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

BY Usman Muhammad Bugaje

A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of Master Degree

in African and Asian Studies

Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Khartoum

December, 1981

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ABSTRACT

The nineteenth century saw a series of' revolutionary movements in

Bilad al-Sudan; movements that brought radical social, economic and

political changes which lasted until European colonization and remain

significant in the region to this day. Of these revolutionary movements,

that of ‘Uthman Dan Fodio in Hausaland and Muhammad Ahmad

al-Mahdi in the Sudan are the most spectacular. This study is about

these two movements. Its purpose is to analyze the movements within

an Islamic frame of reference and compare their similarities and

differences. Its rationale stems from the fact that the approach of

earlier works on these movements has been largely imperialistic or

western-secular and hence unable to appreciate fully the Islamic

character of these movements.

The study is undertaken in three parts. The first part is devoted to

the movement of ‘Uthman Dan Fodio and is made up of two chapters.

The second part is devoted to the movement of Muhammad Ahmad

al-Mahdi (the Mahdiyya) and is similarly made up of two chapters. The

third and last part is devoted to a comparison of the two movements.

To put the movements in their proper contexts, the first chapters of

both parts one and two are devoted to delineating the cultural, socio-

economic and political backgrounds of the movements. The second

chapters of both parts one and two discuss the onset, development

and fruition of the movements. Here the various phases in the

movements' march towards victory are identified and analyzed. In the

last part (i.e. part three) the similarities and differences as well as the

achievements of the two movements are discussed.

The study shows that the movements of both Dan Fodio and

al-Mahdi were geared basically to the same objective - the restoration

of Islamic order. In their efforts to realize their objectives, the

leadership of both movements had the Prophet as their model and

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Qur'an and Sunna as their frame of reference. They however differed

in their conception and strategy of revolution. While Dan Fodio

conceived his mission as Tajdid and took his time to bring about an

intellectual revolution before the physical confrontation, al-Mahdi took

to confrontation with the establishment from the start. This difference in

conception and strategy was reflected in the style of leadership and

organization of the two movements. Another area of remarkable

difference was goal realization. While Dan Fodio's Jama'a realized a

substantial part of their blue-print, al-Mahdi's Ansar appear to have

been largely frustrated by a number of factors not the least of which

was the apparent absence of clear vision of the post-revolutionary

society and blue-print (for the post - revolutionary society).

Their shortcomings notwithstanding, the movements have

accomplished noble achievements and made greater contributions

than is usually admitted. It is in the appreciation of these achievements

and contributions, and not in their disregard, that the stability and

progress of both contemporary Nigeria and Sudan lay.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My thanks and gratitude are first and foremost to Allah Most High for

very obvious reasons.

In the course of this study I found myself greatly indebted to many

people. Foremost of these are my supervisors, Professors Osman Sid

Ahmad Ismail and Yusuf Hassan Fadl, who bore with patience and

understanding the burden of supervising this work. To both I tender my

sincere gratitude.

There are numerous other people who rendered me invaluable

assistance in a number of ways. While it is not possible to mention all

of them, it is certainly unfair not to mention any. Mention should

therefore be made of Sayyid Sadiq al-Mahdi, Professor M.I. Abu Salim,

Dr. al-Tayyib Z. Abidin, Ustaz A.M. Kani and Mrs. Judy Bushra, who

went through parts of my proposals and draft and made very useful

comments and suggestions. There are also my brothers, Mwl. T.S.Y.

Sengo and Ustaz Ibrahim Makoshy especially, the value of whose

brotherly care cannot be over estimated. The latter also spent many of

his valuable hours translating parts of the Manshurat for me. To all of

them I wish to express my sincere thanks and gratitude.

My thanks are also due to (Dr.) A. Junaidu (Wazirin Sokoto), A.

Garba Sa'id, and Abd Allah Muhammad Ahmad for setting aside their

valuable time to answer my questions during the interviews I had with

them.

Finally I wish to thank Ustaz Abdel Mageed El Siddiq for his hard

work and cooperation in typing this thesis, the institute of African and

Asian Studies for affording me the opportunity to undertake this study

and to all those who in one way or the other contributed to this

undertaking.

Of course whatever shortcoming found in this study is my sole

responsibility and I seek Allah's forgiveness for this.

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ABBREVIATIONS

A.B.U. = Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

B.S.O.A.S. = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African

Studies

B.U.K. = Bayero University, Kano

C.U.P. = Cambridge University Press

E.U.P. = Edinburgh University Press

I.A.A.S. = Institute of African and Asian Studies

I.J.A.H.S. = International Journal of African Historical

Studies

I.P.B. = Islamic Publication Bureau

I.U.P. = Ibadan University Press

J.A.H. = Journal of African History

J.H.S.N. = Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

K.U.P. = Khartoum University Press

O.U.P. = Oxford University Press

R.A. = Radiya Allah ' Anhu (May Allah be pleased

with him).

S.A.W. = Sallal-Allahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam (May the

peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him

Muhammad)

S.N.R. = Sudan Notes and Records.

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GLOSSARY

al-Amr bi 'L-Ma 'aruf Wa L-Nahy ‘an ‘L-Munkar = The Commanding

of good

and the forbidding of

evil deed (What is

good and what is evil

is defined by Islamic

Law - Sharia)

Bay'a = Allegiance (Sworn to

an

Imam)

Bid'a = Innovation in what

the

Sunna had already

established

Da'awa = Call or invitation to

Islam

Da'i (Pl. Du'at) = One who engages in

da'awa

Dar al-Islam = The Land (Abode) of

Islam

Fiqh = Jurisprudence

Hadith = Sayings of the

Prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W)

Hijra = Migration, usually

from

persecution or

tyranny for the sake

of Islam

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Jahiliyya = (Lit. State of

ignorance)

Any system or order

based on beliefs,

thoughts and ideas

other than those of

Islam

Jihad = Any spiritual,

intellectual

or military endeavor

aimed at securing,

maintaining or

enhancing the

application and

supremacy of Islam.

It is often used to

mean a physical

fighting (in battle

field) for the sake of

Allah (and His

message - Islam).

Khalifa = Deputy or Successor

Khalifa Rashida = The Caliphate under

the

Khulafa' al-Rashidun

Khulafa' al-Rashidun = The (four) rightly

guided

caliphs who

governed the Islamic

State successively,

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after the prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W.)

Madhhab = School of Law (in the

Interpretation of the

Shari'a)

Muhajjirun = Participants in Hijra

Mujahidun = Participants in Jihad

Qadi = Islamic Judge

Sarauta = (Hausa) Kingship or

reign

Sira = The biography of the

Prophet Muhammad

(S.A.W.)

Sunna = Prophet

Muhammad's

sayings, actions and

approvals

Tafsir = The exegesis of the

Qur'an.

Taqlid = The following (often

uncritically) of the

opinions and rulings

of the earlier

Muslim scholars

Tassawwuf = The science or

practice of

ascetic mysticism

(Sufism)

'Ulama' = Learned scholars

(especially

in Islamic sciences)

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Umma = Community or nation

Wird = A kind of litany

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INTRODUCTION RATIONALE

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were particularly critical for

the Muslim World of the time. The power of the Ottoman Empire was

crumbling under the effect of internal stagnation and the European

power conspiracy. Its stagnating domains were consequently exposed

to aggressive European imperialism. The current of concern and

insecurity generated by these developments could not have been

confined to the theatre of the drama - the Mediterranean. For the

annual pilgrimage to Makka, with its participants drawn from all parts of

the Muslim world, was there to convey the solicitude to every segment

of the umma, long distance and poor transport not withstanding. This

quite naturally alerted the 'Ulama', raised the revolutionary potential of

the umma and for most cases culminated in reformatory or

revolutionary movements. Thus the eighteenth and nineteenth century

Muslim world saw a series of movements, all aimed at basically

restoring the declining supremacy and purity of Islam and securing the

threatened or transgressed borders of Dar al-Islam, Bilad al-Sudan

alone saw five such revolutionary movements.

Of the Islamic revolutionary movements in the nineteenth century

Bilad al-Sudan, that of 'Uthman Dan Fodio and that of Muhammad

Ahmed al-Mahdi, the subject of this study, were perhaps the most

spectacular. They brought peoples of varying ethnic and languages

under one central system and caused radical changes in the polity,

socio-economy and ideology of these peoples in the vast regions in

which they lived. Though European imperialism had done its best to

undermine the influence of these revolutionary movements, their effect

continues to remain a reality to this day. This reality however is largely

ignored by the establishments in the present day nation states

enclosing the heirs of these revolutions. This has only aggravated

rather than eased the increasing socio-economic and political

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problems. Indeed, to discern these problems and throw light on their

solutions, a correct understanding of the nature, scope and dimension

of these revolutionary movements is essential.

Of course a lot has been written about these movements over the

years. Much of it however came from pens of colonial administrators,

who inaugurated this tradition. Their purpose was not to understand

but to discredit the movements and their revolutions and by so doing

create justification for European imperialism - as the works of Johnston

and Wingate testify. The scholars that followed were largely part of the

colonial establishment and compiled their works out of the accounts of

the colonial office and Christian missionaries, i.e. accounts seen

through the spectacles of European imperialism. The work of M.G.

Smith, Hiskett and Theobold are good examples in point. It is little

wonder that such works produced absurd terms like "Fulani Jihad" and

"Mahdist Rebellion".

Though the heirs of the Hiskett and Theobold like Last and Holt

showed a remarkable rectification, their perception was largely

constrained by their Western secular frame of reference. Thus their

works emphasized only those aspects comprehensible to the secular

West or East. Many of their interpretations and conclusions, though

cloaked in apparent truth, remain fundamentally mistaken for they are

born out of the application of concepts and frames of reference alien to

the nature, venue and dimension of the revolutionary movements.

Since the so-called independence, the indigenous people who

become literate in European languages have begun to question the

views of the European "pioneers" and their heirs. This however has

not, so far, yielded much fruit, as a number of misconceptions and

obscurities still persist. This is perhaps so because most of those

recent studies have been carried out (sometimes inevitably) under the

tutelage and supervision of the "pioneers" or their heirs, who have

come to monopolize the "expertise".

