief) is surely an – unbeliever as earlier stated. However, his anathematization of those who assisted the unbelievers in their armies against the Muslim armies is not clear to me because the verse which al-Maghīlī quoted. (in support of his assertion) was revealed in respect of assistance given by the Muslims to unbelievers in furtherance of their unbelief in line with the normal practice of the hypocrites concerning whom the verse was revealed as the Mufassirun (Exegetes) have explained. Thus assisting them in unbelief is unbelief. However, he who assists them in sin cannot be regarded as an unbeliever so long as he does not regard that (sinful action) as permissible and lawful. The sending of armies against Muslims itself definitely does not constitute unbelief, but rather it is a sin, if it is not based on ta'wil (genuine interpretation allowing that). What more of merely assisting in that? And if an action itself does not constitute unbelief, how then can what it leads to constitute unbelief? As for Ibn ʿAbd al-Karim al-MaghīIī, he did not qualify the meaning of the word "nasr" (assistance). It should, therefore, be taken to mean assisting them in committing unbelief not in committing something sinful. This will bring (the ruling) in line with the views of Orthodox Muslims. May God protect him (al-Maghīlī) from making the taking up of arms against Muslims an act of unbelief. Were the Shaykh (Uthman) to delete his words "in their armies against the armies of the Muslims" it would have been better since we know, by necessity, that a Muslim does not become an unbeliever by fighting a fellow Muslim, what more of his just giving assistance (to unbelievers) in their fight against Muslims'?(10)
I have decided to quote this whole passage in order to show clearly the attitude of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah to issues and individuals.
Here he is, faced by a very difficult situation. His revered brother, relying on a famous and worldly renowned scholar, al- Maghīlī, has given a ruling on an issue. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, as a scholar, found it impossible to accept the position of these two respectable and learned scholars. He had one of two options to choose from: either to let things pass as they were, due to the high regard he had for the two personalities, or declare his position, reflecting his understanding and knowledge though it contradicts theirs. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah's courage of conviction, reinforced by his piety, led him to opt for what he believed in. However, his humility and the respect he had for others manifested themselves in the way and manner he managed the differences of opinion. In the case of al Maghīlī, he gave him the benefit of doubt by arguing that his ruling that anyone, no matter who he is, "who gives assistance to anyone of the (unbelievers) becomes an unbeliever by the testimony of God the Vanquisher of all" he must have meant by "assistance" assisting non-Muslims in unbelief, which is in order and in line with the orthodox view.
He considered al-Maghīlī innocent of condemning, as unbelievers, Muslims who assisted non-Muslims in their armies. This is in line with Shaykh ʿAbd Allah's principle of searching for an excuse to justify the action of every Muslim. In the case of the view of the Shaykh, however, he was unable to find an acceptable interpretation in line with his view, which he claimed was the view of the Orthodox Muslims. The only thing he could do in that case was, therefore, to suggest how, by removing a few words from the Shaykh's statement, the rest of the passage could stand.
Similarly Shaykh ʿAbd Allah disagreed with the view expressed by al Maghīlī in his fatwa to the Sultan of Songhay, Askia Muhammad b. Abi Bakr where al-Maghīlī ruled that whenever Muslims voluntarily settled among Muhāribūn, (Muslim rebels) and were captured along with the rebels they should be considered as being part of them. Thus they should be killed and their property confiscated and their repentance should not be accepted. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah opined that this is not correct, because the property of Muslim rebels could not be confiscated when they are fought nor could their wives and children be enslaved since they still remained Muslims. However, as usual. he looked for a way out for al Maghīlī, by suggesting that he might have meant by Muhāribūn (rebels) the Mustaghraq al-Dhimmah (those whose property had earlier on been ruled to belong to the Bayt al-Mal (Muslim Treasury). He also suggested that perhaps by Muhāribūn (rebels) al-Maghīlī might have meant unbelievers at war with the Muslims (Harbiyyūn).(11)
So it is with Shaykh ʿAbd Allah. He would on all occasion say his mind and express his views, but at the same time try to find an excuse to explain the point of view of others. Sometimes also he tries to find an interpretation for the statement of others in order to reconcile it with what he regarded as the correct or acceptable view. In doing this, his politeness and respect for others are always manifested, while his courage to say his mind is not sacrificed.
The courage of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah and his bravery also manifest themselves on many occasions during his military campaigns. Take for instance the battle of Alkalawa in which he commanded the Jihad forces. ʿAbd Allah was struck by an arrow during the first of the three assaults the Jihadists made on the fortress. Before they could prepare for the next assault they learnt that the Touareg were raiding their families. Having made straight for home they, along with Shaykh ʿUthman and the whole family and the rest of the Community left for Tsuntsuwa. The Gobir forces and their Touareg allies now made a surprise attack on the Community at Tsuntsuwa and gave them a crashing defeat in which many notable personalities were killed. Now Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, who was not able to rise up on account of the arrow wound which he suffered earlier at the battle of Alkalawa, rose up lame, confronted the fleeing Jihad soldiers and was able, with a lot of difficulty to rally some of them whom he led in pursuit of the enemy. They eventually met the army who were busy killing and taking booty. He formed those who followed him into ranks and fought and defeated the enemy.(12)
Again when Shaykh Uthman decided to move to Sifawa from Gwandu, the need arose for Muslims in the Western fringes of the Caliphate to be assured that the move did not mean that they would be abandoned to the mercy of the unbelievers in that part of the country. Shaykh ʿUthman, therefore, equipped a small army under the command ofShaykh ʿAbd Allah to pacify the area and give confidence to the Muslim community there. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, a highly dedicated man, accepted the challenge and was able to get only a few people to join him in this campaign because most people decided to move to Sifawa with the Shaykh in order to acquire houses and virgin land for farming. Despite the small number of his troops, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah moved on until he reached River Niger where he joined some Muslim soldiers from Jarma. Here he had an injury from a horse kick and for five days when the army was crossing the river he could not stand up. But the brave and courageous ʿAbd Allah was able to conceal this from his companions until they had reached the country of Jawaru in Qurma from the northern side, beyond the river and conquered the area.(13)
Next to courage and bravery Shaykh ʿAbd Allah was humane, magnanimous and forgiving when occasion demanded that. For instance, when he commanded the army which conquered the fortress of De'be in Gurma country beyond the Niger all the people there were captured, but Shaykh ʿAbd Allah was so magnanimous and forgiving that he set them all free and sent them away to the countries of Islam.(14)
Again when the forces commanded by Shaykh ʿAbd Allah made a surprise crossing of the Niger and sacked the island of Fas after destroying their crops, the enemy who had taken refuge in the various fortresses around all came to him for submission. ʿAbd Allah accepted their submission and allowed all of them not only to go free but also to remain in their fortresses.(15)
Referring to this, he said in one of his poems:
Turwa and Komba saw destruction and sought refuge with God And Islam, for fear of misfortune. They were saved, after destruction had seized their throats by the copious rain of forgiveness which came after despair.(16)
A similar act of magnanimity, tolerance and even compromise by Shaykh ʿAbd Allah can be seen in his acceptance of the submission of the rebel Fodi, a former king of Kebbi led a revolt against the Jihadists shortly after the sack of Kalambaina. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, apart from accepting the submission made on behalf of Fodi, a~reed to appoint the latter's son, Jibrin as Sarkin Kebbi after Fodis' death.(17)
We have said above that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah could be humane, magnanimous and forgiving when occasion demanded that. We must add, however, that when occasion so demanded he could be ruthless as his attack on Fas demonstrate where his people not only killed and captured the enemy but destroyed all their crops. (18)
Listen to him again saying about some of the people they fought in Gurma country as recorded in one of his poems:
A victory for us through our spears and our arrows and our swords in their bellies, and in their heads. Their children and their women were taken prisoner, and their men were slain with the axe. After the spreading of our carpet on their crops, and after our horsemen had shattered their shields. (19)
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah had consistently throughout his life supported the rule of law and condemned tyranny, injustice and oppression. To check that he ruled that a ruler must make himself easily accessible every day so that he would hear complaints, if any, from the strong and the weak members of the community against oppression or injustices from his officials.(20)
He also saw tyranny oppression and injustice as some of the basic things which distinguish mulk (Kingship) from Khilāfah (Caliphate).(21) He also said that if a ruler oppresses his people "whims will slaughter him by cutting veins of taqwa (God – consciousness).(22) He identified some acts of oppression from which a ruler must keep away. There include punishment by imposing fines in the form of cash or in kind for offences such as adultery and theft whose punishment has nothing to do with fines. They also include illegal taxes and surcharges on the subjects properties.(23) Shaykh ʿAbd Allah's prowess as a great military leader needs no emphasizing. He was' a tactician of the first order and used his military skill and expertise to great advantage as we have seen at Kwotto and during the attack on the island of Fas along the Niger river.(24) Before the battle of Kwotto, Shaykh 'Abel Allah at first spent three days waiting for Gobir forces until the 4th day when he was convinced that the enemy was faint-hearted and afraid of advancing on their with the knowledge, the Jihadist forces morale must have risen very high and consequently they moved towards the enemy full of confidence. However when they learnt that the enemy had moved towards Kwotto, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah hurried with the few people whom he could muster and met them near the lake of Kwotto. And experienced on skilful tactician, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah ordered his people to ensure that they secured the water source and cut off the Gobir forces from it. They Jihadist forces, with these advantages were able to dislodge and send fleeing the Gobir forces who were twice their number. (25)
One may venture to say at this juncture that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah must have used military intelligence to find out the psychological readiness of the Gobir forces before the battle. It is not unlikely that the four days he and his army had been waiting for the Gobir forces had been used to gather intelligence because, as Shaykh ʿAbd Allah has shown in his Diya alHukkan, the use of spies to gather military intelligence is very important in war as is the imperative of never under rating or under estimating the capability and resources of the enemy. He states:
Know that military tactics require that you do not under rate the enemy, and that you dispatch spies or military intelligence officers (to spy on the enemy). It also requires the choice of brave and courageous soldiers; and none but a brave courageous person should be appointed to lead an army, a person who is experienced in war, and in managing men.(26)
In Fas, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah made use of one of the most important elements in fighting the enemy – the element of surprise. His people made a surprise crossing of the Niger river and fell upon the unsuspecting enemy and thus easily won victory. In connection with this incident Shaykh ʿAbd Allah has this to say in one of his poems:
'They (the inhabitants of the island of Fas) thought that the river would prevent our army from crossing; The devil with his suggestions deceived Them! They saw multitudes to their right and to their left To east and west, and it was a steadfast army".(27)
Celebrating this success Shaykh ʿAbd Allah Said:
Then we came back home, hoping For reward with which the sadness of penury would cease. No arrow touched us, nor spear, no sword; We were like those who return from marriage feasts!(28)
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah was an ascetic of repute. Throughout his life he allowed the virtues of asceticism taught by Islam to guide his actions and behaviour. He was always un-easy in the face of temmporal ambitions and the affairs of the world. Thus in the fourth year of the hijrah of the Jama'ah to Gudu Shaykh ʿAbd Allah left the army on its way to fight Alkalawa. He was so disappointed with the way and manner his contemporaries had abandoned the ideals of Jihad in favour of the pursuit of material gains like wealth power, political authority and influence that he decided to abandon his country and people and travel to the Holy land of Arabia where he hoped to stay permanently near the Prophet (SAW).(29) This asceticism is reflected in the number of works written by Shaykh ʿAbd Allah on the subject, and in references made to it in other works.
ʿAbd Allah, who led the noble Shaykhs since he was a youth. Master of sciences, their servant and their follower; friend of piety, learned, generous, perfect. Landmark of right guidance, joy of the time; its pillar, gentle, kindly towards mankind, a mighty chieftain. Strong in his religion, humble, awe-inspiring, pious, trustworthy, sweet as honey. Famous Qur'an scholar, foremost in the science if Prophet tradition, and rhetoric, one on whom others rely.(30)
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, as we have seen, is a man of very strong faith. His faith is so strong that many people would not appreciate why he acted the way he did on many occasions. Because of his deeply rooted and strong faith he committed the totality of his life to the service of Allah. While doing this, he would not mind whose ox is gored. He rejected all forms of worldly interests if they were not lawful. To him wealth and happiness lie in contentment. Leadership is worth having and authority worth exercising only if the exercise is seen as service to Islam and humanity. This may explain why after the battle of Kalambaina, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, without rancour, formally stepped down in favour of Sultan Ballo. Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would not be the type to bring about dissension and division among the Jama'ah. That is why it is difficult to believe the claim made by Shaykh Ahmad Labbo of Masina that Shaykh ʿAbd Allah claimed to be the legitimate heir to Shaykh ʿUthman. Certainly no one who understands the nature and character of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah would ever expect him to take such a drastic negative action.
Shaykh ʿAbd Allah tried to model his life on that of the Prophet (SAW). Many incidents in his life can be compared to similar ones in the life of the Prophet (SAW). In fact, Shaykh ʿAbd Allah so much imitated the life of the Prophet (SAW) that he saw in many things that happened a reflection of what happened in the life time of the Prophet (SAW). For instance, the battle of Tabkin Kwotto brought to his mind vivid memory of the battle of Badr. It is interesting to note that after the conquest of Makkah the Prophet (SAW) forgave the inhabitants of the city for all the injustices meted out to him and his followers earlier. Similarly Shaykh ʿAbd Allah set free the inhabitants of Fas after he had got all of them under his control and mercy.
As someone modeling his life on that of the holy Prophet (SAW) Shaykh ʿAbd Allah possessed virtually all the good virtues one could think of.
If our society of today can learn the virtues and adopt the character of Shaykh ʿAbd Allah, most of its ills would be cured. Security, peace, and tranquility will prevail, everywhere. Justice will be dispensed without fear or favour, love and understanding will guide mutual relations and honesty, integrity and rule of law will be the order of the day. If we succeed in emulating his character our nation will be as safe and secure as the Sakkwato Caliphate was during the 1820's when Clapperton described it as follows:
The laws of the Qur'an were in his (Sultan Ballo's) time so strictly put in force — that the whole country when not in a state of war, was so well-regulated that it is a common saying that a woman might travel with a casket of gold upon her head from one end of the Fellata dominions to the other. (31)
1. ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye, Tazyyīn al-Waraqāt (T.\V) (edt. M. Hiskett)
(Ibadan, 1963), p. 21.
2. Ibid, pp. 26, 84 – 85.
3. Ibid. p. 23,
4. Sa'ad b. ʿAbd al-Rahman, Tartīb al-Ashāb.
5. See ʿAbdAllah b. Foduye, Lubāb al-Madkhal. pp. 59 -83 for details
6. Ibid, pp. 67 – 69.
7. T W pp. 30, 88 – 89
8. Ibid, pp. 55, 108.
9. ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye, Diyā' al-Sultān (O.Su) in Majmuʿ al-Diyā'āt
(published by Alhaji Dan-Ige, Tsamiyar Yaro) (Cairo, n.d), p. 189.
10. Ibid, p. 198.
12. T.W, pp. 61 – 62, 114.
13. Ibid, pp. 78 – 79, ]27 – 128.
14. Ibid, pp. 75,125.
15. Ibid, pp. 75, 125
17. Ibid,p.21.
18. Ibid, pp. 75, 77, 125, 126.
19. Ibid, pp. 76, 126.
20. ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye, Diyā' al-Umarā', in Majmuʿ al-Diyā'āt p.222.
21. ʿAbd Allah b. Foduye, Diye' al-Hukkam, in Majmuʿ al-Diyā'āt p.245.
24. T. W, pp. 56 – 57,109 -110, 75 – 77, ]25 – 126.
25. Ibid, pp. 56 – 57 – 109 -110.
26. D.H., p. 273.
27. T. W, pp. 77, 126.
29. Ibid, pp. 70 – 72, 120 -122.
30. Ibid, p. 23.
31. Clapperton, Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the years 1822, 1823 and 1824, (Dixon Henjam, Hugh Clapperton, Dr. Oudney, second edn. (London, 1826), p. 206.
Islam in Bilaadu-s-Sudaan
Tajdiid
on June 28, 2012 at 16:23 Comments (1)
Tags: Abdullah dan Fodio, Bilaadu-s-Sudaan, Biladu-s-Sudan, Fula, Fulani, jihad and tajdid traditions in West Africa, Jihad of Shaykh Uthman, jihad of Shehu Usman, Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio, Shehu Usman, Sokoto Caliphate, tajdeed, tajdid
The Sakwatto Model
THE SAKKWATO MODEL
A Study of the Origin, Development and Fruition of the Jihad of Uthman b. Fodye)
USMAN M. BUGAJE
This booklet was originally a paper presented at an International Islamic Conference held at Bayero University KANO – NIGERIA (16th to 22nd April 1980)
A lot has been said and written on the Jihad of Uthman b. Foduye, initially and adequately by the mujahidun themselves (1) and their contemporaries. To this day, the products of the Sakkwato intellectual tradition continue to write on this subject.(2) Sequel to the fall of the Sakkwato Caliphate to British colonialism another tradition was born. This is a tradition initiated by colonial officers and their clique. Their purpose is very clear: to discredit the Jihad and portray it as a racial and at best a religious fanaticism that has seized power only to perpetrate injustice and oppression. By portraying the 'dreadfulness' of the old order and the benevolence of their government, the Imperialist hoped to create a fertile ground for colonial propaganda and justify their imperialism. Later academicians mostly trained by the colonial "pioneers" came to study the Jihad through the spectacles of the secular west, playing down aspects incomprehensible to the Western minds and emphasising only those aspects important to them. For many of them this is the only way to get their degrees and be accepted as members of the learned academic community. Recently, however, there began to emerge some scholars, few though they are, daring to break from the established western Euro-Christian standards and seeking to interpret the Jihad in it's own context.