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One other reason for this lack of balance has been the overlooking

of the obvious fact that the leadership of these Islamic revolutionary

movements (as indeed their communities) were heirs to a long cultural

and intellectual tradition which spans the development in the Muslim

World since the first century of Hijra. The movements they organized

and the Jihad they fought were but a continuation of this culture and

tradition. Just as these movements were linked to those that preceded

them so will contemporary and even future Islamic movements be

linked to these movements.

The clarification of this obscurity calls for a comparative study of the

two movements - something which has not so far received the attention

of scholars. By unveiling the differences between the two movements,

a comparative study will show not only the extent to which each is

related to the previous movements but also the real worth of each on

the scale of Islamic history.

From the foregoing account, it is evident that a more authentic

approach to the study of these movements is called for. Such approach

will take cognizance of the Islamic character of the movements and

seek to interpret events within the Islamic frame of reference rather

than the pervading secular frame. It is the belief of this author that any

approach short of this will only delay a correct and complete

understanding of these undoubtedly important movements, the

consequences of which may be anything but beneficial.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

This study, being an attempt to redress the aforementioned

inadequacies, sees its subject primarily as Islamic movements and

seeks to realize the following objectives:

1. To delineate the cultural, socio-economic and political conditions

in which the revolutionary movements emerged, developed and

materialized;

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2. To trace the development of the temperaments of the leaders of

the two movements and see how each conceived of his role and

approached his mission;

3. To identify and analyze the various phases in the movements’

march towards victory with a view to determining their goals and

the means they sought to realize them;

4. To explore the extent to which each movement realized its goals

within the state it procured;

5. To identify the areas of similarities and differences and evaluate

the overall achievements and significance of the two movements.

SOURCES

Having been led by 'Ulama, the movement (especially that of Dan

Fodio) have produced a large body of written materials, of which the

collection, preservation and even editing and translation has been

going on for some time now. Many works have also been carried out in

various languages on different aspects of the movements. All these

made the search for sources much easier.

In addition to these primary and secondary sources, interviews were

held with some of the leading authorities on the history of the

movements, in order to cross check and clarify certain information. Of

those consulted in this process was Alhaji (Dr.) Junaidu, Wazirin

Sokoto, the last in the chain of the vizierate started by the Sokoto

Caliphate and an erudite scholar of repute who has himself written

many works on Dan Fodio's movement. Alhaji Garba Sa'id, the

grandson of Hayat B. Sa'id, whose knowledge of both Dan Fodio's

movement and the Mahdiyya has long attracted the attention of

scholars, was also contacted. On the Mahdiyya, Sayyid Saddiq al -

Mahdi, the grandson of the Mahdi, and Abd Allah Muhammad Ahmad

whose long experience and present engagement makes him a mine of

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information, were both contacted. The latter in particular sacrificed a

good part of his valuable time supplying me with extensive information.

Dan Fodio's Movement

The study relied much on primary sources, the writings of the

movement's leadership in particular. Of the writings of the triumvirate

(the movement leadership), the study concentrated on selected

writings of Dan Fodio, which supply the core of messages of the

movement. Of the works of the two, the Tazyin al-Waraqa of Abd Allah

and the Infaq al -Maysur of Muhammad Bello were of immense value.

Their value lies not only in the fairly detailed outline of the development

of the movement but also in the fact that the authors were participants

in the venture. The Tazyim of Abd Allah particularly recommended

itself to the study, for it concentrated on the movement and gave a

chronological account of the major events, from the itinerant da'awa,

through the various battles to the post - Jihad period.

Of the numerous works of Dan Fodio, a selection of the major works

was made. Priority was given to works, which mark clear milestones in

the movement’s march towards the realization of its goals. Ihya al-

Sunna, for example, clearly marked the end of the itinerant da'awa and

contains the gist of the message of the movement during the phase.

The Masa'il and Wathiqa came at the eve of the confrontation and

not only indicate developments in the movement but also mark a

turning point in the relationship between the movement and the Hausa

establishment. Bayan Wujub al Hijra, coming during the heat of the

Jihad, outlines the philosophy, objectives and even the rules that

should govern Hijra and Jihad. Kitab al-Farq and Najm al-Ikhwan,

being post-Jihad works, depict the movement’s post revolutionary

programme. While Kitab al-Farq gives the blue-print of the new political

order, Najm al-Ikwan highlights the problems the movement had to

face in implementing it.

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Secondary sources were used in reconstructing the cultural, socio-

economic and political background of the movements. A. Smith's "The

Early States of the Central Sudan" In Ajayi and Crowders (eds.),

History of West Africa; Y.B Usman's The transformation of Katsina

C. 1796-1903 and M.A Kani’s “Literary Activity in Hausaland in the

Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, were particularly useful

in this regard. The latter study in particular, having been done with

special reference to Dan Fodio, provided a good source for tracing the

intellectual background and development of the thoughts and ideas of

Dan Fodio. Studies on the Islamic order established by the movement,

like Last's The Sokoto Caliphate and Tukur's Values and Public

Affairs, have been useful in exploring the extent to which the

movement realized its goals and objectives. The latter work, being

analytical and penetrating in insight, was particularly useful.

The Mahadiyya

Here again the emphasis is on primary sources, which were

however few compared to Dan Fodio's movement. Unlike Dan Fodio's

lieutenants, those of the Mahdi did not appear to have written much.

Almost all the writings of the Mahdi were in the form of Manshurat

(Proclamations), all of which have been compiled, edited and

published. This Manshurat al Mahdiyya (Abu Salim "ed.") therefore,

formed the major primary source for the part of this study. Its prime

value is in discerning the Mahdi's conception of his role and approach

to the mission of Mahdiyya. Many of the proclamations have been

issued at the instance of certain situations or as a response to certain

message or problems, in the course of Mahdi's mission, the Manshurat

becomes a valuable source in making out the goals and objectives of

the Mahdiyya and how the Mahdi sought to realize them.

Another primary source of immense value is the Sira (biography) of

the Mahdi, written after his death by Ismail Abd al-Qadir, under the

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Khalifa Abd Allah (Shaked "ed. trans.") by giving a chronological

account of the whole movement, (sometimes in detail) from the events

in Aba Island to the fall of Khartoum, the Sira made easy the

identification and analysis of the various phases of the movement on

its march towards victory. Other primary sources of noteworthy value

are the excerpts of majalis of the Mahdi (Q Ahmad "ed.") and the

Nashihat of al-Awam.

The value of the secondary sources lies very much in delineating the

cultural, socio-economic and political conditions of pre-Mahdiyya

Sudan. The brief work of M. El-Mahdi, A short History of the Sudan,

was found very useful in giving a general over view in this regard. The

more detailed works like Y.F Hassan's, The Arabs and the Sudan and

Holt's A Modern history of the Sudan, were of great value, especially

the former’s insight into the infiltration of the Arabs and the process of

Islamisation. Theobold’s, The Mahdiyya and Holts The Mahdist State,

being works on the administration of the Mahdist State, threw some

light in the post-revolutionary phase of the Mahdiyya in the Sudan.

These were used in exploring the extent to which the Mahdiyya

realized its goals. Their utility was however constrained by the

erroneous premises on which much of their conclusion appear to have

based.

CONTENTS OF THE STUDY

The study itself is written up into three parts. The first part deals with

the movement of 'Uthman Dan Fodio and is made up of two chapters.

The second part deals with the movement of Muhammad Ahmad al-

Mahdi (The Mahdiyya) and is similarly made up of two chapters. The

third and last part is devoted to comparing and evaluating the

movements and is made up of one chapter.

Chapter one which is devoted to the background of Dan Fodio's

movement starts with a discussion of the rise and development of

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Hausa land. It then discusses the process of Islamisation in Hausa

land and the cultural, socio-economic and political transformation this

Islamisation brought to the region. The chapter then closes with a

concise sketch of the life of Dan Fodio, emphasizing the aspects that

came to have bearing on this conception of his role and mission.

Chapter two then discusses the onset, development and fruition of the

movement, starting from the phase of public da’awa through the phase

of planning and organization and the phase of hijra, jihad, and victory

and ending up with the phase of consolidation and establishment of the

Islamic order. This part of the study closes with an epilogue, which

discusses the place of the movement in the history of the region and

the relationship between the movement and the Mahdiyya, thus setting

the stage for the second part of the study.

Chapter three discusses the background of the Mahdiyya in much

the same way as chapter one does Dan Fodio's movement. It starts

with a discussion on the make-up and character of the Nilotic Sudan

prior to Islamisation. Then it discusses the islamisation process and its

impact in the region. This is followed by a fairly detailed discussion on

the Turco-Egyptian rule in the Sudan. The chapter closes with a sketch

of Muhammad Ahmad’s life concentrating only on those aspects that

influenced his conception of his role and mission. Chapter four is

devoted to the development and fruition of the Mahdiyya. After a brief

discussion on the credentials of the Mahdiyya, the Chapter goes on to

discuss the first phase of the movement - the phase of manifestation

and mobilization. Then the phase of hijra and jihad is discussed. The

chapter closes with a discussion of the last phase; a phase in which

the Mahdi died and the cause of the Mahdiyya continued under his

successor - hence the caption "From Mahdi to Mahdiyya".

Coming immediately after the fourth Chapter is the epilogue to the

second part, which discusses the place of the Mahdiyya in the history

of the Sudan as well as the Mahdiyya and the outside world.

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Chapter five constitutes the last part of the study. This is devoted to

comparison and evaluation. It starts with a discussion on areas of

similarity between the two movements. Then a similar discussion on

the areas in which they differed followed. The chapter closed with a

discussion on the overall achievements of the two movements.

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PART ONE: THE MOVEMENT OF ‘UTHMAN DAN FODIO

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CHAPTER ONE

THE BACKGROUND OF THE MOVEMENT

1.1, HausaLand: Its Rise and Development

The emergence of the Hausas dates back to the tenth century.

Their origin, like that of many peoples in the region, is however, still a

matter of contention among historians.(1)What is apparently agreed

upon so far is that they appear to have migrated from the Central

Sahara during the first millennium A. D. (due to desiccation) to the

Central Savannah in the south. There they settled and mixed with the

indigenous hunters and eventually established mastery over them.(2) The

result was multi-ethnic society sharing a common language - Hausa.