Yet another concern for this Jihad has, rather quite recently appeared. This is a concern which was born out of an awareness in the Muslims of the need to return to Islam. This paper is part of this concern and its objectives is to analyse the origin, development and fruition of Uthman b. Foduye's Jihad with a view to laying down a theoretical framework for Muslim movements in the Fifteenth century of the Hijra. Hence this paper seeks to adopt an indigenous approach which as of necessity must depart from the alien conventional western standards, an approach whose framework is perhaps still to be found.
The only constraint to the realisation of this objective, I must say, is the inadequate knowledge and skill of the author. The most the author can do therefore is to present something that can form a basis for discussion, in the hope that through contribution of other brothers during discussion, the objective of the paper may be realized.
The Hausaland, where Shaykh Uthman b. Foduye was destined to emerge, was located in the Central Bilad al-Sudan, an extensive Savannah grassland area starting from the Nile Valley in the east to the Atlantic ocean in the west. Sandwiched between the Sahara and dense forest, enriched with fertile soil, the Bilad al-Sudan was particularly suitable for the development of complex civilisations. This land came to be made up of a variety of Black peoples with a variety of languages and cultures. Chief among these were the Fulani, Jolof Bambara, Wolof, Mandigo Kanuri and Hausa. In the course of time group incorporation and integration became regular and massive.(3) Through migration, settlement, intermarriage and trade, inter-ethnic communities with complex social patterns of alliance emerged all over this vast region.
The emergence of the Hausas dates back to the tenth century. According to the popular Kano chronicle they seemed to have migrated from the north, settled and mixed with indigenous hunters and eventually established mastery over them.(4) The Hausas shared a common language and never formed a tribal group as such. By the first half of the fifteenth century the Hausas were controlled by the Borno empire. This lasted up to the end of the century. By the sixteenth century the seven Hausa states, some of which came under the conquest of the Songhai Empire had emerged. The fall of the Songhay in the same century was followed by upheavals in the Hausa states. These upheavals which lasted up to the eighteenth century, saw the rise of independent Hausa city-states. Unlike their eastern neighbors (Kanem Borno) the Hausa states never formed an empire and their history was characterised by inter-state conflicts and wars, which quite naturally had adverse effects on security and commerce in the area.
Until the appearance of Islam in the early part of the fourteenth century, the dominant religion in the Hausaland had been what has now come to be known (rather prestigiously) as 'traditional' religion. This is, essentially, a belief system widespread in the then tropical Africa, involving belief in a high distant god not actively connected with every day life of men, supplemented by a chain of supernatural forces directly in touch with men and controlling their destiny in everyday life. Ubangiji was the Hausa's high god while Iskoki (singular Iska) the variety of those near spirits, and it is the maintenance of good relationship with the latter which formed the object of the rituals. Communication with the Iskoki was achieved through sacrificial procedures or possession. The possession of a human being by any of the Iskoki is called Bori; the Bori-cult is still to be found among the few non-Muslim Hausas today. This belief system naturally supported a class of priests (called Bokaye) skilled in the mysteries of the Iskoki and in addition played a significant political role. The ruler (Sarki) seems also to have occupied a leadership position especially in public rituals.(5)
I. Islamisation. Despite the efforts of some vicious scholars such as Trimingham and Le Chatelier, it has now been established that Islam began to permeate the western Sudan as early as the eighth century. This Islamisation was calmly carried out by traders, merchants and itinerant Ulama, mostly from north Africa, whose trade contacts with western Sudan started long before Islam spread to North Africa itself. As north Africa itself became Islamised, the zeal of spreading Islam across the African Sahara increased the number of caravan traders travelling from the north to the south and vice versa. As a result of this, the influence of Islam in western Sudanese society grew rapidly and spread considerably, integrating groups, forging a stronger socio-economic and political life based on a superior culture.(6)
Though historians are not certain of the time Islam began to permeate the Hausaland it seems obvious that Islam spread into this region from the western Sudan through the deliberate activity of Muslim traders and itinerant scholars as well as natural processes such as migrations, as early as the eleventh century. For by this century Ghana had been so Islamised that there were about thirteen mosques one of which belonged to the King. By the twelfth century Ghana was described as Islamic and the next century saw the rise of the great Muslim empire of Mali which was followed by Songhay.
In Hausa land, until the later part of the fifteenth century, Islam did not assume any political dimension, although the Ulama with their superior culture and rare ability of literacy, must have been involved in administration. Associated with the emergence of Islam as a political force in Hausa land were governmental changes which brought new leadership. This leadership especially in Zaria, Kano and Katsina, affected a number of reforms that were to further Islamise the Hausa land. Notable among these leaders was Muhammad Rumfa of Kano, who went as far as inviting a jurist of international repute, Muhammad al-Maghili, to advise him.
As Islam gained more foothold in the Hausa states, its significance as a pilgrimage route and centre of learning increased. By the sixteenth century the reputation of some Hausa state capitals as Muslim metropolises was already high enough to attract many students and scholars. This coupled with the pilgrimage tradition served as a link with the rest of the Muslim world and a source of continuous flow of Islamic thought and ideas into the Hausaland. The eighteenth century saw the Hausaland further Islamised, with Islam conspicuously enjoying a superior position, many rulers professing Islam and employing more Ulama in their courts. Despite the Islamic identity of the administration, total application of Islam – especially its system of law and morality – was not obtaining. This situation naturally attracted the attention of some of the Ulama and posed as a potential area of conflict between the increasing number of committed Muslim subjects and the nominal Muslim rulers. That the rulers often paid tribute to unIslamic traditional practices must have helped to make this conflict more probable. Worse perhaps was that the rulers often forced the Muslim subjects to also pay tribute to pagan practices or undertake such unIslamic obligations.
Official corruption, heavy taxation, confiscation of subject's properties, oppression of the poor in general and slavery which instilled perpetual fear, was as much a source of discontent to the Muslim as to the non-Muslim subjects. This state of affairs led to tension and frustration especially to the Muslim subjects, as Smith quite rightly observed:
"The position was frustrating for Muslims were generally conscious of being culturally far superior to the pagans. Their religion, of course, left them in no doubt about this, and on the practical level they were likely to be superior citizens, knowing much more about the world than did the pagans, and conserving a vital monopoly of literacy."(7)
During the course of this state of affairs in Hausaland, the Ulama were becoming deeply influenced by Islamic ideology through the growth of Islamic literature. As their concern for Islam grew so did their disapproval of paganism or 'mixed Islam'. Their passive attitude was slowly but perceptibly changing such that by the later part of the eighteenth century a number of local Islamic literature, pointing accusing fingers to paganism and violation of Islamic law especially of food and drink, marriage and inheritance, promiscuity and excessive praise for rulers, were already in circulation. It was in this period that Shaykh Jibril b. 'Umar a revolutionary and severe critic of this society, (one of the most influential of Shaykh Uthman's teachers) attempted to wage a Jihad and reform his society. Why Jibril's efforts failed to materialise is still to be clear, but his extreme position about takfir must have denied him accessibility to the masses of the people as well as fellow scholars making his reform out of tune with his society. Such tension and frustration which led to mounting dissatisfaction in Gobir as much as in other Hausa city-states was to usher the emergence of Uthman b. Foduye.
II. The Emergence of the Shaykh. Shaykh Uthman was born on 15th December 1754 to a learned scholar Muhammad Foduye at Maratta, a town in the Hausa state of Gobir. Not long after his birth, his family moved to Degel, a town still within the state of Gobir, where Uthman spent his childhood learning the Qur'an in addition to reading and writing from his father. Uthman's youth, like his childhood, was totally given to learning, fitting like some of his contemporaries into an already institutionalised system of education in his society. Uthman studied quite a variety of subjects. Starting with the Arabic language, tafsir, Hadith, and Sirah, through Fiqh to astronomy, arithmetic and tasawwuf. Uthman's teachers, as his brother Abdullah reported, were too many to be recorded.(8) This only reflects the intellectual background of Shaykh Uthman as well as his brother 'Abdullah. Prominent however, among many of his teachers, after his father were Shaykh Abd al-Rahman b. Hammada, Muhammad Sambo and Uthman Binduri who was in fact Shaykh's uncle and influenced him remarkably. Others were Hajj Muhammad b. Raji, Ahmad b. Muhammad, both Shaykh's uncles, and Shaykh Jibril b. 'Umar, a scholar of high learning and revolutionary zeal who also influenced the Shaykh tremendously.
Shaykh Uthman's teachers not only imparted knowledge, but as was usual in this system of education, influenced him profoundly. Of these influences, those of his uncle Uthman Binduri and Jibril b. Umar were the most vivid. Of course, most influential on Shaykh Uthman was Jibril. This however did not prevent disagreement on certain issues, What is interesting is that this disagreement never affected in any way Shaykh's respect for this teacher of his. As Shaykh Uthman advanced his knowledge and entered his early adulthood his piety and extreme simplicity, exceptional intellectual ability and charismatic personality began to attract disciples from his immediate society. He gradually gained prominence among young Muslim scholars – including his junior brother Abdullah who he in fact taught – sharing some revolutionary idea.
It is perhaps a trite remark to say that in any revolution there is always in interplay of many factors. This I think is always necessary if the revolution is to be worth it's name. This is particularly true of Islamic revolutions – such as that of Uthman b. Foduye – for it is the nature of Islam to guide man in all aspects of his endeavours, be they economic, social, political, moral etc. To understand and appreciate the role played by the personnel of this revolution we have to explore the nature and depth of the problems that characterised their society and hence gave their movement its character and dimension. We are however limited in the extent to which we can go in this for, until quite recently, much of the research done has tended to obscure rather than elucidate this point.
By the second half of the eighteenth century Borno was declining and the Hausa city states were plunged into inter-state devastating rivalry and warfare, with its effects on society ranging from forced conscription into the army, and low
agricultural output, to decline in internal and external trade. Internally, the contempt in the Muslim-pagan relationship, the mistrust and suspicion in the relation of Muslim subjects (especially the non-court scholars) and nominal Muslim rulers and the fear in the oppressed subjects of their tyrannical rulers, were breeding discontent of increasing magnitude. Thus the economic and political crisis was reinforced simultaneously by social and moral ones. While the court Ulama were advising the rulers and praying for success in military adventures the other Ulama (who form the majority) were busy teaching their small groups of students as well as the public. The role of the Ulama in the social life of the people – in teaching, leading Islamic social rituals, settling disputes etc – was growing in prominence in towns and villages. There was thus, in this eighteenth century Hausa society, a strong tyrannical political power base in the hands of the rulers and their court officials (including some Ulama), though ridden with crisis, and a growing intellectual power base in the hands of the Ulama whose position was growing to a level which can no longer be ignored by the political power base.
By 1774, Shaykh Uthman, who was now qualified to teach, was filled with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm for reforming his ailing society. The question which has often been raised was whether the Shaykh was aware of his role as a reformer from the beginning of his teaching? Or was he like most other scholars of his time, concerned only with teaching (often as a means of livelihood) and quite unaware let alone commmitted to any form of reform? It is now very clear that the Shaykh. perhaps through his intimate contact with Shaykh Jibril b. 'Umar, a severe critic of the society who had earlier attempted to carry out a Jihad but failed, was aware of the dire need for reform and saw himself more than just a teacher/preacher but as a reformer with a clear sense of mission and commitment. In his own word, in one of his early writings – Ifli-am al-Munkirin:
"Allah, the Exalted, has ordained to send forth to the Umma at the end of every century a scholar, Alim, who would revive her religion for her. Such a scholar or Mujahid, would take upon himself the duty of enjoying the good and forbidding the evil. He would call for the regulation of the affairs of the people and the establishment of justice amongst them. He would support the truth against falsehood, revive the sunna, suppress innovation, and denounce bad customs. As a result of his activities his conditions will be different from those of the Ulama' of his age and he will find himself a stranger amongst them, because his qualities are different from their own and men like him are few…"(9)
Convinced of his role in reforming his society Shaykh Uthman devoted his full time right from the onset to teaching, preaching and writing. The content and method of his preaching were geared towards achieving the desired results – reforms. Of course during the cause of his preaching a number of events occurred which influenced Shaykh's thinking and ultimately directed his course of action.
By teaching and preaching, Uthman was not doing anything new in this society for this tradition has for centuries been practiced in Hausaland. What was actually new was the content and the approach. The Shaykh who was committed to changing his society must have studied its problem and work out a strategy that was most fitting for, the circumstances. What seems to have taken the Shaykh's immediate concern was the ignorance of the mass of the people about Islam despite the presences of many scholars. True there were many scholars with knowledge but most of them preoccupied themselves in teaching their very few students in their ivory towers neglecting the mass of the people and even their families. The few Ulama who were engaged in mass preaching were very rigid in their views, anathematizing (takfir), the masses and engaging in all sorts of venality. Local customs and beliefs were so mixed with Islam that the issue of what is Islam and what is not Islam was the talk of-the day. Thus at the onset of his mission Shaykh focused his attention on these problems; the mass ignorance of Islam; the rigidity and venality of the Ulama the issue of sycritism and the question of belief and unbelief, Kufr.
At the early age of twenty (1774) Shaykh Uthman started his teaching and preaching in his home town Degel. In the same year he started moving around Degel, accompanied by his brother Abdullah, teaching and preaching. Later in the company of his disciples he began to travel out of Degel, to the east and west, Birnin Kebbi (to the west) being his first station of call.
With Degel as his base, Shaykh Uthman and his group travelled to other towns in Gobir teaching and preaching with remarkable success. As Abdullah himself reported in his Tazyin al-waraqat:
"Then we rose up with the Shaykh helping him in his mission work for religion. He travelled for that purpose to the east and to the west, calling the people to the religion of Allah by his preaching and his qasidas in other languages and destroying customs contrary to Muslim law. Some of the people from surrounding countries came to him and entered his community while we were in his country which had become famous through him."(10)
The result, as Abdullah reported, was that people started to respond to Shaykh's preaching in large numbers and some started coming to him in groups after his return to Degel, thus both Shaykh and his town Degel were becoming prominent. This prominence was the result of the Shaykh's radical approach. Until then, the difference between the Shaykh's content and method on the one hand and those of other Ulama on the other was not vivid. Now that the difference and impact of Shaykh Uthman's method has begun to manifest itself then opposition started. Many Ulama began to oppose the Shaykh and accused him of such things as hypocrisy, sedition, hearsay and misleading the common people. Neither was the opposition unexpected nor was the Shaykh unaware of the problems his preachings would raise. The Shaykh simultaneously started writing, arguing his point with the Ulama – where he excelled them and always, emerged victorious – and attacking the venal and rigid Ulama who have actually created the problems the Shaykh was toiling to solve. In this process alone the Shaykh was reported by Muhammad Bello (his son) to have written over fifty works.(11)
Foremost in the Shaykh's attack were those corrupt Ulama ('Ulama' al su), most of whom were associated with the rulers court, who in their efforts to maintain the established order and protect their vested interest, justified political corruption, immorality and all sorts of evils on the grounds that these were customs (ada) and tradition. Making this point clear the Shaykh said:
"Among their misconceptions is that some of them (i.e. 'Ulama) tolerated unworthy customs on the ground of the sayings which are widespread in the lands, that tht: custom of a land is sunna. But his is falsehood and confusion according to the consensus of opinion ijma because a custom should not be tolerated if it contradicts the sunna (of the Prophet)…. I was told by one of the brethren that he heard some of them say 'Forbidding evil in the land of evil is the real evil'. And for this reason they do not chide each other for committing an evil. I take refuge with Allah the Exalted; this is one of the characteristics of the Jews."(12)
Shaykh Uthman also condemned those class of charlatans who posed as saints or sufi shaykhs. Such people were in most cases of very low learning who made their living by divination and prophecy. Many of these Ulama claimed the power of Kashf (mystical experience of transcendental knowledge) and thus duped the common people. Not only did the Shaykh attack and condemn these people but he denied in clear and unequivocal terms, such supernatural claims attributed to him by many people making this point clear in his Tahdhir al-ikhwan, the Shaykh said:
"Know O' my brethren that I have never claimed the Quthaniyyah or the Wilayah, though that it is heard from the tongues of other men that I can fly in the air and walk on water that the earth is folded up for me in such a way as to enable me to talk to Makka and Madina, that the Jinns serve me as they serve the most perfect saints (al awliya al-Kummal) and that I can guide the people not only on the path of piety and righteousness but also on the path of Kashf. When all these had come to my notice. I composed numerous poems in 'Ajami to refute the aforementioned claims…"(13)
Of the problems that Shaykh had to confront at the onset of his mission, the issue of belief and unbelief (who is a Muslim and who is not) was perhaps the most intricate. The gravity of the situation becomes more vivid when it is realized that this issue of who is a Muslim and who is not goes beyond the theological or Islamic faith, to determine the right and obligation of the individual in society. This was directly connected with the institution of slavery which was apparently widespread. Since a Muslim cannot be enslaved according to Sharia, the question of who is a Muslim and who is not was no doubt crucial for it determines who can be enslaved and who cannot. This issue of Islam and Kufr being the main categories in which the people of eighteenth century Hausaland were classified has been played down by scholars of the colonial establishment (and their students) who labour to convince us of a Hausa-Fulani dichotomy. In spite of their efforts it is now clear that what was important was not whether one was Hausa, Fulani or Tuareg but rather whether one was a Muslim or not. The issue was a burning one and the Ulama were divided on it. There were the 'Ulama al-kalam, who claimed that before a person is accepted as a Muslim he must be able to explain the unity of Allah and the Prophethood of Muhammad (P) in accordance with the theology of Kalam. The Shaykh had no patience with this group whom he denounced as ignorant and misguided idiots who were confused by the sophistication of the science of Kalam. Some Ulama took the view of Al-Maghili in his advice to Askia Muhammad. This definition did not solve the problems of the eighteenth century Hausaland for it leaves open what practices constitute unbelief. Shaykh Jibril b. 'Umar, one of Shehu's teachers, took a very strict and rather extreme position. For Jibril confession of faith must be reinforced by good works and the commitment of a grave sin (Kaba'ir) constituted unbelief (Kufr). Shaykh Uthman here disagreed with his teacher Jibril. In refuting Jibril's definition Shaykh Uthman argued that if a sinner recognised his sin, he thus proved he accepted the Sharia.(14) Although it might be argued that to sin either intentionally or persistently implies denying the validity of the law, such an argument involves the intention and personal attitude of the sinner. Since none but Allah can know what is in the heart of a man, any judgement is better left to the last day.(15) The Shaykh's moderate but dynamic position on this issue is clearly expressed in his book Ihya al-Sunna, where he said:
"Whosoever affirms the confession of faith (Shahadatayn) should be treated in accordance with the Islamic legal rules; he may intermarry with the Muslims, he may lead the prayer, the meat of animals slaughtered by him is lawful, the Muslims may inherit his property and he may inherit their own, and when he dies he should be buried in the Muslim grave yard."(16)
As Shaykh Uthman's preaching tours in and around Degel continued, Degel attracted more people and news of his activities became widespread. At this stage the Shaykh decided to extend his preaching to his head of state – Bawa Jangwarzo the Sarki of Gobir. Why the Shaykh did so at this particular point in time is not very clear. The Shaykh must have been aware that news of his preaching and growing success had reached Bawa. By his visit to the Bawa's court Shaykh might have hoped to assess the degree of political opposition or otherwise, especially when he was soon to extend his preaching tour to Zamfara which was in constant war with Gobir. The visit according to Abdullahi was fruitful for if nothing else it consolidated further Shaykh's position and boosted his success."(17)
The Shaykh's next station of call was the city-state of Zamfara where Abdullah said:
"We remained there about five years, and it was a land over whose people ignorance was supreme; the majority of its people had not smelt the scent of Islam. They used to come to the Shaykh's gathering mingling with their women. He segregated them, teaching them that mixing together was forbidden, after he had taught them the laws of Islam."(18)
This suggests that the Shaykh preached to the mass of the people, Muslims and non-Muslims, male and female, who until the Shaykh's coming had been abandoned in the depth of ignorance. But as it was, the Ulama never got tired of attacking him. One scholar, Al-Mustapha Gwani from Damagaram attacked the Shaykh over mixing men and women and urged him to stop the women from attending his preaching assembly.(19) Abdullahi replying on the Shaykh's request, argued in a poem, that education of women in Islam is compulsory and it was a far greater sin to leave women in ignorance than to allow them to attend a mixed crowd and after all, the Shehu always separated them.(20) The Shaykh's preaching tour of Zamfara was apparently producing alarming success which the rulers could no longer afford to ignore. At about this stage it was apparent that the rulers were showing growing concern and in fact beginning to take measures to check this new development. When the Shaykh was still preaching at Zamfara, Bawa Sarkin Gobir invited him along with other scholars, to celebrate the 'Id-al-Kabir of 1788 (or 1789) at the town of Magami. Though this was said to have been a plan to get rid of the Shaykh, at the end gifts were distributed to the scholars with Shehu reported to have the lions share of 500 mithqal of gold. All accepted the king's gift except Shaykh Uthman, who said he and his people were not in need of Bawa's wealth and in its stead he had five demands to make:
1. To allow me to call people to Allah in your country.
2. Not to stop anybody who intends to respond to my call.
3. To treat with respect anyone with a turban.
4. To free all the (political) prisoners.
5. Not to burden the subjects with taxes.(21)
These demands clearly point to the fact that the Shaykh's overwhelming success in his preaching tours had begun to assume proportions that the political power base can no longer tolerate. It was clear the rulers were making some effort to frustrate people from responding to his call or the Shaykh must have reason to believe that they would soon embark on this. These demands indicate some opposition to the Shaykh's activity by the state and he was not ready for any sort of confrontation. If anything Shaykh Uthman was trying to secure the least hostile atmosphere possible to spread the message of Islam and educate the mass of the people.
After five years successful preaching in Zamfara the Shaykh and his group returned to Degel about the year 1791-2. Continuing his tour, the Shaykh travelled west to Kabi and further crossed the river Niger to Illo. Back to Degel he now moved eastwards and reached Zurmi where its ruler was reported to have accepted Islam. By 1792-3 Shaykh Uthman found it necessary to settle down at his centre Degel to receive people coming in quest of learning and guidance.
Here I hope to discuss the manner in which the Shaykh and members of his team, went about procuring, assembling and directing the various instruments of change in his own society. Needless to say that this is the most crucial as well as difficult part of any revolution. More so when the Shaykh had to operate within a people that are largely ignorant of Islam and under a strong tyrannical government that is highly suspicious of any activity of the Ulama.
That the Shaykh spent nearly nineteen years traveling, teaching, preaching, converting, and writing along with his expanding team of disciples shows clearly the Shaykh's commitment to mass education as a key to reforming his society. Throughout this process the Shaykh distinguished himself from other itinerant scholars not so much by his superior learning and exceptional ability like his deep sense of mission and commitment to reform. More than just preaching the Shaykh was silently but consciously building all over his itinerary a body of scholars and students who he left behind to continue instructing his increasing number of followers in the basic tenets of Islam as well as his idea of reform. During the same tour he was able to familiarize himself with society – its nature, problems and aspirations.
Having roved all over his society, grasping its full first hand information and gauging its intellectual level; having laid a sound intellectual base for his revolution; having raised an adequate number of students and scholars now scattered all over the Hausa land, teaching and preaching Islam along his line of reform, Shaykh Uthman could now settle down at his home town Degel to begin yet another phase of his revolution. This is the organisational phase.
No sooner did he settle down than he began writing, teaching and counseling. Here he devoted more time to his advanced students who he taught every afternoon. He also held a weekly public preaching session every Friday and maintained a separate class for the women. One of his most detailed works Ihya al-Sunna wa Ikhmad al-Bid'a was written in the first year of his settlement at Degel. This book must have been meant to be a text book for the use of his disciples in particular and scholars in general in teaching and preaching all over Hausaland. The shaykh's strategy was that in every mosque in every town or village there must be a scholar constantly engaged in teaching and preaching. This is clearly evident from his Ihya al-Sunna, where he said:
"It is incumbent on every scholar not to keep silent in the present time because innovations, bid'a, have appeared and are widespread. Verily the Hadith states: 'Any scholar who keeps silent in the face of dissention fitna may the curse of Allah fall upon him'. Verily, anyone who today keeps to his home cannot be absolved from responsibility of teaching the people and guiding them to the right path.
And since the majority of people today are ignorant of the Shari'a, it is necessary that there should be a jurist, faqih, available in every mosque and in every quarter in town to instruct the people in tenets of their religion. Similarly in every village it is incumbent on every jurist who has completed the individual obligation, fard 'ayn, and is free to carry out the collective obligation, fard kifaya, to go out to the neighbouring territories and teach the people there the tenets of their religion and the stipulations of the Shari'a."(22)
Through this body of scholars engaged in da'awa, the Shaykh was able to maintain constant contact with his growing followers. His prolific writings which were immediately handcopied and circulated, were no doubt addressed to the masses through the literate group (scholars). The Shaykh's moderate position on many of the burning issues not only conforms to the Islamic principles of the middle course but also gave a balanced interpretation of Islam easily understood and acceptable to the local population. At a time when newspapers as such did not exist the Shaykh's writings with their copyists constantly occupied, served as a very effective way of disseminating knowledge and ideas. Equally utilised by the Shaykh in communicating his ideas to the masses was poetry, composed in both Arabic and vernacular. These turned out to be as effective as our contemporary radio and television. Ranging from those that are meant to simplify otherwise complicated instructions, through those that are meant to appeal or preach, to those of praising Prophet Muhammad (P), "the poems", in the words of Hiskett, "more than anything seems to arrest the imagination of the Shaykh's followers, when reading or listening."(23) Thus intellectually and psychologically the masses were prepared to understand the message of Islam and its method of reforming their ailing society. Through all these sophisticated means of communication the Shaykh was forming and directing his revolutionary crowd.
In the course of time Degel was growing to be a kind of University town of its time and becoming the Shaykh's student was not only a prestige but in fact a qualification. Scholars all over Hausaland and Bornu were finding their way to Degel. Every increase in this team of scholars was automatically an increase in the revolutionary personnel for what they were seeking was not only knowledge but also change. The Shaykh at Degel spent a lot of his time with these students/scholars, teaching them to varying depth and also moulding and shaping them into people who could shoulder responsibilities that lie ahead. Part of the programme that the Shaykh seemed to have organised at this stage for this group include spiritual training through tasawwuf. The Shaykh himself (and a number of his close disciples) was reported to have gone on retreat a number of times. The role this kind of training played in shaping and moulding the revolutionary personnel is often played down by conventional western scholarship and often underestimated even by sincere Muslims who try to study the Jihad in its own context. Here the Shaykh trained his students and disciples to dislike the world and its Zinah, to live in bare austerity and desire the life of a1janna. Such a training as the Shaykh was no doubt aware was crucial to any revolution. Without such properly committed highly disciplined vanguard as the Shaykh trained it is doubtful if the revolution would have been the celebrated success it was. Many people from the Jama'a who were eager for a confrontation and kept bothering the Shaykh for it must have, I believe, overlooked this point which the Shaykh quite rightly considered vital.
Also taking shape at this stage, though perhaps unnoticed, was the revolutionary leadership. The Shaykh's position at Degel was not just that of a learned scholar dishing out knowledge to his thirsty students, more than that, the Shaykh was increasingly, finding himself as the head of a growing revolutionary party. Next to the Shaykh in the scale of this leadership was a team of close disciples made up among others of Abdullah (his brother) Umar al-Kammu and Muhammad Bello (his son). As the revolutionary party was growing in both membership and commitment, the personnel and leadership were becoming more involved in writing, teaching as well as organisation. That here you have a revolutionary leadership with its personnel and crowd in constant and intimate communication and planning could not be a coincidence. It was a deliberately but patiently worked out arrangement by none other than the Shaykh himself.
Confrontation, even in the best of circumstances is never unconstrained, least of all confronting a power many times stronger and well organised. The concerted effort of the Shaykh, settled at Degel and his students, scattered all over the Hausa city-states, was to produce a growing revolutionary group cutting across tribal, racial and national boundaries, sharing common fundamental cultural values that were vividly reflected in their manners and dressing – turban for males and veil for women. While this development was in the making, the rulers of Gobir in particular, who had all along been suspicious of the Shaykh's activity were employing covert measures ranging from intimidation to assassination attempts, to curb this growing threat to their authority. By the turn of the nineteenth century the rate of growth of the Shaykh's Jama'a has reached a proportion which alarmed Nafata, then ruler of Gobir. Nafata realised that the power base of his declining authority was being eroded by the growing Jama'a and will soon disappear in a matter of time. The Gobir power base was indeed being eroded for every increase in the Shaykh's Jama'a meant a shift of loyalty from Nafata to the Shaykh. For the Jama'a saw themselves for all intents and purposes as a separate entity whose allegiance was to an ideology (Islam) and not to a state (Gobir), sharing a common set of beliefs, goals, and aspirations. In a desperate effort to save his authority and consolidate his power Nafata intensified his attacks on the Shaykh's Jama'a; robbing their properties and waylaying them in the hope that they would become disenchanted and revert to their former faith or indolence as the rif-raff, as opposed to the Jama'a who were now distinct by attitudes, manners and dress.(24) This increased hostility had the opposite result of making the Jama'a more firm and committed to changing the state of affairs in Hausaland.
As these persecutions continued the Jama'a demanded a showdown with the Gobir authorities but the Shaykh, composed and far sighted, refused. Instead the Shaykh, in a poem apparently made in praise of Shaykh Abdulkadir Jaylani, urged his Jama'a to acquire arms, as it is sunna (to do so) and prayed to Allah to establish Islamic rule in Hausaland.(25) The Shaykh's message was very clear. By using a poem the Shaykh meant to communicate directly with the revolutionary crowd to prepare itself militarily both for self defence and eventual confrontation. The Jama'a's response frightened Nafata, who, feeling more insecure than ever efore, decreed that:
"(a) Nobody except Dan Fodio in person was allowed to preach.
(b) No more conversions to Islam were to be allowed and those who were not born Muslims should return to their former religion (paganism).
(c) Men should not west turbans nor women veils."(26)
These decrees were to no avail as they only provoked Muslims to greater militancy. With his failure evident, Nafata made a desperate attempt to kill the Shaykh but failed. He soon died and was succeeded by his son Yunfa in 1802. Yunfa inherited not only this internal crisis but also an external one. The whole Hausa city states and Gobir in particular were engaged in mutually destructive interstate wars. The Shaykh and his Jama'a were fully aware of these developments but unlike the Jama'a the Shaykh was not in favour of an open confrontation. Even in the circle of his top revolutionary personnel there were many who were pressing the Shaykh for a confrontation with Gobir rulers. That Shaykh Uthman insisted on avoiding any clash at that material time despite mounting pressure is of particular interest to this paper. While many of his disciples and followers saw in the tense situation a simple threat of force which an open confrontation could settle, Shaykh Uthman with his superior learning and discipline, exceptional composure and sagacity knew that there is more to the situation than sheer threat of force; and such open confrontation at that stage was not the answer. Confronting a deteriorating power, operating in a society where a standing regular army as such did not exist and where there was relatively equal accessibility to arms – spears, swords, arrows and shields, it was quite tempting to go for a showdown. But the Shaykh who had spent nearly thirty years preaching and organising his Jama'a knew best their current organisational ability and potentials, must have thought it unwise if not risky to engage in any military confrontation in the circumstances. This incident reflects the Shaykh's able and firm leadership, the Jama'a discipline and loyalty without which the story would have perhaps been different. But more fundamentally it shows the sincerity and selflessness of the leadership.
But both the Shaykh and the Jama'a on the one hand and Yunfa and Gobir forces on the other knew that a confrontation was inevitable, it was only a matter of time. Shaykh Uthman found it necessary to prepare and guide his Jama'a in the forthcoming conflict. He wrote a fourteen point tract Masa'il al-muhimma, early in 1803, where he says among other things:
"Muslims should not be left 'neglected'(hummal) without a bay'a sworn to an Imam. They should migrate from the land of unbelief as an obligation. They should rise against the unbelieving ruler only if they have enough power to do so, otherwise they should not. But if they find they cannot practice their religion or that their property or their own safety is in danger they have to migrate to where there is security. Again, if the Muslims see bloodshed or seizure of property in one area, they have to evacuate it for another where nothing like that occurs."(27)
The title and content of this tract suggests that many from the Jama'a were raising questions about hijra and Jihad. The Shaykh was clearly preparing his Jama'a for the event whose occurrence was just a matter of time. Jama'a's response to this tract was to frighten Yunfa whose action was to precipitate the hijra only about a year after the Shaykh had written the Masa'il.
A certain Jama'a at Gimbana was attacked by Yunfa's forces, their property robbed, their men and women taken captive, with many left dead and the whole village destroyed. Troubled by the agony of their brethren the Jama'a at Degel ambushed Yunfa's forces on their way to Alkalawa and released the captives. Yunfa now infuriarated ordered the Shaykh to leave his country. Though Yunfa later changed his mind the Shaykh continued ahead with his preparation for Hijra. The Shaykh soon wrote a twenty seven point pamphlet wathiqat ahl al-Sudan which was immediately circulated through the efficient network of their organisation, calling people to hijra and the fighting that is to follow it. The revolutionary personnel immediately became busy distributing the pamphlet and mobilising support for the hijra. In February 1804 the Shaykh and a party of the Jama'a left Degel to Gudu – a town at the distant borders of Gobir. This marked the Shaykh's Hijra. It would be interesting to find out the Shaykh's reasons for the choice of Gudu for hijra. As this is beyond the scope of this paper we shall assume that his reasons were purely strategical.
Such mass immigration of the Jama'a now large and scattered all over Hausaland, necessarily involved a lot of planning and organisation, more so when Yunfa now determined to check the movement, had ordered his governors to attack and take captive all those who moved with the Shaykh. This threat of Yunfa's forces, transport difficulties, long distance and the haphazardness, made it difficult for the Jama'a to reach Gudu with adequate provisions. Despite these difficulties the mass movement of people and their families continued, and the Jama'a flocked to Gudu in large numbers. At Gudu, the Jama'a assembled and persuaded the Shaykh to become its Imam. Here the Jama'a offered the Shaykh bay'a as Amir al-Muminin. This bay'a at Gudu not only marked a declaration of Jihad but also the birth of a caliphate – later to be known as Sakkwato Caliphate.
The details of how this poor, ill-equipped and comparatively small gathering in Gudu fought and conquered the whole of Hausaland to the borders of Bornu, the military organisation and strategy of the Jama'a, is a subject worthy of another paper. Not long after the Shaykh's arrival at Gudu, before the Jama'a could muster substantial military force, Yunfa and his forces attacked Gudu as if to put a final end to this "menace". Though Yunfa and his forces suffered a heavy defeat at Tabkin kwato, the Jama'a were generally weak, roaming without a base until they captured Birnin Kabi in April 1805. These victories of the Muslim forces, were followed with similar victories up to about 1808, when virtually the whole of Hausaland came under the majahidun. By 1810 the Shaykh withdrew to the town of Sifawa to continue with his intellectual endeavours, leaving Abdullahi (his brother) and Muhammad Bello (his son) to administer the caliphate.