This heterogeneity must have facilitated the absorption and

incorporation of other ethnic groups that arrived in subsequent waves

of migrations. When the Fulani for example reached the Hausa land in

early fifteenth century, those of them that settled in the towns lost not

only their nomadism but also their Fulfulde (Fulani language) in place of

which they spoke Hausa.

Located in fertile grassland, sandwiched between the Sahara to

the north and the dense forest to the south, the Hausa society

subsisted mainly on agriculture. There were of course some nomadic

groups, mainly cattle rearing Fulanis, who exchanged their dairy

products for grains. The society might have further sheltered some

"Stranger elements not owning land in the vicinity but playing non-

agricultural trade to meet the need of the farmers".(3)

(1) A. Smith "The Early States of the Central Sudan" in Ajayi and Crowder (Eds.) History of West Africa, Vol.I, London, Longman, 1976 pp152-195. "Historians are not yet agreed to the origins of the Hausas~ such conclusion as has been reached are therefore only tentative and subject to modifications as investigations proceed.' (2) The Popular Kano chronicle. (3) A. Smith, The brief history of Central Sudan p. 180

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Prior to state formations around the fifteenth century, the Hausa

society was made up of scattered nucleated hamlets, Kauyuka or

Unguwoyi (sing. Kauye, Unguwa). These were apparently organized

for crop production and consisted of family groups whose farmland

(Gona or Gandu) was contiguous and separated from that of other

Kauyuka by waste (daji). The society was patrilineal with the authority

in each family vested in family head (Maigida). Where collective

mobilization of the community is required for farming or hunting, the

authority was vested in the king of farming (Sarkin Noma) or father of

hunting (Uban Farauta) respectively. For the purpose of communal

discipline transcending family groups or such political solidarity as

required in times of warfare, overall authority (Sarauta) was vested in

the ruler (Sarki)(4).

With man's propensity to worship a supreme being and with

Islam still some centuries away, (Paganism, otherwise called)

traditional religion came to give the Hausa society its belief system;

satisfying their queries about their origin, purpose and destiny and

interpreting to them the mysteries of life. This belief system quite

naturally buttressed the authority of the Sarki as well as that of Sarkin

Noma, Uban Farauta and Maigida.

Though varying in details from one community to another, this

traditional religious system essentially revolved around a belief in a

high distant god (Ubangiji), who is not actively connected with

everyday life of men, and is supplemented by a chain of supernatural

forces (Iskoki) directly in touch with men and controlling their destiny in

everyday life.(5) The natural resources such as agricultural land, forest,

rivers, iron ore and salt deposits are believed to be in the custody of

certain of these Iskoki. (6) Harmony with the Iskoki is taken to be

(4) Ibid. (5) Ibid (6) F. Fuglestad “A Reconsideration Of Hausa History before the Jihad”, J. A.H. 19, 3 (1978), p. 322.

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essential for a good harvest, hunting, fishing etc. Hence farmers,

hunters, fishermen and such occupational groups perform certain

sacrifices and rituals to maintain that harmony and secure their

livelihood.

Such condition quite naturally supported a class of priest,

(Bokaye) (sing. Boka), who being skilled in the mysteries of the Iskoki

act as intermediary between the latter and the people. These Bokaye

apparently made up the intellectual elite of this stateless Hausa

society; laying down its canon and interpreting them, inspiring its

courage and its fury. They must have also played significant political

role.

How long this era of scattered agricultural settlement (kauyawa)

lasted is not certain. What is certain is that by the fifteenth century

organized states with trans-kinship authority centered in a

cosmopolitan city (Birni), were the dominant features of Hausa land.

The Birni was always fortified with walls enclosing dwelling as well as

farmland, apparently to offer protection even in protracted siege.(7). The

resulting political power necessitated by the organizational

requirements of urban life involved a whole hierarchy of specialized

officials like Magajin Gari "heir of the town", Sarkin Kasuwa "in charge

of market", Sarkin Kofa, “gate keeper,” Mai Unguwa, “Ward head,”

Sarkin Turawa, (Lit. king of Europeans) apparently in charge of

foreigners, Sarkin Baki, “in charge of guests" etcetera. Overall authority

rested in the Sarki who "was not Sarkin Birni” (an expression not

apparently used in Hausa) but Sarkin Kasa, “king of the country”, which

consisted not only in the birni and its farmlands but a large tract of

surrounding territory containing many Garuruwa and Kauyuka, all of

which recognized the superior political power of the king in the city.(8)

(7) See A. Smith, The Early States of Central Sudan p.182. (8) Ibid.

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This government was essentially dynastic and natural resources,

especially agricultural lands, were believed to be the property of the

Sarki, who, directly or through his subordinate fief-holding officials,

disposed it to whom he willed. Maximization of agricultural land was

achieved through communal or slave labour. The power of the Sarki

seems to have depended on wealth, which lay in land its produce, and

its inhabitants.(9) It is with this wealth that he rewarded his servants and

supporters. It is with it also that he built and armed his army for

protection of his land and its people as well as for aggression.

Another significant change which accompanied the state

formation, was in the structural organization of the society. The mild if

not vague differentiation of the stateless societies was replaced by a

clear if not sharp distinction especially between the rulers (Masu

Sarauta) and subjects (Talakawa). Distinct occupational groups (Masu

Sana'a) also emerged. Their link to the Sarki was through their

occupational heads like Sarkin Makera "Chief of Blacksmiths", Sarkin

Pawa "Chief of Butchers", Sarkin Noma, "Chief of Farmers" etc, some

of whom formed part of the administrative system of the state.

That some of these occupational groups were supra-clanish

social organizations(10) is indicative of the ethnic integration the

emerging states achieved, though mobility between groups appears to

be lacking. (11) One thing however which survived this state formation,

though not without some modification perhaps, was the belief system.

Though the position of the Bokaye seemed to have diminished in

favour of Masu Sarauta, the pagan belief system, now with the Sarki at

the head of all public rituals, continued to inspire the Hausa Society

until the spread of Islam into the region.

This transition from a scattered groups of agricultural settlements

to large states with strong and elaborate political institutions remains a (9) Ibid p. 189 (10) Y.B Usman "The transformation of Katsina C. 1796 - 1903" An unpublished Ph.D thesis 1974

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puzzle to historians, at least until the availability of more constructive

information. Though the "Hamitic Hypothesis" has at least been

pushed down the drain, the search for alternative still continues.

Professor R. Horton in his submission(12) has argued that the change

must have been gradual and neither force nor external factor could

have played any significant role. Though plausible, the argument has

left some significant questions unanswered. How do we for example,

reconcile the insignificance of the external factor with the numerous

oral traditions(13) that emphasize it? That the emerging states were

characterized by fortified (walled) Birane and interstate warfare which

apparently persisted until the Jihad of Uthman Ibn Fodio, suggested a

more vital role played by force in the emergence of the States than

Professor Horton asserted. Though we have reasons to believe that

the emergence of the Hausa States "Must have been lengthy

process”(14) and "did not take place every where at the same time",(15)

the significance of the external influences and the role of force need

not be ignored any more than the significance of the commerce that

plied the great trade routes.

The Hausa land whether before or after the state formation, like

any human society, had a system, which provided material goods for

the satisfaction of their biological and social needs. The code which

regulated this economic system - if we can call it so - emanated from

the belief and ideas prevailing in the society, for as we have seen,

man's belief cannot be divorced from his economy any more than man

himself can be divorced of his belief.

(11) A. Smith "The Early States of Central Sudan" p.184 (12) R. Horton "States Societies in the history of West Africa" In Ajayi and Crowder (Eds) History of West Africa, Vol. I London, Long man 1976, pp. 72-113. (13) A Popular Hausa Oral tradition has the origin of Hausa States from the sons of Bayajidda [An arab from Baghdad] and Durama the Queen of Dura. (14) A. Smith, "The Early States of the Central Sudan", p.185 (15) ibid

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The economy of Hausa land, especially after the state formation,

must not and infact cannot be seen in isolation of the trans-Saharan

trade, whose routes penetrated the region from time immemorial.

Indeed these trade routes contributed to the emergence of the states

and continued to furnish the latter with thoughts, ideas and technology

which was to stimulate not only the economic but also the social and

political development in the region. The trans-Saharan trade with its

demand for gold, ivory and perhaps slaves, must have created in the

Hausas, who have been strategically placed to play the role of

middlemen, a need for exchange items. This need in turn must have

contributed to the development of manufacture of such things as

clothing, metal works, ceramics, food processing, etc. In course of time

several manufacturing centers developed, each specializing on an

aspect of manufacture, which its environment favoured best. The

distribution and organization of such manufacture goods as developed

was both complex and efficient and general purpose currency was

developed.(16) These manufacturing centers were to further enhance

the economic prominence of the Hausa States and boost their

economy. Quite naturally the growth and development of the economy

facilitated the spread of the culture that accompanied the North-South

Saharan trade as well as the West-East regional trade that later

became predominant.

1.2 Islamisation: Its agent and their Activities:

The allegation that Islam spread largely through war, is today

more or less extinct except with those adamant parochialist who,

despite claim to scholarship cannot rise above ethnocentricity.(17)

(16) A.G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa. London, Longman, 1973, p.51 (17) See M.G Smith "The Jihad of Shehu Dan Fodio: Some Problems", in I.M. Lewis (Ed.) Islam in Tropical Africa. Second ed., London O.U.P, 1966, p.213. It is to be regretted that such spurious statements emanated from men whose academic standing and literary ability put them in a position to lead (or to mislead as is the case here) thousands of people who may not care to check such statements against historical facts.

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Muslim history like that of others, who lay claim to a universal creed, is

not without damnable spots. What some "intellectuals" often refuse to

admit is that such havocs are always in spite of and not because of

Islam.

Islam spread into the Hausa land through West-east and East-

west movements of peoples and ideas. But before we go any further

we must first look at the north-south movements for it was largely the

latter that gave rise to the former. As seen earlier the whole Bilad al-

Sudan has been in constant contact with North Africa centuries before

the islamisation of the latter.(18) As North Africa itself became Islamised

in the seventh century, the zeal to spread the message of Islam to the

millions that lived across the Sahara, increased the number of the

caravan traders traveling from the North to South and vice versa.(19)

This consequently increased not only the volume and flow of

trade but perhaps more important the flow of ideas across the desert.

The cause for this zeal is to be found in no other than Islam's emphasis

on da'awa as well as its concern for humanity wherever they are

found.(20) With the spread of this message, emphasizing as it does on

knowledge, brotherhood and al Amr bil Ma'aruf Wal 'Nahy an al-

Munkar, the whole region began to undergo some kind of

metamorphosis. Intra-regional routes running West-east and East-west

began to grow both in number and import. Peoples and groups that

had until then enjoyed some isolation gradually became drawn into this

growing network of communication.

(18) See E.W. Bovill, The Golden Trade of the Moors, second ed., London, O.U.P., 1970, pp. 18-25. (19) See O. Jah, "Islamised History in the Western Sudan". An unpublished paper presented to international Islamic Seminar on Education, Bayero University, Kano, January 1977, p.6. (20) The Qur'an makes very clear to the Muslims their purpose and hence mission on earth - to invite to good (Islam), enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency - the worth of Muslim whether an individual, group or nation depends on his ability or otherwise to partake in this mission. See Qur'an 111,104, 110, 114. The tradition of the prophet also abounds which put the responsibility of communicating the message on the shoulders of every able Muslim - male or female, rich or poor - even if this message is just a single Aya or Hadith.

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Hausa land, located as it is in the Central Bilad al-Sudan and

more or less at the crossroads of the North-South and West-East

movements, seems to have stood equal if not better chance of

Islamisation compared to other parts of the region. But history, or as

Usman Dan Fodio would say, Allah had His own plans. Not without

reasons, the Western (Ghana, Mali, Songhay) and Eastern (Kanem

Bornu) neighbors of Hausaland came to be Islamised much earlier

than Hausaland itself.

The precise time and direction(s) from which Islam entered

Hausaland is something which is still subject to debate. Of course

popular Hausa tradition associated the spread of Islam with the arrival

of certain wangara (Muslim traders and Scholars) immigrants from the

west into the area sometimes in the second half of the fourteenth

century.(21) But knowing that Muslims and their activities (da'awa) had

been conspicuous in ninth century Ghana(22) and Borno(23) and knowing

the kind of network of routes that soon developed, could Islam have

taken five centuries to spread to Hausa land? Even if it did, could it

have done so only from one direction i.e the west? The proximity,

which Hausa land enjoyed with Borno, in particular, is alone sufficient

to render it reasonable to suggest a possibility of Islam reaching Hausa

land through Borno. Greenberg has been able to establish a loan of

words by Hausa from Kanuri language, suggesting a significant

historical contact. This reinforces our contention and calls for

reinterpretation of the spread of Islam into Hausa land. That the horses

used by the Kano cavalry force along with the Lifidi iron helmets and

coats of mail were obtained from Borno in the early fourteenth century

on account of East-West movements of peoples about that same (21) Kano Chronicle, Palmer translation, Vol III, Lagos 1974, pp. 104-5. from A.M. Kaniu, "The Rise and influence of Scholars in Hausa land before 1804", unpublished paper. (22) See O. Jah, Islamic History in the Western Sudan.. (23) See A. Smith, The early States of the Central Sudan.

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period; (24) that the center of Kanem empire moved from the east to the

west of Lake Chad towards the end of fourteenth century,(25) all go to

show the need for such reinterpretation. There could be more

evidences, but for the moment suffice it to say that there are sufficient

reasons to suggest that Islam spread into Hausa land not only from the

West but also the East, among other directions. This however, does

not, it must be said, question the dominating influence of the Western

Sudanic traits on the Islamic culture in Hausaland.

Perhaps more fascinating than the routes is the force behind the

movement of Islamic thoughts and ideas along these routes. Who were

the promoters of this phenomenon? This takes us back to the seventh

century when the trade routes began to bring to their terminus south of

the Sahara, not only goods but also the message of Islam. Of particular

interest to us here are those routes that supplied the markets of the

Ghana empire. The caravans that reached Ghana after the

Islamisation of North Africa were accompanied by merchants and

scholars (mostly Berbers) who came for both trade and da'awa. The

caravans being no stranger in the land and knowing the land and its

people through long period of contact, the du'at lost no time in starting

their duty - disseminating the message of Islam.

These North African Muslims, one should hasten to point out,

were not alone in this lofty task. In fact all they appear to have done

was to give this process of Islamisation the initial push it necessarily

needed. The greater part of the work for the greater part of the period,

was carried out in the whole region by the indigenous peoples

themselves. Foremost among these indigenous peoples were the

Fulani of the Futa Toro plains among whom the first Berber diaspora

settled and intermarried. Convinced of Islam and imbued with its spirit, (24) R.A Adeleye, "Hausa land and Borno 1600-1800" in Ajayi and Crowder (eds), History of West Africa, Vol I, Second Ed. London, Longman 1976, p.560. (25) Ibid., p.559

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the Fulani began a series of waves of migration east wards (apparently

heading towards the Ka'aba) spreading the message of Islam. Their

presence was conspicuous in Masina by the fourteenth century, and in

Hausa land by the fifteenth century.(26) There are reasons to believe

that these waves of migration reached as far as the Red Sea. The

ancestors of Usman Dan Fodio were incidentally, part of this migration,

reaching and settling in Gobir, one of the Hausa States, in the fifteenth

century under the leadership of one Musa Jokolo.(27) Equally important

among the peoples that carried the message of Islam through this

region are the industrious Mandinka traders whose enterprise has

been well noted by economic historians of the region.

Working day and night, collectively or individually, formally or

informally, these assorted groups carried the message of Islam

throughout the Western Bilad al-Sudan up to Hausaland and perhaps

beyond. The scholars amongst them, whose full-time it was to spread

the message, it should be realized, were best equipped, most

persistent and persevering in this duty. Literate, knowledgeable and

possessed of a culture superior to that of their pagan audience, these

scholars entered into cities and villages with such freedom and

confidence, which impressed their observers. Such a picture is best

captured by Edward Blyden, a black Christian missionary, who enjoyed

the exceptional advantage of traveling widely in this region prior to its

disfiguration by European colonialism. Summing up his observation,

Blyden wrote:

It must be born in mind that people in the state of

barbarism, in which the pagan tribes are usually found,

have no proper conception of humanity and its

(26) R.O. Collins, African History, New York, Random House, 1971, p.3 (27) M. Hiskette, The Sword of Truth, London, O.U.P., 1973, p.15.

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capacities. The man, therefore, who by unusual strength

or cunning achieves something which no one has

achieved before him, or of which they do not understand

the process, is exalted into an extraordinary being, in

close intimacy with the mysterious powers of nature.

The Mohammedan, then, who enters a pagan village

with his books, and papers, and rosaries, his frequent

ablutions and regularly recurring times of prayers and

prostrations, in which he appears to be conversing with

some invisible being, soon acquires a controlling

influence over the people. He secures their moral

confidence and respect, and they bring to him all their

grievances for redress.(28)

Obsessed with the cosmology of the iskoki, hunted by feelings of

fear and insecurity characteristics of his society, the pagan must have

seen, in the Muslim da'i at least initially, not so much of the good

tidings of a universal message like of a power, perhaps operating at

the same level of the iskoki capable of warding off evil and bringing

luck and prosperity. This explains the numerous incidences where

Muslim da’i were confronted with many such pagan problems for

solution. It has been on record that the Muslim da’i more often than not

succeeded in solving such problems and this earned him more

prestige, respect and ready audience. With curious avidity the pagan

audience must have listened to the Muslim da’i explaining the secret

behind this power. It is in such situations that they must have heard the

message of Islam, responding more often than not favourably.

(28) E. Blyden, Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race, Edinburgh, Edinburg University Press, 1967,

p. 176.

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The pagan chiefs and kings, like their subjects, found in the

Muslims da’i a power which they could and infact did resort to

whenever their traditional gods failed them. Whenever they found in

Islam a stronger God, like they always almost did, they abandoned

paganism in favour of Islam. Typical of such cases was the one noted

by Nehemiah Levtzion:

The small chiefdom of Malal, beyond the upper Senegal,

was afflicted by drought from one year to the other. All

the prayers and sacrifices of the local priest were in

vain. Then a Muslim promised that, if the king accepted

Islam, he would pray for his relief. When the King

agreed, the Muslim taught him to recite some easy

passages from the Koran, and instructed him in those

religious obligations which no one can be excused of not

knowing. On the following Friday, after the King had

purified himself, the two set out to a nearby hill. All that

night the Muslim prayed, emulated by the King. The

dawn only started to break when Allah brought down

abundant rain. The king ordered the idols broken, he

expelled his sorcerers, and became Muslim together

with his family and the nobility…"(29)

Commenting over this incidence, Levtzion remarked:

"This Muslim succeed in wining over the king by

demonstrating the omnipotence of Allah; praying to Allah

having saved kingdom where all sacrifices by local

(29) N. Levtzion, "Patterns of Islamisation in the West Africa" in McCall and Bennette (Eds) Aspects of West African Islam; Boston University papers on Africa Vol. V African Study Centre, Boston University, 1971. p.33

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priests had failed. Islam made its earliest appeal in

competition with the African traditional religions, proving

its superiority as a source of blessings"(30)

Citing a similar incidence recorded in the Gonja chronicle, Levtzion

writes:

Muhammad al-Abyad….ancestor of the Gonja

Imams…made a miracle, in the name of Allah, to bring a

victory in a fierce battle. When the King of Gonja saw

this it made him wonder. This faith, he said, is better

than our religion. He became devoted to Islam together

with his brothers….(31)

It should be emphasized that the conversion into Islam by the

chiefs and kings of the pagan communities was particularly significant

for the Islamisation process in these lands. For in centralized societies,

such as they were, the religion of King and nobility almost

automatically spread among their obedient subjects. Where such

happened like it did times without number, Islam spread wider and

faster.

The Muslim du'at, it should be stressed did not rely entirely on

such opportunities of prayer or "miracle" for the spread of message of

Islam. In fact such incidences as mentioned above seemed to be by

the way, since for the greater part of the time they engaged in calling

people to Islam and teaching those who have accepted it. This they

continued to do wherever they found the audience be it in the market (30) Ibid. (31) Ibid. This explains why Bawa Jan Gwarzo the famous Sarki of Kasar Gobir in Hausa land requested Shehu Usman Dan Fodio - one of his subjects then - to pray for him in his camp against Maradi. This belief in the superior power of Islam is to be found even in kings that are not practicing Muslims like the Sarakunan Hausa. This tradition in a way is to be found to this day in Hausa societies.