Until his Hijra to Gudu, Uthman's teachings, writings and preachings were centred on the fundamentals of Islam, Ibadat and Muamalat. As if the confrontation that led to hijra took him unaware, be continued to write throughout the fighting period that immediately followed the hijra. This is not to suggest that the Shavkh was totally unaware, that he might have to make hijra and fight afihad. In fact, the fact that the Shaykh continued to write despite the chaos and demand of the fighting would suggest that the Shaykh did preconceived hijra and jihad on his road to reform. The point I wish to stress here is that the events and circumstances that led to hijra did not, as it were, give the Shaykh the chance to write and guide his Jama'a, on issues relating to state administration. While the Jama'a was engaged in fighting the Shaykh their commander-in-chief was doing more than fighting. Far sighted as he was, he saw the dire need to guide the Jama'a on the obligation of the hijra and Jihad, the way the Jihad should be fought and how the booty should be divided. The need to appoint a leader, Imam, qualification required of such a leader, the principles for appointing deputies and officers to handle the affairs of the community. More than that, the Shaykh wrote on general division of administration, formation of a Muslim state and the principles upon which such state should be founded.(28) One of his most elaborate works Bayan wujub alHijra written in the midst of the fighting in 1806, deals with this issue in detail. One cannot sometimes help imagining what would have happened had the Shaykh Uthman not been precisely what he was.
VICTORY, CONSOLIDATION AND CONTINUITY
Having fought and won, the revolutionary leadership, mujahiddun, found itself, by 1810, heading an Islamic state standing over the ruins of the Hausa city-states of Gobir, Kabi, Zamfara, Katsina, Zaria, etc. The birth of this new Caliphate, cutting across all former boundaries and identities, unprecedented in it's scope and complexity, was what finally solved the crisis and disequilibrium of the societies and politics of this vast region. This phenomenon has caught the attention of many a scholar of the western tradition. What seems to have attracted them most is the territorial integration, political solidarity and the economic transformations – aspects that are easily comprehensible to the secular west. The perception, nuances and aspirations of the mujahidun is at best played down and often ignored.
Victory invariably carries with it a notion of achievement of a goal or objective. But victory or lack of it must depend not on the achievement of any goal or objective but on the achievement of the specific goal or objective fought for. The victory of the mujahidun must be seen not in terms of territory, polity, least of all economic gains, but in terms of the ideal they fought for. That Amir al-muminin, Shaykh Uthman, abandoned the caliphate soon after the fighting that established it and retired to Sifawa to continue writing is more than a display of sincerity which indeed the Shaykh had – but more important it indicates that the leadership has an ideal higher than and beyond the state. True the mujahidun were fighting for a change in the state of affairs of the Hausaland, but it must be realised that the change was not the end it was only the means and the end is unmistakably Islam – in it's comprehensive form. This is further borne out, very vividly, by the fact that Abdullah b. Foduye, one of the commanders of the mujahidun became so dissatisfied with the Jihad at a time when territory and booty was being captured. So dissatisfied did he become that he abandoned the battlefront and made his way to Hajj through Kano. As Abdullah himself put it:
"…then there came to be from Allah the sudden thought to shun the homelands, and my brothers, and turn towards the best of Allah's creation, in order to seek approval, because of what I had seen of the changing times, and (my) brothers, and their inclination towards the world, and their squabbling over it's possession, and its wealth, and its regard, together with their abandoning the upkeep of the mosques and the schools … I left the army and occupied myself with my own (affairs) and faced towards the East…"(29)
Thanks to Allah, he was persuaded to stay in Kano where he wrote a monumental work Diya al-Hukkam. Abdullah's dissatisfaction is clearly because of the material inclination of some of the revolutionary personnel who must have appeared to Abdullah to be fighting for territory and booty instead of the real thing – Islam.
After they had emerged as the undisputable leaders of the new caliphate it was debate, not funfare or celebration that occupied the time of the personnel of this revolution. It was not a debate on who should rule what territory or appointed to what post, far from it, it was a debate on how such and such concept of Islam should be translated into practice. While Abdullah insisted on the letter and spirit of the law, the Shaykh and Muhammad Bello (his son) were generally flexible and practical. It is interesting to note that the debate, hot as it was, never led to a rift or constraint in running the new caliphate. This rare and exceptional incidence should leave us in no doubt that the leadership of this revolution is committed to an ideal (Islam) which ranks higher than state and all that contained in it. The Amir muminin Uthman had to labour to convince Abdullahi and any who might have held his (Abdullahi's) view that in fact the Jihad has achieved its objectives not in terms of territory but in terms of the degree of Islamisation realised. Writing in his Nasihat Ahl al-Zaman, the Shaykh says:
"Know, O' Brethren, that – condemning (one's) time is an unrespectable attitude towards Allah and nothing will accrue from such other than bothering one's heart and tongue. Know, O' Brethren that ordering good is obligatory according to the consensus and this is what has happened at this time. That forbidding bad is obligatory according to the consensus and this is what happened at this time. That immigration from the land of unbelievers is obligatory according to the consensus and this is what has happened at this time. That carrying weapons (for Jihad) is obligatory and this is what has happened at this time. That defending oneself, one's people and property is obligatory according to the consensus and this is what happened at this time. That the application of the Shariah rulings is obligatory according to the consensus and this is what happened at this time. These are ten achievements and the people of this time should thank Allah for them because they are from the greatest bounties of Allah after the faith and they have all happened at this time".(30)
This is not to give the impression that Shaykh Uthman was not at all critical of the achievements of the jihad, in fact he was but not to the extent of Abdullahi. Taken as a whole the Jihad is a tremendous victory not because of the size of the caliphate but because of the Islamisation it achieved.
In the circumstances the leaders of this revolution found themselves soon after the fighting that begot the caliphate, consolidating and protecting the newly procured Dar al-Islam was not just desirable but a duty which Allah has enjoined upon them. Their idea of consolidation, contrary to what some scholars would have us believe is wide and comprehensive. For while Abdullah at Gwandu and Muhammad Bello at Sakkwato occupied themselves in consolidating the boundaries of the caliphate the Shaykh at Sifawa and scholars all over the place were busy consolidating the intellectual base of the revolution. Indeed the governors, the wazirs, the judges, the walis etc, were simultaneously consolidating internal order and security, justice and equity without which the ideal they fought for cannot be realised. It should be added that this consolidation was unique, not simply because of its comprehensiveness not even because of its intensity but mainly because of the sincerity and the sense of mission with which it was carried out. The campaigns of Muhammad Bello with their captives and booty have been well noted by many scholars, what seemed to have escaped notice is this sincerity and sense of mission with which it was executed. Even if later generations turned it into a slave raiding exercise, the fact still remained that Bello was not fighting for captives or booty but for spreading Islam and protecting the Dar al-Islam.
"In spite of their difficulties, continuous occupation and involvement, first, and throughout their careers in all matters pertaining to Islam, then the Jama'a and subsequently the state, the triumvirate, left a great legacy in writing."(31)
It is this intellectual legacy, unprecedented, thorough and broad which, more than anything perhaps, gave this revolution its vigour, strength and above all its roots. Nourishing its malamai and almajirai as well as keeping them constantly busy from the cradle to the grave. It is the opportune combination of this legacy with this educational tradition that gave this revolution the continuity it had or it perhaps still has. Students of history know that the vigour and tempo of any revolution go down with its later generations. While this was true of this revolution, the literacy legacy fitted as it did into this diligent educational system unique to bilad a lSudan, remained alive and largely unaffected even when the political leadership deteriorated. Even colonialism and now neocolonialism, with its strong institutions and sinister methods has not succeeded much in changing this intellectual base. For despite decades of colonial and how National propaganda, the writings of the triumvirate (Shaykh Uthman, Abdullah, and Muhammad Bello) are readily available in the markets and the makaranta where they are read daily. In fact, this conference should be seen, as indeed it is, as part of the Sakkwato Islamic revolution, for its organisers as well as the author of this paper are profoundly influenced by the intellectual remains of this revolution. With this link now forged, colonialism becomes only a moment, though not a pleasant one, in our history.
The main features of the Sakkwato model which I have attempted to delineate is perhaps best summarized by Professor Ismail when he wrote:
"That there was an Islamic movement with all that Islam stands for by virtue of its universality, its openness, its tolerance, its justice and equity, its knowledge, recognition and provision for previous religions, its civilizations and history, shaking the socio-political order after successfully eroding its cultural and intellectual basis and that it had achieved all this by education and patient persuasion, precisely not to compromise Islam, is simply but subtly overlooked or ignored. Had that movement been conceived or presented on a tribal basis as some wants us to believe it would have been doomed to fail not to mention the fact that it couldn't have found a place in Islam."(32)
It is true many events have occurred since this revolution. Many Muslim countries for example were, about the end of the last century, coerced into the orbit of western European capitalist system which has since arrested their development, perpetuated their poverty and broken up their unity. Muslim countries today are characterized not by Islam with it's system of education, law, economy and social justice, but by western European democracy with its parliament, its courts, its universities, culture and technology, and, not least in giving its support, its corruption. Beyond the glitter of western institutions and technology, manned by a handful of western elite, a large mass of people who, though ignorant, have largely remained faithful to Islam and true to themselves. It is here not anywhere else, any revolutionary movement that hopes to succeed, must root its base. The alternative of course is to become academic. In a society with heavy western European capitalist and even socialist vested interest, highly specialised and heavily equipped institutions of defence and propaganda and not least, people with political and economic vested interests to protect, any revolutionary movement that hopes to survive must afford to combine patient and able leadership with sound and apt planning. The alternative is to hurry up and burn or to alert it's enemies before it is ready for confrontation. To what extent the Sakkwato model helps us in our contemporary circumstances, I leave to the distinguished audience for discussion.
1.See Abdullahi's Tazyin al-waraqat and Muhammad Bello's Infaq al-maysur.
2.See Alhaji (Dr.) Junaidu's works.
3.See Yusuf Abba, "The 1804 Jihad in Hausaland as a Revolution", Sokoto Seminar paper, 1975,
4.See Kano Chronicle page 148.
5.F. Smith, "The early states of the western Sudan", in Ajayi and Crowder (Eds), History of West Africa, Longman, London, 1976, p. 190.
6."Islamic History in the Western Sudan", International Islamic Seminar on Education. Kano,
7.H. F. C. Smith, "A Neglected theme of West African History: the Islamic Revolution of the 19th century", J. H. S. N., 2(1961), pp. 169-85.
8.See 'Ida' al-Nusukh of Abdullahi b. Foduye.
9.Uthman b. Foduye: lfhan al-Munkiring, quoted from M. A. Al-Hajj, "The Writings of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio", Kano Studies (1), 2(1974/77), p. 9.
10.Abdullahi b. Muhammad: Tazyin al-waraqat, (Ed. and Trans. by M. Hiskett), Ibadan, I.U. P. 1963, p. 86.
11.See M. A. Al-Hajj, "The writings of Shehu Usman", Kano studies, (1) 2 (1974/77)
12.Ibid page 10..
13.Quoted in M. A. Al-Hajj, "The meaning of the Sokoto Jihad", 1975, p. 8.
14. Quoted from D. M. Last and M. A. Al-Hajj, "Attempts at defining Muslim in 19th century
Hausaland and Bornu", JNSN, (iii), 2 (1965) pp. 232-233.
16. Quoted in M. A. Al-Hajj, "The writings of Shehu", Kano Studies, (1) 2(1974/77), p. 7
17.Abdullahi Muhammad: Tazyin al-waraqat (ed. and Trans. by Hiskett), b. Ibadan, I. U. P.,1963, p. 86.
18.Ibid.
21.Quoted in F. H. El-Masri, "The life of Uthman b. Foduye before the Jihad," J. H. S. N. (1963), p. 435-48.
22. Quoted in M. A. Al-Haj, "The writings of Shehu", Kano Studies (i) 2 (1974/77), p. 9.
23. M. Hiskett, The sword of Truth, London 0. U. P., 1973, p. 56. –
24. Muhammad Bello, Infaq al maysur, (Ed. W. E. J. writing), p. 66.
25. Abdullah Muhammad, Tayzin al-waraqat.
26. F. El-Masri, "The life of the Shehu before the Jihad", J. H. S. N., 11, 2 (1961), p. 445.
27. Quoted from, "Introduction to Uthman B. Fudi", Bayah wujub al-Hjtra, (Ed. Trans. El
Masri), K. U. P., 1978, p. 24.
28.See. Bayan.
29. Abdullahi b. Muhammad, Tayzin al-waraqat (Ed. and Trans. by Hiskett), Ibadan, 1. U. P.,
1963, p. 120-121.
30. Quoted from A. Kani's unpublished M. A. thesis, 1978.
31. 0. A. S. Ismail, "Some reflections on the literature of the Jihad and the caliphate", in Y.
B. Usman (Ed.), Studies in the History of the Sokoto Caliphate, (SHSC), Lagos, 1979.
Published by Muslim Enlightenment Committee Nizamiyya Islamiyya School, Sakkwato, in memory of Alhaji Ahmad Danbaba Marafan Sakkwato, founder of the School. May Allah have mercy upon him, Amen.
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The Islamic Concept of Leadership and Its Application In The Sakkwato Caliphate
Professor Sambo Wali Junaid Department of Arabic
Usman Dan Fodiyo University Sokoto
The Sakkwato Caliphate, as it is popularly called, is that Islamic government which was based on the pattern of the orthodox Caliphal system founded by the Prophet of Allah Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and which he bequeathed to Islamic communities all over the world as a modus operandi for every Muslim Ummah to emulate and be governed by. The major sources of jurisdiction for this caliphal system of government are the Qur'an, the Hadith (traditions of the Prophet) (SAW) and the ʿijma' (consensus of ʿulama and qiyas (analogy) deduced by scholars of every epoch.
The orthodox caliphs from which the Sakkwato leaders derived their inspirations are those four caliphs, namely, Abubakar, Umar, Usman and Ali who governed the entire Muslim world of their time under strict compliance with Shariah as explained to them by the Qur'an and the sayings, acts and approvals of the Prophet (SAW).
The Sokoto caliphate was founded by the renowned scholar and Mujaddid Shaykh Uthman b. Fodiyo. He initially started his career as a preacher with the sole purpose of cleansing the society of its social, political and religious ills. He began by educating the society on proper ways of worship, separating them from the un-Islamic practices interwoven with Islam but which are diametrical with Islam and border to unbelief. He then criticized the venal ʿulama' (scholars) who encouraged rulers to misrule by overburdening the subjects with heavy taxes fines and confiscation of their properties without any just cause. He undertook preaching tours within Gobir and Zamfara areas. Within a couple of years, Shaykh Uthman raised a community of dedicated Muslims. The growing number of serious Muslims around him aroused the anger of Hausa rulers. Particularly the Gobir ruler. Shaykh Uthman was able to obtain for and on behalf of his followers some concessions.
The kings especially, the tyrant king of Gobir stepped-up his hostilities against the Shaykh's community, maiming them, killing them, capturing them and selling them as slaves (Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-Maisur).
At a time the Shaykh had called on the king with the aim of finding solutions to hostilities meted against the Shaykh's community. No sooner was some amicable solution reached when the king of Gobir, Nafata, after assuming office made contradictory declarations against the concessions given to Jama'ah. He declared that:
1. No one except the Shaykh should preach,
2. No one whose parents or grandparents were not originally Muslims should convert to Islam, and those converted should revert to their former religion,
3. No man should wear a turban henceforth,
4. No woman should henceforth wear a veil.
These and many other provocations made the Shaykh's community start thinking for a leader to defend themselves under him. The Jamāʿah unanimously chose the Shaykh to be their first Amirul Muminin in 1804 after they migrated to Gudu. They fought many battles, some of which they won and lost some. With the capture of Alkalawa, a solid foundation for the establishment of a Caliphate with all its organs and offices, was laid down. The Caliphate waxed stronger with vast territories covering most of the Northern States of the present-day Nigeria and extending its borders to some parts of the present-day Republics of Niger, Chad, Cameroun and Mali. Even the powerful kingdom of Borno lost some part of its territories to the Caliphate.
The leaders of this growing Caliphate were scholars of repute and they wrote a number of books to serve as guidelines in the administration of the Caliphate. The first Amirul Muminin Shaykh Uthman, his full-brother Abdullahi and their son. Muhammad Bello became the nucleus of the Caliphate and they wrote extensively on religious, social, political and economic aspects of an Islamic government whose constitution was the embodiment of the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the consensus of ʿulama'.
The Islamic Concept of Leadership:
Vicegerency, the Islamic concept of leadership first emerged from the Qur'anic verse that expressed Allah's wish to appoint His vicegerent on earth soil as to maintain justice among the creations both human beings and jinns that would worship Him. On hearing this, the angels were surprised that the human being who was not to be trusted was assigned this onerous responsibility of being Allah's representative on earth. They politely inquired:
"Do thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee …?" (Surah II, Verse 30).
What these verses inferred is that' Adam' is the representative of Allah on earth who is to live, worship and maintain justice among other human beings. The concept clearly shows that leadership in Islam is a trust from Allah. A leader should regard himself as representing Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who in turn represents Allah the Creator. Allah is the All-knowing. He keeps records of all His Messenger's representative's activities on earth. A leader will be fully accountable to Allah on the Day of Judgment. If he commits any injustice among fellow human beings, among animal and plant kingdoms as a leader of his home, his ward, his village, his local government, his state, his nation, his planet, the neighbouring planets, the Creator of all beings is watching him. He may punish him right here on earth or may delay the punishment until the final Day of judgment. This trust by Allah through His Prophets is an all-comprehensive one and must be maintained with all sincerity.
The quoted verse above has been explained by a number of traditions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) emphasizing the trust and that man will be accountable to Allah. The first Hadith, which comes to mind, is that which says:
"Each one of you is a shepherd and each one of you would be asked about his shepherd. The leader is a shepherd and would be accountable to Allah about his shepherd."