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place or the court; in the day or in the night. "A common sight" writes

McCall:

In the non-Muslim forest areas of Guinea Coast lands is

the Muslim who is a trader by day but who in the

evening gathers around him any who will listen to his

explanations in behalf of his faith.(32)

Such common sights seem to have dominated the process of

Islamisation and remain to this day common throughout contemporary

West Africa. Relying heavily on education for the spread of his faith the

Muslim da’i spent the greater part of his time teaching. For no sooner

was the pagan converted "than he was taught to read (and write), and

the importance of knowledge is impressed upon him".(33) As Islam

spread, so did literacy.

Possessed not only of a power superior to that of the local gods

and iskoki, but also of literacy, wisdom and knowledge of such rare

ideas as geography, law and politics, the Muslim du'at found

themselves welcome guests at the courts of chiefs and kings. Soon the

kings found them excellent advisers, councilors, even ambassadors.

The administration of the states and chiefdoms gradually passed into

their hands even where the kings remain pagan, which was rare

however. This was a development which was to further the cause of

the du'at. Such alliance, or perhaps cooperation between the du'at and

the rulers was essential to the spread of Islam at such a time when

majority of the pagan subject, who still retained the obedience to their

rulers, had converted to Islam. Such situation of a government of

basically Muslim personnel ruling over a predominantly pagan subject, (32) D.F McCall, "Islamisation of the Western and Central Sudan in the Eleventh Century", In McCall and Bennett (Eds.), Aspects of West African Islam; Boston University Papers on Africa, Vol. V, p.18. (33) E. Blyden, Islam Christianity and the Negro Race, p.13.

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has been well noted by historians of the region. Ta'arikh al-Fattash, for

example cited a dialogue between Askiya of Songhai and a leading

scholar of Timbuktu, when the latter visited the former. Being shocked

by the pagan practices among the subjects, the scholar said to the

Askiya: "I Thought you were mad when I saw you (doing all these).”

'No" the Askiya replied, “I am not mad myself but I am the king of the

mad".(34)

Without labouring this point any further, it becomes clear that

Islam spread into Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Kasar Hausa and beyond,

through this subtle, fascinating and largely peaceful activities of its

du'at. Those, therefore, who point to such events as the conquest of al-

Moravids of Ghana as Islamizing missions, ignore, perhaps

unknowingly, the fact that long before such conquest large and

influential Muslim communities existed. Ghana in particular, according

to al-Bakari (1040), had a large Muslim community exerting extensive

influence in the administration and twelve mosques in addition to a

magnificent one, which the king built for himself near his palace, many

years before its conquest by al-Morarids.(35) It is therefore quite

obvious, such conquests are consequences to and not causes of

Islamisation.

The apparent ease and rapidity with which Islam paved its way

deep into the Western, Central and Eastern Bilad al-Sudan have been

observed by scholars and travelers in the region. Some, like Professor

Crummell, attributed this to "The yearning of the native African for a

higher religion".(36) John D. Fage, who was not even sure if Islam really

spread into the region, attributed "this show" to the need in the rulers

for securing political and economic interests from the Muslim North (34) Tarikh al-Fattash, p.114/tr. 208-210 quoted in Levtzion "Patterns of Islamisation in West Africa" in Aspect of West African Islam, p.36 (35) See: O.Jah, "Islamic History in the Western Sudan". (36) Quoted in E. Blyden, Islam Christinaity and the Negro Race, p.175

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African States. (37) To Fage in particular, and all those who share his

views in general, one only needs to point to such examples as of

Sarkin Kano Umar who abandoned his throne for no other than fear of

getting tempted into the power and wealth that his throne conferred on

him.(38)

To appreciate this overwhelming success which Islam scored

(and is still scoring) in this region we only need to recall the fact that

the Muslim da'i (pl. du 'at) "did not enter the country as a stranger",(39)

neither to the environment nor to the audience. Perhaps the spirit of

Islamic Brotherhood which cuts across all boundaries be this national,

racial or linguistic, and the readiness to intermarry and live together,

more than anything explains the success. To this, one can add the

Muslim's generosity and not the least, the good will of the message.

Lest one gets the impression of a galloping Islam sweeping the

region and enlisting converts unhindered, we should remember the

difficulties of movements due to insecurity, linguistic barriers and the

quite natural resistance paganism and its priests had to put up. But for

du'at who have been inspired by goals higher than bread and butter

these are no real difficulties.

1.3 Islamisation: Its consequences and implication:

Of all cultures and civilizations known to humanity there is none

that emphasises the importance and sanctity of knowledge as does

Islam. Indeed the first word of its message to be revealed to humanity

is "READ!"(40). Its Prophet had described knowledge as the lost

property of a Muslim, which he is duty bound to search for anywhere,

anytime, no matter what difficulty. Hence conversion to Islam and (37) J.D. Fage, "Some Thoughts on States Formation in the Western Sudan Before the seventeenth Century" in J. Butler (Ed.) Boston University Papers in African History. Vol. I, p. 19 (38) See Levtzion, "Patterns of Islamisation in West Africa", pp. 36-7. (39) E. Blyden, Islam Christianity and Negro Race, p.19

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learning, as we have seen, became (and they still are) synonymous.

As Islam gained converts in Kasar Hausa so did Kasar Hausa gained

literacy and with it knowledge of the outside world. The mosques that

emerged with the emerging Muslim communities came to be not only

places of worship but also (as they have always been) a school for

both adult and children - a feature which is to this day characterize the

cities, towns and villages of Kasar Hausa. As literacy increased, so did

flow of literature. With flow of literature the Kasar Hausa became

gradually incorporated into the Islamic fraternity, becoming well

informed of Islamic thoughts and ideas as well as the history,

geography, politics, and economy of the then known world.

As Islam gained more foothold in the land, its significance as

pilgrimage route and center of learning increased. By the sixteenth

century reputation of some Hausa state capitals, as Muslims

metropolises, Katsina and Kano in particular, was already high enough

to attract many Muslims, scholars as well as students. The pilgrimage

to Makka which provided the opportunity for meeting Muslims from

different parts of the world, served as another permanent link with the

Muslim world and a source of continuous flow of Islamic thoughts and

ideas into Kasar Hausa. Some of such thoughts and ideas that merit a

specific mention are the sufi tariqas, qadriyya (founded C.561 AH/1165

to which Dan Fodio affiliated) and Tijjaniya (founded C. 1194 AH/1780)

in particular.

As books found their way through the various links, book

publication became an important industry in the sixteenth century.(41).

This industry made possible the dissemination of many books all over

Kasar Hausa. Of the books that came to be so spread, al-Mudawwana

al-Kubra of Abd al-Salam b. Said Sahaun al- Tanukhi (d. 854), al-

Risala of ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 996), al-Muktasar of Khalil b. (40) Qur'an 96:1. (41) H.F.C. Smith, "Sources Material for the History of the Western Sudan", p.1.

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Ishaq the famous Maliki jurist (d. 1365/66) and Tafsir al-Jalalayn of al-

Siyuti (d.1505) were the most popular in addition to Qur'an and books

of Hadith,(42) al-Siyuti who had some association with Takrur pilgrims

who passed through Egypt on their way to Makka, is said to have

boasted that his books had spread to all parts of the Muslim World

including Bilad-alTakrur,(43) another name for Bilad al-Sudan. That his

and many other books enjoyed wide circulation in the region testifies to

the size and efficiency of the book publishing industry.

Along with these developments, sprang an admirable

educational system, which had more in common with Timbuktu than

with the cities of North Africa whence most of the books came. This

educational system evolved a clearly defined curriculum, methodology

and even certificates (Ijaza as they were known). The ministries of this

system seemed to have been the mosques, and the planners the

Shykhs. This system starts with the reading of the Qur'an in course of

which the young student learns to read and write at an early age. "After

having attained a basic knowledge of religion, reading and writing in

boyhood", describes El-Masri:

"the aspirant scholar (talib) would then travel about to

learned men and stay with them till he had perfected

with each the particular science in which he had gained

his fame; having completed his studies to the

satisfaction of a master, he would then be given a

license (ijaza) to teach the subject he has been taught,

on the authority of the master. In this way the talib would

go round to collect ijazas and thus establish fame as a

recognized scholar. This process would not normally

(42) See A.M.Kani, "The Rise and Influence of Scholar…”, pp.3-4 (43) Ibid., p.10

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cease at a certain stage or age, for whenever a scholar

was to be found, who had excelled himself in a branch of

knowledge no matter whether a local man or a foreigner,

others would go to study under him."(44)

"This is why" he adds "Dan Fodio continued going to study while

he was himself teaching and preaching".(45) Such famous scholars like

Ibn al-Sabbgh (Dan Marina), Muhammad al- Kashinawi (Dan Massani),

al- Barnawi indeed Shehu Usman, Abd Allah and Mohammed Bello

were all products of such an educational system, which to this day

continue to operate in spite of colonial frustration. Katsina, Yandoto

and Kurnia Ranko, were particularly noted as centers of learning in the

seventeenth and eighteenth century Hausaland.(46)

Islam, as is a very clear, brought to the Kasar Hausa, like it did to

all the lands it entered, literacy and knowledge and with it

communication and socio-economic and political development as we

shall soon see. But before having this aspect it must be emphasized

that knowledge, Ilimi (from the Arabic, Ilm) in this educational tradition

does not mean the R.K, which is today taught in primary and

secondary schools. Knowledge in this as well as all Islamic traditions of

learning, "means all branches of knowledge, the theoretical as well the

practical, the arts, the sciences, the medical, the physical, the

technological or any others." (47)

Just like trade led to the spread of Islam, so did Islam lead to the

growth and expansion of trade not only in Hausa land but the whole of

(44) F. El-Masri, "The Life of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Before the Jihad", J.H.S.N. (1963), pp. 435-48

(45) Ibid. (46) A.M. Kani "The Rise of Scholars……" p.12. (47) O.S.A. Ismail, "Some reflection on the literature of the Jihad and the Caliphate " In Y.B. Usman (Ed.) “The Sokoto Caliphate, A.B.U. Lagos, 1979, p.177