In yet another Hadith the Prophet (SAW) said when his companions asked him:
"What do you see if leaders were appointed and they asked for their rights from us as our leaders but they in turn refused to give us our rights as their subjects? The Prophet (SAW) replied, "Give them their rights and ask them for your right from Allah for He will certainly make them accountable to what they have been entrusted 'with." (Shaykh Uthman, Najm al-Ikhwan, p.8).
This leadership under whatever name it is called, the same principle of trust be applied. The leader may be called Mr. President as in American democracy, the Prime Minister as in democracies of Westminster style, the Imam as in lran, the King as in Saudi Arabian monarchy or the Khalifah as was severally used in the Glorious Qur'an, In the Qur'an, Khalifah, Malik and Imam or their derivations have been used signifying leadership. Thus referring to Prophet Yusuf (AS), the verse reads:
"Oh my Lord! Thou hast given me sovereignty." (Surah 12, Verse 101).
Also Prophet Sulaiman (AS) said as reported in the Qur'an:
"He said, My Lord! Forgive me and bestow on me sovereignty such as shall not belong to all after me." (Surah 38, Verse 35).
In another verse referring to Imamate, it reads:
"And We made them chiefs who guide by our command …" (Surah 21.Verse 73).
In another verse referring to Prophet Ibrahim (AS). It reads:
"He said, Lo! I have appointed thee a leader (Imam) for mankind." (Surah 2, Verse 124).
All these verses refer to various terms used for leadership role but they all point to one thing and that it is a trust which must be preserved by all types and scopes of leadership. It was with this trust in mind that Prophet Yusuf (A.S) requested Paroah to entrust him with the store-houses. He said:
"Set me over the store-houses of the land. Loll am a skilled custodian." (Surah 12, Verse 55).
After this trust is entrusted upon a leader, then he is expected to maintain that trust and treat everyone equitably without fear or favour. In another Hadith, the Prophet of Allah (Muhammad) (SAW) said:
"The Sultan is the shadow of Allah on earth!"
The leader, therefore, being the shadow of Allah's authority through the Prophets, should treat everyone equally. Vice such as nepotism, self aggrandizement, promotion of one's friends, egocentricism, blind-materialism, acquisition of ill-gotten wealth should all be. avoided by a leader. In fact, the leader should be as the Prophet (SAW) described him saying:
"The leader of a community is but their servant."
When this concept of trust which is an authority bestowed to you by Allah is digested the leader must be just in his dealing with all his subjects. He must be fair to all and sundry and the rule of the Sharfah must be supreme. Whoever tampers with the Shariah must be punished accordingly after full investigations. Justice must be carried out in all facets of human endeavours. It must include justice in relation to terrestrial and marine life as well as in connection with animal and plant kingdoms. He must do justice to the planet he lives in and the planets that he sees and utilises. To sum it all, a leader must uphold justice even against himself. He should not therefore claim immunity of the rule of the Shariah. Everyone, with high or low status, must be equal before the Shariah (Shehu Umar Abdullah. On the Search for a Viable Political Culture p.47).
The leader must see his leadership role as both mundane and spiritual. In other words, the concept of secularism as professed by the so-called modern democracies, which separate religion from politics, is absolutely alien in Islam (Shehu Umar Abdullahi, Ibid, p.46).
It was reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (SAW) had said:
"Authority and Islam are twins, neither of both can, improve without the other. lslam is the foundation while authority is the protector, Whatever lacks foundatlon will collapse and whatever lacks protector is lost." (Shaykh Uthman b. Fodiyo, Najm al-Ikhwan, p.68).
In other words, politics and religion are seen in Islam as just two faces of the same coin. The leader, therefore, must see his role as such and must, with all sincerity, carry out his responsibilities with justice irrespective of differences of religion, ethnic affiliations, geographical boundaries, etc. The religion of Islam enjoined him to be fair to all, The Glorious Qur'an says:
"Oh ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that you deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is informed of what ye do." (Surah 5, Verse 8).
In another verse, the leader is enjoined to maintain justice even if it is against his relative. The Our'an urges that:
"And if you give your word, as justice thereunto, even though it be (against) a kinsman!" (Surah 6, Verse 152).
In another verse, the leader is still being enjoined to uphold justice whenever he passes a judgement among his subjects.
The Our'an says:
"And if ye judge between mankind that you judge justly." (Surah 4, Verse 58).
The next concept of leadership in Islam is the utilisation of Shura [consultation], The Qur'an enjoins the leader to look for advice before embarking on any serious issue affecting his subjects. The so-called modern models of State or National assemblies under the guise of Western democracies are mere caricatures of the Islamic principle of Shura revealed to the Prophet of Islam (SAW) more than one thousand, four hundred and eighteen years ago. Shuraor Counsel is from the Arabic word ashara. Shura to show or to consent or approve by nodding one's head.
The person seeking advice would want to know areas of truth and the benefit . to be derived from the issue Shura is sought for Counsel is the search for an expert opinion from experienced persons to enable the leader arrive at what seems to be right, But before the right course or decision is arrived at, a body of experienced persons must come together and critically examining each other's opinion being guided by the principles of jihad.
Those issues which had already been legislated on in the Qur'an and/or by the Prophet (.SAW) cannot be subjected to discussion or review. The leader may however call for a discussion, presentation of opinions or debate on things that are either not yet clear or have multiple approaches. Matters of peace and war or signing treaties, for example, are issues that should not be taken lightly or rushed into without taking due cognisance of the implications involved.
Particular example which may be cited here where difficult decisions were taken by the Prophet (SAW) was the Hudaibiyah peace accord. Despite the opposition by some of his companions to the treaty, the Prophet (SAW) upheld it and it turned out to be the greatest conquest in the history of Islam.
Another example was the Battle of Uhud when some of his companions advised that he should remain in Madina while others opined that he should move out. Each opinion was trying to arrive at what would be the best option for the Muslims. But in the end, the Prophet (SAW) chose the decision to go out of Madina to meet the enemies (see Abdurrahman Abdul-Khaliq, AI-Shura, p.17).
For any issues to be tabled for discussion, the leader must be able to select experienced persons who are transparently sincere, honest, determined and have strong sense of responsibility who will stand firmly by the decisions taken and implement them as required. That body of decision-making must not be lobbied by the leadership but should let each one of them to be the master of his conscience and the protector of the trust reposed in him by Allah.
The importance of Counsel has been emphasised in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). A whole chapter of the Qur'an was named chapter of Shura. In one of the verses of the chapter, Muslim leaders are enjoined to seek for advice before taking any serious decisions.
In another chapter, the importance of seeking for Counsel was also highlighted when the Prophet (SAW) was asked to consult his companions before taking a decision. The Qur'an verse reads:
"So pardon them and ask for forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs. And when thou art resolved, then put thy trust in Allah Lo! Allah loveth those who put their trust in Him." (Surah 3. Verse 1.59).
With the establishment of an Islamic State, the leader must not relent in his defence of the Ummah from internal and external enemies by establishing a strong force to defend the nation of Islam defends its territories as well as guarantee the application of the Shariah throughout his domain. The nation of Islam must be combat ready and the leadership must be alert and lead its army in defence of the State. The leadership must protect the religion and its values with all its 'juristical, administrative and military' capabilities. The leader must adhere to the following ten conditions in discharging the affairs of the Islamic State. The conditions are:
a) Preservation of faith in its established principles and in the form in which al-Salaf (the predecessors) of the Ummah had unanimously agreed.
b) Enforcement of judgments among contenders and resolving cases among disputants.
c) Provision of security in the territory so that people may live in their homes safely and travel in security.
d) Enforcement of punishments prescribed by the Shariah to safeguard the limits set by Allah and preserve the rights of people.
e) Fortification of borders with preventive equipment and repelling of aggression.
f) Jihad against those who oppose Islam after calling upon them to embrace it or to accept protection as non-Muslims, so that the light of Allah is upheld in proclamation of the religion in its entirety.
g) Levying of taxes and collection of Zakah and charity from the treasury without being extravagant or stingy.
h) Appointing the honest and competent to positions of trust in order to preserve (State) wealth to administer (government's) affairs.
i) Personal supervision and examination of public affairs to be able to lead the nation and protect the religion.
j) Personal supervision and examination of public affairs to be able to lead the nation the nation and protect the religion (See Muhammad S. EI Awa, on the Political System of the Islamic State, p.?7).
Now we have through the previous pages seen the Islamic concept of leadership and what follows is the application of that concept in the Sakkwato Caliphate.
Concept of Leadership and Its Application in the Sakata Caliphate
The leaders in the Sokoto Caliphate firmly believed that leadership is a trust from Allah through the Prophet (SAW) bestowed on them to rule according to Shariah. Thus, from the onset, the Muslims unanimously agreed to pay homage to Shaykh Uthman b. Fodiyo as the first Amirul-Muminin of the newly established Muslim Ummah, an Ummah which is to be governed by the Shariah. The leadership from the beginning applied Shura when they realised the danger they were exposed to by the enemy. After their Hijra to Gudu, the Muslim Ummah met and agreed to pay homage to Shaykh Uthman as Amirul Muuminin. The first to pay the homage was his full-brother Abdullah, followed by Muhammad Bello and then Umar Alkammu and the rest of the "Ummah (see Wazir Junaidu, Tarihin Fulani, pp.16-17).
The Shariah as the basis of Muslim constitution was implemented in full. Honest, pious and scholarly judges were appointed throughout the Caliphate. In fact, descendants of these jUdges like the Qadi-Qudat (Chief Judge) still retain the titles if not the functions. We also have other titles like the Sa'i who takes charge of the collection and distribution of Zakah. Other are the Sarkin Yaki (War Commander), the title still held by the descendants of Aliyu Jedo, the war commander at the time of the Jihad and the Muhtasib (Censor of Morals). As for the Wazir, the Shaykh appointed four viziers, namely: Abdullah,Muhammad Bello, Umar Alkammu and Malam Sa'adare. When the Caliphate became stronger, the viziership positions were reduced to only two. The Western flank under the charge of Abdullah has its own vizier as was the case with the Eastern flank under Bello. However, as Muhammad Bello became the second Caliph, the viziership position of the Caliphate held by Abdullahi shifted to 'Uthman Gidado.
The application of the Shariah was thorough and that some recordedincidents during the struggle to apply justice to all were evidenced in some traditions.
Sultan Bello's strict application of the Shariah is evidenced by his scrutinizing the judges, reversing their judgments dictated by their own interest and his refusal to give them free rein in their posts (Alhaji Shehu Malami, Sir Siddiq Abubakar III, p.25). Sultan Bello was also said to have told his brotherAbubakar Atiku:
"If you judge according to the truth, I will not interfere with you." (Ibid, p.25). Throughout the Caliphate, justice was done and every, citizen was forced to comply with the Shariah. As a result of that, there was absolute peace. This peaceful momentum did not escape the eagle-eye of the Christian white explorer, Clapperton who observed that:
"The laws of the Qur'an were in his (Bello's) time so strictly put in force … That the whole country when not in a state of war, was so well regulated that a woman might travel with a casket of gold upon her head from one end of the Fellata dominions to the other," (See Rashid, Islamic Lava in Nigeria, p.39)
The Sokoto leadership promoted learning and scholarship. This promotion was vigorously pursued by the Caliphate so much so that there was no Islamic revivalist movement in the whole of Africa during that time that had bequeathed to the generations of the Sakkwato Caliphate. Shehu Uthman had written not less than one hundred books and manuals in three languages, namely: Fulfulde, Hausa and Arabic. So was also done by his son Bello and Abdullahi and Emirs who received flags from the Shehu. All the flag-bearers were at one time or another students of Shaykh Uthman b. Fodiyo who in turn encouraged scholarship in their own areas of jurisdiction.
With the combined efforts of the leaders and their subjects, within a short period, the massive educational and enlightenment programmes embarked upon by the Caliphate yielded fruitful results.
At this juncture, one can recall the unprecedented educational campaign mounted by Nana Asma'u, the Shaykh's daughter to educate the women-folk. Nana herself. a poetess in three languages, did not hesitate to compose poems which are still sung today to educate the women masses. She organised the Ysn-teru' (Associates) system of knowledge dissemination whereby older women from rural areas converged to her home and received lessons from her and in turn disseminated such lessons to the wives in purdah in the rural areas.
The lessons usually imparted by Nana Asma'u included Islamic rituals like the five daily prayers, aspects of Teunia, the Zakah, responsibilities of the wife to the family, etc. These rituals are composed in poems for easy memorization. (Jean Boyd, The Caliph's Sister, pp.-51-52).
After the establishment of the Caliphate, the leaders built a strong army to defend and extend the territories of the nation of Islam. The leaders led many successful expeditions against the enemy. Abdullah, who was in charge of the Western flank of the Caliphate and his able lieutenants, ably extended the areas of the Caliphate as far away as the Nupe and Yoruba lands. while Bello effectively controlled the whole of the Eastern flank which extended far beyond Adamawa. The Caliphate remained intact and the leaders successfully subdued to submission the attempted rebellion after the demise of Sultan Bello. Sultan Bello had, during his reign which spanned for over 20 years, led 17 military campaigns against the enemies of Islam.
The Caliphate became the Islamic umbrella under which the citizens of the nation of Islam, irrespective of language, colour or place of birth, converged to worship Allah alone and maintain justice among human' beings and becametrue representatives of Allah on earth.
The paper traced the Islamic concept of leadership from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the two main sources of Islamic jurisprudence and constitution. It discussed the Islamic and secular concepts of leadership. It emphasized that the Sakkwato Caliphate believed in leadership being a trust from Allah and had left no stone unturned throughout its life-span which began in 1804 until it was rudely halted in the year 1903 by the British fire power.
The paper also expressed its nostalgia for the Islamic concept of leadership especially with regard to the general security of life and property, which followed the total application of the Shariah.
1. Abdullah b. Fodiyo, Tazyin al-Waraqat. Kano, 1383 A.H.
2. Abdullah b. Fodiyo, Diyaul-Sultan, Zaria
3. Abdurrahman Abdul-Khaliq, AI-Shra fi Dhilli Nidham al-Hukm al-Islami, Kuwait. 1988.
4. Alhaji Shehu Malami, Sir Siddiq Abubakar III, Ibadan, 1989.
5. Ibrahim Imam, Tarihin Shehu Usman Mujaddadi, Zaria, 1966.
6. Jean Boyd, The Caliph's Sister, Nana Asma'u, London, 1989.
7. Kalim Siddiqui, Issues in the Islamic Mivement, London, 198.0-81.
8. Muhammad Bello, Aigayth al-wabi fi Sirat ai-Imam al-Adl, manuscript available in Wazir Junaidu's personal library.
9. Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-Maisur, London, 1957.
10. Muhammad Bello, Sard al-Kalam fi Ma Jara Bainana Wa Baina Abdissalam, Manuscript available in my personal library.
11. Muhammad Fu'ad Abdul-baqi, AI-Mu'jam al-Mufahras Ii al-Fadh al Our'an al-Karim, Beirut, 1945.
12. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an, Karachi, 1986.
13. Muhammad S.EI-Awa, On the Political System of the Islamic State, Indiana, 1980.
14 Sa'adu b. Abdurrahman, Tartib al-Ashab wa Tajmi' Ulil-Albab, Manuscript available in wazir Junaidu's personal library.
15. Shehu Umar Abdullah, On the Search for a Viable Political Culture, Kaduna, 1984.
16. Syed Khalid Rashid, Islamic Law in Nigeria, Sokoto.
17. Uthman b. Fodiyo, Sayan Wuju al-Hijra al Allbad wa Bayan Nasbi al-Imam wa Iqamat al-Jihad, Zaria.
18. Uthman b. Fodiyo, Najm al-Ikhwan Yahtaduna Bihi Bi Idhnil Lah fi Umur al-Zaman. Cairo.
19. Wazir Junaidu, Tarihin Fulani, Zaria, 1957.
International Seminar Papers
1. International Seminar on "The Role of the Ulama in the Sakkwato
Caliphate", 1800-1803, presented in 1986, organised by C.I.S/U.D.U.S.
2. International Seminar on "Intellectual Tradition in the Sakkwato
Caliphate", 1987, organised by C.I.S/U.D.U.S.
For similar or related articlesclick on the links below:
The Role of Scholars on the Jihad Leaders of the Sokoto Caliphate
By S.S.Muhammad
Department of Political Science – Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
"Allah, the exalted, has ordained to send forth, to the ummah, at the end of every century, a scholar who would revive the religion for her. Such a scholar would take upon himself the duty of enjoining the good and forbidden the evil. He would call for the regulation of the affairs of the people and the establishment of justice amongst them. He would support the truth against falsehood, revive the Sunnah, suppress innovation, and denounce bad customs.
As a result of his activities, his conditions will be different from those of the Ulama of his age and he will find himself a stranger amongst them, because his qualities are different from their own and men like him are few … 1
In conformity with the above hadith, Shehu Uthman b. Fodio undertook a jihad, which transformed the early 19th century Hausa land and saw the establishment of the Sakkwato caliphate. The Sakata jihad of the early 19th century was preceded by important intellectual as well as political and social developments and might even be argued that the intellectual pre-history of the revolution has been crucial to the course it has taken.
This paper basically examines the role of scholars on the jihad leaders of 1804 in Hausa land. These include Shaikh Uthman b. Muhammad b. Fodio (1754-1817) his brother Abdullahi b. Muhammad b. Fodio (1776-1828) and Shaikh Uthman's son Muhammad Bello. The paper also examines the role of scholars in shaping the kind of polity that came to be established, the Sakata Caliphate. It first shows the link between scholarship and revolution, the different scholars that influenced the Jihadists of the caliphate as well as the pattern of such influences and concludes the study by pointing the way forward.
Scholarship as foundation of Change:
There are consensuses among scholars, classical or contemporary about the interconnectedness of scholarship and change in societies. Particular scholastic traditions culminate into the establishment of particular kinds of societies based on certain recognized principles. The jihad leaders were very clear on this. According to Muhammad Bello, one of the key architects of the caliphate, everything has a foundation and the foundation of this caliphate is knowledge. The Shehu himself has clearly captured the place of scholarship. He wrote:
A man without learning is like a country without inhabitants. The finest (qualities) in a ruler, in particular and of people in general are the love of learning, the desire to listen to it and holding the bearers of knowledge in great respect-this is the surest way for a ruler to be loved by his subjects. On the other hand, if the king is devoid of learning, he follows his whims and lead his people astray, like a riding beast with no halter, wandering off the path and perhaps spoiling what it passes over. 2
The Shehu has also asserted in his Kitāb al-Farq that acquisition of knowledge by study and the teaching of that knowledge is one of the objectives of Muslims in their government. The very serious concern with scholarship by the Sakata triumvirate is in recognition of its place in the progress and development of humankind and the societies in which they live in. The Shehu, Abdullah and Muhammad Bello thus become preoccupied with the acquisition of knowledge such that they have together over 300 scholarly works to their credit. These were written at different times, including in battle fronts and dealt with a variety of subjects from jurisprudence, political theory, economics, history, tafsir, to virtually every field of human endeavour. They were so concerned with learning and scholarship such that this becomes the most pronounced and lasting tradition the caliphate came to be associated with. The Sokoto caliphate was thus clearly a product of learning, a product of decades of preaching and enlightenment campaigns aimed clearly at establishment of a just socio-economic and political entity.
Role of Scholars on the Jihad Leaders
Of the many factors and forces that shaped the thought of the jihad leaders, that of the scholars is the most important. All the jihadists were greatly influenced by a number of prominent scholars that are contemporary with them. They have testified to this in a number of their works through the expression of opinions and the experiences of scholars before them from the prophetic era through the first four caliphs of Islam, through the Abbasid and the North African scholars to those of the Bilād as-Sudāan.
One of the greatest influences exercised upon the jihad leaders is that by scholars contemporary to the jihadists. The Shehu, Abdullah and Bello have testified to this in the numerous works they authored. Abdullahi has listed vast number of scholars as some of his teachers in Idā an-Nusukh. Ten of those are related to him by blood. But of greater prominence of the scholars mentioned was Shaikh Jibril b. Umar who was both Shehu's and Abdullah's teacher and significantly noted for his radical views in matters of Islam as it applied to society. He was in fact viewed to have engineered the Sakkwato revolution. So significant were his contribution that the Shehu stated thus, "I wonder whether we would have been guided to the right path, had it not been for the Sheikh for the destruction of customs contrary to Islam in our Sudanese country was initiated by him and it was completed by us". Similarly, Abdullah composed several poems of eulogy for Jibril in his Tazyin, which show his reverence for him.
Through these scholars, the jihad leaders studied the Qur'an and its Tafsir (exegesis), Tawhid (the science of the unity of Allah), Fiqh, (Jurisprudence), and Hadith (the traditions of the prophet) and a variety of other branches of scholarship. They thus became men of very deep learning. It is this breadth and depth of learning possessed by the Sakkwato Mujahidun that greatly prepared the intellectual phase of the Sakkwato jihad. But there are other set of scholars whose philosophy and practise the jihadists worked to counter. Abdullahi described them as those who:
…Neglect their prayers and obey, in procuring pleasures their own souls. And the majority of them have traded their faith for the world, preferring what they desire; their minds are full of temptations. They are bold in eating forbidding food, they eat like beasts … they do not listen to commands and they disobey their Imam, and they ridicule anyone who stands and who stands and forbids they from evil… 3
The Shehu in his Tanbīh Al lkwān also noted that:
one of the habits of many scholars of the Bilād as-Sudān is that they leave their wives, daughters and slaves neglected like a grazing livestock without teaching them what Allah makes obligatory on them; they consider them like a container which they use; when it breaks they throw it in dung and rubbish pieces. 4
Muslim Scholars and the Jihadist
The works of several scholars who were not their contemporaries profoundly influenced the jihad leaders. It has been viewed that:
The triumvirate, their supporters have consistently stressed the link between them and the preceding generations of Islamic scholars. In their works on constitutional matters, for instance, they frequently quoted or referred to the works of Ibn AI-Arabi Ibn. Jama'a, AI-Suyuti, al-Gazzali, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Arafa and al-Maghili. Thus Shehu, Abdullahi and Bello drew their inspiration from a remarkable and enduring academic tradition… 5
AI-Mawardi, the Abbasid political theorist, to begin with, is one such scholar whom Abdullahi referred to in his works, particularly in DiyaalHukkam. AI-Mawardi argued that religion and politics are not separate as far as Islam is concerned. He also viewed the institution of the imamate is a necessary requirement of the shariah and not of reason. The imamate, to al-Mawardi, is established to replace prophecy in the defence of the faith and the administration of the world. Consequently, he discusses the means of instituting the imamate-and the qualifications required of an Imam as well as those who are empowered to elect him.
Now, there is close correlation between Abdullah's ideas with those of AI-Mawardi as outlined above. Murray last confirmed this when he noted that Abdullahi follows the arguments made familiar by AI-Mawardi in his AI-Aḥkām as-Sultaniyyah. 6
AI-Ghazzali, a prominent Muslim political thinker, is also one of the important personalities who have greatly influenced the thought of the jihadists. His Kitab al-Halal wal Haram, which is a part of his famous work, Ihyā Ulumuddīn , was one of Abdullahi's main sources in delineating what is permissible and what is not in an Islamic state. The jihadists views on the need of calling a corrupt and unjust regime to order is also logically connected to AI-Gazzali's view, as discussed in his "Min hunā Na alam". His view too that religion and politics cannot be separated has also been expressed by Abdullahi in his Diya -al-Siyasat. AI-Maghili was one such scholar to have exercised tremendous influence on the Sakata jihadists, It has stated that by Abdullah Smith:
All the leaders of the Sakkwato Jihad great attention to the writings of Muhammad b. Abdal Karīm al-Maghīlī who seems to have exerted an important and lasting influence on learned Muslim opinion in this region, particularly on potitics. 7
AI-Maghili (d. 1503/04), a Muslim jurist noted for his scholarship, held great revolutionary ideas on a wide range of issues of religion, society and leadership. Many of those were expressed in his public teachings and the scholarly works he authored, many of which were in circulation in North and West Africa since the 16th century. The radical nature of his ideas was partly instrumental in his falling apart with many ulama of his period and his subsequent leaving for the Bilad-al-Sudan.
AI-Maghili's ideas however found a fertile ground in the Bilād as-Sudān. In Kano, he was warmly accepted by the then Amir of Kanø, Muhammad Rumfa (1493-1499). It was here that al-Maghili wrote his famous Tajuddīn Fī Mā Yajib alā al-Mulk (On the Obligation of Princes). The work is a constitutional treatise that laid down details of administration, court procedures, defence and foreign policy. In brief, its main focus is on how best a state could be administered. The jihadists drew a lot from this scholar. A study of Abdullahi's Oiya aI-Sultan will reveal that it consisted of a summary of four works. The first two works belong to al Maghili and they were those written respectively for Muhammad Rumfa of Kano and Askia of Songhai. The other two works were Shehu Uthman's. In addition, the entire section dealing with the question of the Imamate and the duties of the Supreme Imam' contained in Abdullahi's Diyā al-Hukkām 8 is based on the views of AI-Maghili. Abdullahi himself stated at the end of that section, "know that all I mention in this section is an extract from a book written by Muhammad b. Abdalkarim al Tilmi Sani". The book referred to here is the Tajuddin fi rna yajib ala al-Muluk. Mentioned earlier while the name was al-Maghili's full name. It is also to be noted that Shehu's Siraj al-Ikhwan adopted some of the views of AI Maghili as contained particularly in his al-Ajwiba.
The jihadists also made significant references to al-Nafarawai, Ibn Arabi, as-Suyūti and Ibn Farhum. They all have discussed in varying details the nature of the Imamate institution, its role as well as the supportive institutions like Wazir, Qadi, Muhtasib and the like. Abdullahi, following al-Nafarawi's held "It is unanimously disallowed to have more than one Imam at a time in one country unless the two places are far from each other such that the jurisdiction of one of them cannot reach the place of the other.9 In the case of Ibn AI-Arabi, Abdullahi relied on him in his Diyā-al-Hukkām in enumerating the essential offices that make up the state. As-Suyuti's ideas have similarly found their way into the jihad leaders. Suyuti's work on the caliphate of the four rightly guided Caliphs entitled Tārīkh al-Khulafā was the main work on which Abdullahi based his Diyā al-Muqtadīn lil Khulafā al Rashīdūn. As-Suyuti is also severally quoted in Abdu'lahi's Diyā al-Hukkām, Diya as-Siyasat and Sabilu-s-Salamah fil Imamah. It is thus not surprising that Zahradeen noted that a figure of the jihad, Abdullahi derived his constitutional ideas from the Kitab al Ahkām of Ibn AI-Arabi, the Tārīkh al-Khulafā of al-Suyuti and the Tabsīrat al-Hukkām of Ibn Farhum since quotations from these works are numerous.
It is now apparent that the scholars discussed to this point and many others, have through their various works aided in various degrees in the shaping of the Sokoto Mujahidun's thought. Their scholarship and the inspiration they drew from both classical scholars and those contemporary to them as well as their extensive travel to spread that knowledge had the singular effect of preparing the intellectual phase of their revolution.
Although the Jihadists borrowed extensively from constitutional theorists such as al Mawardi, AI-Gazzali, AI-Maghīlī, Ibn Farhun and others yet, they were not mere imitators. Far from that, the jihadists sifted their writing, simplified them and made them applicable to the environment they lived in. In other words, their originality lies in the fact that they studied the teachings of the predecessors, sifted. and simplified them and above all made those ideas the living ideology of the Sakkwato Jihad movement.
The Effect of the Influences on the Bases, Nature and Outcome of the Jihad
The impact of the scholars on the jihadist could be seen on the bases, nature and outcome of the jihad. The first of these is to be seen on the jihadist philosophy and the bases of the jihad. They embarked on the jihad mainly for the sake of Islam. Schoiars of the jihad have agreed on the establishment of a state system based on the principles of Islam is what the jihadists strived for. Nowhere does any member of the triumvirate indicate that they were fighting a 'national war' for the domination of one ethnic group over the other. Nor were they fighting for material motives as some writers have tried to portray. They were preoccupied with creating of Dar al-Islam and a system of government that will facilitate the realisation of Islam.
In Abdullah's poem, the purpose of their campaigns were more succinctly stated:
We went for the sake of Allah; we hoped for His reward and the raising up of Islam so that all should benefit. And he whose aim is wealth or the demonstration of his courage or the assuaging of his anger, has not waged holy war,' that is the true judgment. 10
Abdullahi who further stated in his Tazyin al-waraqat reinforced the above:
then we rose up with the Shaikh, helping him in his mission work for the religion. He travelled for that purpose to the East and West, calling the people to the religion of Allah by his preaching and his qasidas (pamplets) in other languages and destroying customs contrary to Islamic law.11
Their travels covers Zamfara, Kebbi territories, Gulma, Daura and across the present day River Niger where they taught and preached in local languages, mainly Hausa and Fulfulde to facilitate understanding. Another impact is to be seen in the kind of state they established as well as the values to govern its conduct. Different set of values informed the new polity. These, according to Tukur include justice, impartiality, consuItation/advice, kindness/flexibility, abstinence/moderation/asceticism, truth/integrity/probity etc.12 Tukur concludes, "That under the Shehu and Bello, at least public business was conducted within the framework of the accepted value system in tune with the ideals which inspired the revolution and created a noble political order" in which unity, welfare, and primacy of public interest" occupied the center.
As individuals, the jihadists come to personify high moral values, gentleness, forgiveness, humbleness, generosity, self satisfaction, keeping good company with relations, honesty and fulfillment of promise were some of the virtues that were zealously nurtured by the jihadists.
They were traits which nurtured the revolutionary furvour of the caliphate that was established, a state based on justice and devoid of corruption, favouritism, nepotism and sectionalism. Their intellectualism was clearly translated into reality.
The influence of scholars and political thinkers could also be clearly seen in the jihadist conception of the nature and essence of the state. All the jihadists have agreed that a state has both spiritual and temporal roles. According to late Professor Abdullah Smith, this involves raising the moral tone of society and providing a societal ideology in accordance with Islamic ideas …. General education reform … to be accomplished by then training of teachers, economic reform to be brought about by the improvement of markets, the development of communications (by opening roads and bridges) transactions of the government (and undertaking) all good works. 13
The role is also captured in the Diyā al Waliyat and the first few pages of Diyā al-Umara of Abdullahi when he wrote:
The state should look to their citizens' education in matters of their religion in principle and detail, the performance of prayers in all its details, all matters relating to fasting, the pilgrimage and all the obligations connected with it … the state should similarly look at the institution of marriage and all that is connected with it, their commercial transactions and such matters, the affairs of their markets and all that is necessary relating to them, the maintenance of their roads, the protection of their water supplies, the maintenance of their graves,' the affairs of their treasury …No person is made a ruler over the people to become their master; (Rather) he is to serve their religious and temporal interests. 14
In the words of Bello, it is also the duty of a ruler to commission craftsmen and provide for people in various occupations which are necessary for mankind such as farmers, blacksmith, tailors, dyers, physicians, drapers, butchers, carpenters and all the professions which are the basis of life in this world. He should set them up in every town and locality. At the same time he should make the people busy themselves with the production and storing of food, settle the urban and rural areas … He should seek to achieve everything conducive to their general welfare that the proper order of life in this world may be restored. Encouragement of all virtuous acts, the protection of the poor and the weak, etc. At the end, the jihadists were able to establish the largest and most organised polity in Africa south of the sahara, a state based on the – ideals of justice and equity and the realisation of the interests of the people.
The jihadists were greatly influenced by the different scholars with whom they have studied and associated with. From them they learnt and eventually mastered different fields of scholarship. The Shehu was himself nicknamed Fodio for his great learning and piety. The writings of great Muslim jurist and thinkers such as al-Mawardi, ai-Mag hili, Ibn alArabi, as-Suyuti to mention but a few, have exerted great influence on the thought of the jihadists. They left an indelible mark on them and remained for them a source of inspiration. This is as evidenced by their frequent quotations from their works.
However, far from being mere initiators, the jihadists never succumb to the views and opinions of others without question except they are clearly grounded in law. Although they made references to the preceding generations of scholars, their originality lies in the fact that he sifted, selected and simplified their works and made them the living ideology of the Sakkwato jihad movement. The jihadists were quite aware that the scholars they quoted wrote taking into consideration the problems and circumstances of their times. They must have therefore addressed themselves to those problems. It is thus the case that the jihadists did not unduly idealize the works and ideas of the scholars that influenced them.
1. Uthman b. Fodiyo, Ifhām al-Munkirīn, cited in Bugaje U., The Sakkwato Model: A Study of origin, Development and Fruition of the jihad of Uthman b. Fodiyo 1754-1817' (paper presented at International Islamic Conference, Bayero University, Kano, 16th– 22nd April, 1980).
2. Uthman 8. Fodiyo, Bayan wujūb al Hijrah Cited in Bugaje, Usman, The Caliphate in Modern Nigeria: Ending It. Mending It. or Reinventing It, Text of a public lecture organised to commemorate the 18t anniversary of the installation of the 19th sultan of Sokoto, Alh. Muhammadu Maccido, April 21, 1997, p.9
3. Cited in Ayegere. P.O. The Life and Works of Abdullahi b. Fudi. Unpublished Ph. D Thesis, University of Ibadan, 1974
4 Uthman b Fodiyo, Tanbīh al-Ikhwān
5 Mahmud Tukur, Philosophy. Goals and institutions of the Sokoto Caliphal Administration: A Preliminary Review in Nigerian Administration Research Project. 1972, pp.16-17
6 Murray, Last. The Sokoto Caliphate
7 Smith, Abdullahi A Neglected Theme in West African History, 1961
8 Abdullahi b. Fodiyo, Diyā aI Hukkām
9 Ibid
11 Abdullahi b, Fodiyo. Tazyīn al-Waraqāt. p.85
12 Tukur, Mahmud, Values and Public Affairs, Ph. D theses, ABU.
Zaria. pp59-62
13 Smith, opt.cit.
14 Abdullahi b. Fodiyo. Diyā al- Umara
on April 17, 2012 at 17:00 Leave a Comment
Tags: Abdullah dan Fodio, Bilaadu-s-Sudaan, Biladu-s-Sudan, Islam in Hausaland, Islamic Education Biladu-s-Sudan, jihad and tajdid traditions in West Africa, Sokoto Caliphate, tajdeed, tajdid
The Education of Usman Dan Fodio: Chapter 2 of The African Caliphate
The Education of Usman Dan Fodio
Chapter 2: The African Caliphate
By Dr. Ibrahim Sulaiman
Shehu Usman was born into a highly cultured family in 1168/1754. His father was Muhammad ibn Salih, known generally as Fodio. His mother was Hawwa bint Muhammad ibn Usman. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Degel, where the young Usman grew up. In the Timbuktu tradition, the parents were invariably the first teachers and Shehu Usman received most of his education from his parents and relatives.