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Bilad al-Sudan. Details of how this came about have been adduced by

many writers among whom was Blyden whose view is that:

"Mohammedanism furnished a protection to the tribes

who embraced it by effectually binding them together in

one strong religious fraternity, and enabling them by

their united effort to baffle the attempt of powerful pagan

slave-hunters. Enjoying this comparative immunity from

sudden hostile incursions, industry was stimulated

among them, industry diminished their poverty; and, as

they increased in worldly substance, they also increased

in desire for knowledge." (48)

It should be recalled however, that prior to the spread of Islam the

region had its own economy and significant market activity which as we

saw was developed around the activities of such occupational groups

as the manoma, (farmers), maharba (Hunters), makera (Blacksmith,

who produce iron implements) etc. The increase in the flow of trade

along with the values and flavour which Islam brought did clearly

stimulate the growth and expansion of the economy leading to the rise

of a variety of manufacturing activity. "By the end of the eighteenth

century" for example, “manufacturing activity especially the production

of iron and wooden implements, cloth, leather, and leather goods made

up an important sector of the economy of Katsina.”(49) On the

expansion of commerce, the case of Katsina, as noted by Usman

below, summarizes the situation in Kasar Hausa:

(48) E. Blyden, Islam, Chrisitianity and the Negro Race, p.186

(49) Y.B. Usman, "The Transformation of Katsina…”

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"Beside the internal export trade in commodities

produced within the kingdom, there was a considerable

commerce in commodities imported from neighbouring

areas and even distant places. These include patron

from western provinces of Borno; mineral salt from

Bilma, the Abzin, Kebbi and Awei in middle Benue

valley, kola-nuts from Gwanja, Nupe and Oyo; tin and

antimony from Jos Plateau area, horses from Borno and

the Abzin goats and sheep from the Adar and Abzin;

textile, glass and metal were form Nupe; Slaves from

Zazzau and the south; silks, swords, paper and fineries

from North Africa. The import of these commodities

involved the export of goods produced in Katsina and

brought from other places." (50)

Simultaneously with this development was the rise of more

specialized occupational groups. The personnel of the emerging

commerce became the Fatake (long distant traders) Dillalai (general

brokers), Yan Sodo (textile traders), Attajirai (big businessmen)

Madugai (leaders of long distant trade) etc. Such specialised

occupational groups "with their extensive ramifications cutting across

the territorial, kinship and religious ties was an important feature of the

society of kasar Katsina,"(51) which for all purposes was a microcosm of

Kasar Hausa. Concurrent with all these transformations was the

development of roads and with them cities and towns. Such

commercial centers as Kano and Katsina just like Gazargumo and

Timbuktu were clearly the by-products of the socio-economic

transformation, which Islam stimulated.

(50) Ibid…, p.141 (51) Ibid. p.162

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With such a boost in the economy, the revenue accruing to the

Sarki became proportionally increased. The Sarki could now afford

more servants, more officials and more "hangers on" such as the

Maroka and Mawaka (praise singers and musicians), all of whom lived

and depended on the generosity of the Sarki. Perhaps more important

and of greater consequences was that the boom enabled the Sarakuna

to increase and equip their army with which they can guarantee their

people more security which was essential to commerce. This bid to

guarantee security and forestall external attacks may, partially at least,

explain the interstate warfare that characterized Hausaland until the

jihad, which having created a central administration gave them the law,

order and security they lacked.

Let us now take a brief look at paganism's response to

islamisation before we proceed to the socio-political transformations

that were to precipitate the jihad. Based on a narrow iskoki cosmology,

lacking in ability to adjust to such transformations that Islam brought,

the traditional religion could not hold any longer than the spread of

Islam. Even where it endured the cosmology became changed; the

ubangiji became of greater significance while the iskoki became

relegated to the rather harmless position of the jinn.(52) But more typical

of the changes in the field of faith is what Usman noted of Katsina:

By the end of the 18th century, the observation of Islamic

practices, like the payment of Zakat, the Ramadan Fast;

the Juma'at and Id prayers, the Id Maulud and new year

celebrations; the baptismal, marriage and funeral

assemblies constituted major bonds of these

communities.

…The cult of the ancestors around the Kusheyi (tombs)

which were of great importance as bonds of the (52) A. Smith, "The Early States of Central Sudan",

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permanent settlements of this area, in an earlier epoch,

were of little relevance in communities made up of

people of heterogeneous descent. They might find a

weak expression in beliefs about the efficacy of Kafin

Gari, which took the form of a protective charm buried

by the founders of the town…(53)

As paganism receded in the face of Islamisation so did the

position of the Bokaye who lost not only prestige but business.

Although Muslims took positions which their literacy, knowledge

and wisdom entitled them, in the courts of the king at the early phases

of the process of islamisation, this in itself did not make the political

institutions Islamic. It did however, pave the way for the emergence of

Islam as a political force, in the later part of the fifteenth century. These

developments were particularly remarkable in Zaria, Kano, and

Katsina, which formed the core of the Kasar Hausa from the fourteenth

until the seventeenth century when another axis emerged. The political

leadership in these three major states gave way to new and

unmistakably Islamic ones. These rulers have been noted and are still

remembered for the bold changes they affected in their administration

to make it conform to the Islamic standards. This marked a milestone

in the Islamisation of Hausaland.

In Kano, for example, the Sarki Muhammad Rumfa went as far as

inviting Muhammad al-Magili, a North African Muslim jurist of

international fame, to advise him on how to run an Islamic government.

Al-Magili's visit and stay in Kano was of great significance to the

Islamisation of Kano as well as Hausaland. His books and fatwas

gained wide circulation. Of his books Taj al-Din fi ma Yajib ala al-

Muluk,(54) described as a comprehensive treatise on government (53) Ibid., pp. 150-51 (54) A.M Kani, "The Rise and Influence of Scholars in Hausaland".p.7

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seemed to have been highly influential in the whole of Hausa land. In

course of his sojourn in Kano al-Magili tried to draw a distinction

between who was a Muslim and who was not. The relevance of this we

shall see later.

The case of Muhammad Korau the first Muslim ruler of Kasar

Katsina is particularly interesting not only because of the Islamisation

he affected in his state and its administration but also because unlike

Muhammad Rumfa his Kano counterpart, he was not part of the ruling

dynasty from which he took over power. Tradition(55) has it that he

wrested power from one Kumayau of the Durbawa pagan dynasty.

Further investigation(56) on this tradition should throw more light on this

leadership change and hence on the process of Islamisation in Kasar

Katsina as well as Hausa land.

These developments in Kasar Hausa at the end of the fifteenth

century coincided with similar ones in Songhay, which brought to

power Muhammad Askiya, who was more like Rumfa and Korau than

his predecessor Sonni Ali. Under Askiya the Islamic culture and

tradition that Sonni Ali sought to thwart was reinstated and invigorated.

Under him the intellectual activity which gave Timbuktu its fame was

stimulated. The intellectual inspirations of Timbuktu continued (at least

until the collapse of Songhay at the end of the sixteenth century) to

spur the spread of Islamic thought and ideas into Hausa land. Perhaps

to secure its boarders and increase its power, Songhay during the

fifteenth century extended its domain to Hausaland as far as Kebbi -

which it did not succeed in subduing totally.

(55) Popular Katsina tradition has it that Korau, a stranger of exceptional qualities agreed to have a wrestling contest with Kumayauh then Sarkin Katsina, on the undertaking that if Korau win he will take over the Sarauta of Katsina. Korau won and as agreed took over the throne. (56) F. Fugelsted in his "A Reconsideration of Hausa History before the Jihad", did venture into new interpretation of this tradition but this seems to have raised more questions than it answers.

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The collapse of Songhay, following the Moroccan invasion at the

end of the sixteenth century not only deprived Hausa land of the

intellectual inspirations of Timbuktu but ushered it into series of

interstate hostilities with serious repercussions and far reaching

consequences. The beginning of the seventeenth century saw the rise

of other powers in the Hausa land; Gobir and Zamfara, this along with

Kebbi all in the west, formed another axis of power similar to the

Katsina-Kano-Zaria one which for nearly three centuries had

dominated the region in knowledge, commerce as well as military

power. With the exit of Songhai, Borno tried to extend its domains into

Hausaland without much success. Until the Jihad that shook it to its

roots, Borno remained a conditioning force in Hausaland and

maintained an uncertain suzerainty.(57) The one effect that Borno's

adventure seemed to have led to was the exodus of sizeable number

of its scholars and their settlement in Hausaland, Zaria and Katsina in

particular.(58)

The rise of Kwarrarafa, a powerful non-Hausa (Jukun) state to the

south of Borno in the same seventeenth century, added to the

confusion that characterized the whole region until the Jihad. Its attack

on both Borno and Hausaland, especially Kano, rendered the situation

tragic.

The picture of Hausa land and its neighbours during the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was that of a conglomeration of

almost equally powerful states engaged in a continuous and

devastating warfare with each other, without a clear winner emerging

and all these apparently in bid to forestall external attack and secure

material gain. This statement is among other things, an expression of

absence of a powerful power or authority that the Hausa land and even (57) R.A Adeleye, "Hausa land and Borno 1600-1800" in Ajayi and Crowder (eds) History of West Africa. P.568 (58) A.M. Kani, "The Rise and influence of Scholars…." P.14.

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Borno, by virtue of their size and bright, necessarily need for

stability.(59) This tragedy, devastating as it was, had to continue, until

this power and authority was found in the Sokoto caliphate, which

united the Hausa states and checked the excesses of Borno, and

Kwararrafa.

Of particular interest to us here were the consequences of these

wars on the Hausa society. Of immediate consequence was the fall in

commerce and with it the revenue accruing to the state or as it were to

the Sarki. The wars which continued had to be financed now through

taxation, which became excessive in course of time. The case of Kano

as it entered the eighteenth century is typical of the Hausa states.

“For Kano the strain on the state’s resources in trying to

stem external war and contain internal rebellion is

reflected in the rise of taxation imposed by its eighteenth

century rulers. Mohammed Sharefa dan Dadi (1703-31)

is reported to have introduced seven practices for

raising revenue, “all of which were robbery”. These were

karo, rinsua, matafada, yan dawaki, kauru, tax on

maidens at marriage and tax on the main market -kurmi.