Our main sources concerning his education are Idaa' an-Nusuukh and Tazyiin al-Waraqaat of ʿAbdullahi Dan Fodio and Asaaniid al-Faqiir of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio. In Idaa' an-Nusuukh, ʿAbdullahi described his early education:
"The Shaykh read the Qur'an with his father, learned al-Ishriniyyah and similar works with his Shaykh, ʿUthman, known as Biddu al-Kabawi. He learned syntax, and the science of grammar from al-Khulaasah and other works, from our Shaykh Abd ar-Rahman ibn Hammada. He read al-Mukhtasar with our paternal and maternal uncle, Uthmaan, known as Bidduri.… This shaykh of his was learned and pious, well known for righteousness and the ordering of the right and the forbidding of the wrong, and for being occupied with what concerned him. He it is whom our Shaykh Uthmaan (Dan Fodio) imitated in states and in deeds. He accompanied him for nearly two years, molding himself according to his pattern in piety (taqwaa) and in ordering the right, and forbidding the wrong."
Thus, the Shehu's character was initially molded by Usman Bidduri. His inclination towards the career which eventually turned out to be the sole purpose in his life, and his keenness to call people to the way of Allah, were instilled in him by this shaykh. His influence on Shehu Usman was fundamental, enduring and far-reaching. Associated with this influence was that of Muhammad Sambo, who supervised part of Shehu's early teachings. According to ʿAbdullahi, this scholar 'used to attend (Shehu's) reading of al-Mukhtasar – if he made a mistake, or let anything slip, this maternal uncle of ours would correct it for him'. Though he was away in the Hijaaz during most of the period of Shehu's early activities his influence on the whole community was beyond question.
Continuing his account of the Shehu's education, ʿAbdullahi wrote:
"Now Shaykh Uthmaan informed me that he had learned Qur'anic exegesis (tafsiir) from the son of our maternal and paternal uncle Aḥmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Amin, and that he was present at the assembly of Haashim az-Zamfari (i.e. from the Hausa state of Zamfara) and heard from him Qur'anic exegesis from the beginning of the Qur'an to the end of it… He learned the science of tradition (hadiith) from our maternal and paternal uncle, al-Hajj Muhammad ibn Raj... reading with him all of Ṣaḥiiḥ of al-Bukhaari. Then he gave us license to pass on all that he had recited of that which he had learned from his Shaykh al-Madani, the Sindi of origin, Abu Al-Hassan ʿAli."
Muhammad ibn Raj's knowledge of ḥadiith was indeed profound. He had studied each of the most important works of ḥadiith from an uninterrupted chain of authorities such as the Imams al-Bukhaari, Muslim and Maalik. The other of note was Salih Muhammad al-Kanawi, through whom Shehu Usman also traced his isnaads in Bukhaari, Muwaṭṭa and ash-Shifaa'.
ʿAbdullahi told us further in Idaa' an-Nusuukh that the Shehu sought knowledge from Shaykh Jibril, and he accompanied him for almost a year until they came to the town of Agades. Jibril ibn ʿUmar's influence was both intellectual and moral. In ḥadiith, for example, the Shehu traced his isnaad in all the essential ḥadiith works, notably Bukhaari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Muwaṭṭa and Ibn Majah. Jibril was his most important authority in fiqh (or science of law) and most significantly in the various aspects of taṣawwuf (spiritual training). His silsilah (spiritual genealogy) in this sphere of life and especially in the Qaadiriyyah order, and his silsilah in Dalaa'il al-Khairaat, are all traced, in Asaaniid al-Faqiir, through Jibril. There seemed to be no aspect of learning which the Shehu undertook in which Jibril ibn ʿUmar did not leave his indelible imprint.
The real significance of Jibril ibn ʿUmar is that he gave the Shehu the idea of tajdiid, the foundations of which he himself laid. He gave his student the intellectual, moral, spiritual and ideological training he needed for the gigantic work of tajdiid. Jibril later was the first to pledge allegiance to Shehu, even before the jihad. Despite certain differences of opinion the Shehu acknowledged his profound indebtedness to Jibril, which ʿAbdullahi quoted in Idaa' an-Nusuukh: "If there be said of me that which is said of good report, then I am but a wave of the waves of Jibril."
Influence, though of an indirect nature, was exerted on the Shehu by Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti, who was born in 1142/1729 and died in 1226/l811, and was thus a direct contemporary of the Shehu. Sidi Mukhtar belonged to a highly venerated Kunta family which over thirty years had produced an uninterrupted chain of scholars and saints, the most influential being Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti. Knowledgeable and charismatic, he soon became a veritable institution himself.
According to Abdal-Aziz Batran, Sidi al-Mukhtar attracted multitudes of students, people who sought his barakah and guidance, and scholars seeking enlightenment. He assumed the leadership not only of the Kunta family, but more significantly, of the Qaadiriyyah order, giving unity to branches that had been estranged for nearly two hundred years. Thereafter, he initiated an ambitious and, indeed, successful though peaceful, moral transformation of a large part of Africa.
Sidi Mukhtar taught that the study of taṣawwuf was essential as it was imperative for self-fortification and for achieving nearness to Allah. This nearness itself involves a progressive moral transformation of the individual under the guidance of a shaykh. He also taught that zuhd means giving as much attention to the mundane aspects of life as to the spiritual; wealth, therefore, was essential as it is the cornerstone for jaah, social standing and dignity, as well as for haibah, authority and respect. He wished for a return to the basic sources of Islamic jurisprudence, and for the teachings of the Companions (Allah be pleased with them) of Muhammad to be reinstated. Moreover, he rejected exclusive adherence to one madh-hab and opened the door of ijtihaad to all who were juristically qualified.
"Sidi al-Mukhtar believed that he was the mujaddid of the thirteenth century of the Hijrah whom Allah had called upon to renovate Islam and to restore the ummah to its glorious past not only in West Africa, but throughout the whole Muslim world… Like Aḥmad Baba before him, he expressed the opinion that several mujaddidun appeared periodically in different territories, including West Africa."
We shall now look at some of the principal ideas of Sidi Mukhtar, namely his ideas on tajdiid, the ʿulamaa' and taṣawwuf. Tajdiid is 'the resuscitation of what has withered away of knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the commandment of their observance'. So long as the ummah would sink from time to time into degeneration or turmoil, so long would tajdiid remain imperative.
In western Sudan, this degeneration (fasaad) was precipitated by the despot, Sonni ʿAli, who appeared in the ninth Islamic century and therefore necessitated, by implication, the tajdiid of Askia Muhammad. Further degeneration was brought about by the invasion of the Moroccan hordes who killed many of the inhabitants of western Sudan, slew the ʿulamaa', captured as many as thirty thousand people and sacked the towns.
This destruction of life and knowledge of a large part of the western Sudan precipitated a moral and intellectual decline which necessitated the initiation of a new process of tajdiid throughout the region.
Tajdiid, Mukhtar said, could take various forms, and thus could be led by individuals with different emphases, depending on the prevailing situation. The mujaddid could be a statesman who would preserve the principles of the law, make justice triumph among the people and protect the lives and properties of the people, so that they could carry on their temporal affairs and their religious duties without any hindrance. The mujaddid could also be a zaahid who would remind the people of the world to come, call them to righteousness and renunciation of the world. Or he could be a pure scholar who would regenerate the knowledge of Sunnah and establish the authenticity of the Prophetic tradition. Few individuals could undertake tajdiid, for the standard of learning, coupled with moral sanctity, is extremely high. Sidi Mukhtar said of such a person:
"Assuming that all religious knowledge were forgotten, all literatures were burned and he were resorted to, he would have the capacity to resuscitate that knowledge and write similar books."
It was the Sidi's view that the center of gravity in the Muslim world had shifted to western Sudan by the eleventh Islamic century. In the century before, those who bad undertaken the tajdiid were firstly, the mujaddid of all branches of knowledge, al-Maghili; secondly, Jalaal ad-diin as-Suyuuti; thirdly, the zaahid, Sayyid Muhammad as-Sanuusi; and fourthly, the statesman, al-Hajj Askia Muhammad, but in the eleventh century, the three mujaddids that appeared in the Muslim world were, according to the Sidi, from the western Sudan. These were the faqih Ahmad Baba at-Timbukti, the famous ḥadiith scholar Muhammad Baghyu at-Takruri, and the ascetic Baba al-Mukhtar at-Timbukti. In the twelfth century, two of the three mujaddids that appeared were from western Sudan, the Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti himself and Shehu Usman Dan Fodio.
The Sidi attributed the decline of knowledge and the triumph of bidʿah (innovation) in the western Sudan in the twelfth and the thirteenth Islamic centuries partly to the activities of the corrupt scholars (ʿulamaa' as-suu'), whom he grouped into as many as sixteen categories. They included those who had knowledge, but failed to put it into practice; those who presented an appearance of compliance with the outward religious duties, but had not eliminated characteristics such as vanity, hypocrisy, ambition, desire for political office and high rank; those who presumed that they had the exclusive right to guide the common people and yet entered into unholy alliance with the sulṭans, thus encouraging the sulṭans' oppression of the people; those who engaged in jihad, but only to obtain fame and wealth; and those scholars who used false methods, such as music, to lure people into spiritual practices. The danger of those scholars, the Sidi said, could be seen from the ḥadiith of the Prophet:
"I fear for my ummah after me more from ʿulamaa' as-suu' than from the Dajjal', and when asked who these were, he replied that they were ʿulamaa' al-alsinah, 'the ʿulamaa' of the tongue."
Sidi insisted that taṣawwuf is an indispensable aspect of Islam, but true sufism is none other than honest and sincere adherence to the Sunnah. "If the muriid observes the commands of the Shariiʿah and refrains from doing what is prohibited by it, truly and sincerely, Allah will open in his heart a portal whereby he can see (acquire) ʿuluumu-l-ḥaqiiqah. And if he adheres to the rules of ʿuluumu-l-ḥaqiiqah, Allah will cause to open a further portal within his inner self whereby he shall see the Kingdom of Heaven and realities of Allah's might." The combination of law and moral purification seemed to him the best way to practice religion.
The Sidi's views on the use of music in sufism and on zuhd are worth noting. "Allah, the Almighty, is not worshipped by dancing and chanting… We the Qaadirii do not approve of dancing, frivolous playing and merry making because they are degrading to man's dignity and damaging to his honor." Zuhd does not mean squandering one's wealth or declaring as illegal what Allah has decreed to be legal, such as taking up a profession or other economic pursuits. Zuhd is to dispense the world willingly when one possesses it and to be at rest in one's heart when one loses it'. "The Companions of the Prophet," he said, "possessed the world and held it like the trustworthy treasurer, kept it in the lawful manner and distributed it in the legal way. They neither clung to it nor had any inclination towards it."
Sidi Mukhtar's influence on the Shehu and his movement itself was first and foremost spiritual, for as the undisputed head of the Qaadiriyyah order to which the Shehu belonged and as a dynamic intellectual personality, he was bound to exert a deep influence over the Shehu. Some of the three hundred or so books and treatises he wrote were certainly brought to the attention of the Shehu, and his students and companions also made their own particular impact. Significantly, the Sidi used his vast and profound influence in support of the Shehu and his movement, a support that advanced the course of the jiihad in considerable measure.
We have mentioned some of the men who influenced the Shehu to indicate the kind of training he had, although it is impossible for us to know all of them. There are surely other personalities who contributed to the making of the Shehu in much the same way as those we have mentioned, but who are not known to us and may never be known. What cannot be denied is that the Shehu drank deeply from the great pond of knowledge which the western Sudan had to offer. It is to his credit that he sought knowledge wherever he could find it, and that even when he had grown important and more famous than most of the scholars, he still sat humbly before them, learning from them. He also learned the primary sources – the Qur'an and ḥadiith – from as many authorities as possible. At the end, of the day he had acquired not only a deep and indelible knowledge of these sources, but also the different interpretations that had been developed through several centuries.
The Shaping of a Character
The Shehu, from what we can understand, must have seen in al-Maghili a vigorous intellectual who had a deep knowledge in the sciences necessary for changing the intellectual precepts of people, and who had a noble character imbued with the requisite moral persuasion to sway even the most powerful of men. In al-Maghili, the Shehu saw how an individual, even though having refugee status, could effect a lasting change in the life of nations and set their history, almost single-handedly, upon a totally different course, by the sheer force of his intellect, his moral authority and his absolute reliance on Allah. He took time to study al-Maghili properly, taking from him, as faithfully as possible, the concept of tajdiid, of society and of government, as well as the nature of the ideological divide between Muslims and those who serve the cause of evil.
In al-Barnawi, as well as in a number of scholars of his time and especially those of the intellectual centers of Borno, Katsina and Kano, the Shehu must have seen the concept of an active, purifying and transformative jurisprudence, which even though it had been relegated to the background and lost its supremacy, could still serve as a potent forum for protest and mobilization for the revival of Islam. Indeed, the point that came out clearly in al-Barnawi was that what was wrong in respect of law was not so much the stagnation it had suffered as a result of the loss of genuine ʿulamaa', as the neglect it had suffered in its abandonment by society. Law grows and develops through application.
In Sidi Ahmad Baba, who epitomized the spirit of the Timbuktu tradition, the Shehu must have perceived the role and place of the scholar in society. The scholar's first responsibility is to acquaint himself with the basic knowledge of the sources, then of the law, then of different sciences that support the life of society, and then of history and so on. This will place him in a position to guide society in all essential areas and to put himself at the disposal of every segment of society. His second responsibility is to stand up boldly as the guardian of the conscience of society, preventing any assault or outrage against the values of society or against the sanctity of its beliefs and institutions. In this way, he serves as the force behind the preservation of the moral and social purity of society and respect for the integrity of the nation. The scholar's third responsibility is to stand up for the poor and the oppressed, to defend their rights, and strive for the accomplishment of their aspirations. The scholar's fourth responsibility is to stand up for the defense of the nation and enhance its integrity as a nation faithful to Allah and submissive to His laws. As an institution in himself and an active observer of events and history, the scholar is morally bound to warn his nation with all the power and means at his disposal against possible deviations from Islam and to state as clearly as possible the moral, political and historical consequences of such deviations. Finally, it is his responsibility to raise a generation of men and women capable of taking societal responsibilities, or of steering the course of society in a positive direction when the signs of degeneration are apparent.
When considering his teachers and contemporaries, the influence of Usman Bidduri should not be underrated. He was a scholar, who combined learning and piety, and who was dissatisfied with the prevailing corruption and felt the acute need for change, but who at the same time had the wisdom and patience first to sow the seeds of change. He quietly transferred his desires for change to a future generation, and died silently, leaving a legacy for the future. The Shehu, we are told, imitated him in almost all situations relating to his work, recognizing that restraint and patience, as well as a depth of understanding of the issues at stake, are essential ingredients for social transformation, but it was the learned and pious Jibril ibn ʿUmar who gave him the instruments with which to strive against the currents of the time. In Shehu's studies of ḥadiith, in his efforts to acquire a deep knowledge of law and jurisprudence, in his studies and practice of taṣawwuf, in his endeavors to get a more intimate spiritual relationship with the Prophet, and in his endeavors to understand his society and work for its improvement, he found in Jibril a worthy and eager mentor. He learned the importance of restraint, of open mindedness and sympathy for the inadequacies of the common people, and from the reverses which his teacher had suffered in his attempt to change society too quickly.
Other scholars also left their marks. The supervision of his teachings by the saintly Muhammad Sambo, the vast knowledge of ḥadiith acquired from Al-Hajj Muhammad Raj and the important studies of the Qur'an and its exegesis from Muhammad al-Amin all influenced the Shehu deeply.
In Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti, he found the true embodiment of sainthood; a versatile and richly endowed scholar who had the view that concern for the world and the more lofty concern for the hereafter had to be combined in a single individual to create a saint. The Sidi also maintained that both temporal and spiritual matters should be brought under the single authority of Islam if the world were to be a better place in which to live. In him, Shehu Usman must also have seen a dynamic and revolutionary sufism concerned to secure for man a just society on earth and Allah's pleasure in the hereafter. He must have seen in Mukhtar al-Kunti the extent to which an individual possessing sanctity and prestige could penetrate hearts and secure their allegiance for the task of creating a better society. It was to the credit of both the Shehu and al-Kunti that they did not view each other as rivals, but rather mujaddids; each engaged in the same endeavors in the cause of Allah; each employing slightly different methods.
There were many other aspects to the shaping of the Shehu's personality. All that he had learned of the Arabic language, Qur'anic exegesis, science of ḥadiith were a mere introduction to the wider world of learning and scholarship. From the Mukhtasar of Khalil the Shehu moved further to drink from the great pool of jurisprudence of the Maaliki and the other three schools.
Although the Maaliki school was sufficient for his needs, he felt he should know the principles of other schools, for as he himself said, "there is no rule in Islam, other than that of mere convenience, that restricts a community to follow a particular school of law."
Then, the Shehu ventured boldly in the world of sufism and learned and practiced the rites of several branches of the Qaadiriyyah, including that of Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti. In addition, he read almost everything that reached him from the works of al-Ghazali, most especially the Ihyaa' from which he derived much profit. His book, titled boldly as Ṭariiq al-Jannah, was but a summary of what al-Ghazali had written on piety and moral purification. Then he examined the works of other great ṣufi personalities – the sage Ibn al-ʿArabi, the saint az-Zarruuq, his teacher Ibn ʿAtta Allah, amongst others. He also studied other ṣufi orders, because as far as he was concerned, sufism, like Islamic jurisprudence, is but a tree with many branches.
The Shehu studied history, especially of the rightly-guided khilaafah and of Islam in general. He took special interest in the history of the western Sudan from which he perceived the inevitable confrontation between the forces of light and darkness in the region. The most important of Shehu's personal efforts were in the studies of the Qur'an and ḥadiith. By investigating these two sources over and over again and by teaching some of them from the beginning to the end many times over, he acquired a deep knowledge of them. In his Asaaniid al-Faqiir, the Shehu leaves no one in doubt as to his tremendous knowledge of the ḥadiith – it seems that he had read and taught almost all the ḥadiiths contained in the authentic collections.