Of him the Chronicler writes: 'He invented many other

methods of extortion'. His successor, Kumbari, is said to

have almost killed Kurmi market by his excessive

taxation. He taxed even the learned men - mallams -

and it was on account of his extortions that there were

disturbances in Kano, leading to the departure of Arabs

from the city for Katsina.”(60)

(59) See Ibn Kaldun's exposition of royal authority. Ibn Khaldun Muqaddima F. Rosenthal (tr.), N.J. Dawood (abg and ed.), p.47 (60) R.A Adeleye, "Hausa land and Borno 1600-1800", p.596

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Though learning and teaching continued in circumstances such as

Hausa land found itself in these two centuries, with movement

restricted, fear of attack persisting, there were obvious obstacles to the

spread of knowledge. Obsessed with warfare and often desperate for

success the ruler not only abandoned their role of overseeing the

maintenance of Islamic standards in public matters but also engaged in

things that were outright against Islam. Materialism, laxity,

permissiveness and corruption thus set in. This gradually gave a

receding paganism some chance and even those who were already

Muslims found it easy to mix Islam with some of these traditional

rituals.

Over and above this daunting deterioration was slavery which in

the confusing and desperate situation, failed to draw a distinction from

a Muslim (who must not be enslaved) and a non-Muslim. This put

together, created serious discontent in the general public and the

ulama in particular. Knowing as they did of the promise of their Lord to

send them a Mujaddid after every one hundred years, to re-establish

Islam for them, they began to study the situation with extra concern,

giving events interpretations which conform to this belief.

Gradually, however, a substantial number of the ulama came to

lend support to the deteriorating order by joining the kings’ court, many

withdrew into quietism, leaving only a few courageous ones to point

accusing fingers to the corruption and misery that was ascendant.

Among these few was Jubril b. Umar who infact went beyond raising

accusing fingers to organize a jihad which turned out to be abortive. It

was in this rising tide of discontent on the one hand and expectations

on the other that Usman Dan Fodio emerged.

1.4. "Uthman Dan Fodio61: His Emergence and Prominence.

61 i.e. Uthman the son of Fodio. He later became popularly known as “Shehu” (from the Arabic

Shaykh).

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Uthman was born at Maratta, a town in Kasar Gobir on 29th Safar

1168 AH/Sunday the 15th of December 1754. His father Muhammad

Fodio,(62) was a well-known scholar in his area; a descendant of

Torankawa Fulani and heir to a long Islamic tradition of learning. The

birth of Uthman, like the birth of all great men, is not without tradition of

some miracles, but these need not detain us, as this is no more than

expression - sometimes in retrospect - of the greatness of the hero.

Four our purpose, we shall be concerned with his intellectual

development and such other factors which influenced his career as a

leader of an Islamic movement.

Coming, as Shehu did, from a learned family, with a long tradition

of learning, bestowed on him two things: access to one of the best

instructions and social status which was particularly significant in a

society full of respect for learning, as the Hausa land of Shehu's time

was. Given the system of education in which children start learning as

soon as they began to talk, the Shehu must have started learning this

much early. He was known to have learnt the Qur'an under his father.

He went through the normal elementary curricular which included

elementary Fiqh in addition to reading and writing.

After covering the elementary phase, Uthman proceeded to the

next phase of advanced studies. Here the curricular was particularly

heavy and the influence of teachers great. He was known to have

studied tafsir, hadith, sira, fiqh, tasawwuf and astronomy among

others.(63) Shehu carried out these studies under the best scholars of

his days, a good number of whom turned out to be his uncles. That

these scholars were too many to be recorded(64) reflects both the depth

(62) Fodio, is a Fulani word meaning "The learned" (63) The main text used in the case of Tafsir was al-Jalalain of al-Suyuti while for hadith it was the

Sahih of al-Bukhari. Abdullahi bn. Muhammad, Ida al-Nusukh man akhadhtu anhu min al Shuykh, Hiskette B.S.O.A.S pp 563-565

(64) Ibid p. 565

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and breadth of Usman's intellectual background - as was later born out

by his literary output. Before the age of twenty he had already started

writing in his mother tongue(65) (Fulfulde) making vivid his intellectual

ability and literary disposition.

By 1774, at the age of twenty, Uthman had graduated from the

formal phase of these advanced studies, and was free to take a career

of his own and pursue, if he wished, further advanced studies. The

career opportunities opened to this promising young scholar were

numerous. Beside the host of choices ranging from farming to trade he

could start up his own school. He could also join the lucrative court of

the kings, but in that case he would have to condone or even

participate in the corruption and oppression the establishment was

engaged in. True to his training, or as he would prefer to put it, through

the guidance of Allah, Shehu took the career of da’i which though

exacting was more pleasing to his Lord. This is a career which in his

own days involved holding public sessions along numerous itineraries.

This fitted his literary and intellectual disposition for he could, like he

did, continue to pursue his advanced studies while discharging his

da'awa.

Thus Shehu entered his adulthood as a da'i, occupied with

advanced studies at the same time. Having taken a work (da'aw) which

has virtually no any financial proceeds, except for the generosity of

fellow brothers, the Shehu often had to engage in rope making to

support his austere life. This austerity and simplicity seem to be more

of a deliberate attempt to tread on the path of the Prophet Muhammad

(S.A.W) than of the making of circumstances. For in his first Arabic

work - a poem in praise of the Prophet composed around

1188AH/1774-5 - he described himself as a muqtadi i.e. one who

modeled his life on the Prophet’s. "The prosody and diction of this (65) F.H. El-Masri (Ed. trans.) Bayan Wujub al-Hijra of Uthman Dan Fodio, p.2

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poem" observed el-Masri, "reveals a talented young man of sound

training in the Arabic language, and the treatment of its theme reveals

Dan Fodio as a deeply pious Sufi already convinced that he had a

mission".(66) It was such remarkable simplicity and exceptional

intellectual ability which gain for Uthman a prominent place in a group

of some young Muslim scholars that came to share some revolutionary

ideas.

While engaged in da'awa Uthman continued to advance his

knowledge, availing himself of the best scholars of the day. The place

of a scholar in the social setting of Hausa land, it should be recalled, is

one of a symbol of truth, and a custodian of the values of the society.

He admits no dichotomy between what is said and what is done, nor

does he ignore the aspirations of his people, in whom he lives, with

whom he interacts daily and whose problems he seeks to solve. To

‘Uthman as to the society at large, the scholar is a model. It is not

novel therefore that many of Uthman's teachers came to have

significant influences on him. Shaykh Uthman Binduri (an uncle to the

Shehu) who was noted for his piety and zeal for amr bil Ma'aruf, had

for example, a remarkable impact on Shehu as to warrant Abdullah's

note:

He (Binduri) it was whom our Sheikh Uthman (Dan

Fodio) imitated in states and in deeds. He accompanied

him for nearly two years, moulding himself according to

his pattern in piety and in ordering the right and

forbidding the wrong". (67)

(66) Ibid.

(67) Uthman Muhammad, Ida al-Nusukh. Hiskette (Ed. trans.) p. 563.

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Worthy of note also was the influence of Shaykh Muhammad

Sambo(68) another of Shehu's scholar and uncle. Perhaps the most

remarkable influence on Shehu came from Shaykh Jibril bin Umar, a

scholar of high learning and exceptional zeal. Uthman first met Jibril

C.1775-80, after the latter's return from Hajj. He was infact to carry

Uthman with him for his second pilgrimage to Makka but Uthman’s

father did not grant him permission. Jubril influence on the Shehu is

something that the Shehu himself has alluded to many times.

"If there be said of me that which is said of good report,

then I am a wave of the waves of Jibril".(69)

As Uthman's mind matured under the counsel of these great

scholars, his knowledge and perception increased and his thoughts

and ideas developed correspondingly. He soon came to see the issue

of da'awa and solution to the problem of his society in the context of

tajdid. Expressing this view in his early writings, Uthman wrote to say:

God, 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

Mujaddid would take upon himself the duty of enjoining

the good and forbidding the evil. He would call for the

regulation of the affairs of the people and the

establishment of justice among them. He would support

the truth against falsehood, revive the Sunnah and

suppress innovation and denounce bad customs. As a

result of his activities his condition would be different

from those of the Ulama of his age and he will find (68) Ibid (69) Uthman b. Fodio. Quoted in Ibid., p.566 see also Ibid., p.564.

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himself a stranger amongst them, because his qualities

are different from their own and men like him are

few…”(70)

Here Shehu was expounding on an authentic and popular hadith.

A kind of programme of action, something which the Shehu took care

to comply with, is clearly noticeable in the exposition. Though Shehu

was clearly striving to play the role of this mujaddid, it is important to

note that he did not at the beginning, not even later, declare himself the

mujaddid. Indeed the mujaddid, by the very nature of his mission, can

only be known after he had accomplished his task and not before. It

was Shehu's efforts and contribution towards this task of tajdid that

conferred on him the leadership of a movement that sprang out of his

teachings and earned him the name of mujaddid as we shall soon see.

Here then is Uthman who was born of a learned family and

talented with a good intellectual ability, spent the whole of his

childhood and youth learning and matured as a scholar well grounded

in the Arabic language and Islamic sciences. Having started as an

itinerant da'i he soon saw his task in the context of tajdid, centered as it

always is around al-Amr bil Ma'aruf wa L Nahy an al Munkar. How he

went about accomplishing this task is subject of the next chapter.

(70) Uthman b. Fodio, Ifham al-Munkirin quoted in M.A al-Hajj, "The Writings of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio". Kano Studies (1) 2 (1974/77), p.9.

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CHAPTER TWO THE MOVEMENT: ONSET DEVELOPMENT AND FRUITION.

True 18th century Hausa land had known Islam for not less than

four centuries in the course of which Islam and its culture had

permeated substantially into the fabric of the society. But the beginning

of the 17th century saw the ascendancy of strife and materialism which

constrained this spread of Islamic message and culture. Teaching and

learning became impaired and the mass of the people fell into the

abyss of ignorance. Local custom and traditions regenerated, while

mixing Islamic and heathen practices became rampant. Corruption and

oppression added to the ugliness of the scene.