The result of all this made Shehu Usman a forest of knowledge, a jurist, a saint, "He grew up penitent and devout," Muhammad Bello told us in Infaaq al-Maysuur, "possessed of pleasing qualities. And none was his equal. People trusted him, and flocked to him from the east and west." Bello continues:
"He instructed the ʿulamaa' and raised the banner of religion. He revived the Sunnah and put an end to heresy. He spread knowledge and dispelled perplexity. His learning dazzled men's minds. He showed how reality (ḥaqiiqah) was to be reconciled with the Shariiʿah. For years he explained the Qur'an in the presence of learned and righteous men of importance, vying with them, through his reading and the different branches of his learning, in rhetoric, and in the knowledge of the authorities, and of what is written and what is abrogated. At the same time, he was pre-eminent in knowledge of the hadiith, and learned in its unfamiliar parts and different branches. Revered by both great and small, he was a Mujaddid at the head of this generation."
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on March 20, 2012 at 21:25 Comments (1)
Tags: Islamic Education Biladu-s-Sudan, Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio, Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio's Education, Shehu Usman, Sokoto Caliphate, Timbukti education tradition
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ʿAmal of Madinah
The Origin of the Sunnah
Madh-hab and ʿAmal
ʿAmal and Ḥadith: Two Approaches to the Sunnah
The ʿAmal of Madinah : The Original Way of the Salaf
The ʿAmal Of Madinah: Imaam Maalik's View
The Rank of Maalik Among the Muhadith-thūn
What Has Been Related As To Why ʿAmal is Chosen As a Higher Proof of the Sunnah Than the Ḥadith
What Has Been Said About The Position of the Hands in the Prayer According to Maalik and the ʿAmal of Madinah
Matn al Akhḍarii: an English Translation
Matn Al Ashmaawiyyah: An English Translation
Matn Al ʿIzziyyah: an English Translation
حفظ القرأن (Memorization of The Holy Qur'an) with the English Translation
Arabic Grammar for English Speakers
Subjects of Study and Research
ʿAqīdah
ʿIraab al-Qur'aan
Tafsiir
ʿAmal of Madinah (Al-Fiqhu-l-Mālikī)
Adillah Min Fiqh Al-Mālikī (Proofs of the Mālikī Fiqh Positions)
History of the Mālikī Tradition
Al Iḥsān (At Tasawwuf)
Purification (Ghusl)
Purification (Tayammum)
Purification (Wuduu')
Prayer (Conditions of)
Prayer (Disliked Actions of)
Prayer (Janaazah)
Prayer (Jumuʿah)
Prayer (Making Up Prayers)
Prayer (Meritorious Actions of)
Prayer (Nullification of)
Prayer (Obligatory Actions of)
Prayer (Recommended Actions)
Prayer (Sunnah Actions of)
Prayer (Times of)
Prayer (Prostration for Forgetfulness)
The Books of Knowledge
Al Mudawwanah Translation
Al Muqaddimah of Ibn Rushd al Jadd
Al Muwaṭṭa
Ar Risaalah Ibn Abi Zaid
Matn Al Ajurruumiyyah: an EnglishTranslation
Matn Al Ajurruumiyyah (Audio) – Quick Recitation and Slow Recitation
Iʿlaamu bi-Ḥuduudi Qawaa'di-l-Islaam
Al Mudawwanah Al Kubraa 5 Volumes (Arabic Text)
Al Miʿyaaru-l-Muʿrib Wa-l-Jaamiʿu-l-Mughrib ʿan Fatāwī Ahli-l-Ifriqiyyah, Wa-l-Andalus Wa-l-Maghrib
Al Ajurruumiyyah
An Explanation of the Ajurruumiyyah in English (Click on the Link)
The Timbukti Tradition
The Timbukti Tradition – Topics
Matn Al ʿAshmaawiyyah
Matn Al Ashmaawiyyah: an English Translation (Click on book cover)
Mukhtaṣar al Akhḍarī
Mukhtaṣar al Akhḍarī: an English Translation
Matn Al ʿIzziyyah: an English Translation This is not the complete text, but rather, its a work in progress. In shaa'a-l-laah, there will be more sections added over time.
The Madani Tradtion
The Madanī Tradition – Topics
Topics for Muslim Women
Women's Fiqh
Khuṭbahs
Muslim African Languages
Hausa Basic Course (Units 1-30 Audio)
Hausa Lessons Beginner to Advance
Fula Basic Course (Textbook only)
Hausa Basic Course (Textbook)
Scholarly Advice
Training the Memory – by Shaykh Al Yaqoubi
Shaykh Al Yaqoubi Speaks About the Sacred Arabic Language
Women in Islam: Khutbah by Shaykh Al Yaqoubi
The Chapter About نَوَاقِض الْوُضُوءِ (the Things That Nullify Wuḍuu' [Minor Ablution]) from Matn Al Ashmaawiyyah
The Holy Qur'an in The Hausa Language
Matnu Alfiyyah ibni Malik (Audio – Slow Recitation) Arabic Grammar Text
نَـوَاقـضُ الْـوُضُـوء (Nawaaqiḍu-l-Wuḍuu' [The Nullification of Wuḍuu']) from Matn al-Akhḍarii
madanitimbukti.wordpress.…
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aalnabit.com/catplay.php?…
marcmanley.com/blog
Aqīdah
Aqiidah At-Tahawiyyah Aqiidah (Arabic Text) 0
ʿIlaam bi Ḥuduud wa Qawaa'di-l-Islaam Qaadī ʿIyaaḍ's well known text on matters of ʿAqiidah and Mālikī Fiqh 0
Arabic Grammar - Matnu-l-Ajurruumiyyah Audio
Matnu-l-Ajurruumiyyah Audio Recitation and Explanation Recitation of Al-Ajurruumiyyah with an explanation of the text by Shaykh Abdur Rahman Hamid Āal Naabt 0
Matnu-l-Ajurruumiyyah Audio Slow Recitation Recitation of Al-Ajurruumiyyah in a slow recitation style 0
Arabic Grammar – Matnu-l-Alfiyyah Ibnu-l-Malik Audio
Alfiyyah ibni Malik (Audio – Slow Recitation) Arabic Grammar (Arabic Text) 0
Arabic Grammar Textbooks Arabic Text Only
Alfiyyah Ibni Mālik Arabic Grammar (Arabic Text) 0
an-Nahwu-l-Waadih Part 1 Arabic Grammar (Arabic Text) 0
Mulḥatu-l-Iʿraab Arabic Grammar (Arabic Text) in Poetry Form 0
Tabsiiṭu-l-Ajurruumiyyah (The Simplification of Al Ajurruumiyyah) A simple explanation of the Ajurruumiyyah with examples and exercises 0
Arabic Grammar Textbooks for English Speakers - English and Arabic Text
A New Arabic Grammar Arabic Grammar for English Speakers 0
Arabic Readers
Al-Kitaabu-l-Assāsi Volume 1 Beginners Arabic Text for reading, writing and speaking along with an introduction to some basic grammar rules 0
Al-Kitaabu-l-Assāsi Volume 2 Intermediate level Arabic Text for reading, writing, grammar rules and speaking 0
Al-Kitaabu-l-Assāsi Volume 3 Advance level Arabic Text for reading, writing, grammar rules and speaking 0
Arabic Rhetoric
Al-Balaaghatu-l-Waadihah Arabic Rhetoric (Arabic Text) 0
Biographies of the Muslim Scholars
Naylu-l Ibtihaaj bi-t-Taṭrīzi-d-Dībaaj of Aḥmad Bāba Ahmad Bāba's Book of the Biographies of the Maliki Scholars known by other similar titles which the current one has replaced. 0
Tartību-l-Madaarik li Qādī ʿIyyad Volume 1 A Collection of Biographies of Mālikī Scholars (Arabic Text) 0
Biographies of the Mālikī Scholars
Biography of the Madīnan Scholars
Fuquhaa'u-l-Madinah As-Sabʿah The Seven Fuquhaa' of Madinah (Arabic Text) 0
Biography of the Prophet سلّى الللّه عليه وسلّم
Ash-Shifaa' of Qaadi ʿIyaad Siirah of the Prophet صلّى اللّه عليه وسلّم (Arabic Text) 0
Fula (Fulāni Language) Studies
Fula Basic Course Text A Course of the Fula Language (Text Only) 0
Hausa Language Studies
Hausa Basic Course Text Book A Course of the Hausa Language (Text Only) 0
Imām Mālik and the ʿAmal of Madīnah - English Text
[1] Malik's Concept of Amal pages 1-79 Dr. Umar Faruq Abdallah's Thesis on the Amal of Madinah 0
[2] Malik's Concept of Amal pages 80-179 Dr. Umar Faruq Abdallah's Thesis on the ʿAmal of Madinah 0
[3] Malik's Concept of ʿAmal pages 180-279 Dr. Umar Faruq Abdallah's Thesis on the ʿAmal of Madinah 0
[6] Malik's Concept of Amal pages 480-578 Dr. Umar Faruq Abdallah's Thesis on the ʿAmal of Madinah 0
A Comparative Study of the Movements of Shaykh Uthman and Muhammad Ahmad of the Sudan – by Usman Bugage A Comparative Study of the Movements of Uthman Dan Fodio In Early Nineteenth Century Hausaland And Muhammad Ahmad Al-Mahdi In Late Nineteenth Century Sudan 0
Ihyaa'a-s-Sunnah (Reviving the Sunnah) wa Ikhmaadu-l-Bidʿah (The Obliterationof Innovation) A Text in Defense of the Sunnah by Shehu Uthmaan dan Fodio 0
Minhaj of Shaykh Abdallah bin Fudii fi-t-Tafsīr 0
The Tradition of Tajdiid in Western Bilaadus Sudan A STUDY OF THE GENESIS, DEVELOPMENT AND PATTERNS OF ISLAMIC REVIVALISM IN THE REGION 900 -1900 AD. 0
Mālikī Fiqh (Islamic Law Textbooks) Arabic Text Only
Aḥkaamu-s-Suuq Maliki fiqh text concerning the rules governing the operation of the market 0
Adh-Dhakhīratu li-l-Qaraafī Part 13 – The Book of The Lawfully Inherited Share and Inheritance in General Inheritance Law – Mālikī Fiqh (Arabic text) 0
Al-ʿIzziyyah Maliki Fiqh Text with Sharḥ 0
Al-Murshid al Muʿiin Mālikī Fiqh (Arabic text) 0
Aqraabu-l-Masaalik Mālikī Fiqh (Arabic text) 0
Bidāyatu-l-Mujtahid Volume 1 Mālikī Fiqh in comparison with the fiqh of the other schools of jurisprudence (Arabic text) 0
Matn Al Ashmaawiyyah Maliki Fiqh Text with Sharḥ 0
Matn Al ʿIzziyyah Recited ( Full Arabic Audio) Matn Al ʿIzziyyah Recited and Explained by Sh. Abdur Rahman an Nābit (Audio) 0
Matn Al ʿIzziyyah Recited ( Full Arabic Audio) Matn Al ʿIzziyyah Recited by Sh. Abdur Rahman an Nābit (Audio) 0
Mukhtasar Al Akhḍarii Mālikī Fiqh (Arabic text) 0
Risaalah Ibn Abi Zaid al Qayrawaani Mālikī Fiqh (Arabic text) 0
Sihatu Usuul Madh-hab Ahli-l-Madinah Ibn Taymiyyah's Discussion About The Madh-hab of the People of Madinah 0
The Soundness of the Fudamental Principles of the Madh-hab of the People of Madinah by Ibn Taymiyyah A Discussion about the ʿAmal of Madinah (Arabic Text) 0
Mālikī Fiqh (Islamic Law Textbooks) English Translation
Miraaj Aṣ-Ṣuʿūd ilaa Nayli Ḥukmi Majluubi-s-Sūdaan by Shaykh Aḥmad Bābā Aḥmad Bābā's treatise and fatwaa on the unlawfulness of Muslims enslaving other Muslims from Bilaadu-s-Sudaan 0
The Distinguished Jurists Primer Volume 1 The English Translation of Ibn Rusd's Bidayatu-l-Mujtahid 0
Qasaa'id / Nasheed
Al-Hamziyyah Traditional Qasaa'id (Maḥd) 0
Burda al Imaam al Buṣayrii Qasīdah honoring the Proohet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم 0
Qaṣīdat al-Burdah li-Imaam Buṣayrī Poem in praise of the Prophet Muhammad 0
Ya Laṭīfu Qasīdah 0
Rules of Al-Imaarah (Islamic Governance)
Aḥkaamu-s-Sulṭaaniyyah The Rules of Islamic Governance 0
Tajuddiin fīmaa Yajibi ʿalaa-l-Muluuki wa-s-Saluuṭiin (The Crown of the Diin: Concerning What is Required of Kings and Sultaans)) Advice From Muhammad ʿAbdul Karīm Al Maghīlī At Tiimsaanī to the Amir of Kanø, Muhammad Rumfa (1493-1499 concerning the best ways to administer an ʿImarate 0
Rules of Qur'anic Recitation and its Various Reading Modes
Muqadimmah Ibn Al-Jazarī Rules of Tajwīḍ in Poetry Form (Arabic Text) 0
Taṣawwuf (Sufism)
Fiqhu-t-Tasawwuf Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah's Position on Tasawwuf (Sufism) According to Islamic Law (Arabic Text) 0
Qawa'du-t-Tasawwuf The Rules of Sufism 0
Sharḥ Aḥmad Zuruuq on Ḥikam Ibn ʿAṭaa-l-laah Sharḥ for Ḥikam Ibn ʿAṭaa-l-laah (Arabic text) 0
Tafsīru-l-Qur'an
Riyaaḍu-t-Tafsīr li-l Qur'an al Karīm – Tafsir Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse pt.1 The Tafsīr of the Holy Qur'an of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse 0
Riyaaḍu-t-Tafsīr li-l Qur'an al Karīm – Tafsir Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse pt.6 0
Tafsīr Jalalayn (English) The Tafsīr of the two Jalāls: Jalāl ad-Dīn al-Maḥallī and Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūtī presented in English 0
13 Centuries of Islamic History A series of lectures given by Sheikh Abu Ja'far Al Hanbali. The lectures vary from a range of different topics, from Orthodox Creed and Islamic History. 0
Aisha Bewley's Islamic Home Page Excellent Sight for Mālikī Fiqh Studies 0
AlMaliki22's Channel YouTube videos on Mālikī topics 0
Classical Arabic Language Studies A site devoted to the study of Classical Arabic Grammar 0
Dar-Sirr (Mālikī Madh-hab) A discussion of the Mālikī Madh-hab in Morocco 0
DeenPort DeenPort is intended as a place to connect with like minded people by sharing knowledge, news and discussion about Islam, with an aim to grow in both spirit and intellect insha'Allah. 0
Doctrine Malikite A French language site devoted to the study of the Mālikī Madh-hab 0
Hajj Issa – For The Fuqara Talks, Writings, Khutbahs 0
Islam Sunnite 0
Jurjis Blog 0
Lamp Post Productions An online resource for Islamic education and the rich Islamic tradition taught by contemporary American Muslim scholars who hope to instill within the Muslims the knowledge and confidence needed to steer themselves toward a genuine Islamic renewal… 0
Mahdi Lock Miscellaneous articles and reflections on various subjects connected to Islam and Muslims 0
Maliki Fiqh Question and Answer Questions and answers Mālikī Fiqh 0
MalikiFiqhQA Questions and Answers in regards to Mālikī Fiqh and other matters and information about the Fiqh of Imām Mālik 0
Meem Institute The Meem Institute was established in Leicester, U.K. in 2011 in order to transmit the sciences of the Deen in the most traditional manner possible. 0
Mohamed Ghilan For his articles relating to Islamic topics, theology, and philosophy of religion and science, you can read his posts in this website. 0
Muwatta.com A site devoted to knowledge about the People of Madinah, Maliki Fiqh, and Imam Malik ibn Anas. 0
NEUROSCIENCE OF LIFE HOW THE WORLD IMPACTS OUR BRAINS A site where the latest brain research is taken from the science laboratory and made relevant to your daily life 0
Quranic Linguistics Institute The multi-level Quranic linguistics curriculum is designed to develop solid foundations in the three primary disciplines of Quranic Arabic: Morphology, Grammar, and Rhetoric. 0
Sandala A site devoted to the aim of making products available that reflect the inherent beauty of the Islamic tradition. 0
Sankore Institute of Islamic African Studies International The purpose of the S.I.I.A.S.I is to elucidate and evidence the Islamic African traditions which were born out of African nations 0
Seeker's Guidance fulfilling the communal obligation (fard kifaya) of cultivating individuals and communities through the spread of knowledge. 0
Shaykh Ali Laraki This site host the talks and articles given/written by Shaykh Ali Laraki. 0
The Blog of the Gold Dinar and Muamalat by Umar Vadillo The Return of The Islamic Dinar and Dirham 0
The Hanbali Text Society The Hanbali Text Society (HTS) is dedicated to: striving to proclaim the word of Allah and present the creedal belief of Muslim Orthodoxy, translating classical Islamic texts from Arabic into English for Muslims in the West. 0
The Madinan Way The Medina Way is an online gateway where Ustadh Abdus Shakur Brooks provides the following services: pre-recorded and live courses live online events (seminars) Q&A readers concerning the matters of Mālikī Fiqh. Highly recommended for students of 0
The Maʿrifah Blog Instilling The Transcendent Values Of Islam Through Reflection And Practice 0
The Norwich Muslim Community The majority are British-born converts to Islam. It is thus the only continuous, indigenous Muslim community in Britain and the mosque is the first in the UK. 0
The Quranic Arabic Corpus An annotated linguistic resource which shows the Arabic grammar, syntax and morphology for each word in the Holy Quran. 0
Madani Timbukti Site Language Translator
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