Such situational problems must have occupied the minds of the

scholars especially the du'at amongst them. They must in particular

have occupied the mind of the Shehu who by 1775 had begun holding

open wa'az(1) sessions. He must have taken some time giving thoughts

to such problems and their likely solution. Tajdid as he was soon to

realize was the solution. For tajdid, (as is implied in Shehu's writing -

Ifham) and as Muslim history has shown, consists of an endeavour,

intellectual and otherwise, to pull a (Muslim) society out of ignorance,

corruption and injustice, regenerate it and set it once again on the path

of Qur'an and Sunnah, which the Muslims, at least, believe is the path

of harmony, justice and progress.

Until the Shehu saw the task ahead of him in the context of tajdid

he could be said to be following a pattern of Malaman Wa'azi (wa'az

scholars), which abounds, even though in his wa'az we found a

stronger yearning for change. The point in time he made explicit his

conception of his task as tajdid represent a departure from the

(1) Wa'az (lit. admonishing) is the name by which the open sessions given by scholars are known in Hausaland. This tradition in which a scholar, in Public Park and usually at sunset, is encircled by a large number of listeners started at the time Islam entered Hausa land and continues to this very day.

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established pattern and the launching of a novel struggle with definite

goals and mapped out programmes. This then represents the onset of

a movement, which Shehu was soon to find himself leading. For

thereafter his wa'az and writings as well as his movements became

clearly goal inspired and achievement oriented. How the Shehu went

about planning and organizing his human resources for the

achievement of his goal (tajdid) is what this chapter seeks to discuss.

From the birth to the fruition of the movement four distinct phases

can be identified. The phase of public da'awa (1774-1793); the phase

of planning and organization of the movement (1793-1804); the phase

of hijra, jihad and victory (1804-1810) and the phase of consolidation

and the establishment of the Islamic order (1810-1817). The Shehu,

his brother Abd Allah and his son Muhammad Bello by their literary

output made the identification of these phases much easier. The

content, tone and sometimes the audience reveal to us the goals,

objectives and even the obstacles and therefore stages of the

movement. One constrain however hinders our exactness in this. This

is the fact that not all extant works of the triumvirate and especially the

Shehu - on which this study concentrates, are dated. Though relative

dating through internal evidence and cross reference as initiated by

Professor al-Hajj(2) does greatly alleviate our difficulties, absence of

exact dating remains to be a significant limitation.

2.1 The Phase of Public Da'awa

“Then we rose up with the Shaikh helping him in his

mission work for the religion. He traveled for that

purpose to the east and the west, calling the people to

the religion of God by his preaching and his qasidas in (2) M.A al-Hajj, "The Writings of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio: A Plea for dating and chronology", Kano Studies, V.I 2(1974/77), pp. 5-14.

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other languages and destroying customs contrary to

Muslim law. Some of the people from the surrounding

countries came to him, and entered his community

which had become famous through him…”(3)

This eyewitness account summarizes the first few years of this

phase, which can be said to have begun in 1874-5 when the Shehu in

the company of few disciples (including Abd Allah and later

Muhammad Bello) started holding wa'az session in and around his

hometown Degel. These open sessions were soon to be extended

beyond Degel and its surroundings to cover the whole of Gobir and

later Kebbi and even Zamfara states.

In Zamfara, "a land over whose people ignorance was supreme"

and majority of those people "had not smelt the scent of Islam,"(4) the

Shehu and his team had to spend about five years. Shehu's audience

there "used to come gathering and mingling with their women" and he

(the Shehu) "segregated them, teaching them that mixing together was

forbidden, after he had taught them the laws of Islam."(5)Giving a vivid

description of some of such open sessions, Bello, an observant

member of the mobile team says:

“…. on arriving at the place where people were sitting he

would give a general greeting audible to all those

present. On sitting on the chair he would politely and in

a pleasant way greet the people three times. Then the

people would be silent. …He would then speak to them

(3) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al-Waraqa, Hiskette (Ed. trans), I.U.P. 1963, pp. 85-86. Abd Allah being twelve years junior than Shehu was put under the care of the later by their father. Thus Abd Allah was brought up by the Shehu in course of his mission. (4) Ibid. p.86. (5) Ibid.

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in a loud voice addressing himself to everyone without

distinction. …Sometimes a question will be posed while

he was talking and he would stop and answer it. He was

fearless in matters of religion and nobody's blame would

make him budge from the truth….(6)

…. Know that he represented the account of those usul

fundamentals, in order and in the speech of those

present…”.(7)

Though the audience were often assorted, male, female, Muslims,

non-Muslims, Hausa, Fulani, Tuoreg, Shehu didn’t seem to have faced

any communication difficulties. Hausa, being the ligua-franca, must

have been the most common language of instruction. Motivated by the

situational problems of ignorance, syncretism and upsurge of bid'a,

Shehu made the fundamentals of Islam the subject of his talk. He often

took time to explain the principles of Tauhid, (Oneness and attributes

of Allah) which is central to belief in Islam. He also dwelt at length on

the basic acts of worship, taking care to show the correct (sunna) way

of performing them and the wrongs (bid'a) that some people had

introduced in them, which should be eschewed. There were many

common misconceptions, especially on the issue of belief and unbelief

(takfir) which he sought to clarify in addition to some exposition on the

Sharia.(8) Shehu also found time to talk about the prevailing moral laxity

and oppression. He condemns them and eschewed his audience from

them only after he had shown their fallacy.

Though his language was simple and he gave room for questions,

he knew that his audience being largely unlettered needed some way

(6) Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-Maysur p.42 Trnaslated for me by Professor O.S.A Ismail. (7) Ibid. P.48 (8) Ibid., pp. 42-46

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of recalling the instructions. In his days when such communication aids

such as cassette and videos were unknown, poetry was the most

sophisticated and indeed the most effective mass communication aid.

Having been well grounded in Arud (prosody) the Shehu was in no

difficulty in composing didactic poems which he usually did in ajami

(non Arabic languages - Fulfulde and Hausa mainly). In these poems

Shehu found a very effective means of communication for besides

simplifying the instructions, they facilitated memorisation. Once

memorized, the instructions appear fresh whenever recalled and in this

way a lasting effect on the mind of the individual as well as the society

at large was created.

The poems, unlike the public talks, were usually specific in their

themes and often pungent in their contents. They were often

composed with definite purpose in mind. Typical of these is Boneji

Hausa (the trouble of Hausa land) which seem to be targeted at the

moral decadence, corruption and injustices in the society.

1. Thanks be to Allah; and I salute the one who is the best

among the creatures…

2. Let us pray Allah to lead the Hausaland to the right (way),

that its religion may become stronger and its infidelity

become weak.

4. Troubles in Hausa land are many;…..

5. Some are seen and some are only heard about…

20. Some troubles in it are the prostration made (during

salutations); you shall not salute whilst standing…

25 Another trouble in it are that women do not learn;

Their bodies they never cover (properly)…

68 Some have their bellies full of unlawful earnings;

Others are healthy, yet fond of adultery.

69 Some are sick in lust for wealth;

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They accumulate it just to see their riches increase…

90 They believe (senselessly) that every Fulani is called a

Muslim;

It is a lie, the truth should be spoken…

97 The religion belongs to Allah; it is not "Fulaniness"

It is not even "non-Fulaniness" nor the Tuareg way of life.

98 It, religion, does not follow ethnicity, but it is to be followed,

Only those who follow it are worth of respect".(9)

Here the attack on laxity, local customs and misconceptions are

very clear. Not unconnected with the above theme is another poem

Yimre Jahima

Oh! Muslims stop hatred and do not detract

detractors go to hell when they die,

Also thieves, adulterers as well as,

those who misappropriate Zakat….

Also avaricious ruler misled by worldly things…

Also a Qadi who mis-applies justice…

Also the Mallam who fail to follow what he learnt…(10)

The Shehu's message in the poems are not always negative and

frightening. In many of them he tried to create confidence in his

audience of the mercy of their Lord.

Oh God, the Forgiver, forgive my sins

(committed) during the night

Forgive also the sins I committed

In the day light... (9) Uthman b. Fodio, Boneji Hausa, (translated) by M.A Abu Manga (10) Uthman b. Fodio, Yimre Jahima, (quoted In a A.Garba Saidu, "The significance of the Shehu's Sermons and poems in Ajami in Y.B Usman (Ed.) The Sokoto Caliphate, ABU, Lagos, 1979, p. 207

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The soot of my sins have taken

Root on me and sunk deep;

Muhammad's esteem shall surely keep me clean.

My sins are many that they chained me (tight)

Muhammad's esteem shall surely free me…

My sins are so many that they frightened me

Muhammad's esteem shall surely give me security".(11)

In calling people to Sunna (as against bid'a) Shehu sought to

undermine the basis on which people justified the practices of bid'a i.e.

blind copying of people who appear to know better.

Leave us alone with (recalling) what

Father used to do………

Leave us alone with (relying on) what

Is practiced in the East;

these are grounds for those who

stayed astray from Sunnah.

Leave us with the idea that it is

practiced at Medina

Both Mecca and Medina are inferior

To the Sunna"(12)

In another similar poem he appears even more stern:

that Religion was built on common

sense not on (following) the Sheikhs (blindly).

(11) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in Ibid.; pp. 197-198

(12) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in Ibid., 207

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All abodes, even Medina and Mecca are

the (sic) follow the sunna,

Wake up and listen!

He who talks be he Abdul Kadir, Sunna

is to be superior;(13)

There are some Shehu's poems which though apparently aimed

at instilling better social behaviour in his audience, have very serious

consequences on the status quo. They subtly and perhaps

imperceptibly sought to change the tastes and values of the society

and by so doing weaken the assumption on which the legitimacy of the

established order rested.

I thank you oh God for preoccupying me;

With the affairs of Religion alone, which

Is a favour (to me).

Oh my people, here is some advice

He who accepts it is safe in these times.

Never ever sit with an oppressor;

Run away leave him even if he is learned...

Never ever sit with a provoker…

Never ever sit with innovator;

Refusing this poem is bad taste….

Do cultivate sitting with a teacher…

Never budge from near man of "Sunna"

For he is superior to father and mother.(14)

(13) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in Ibid., 208

(14) Ibid., p.199.

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There are also those that simplify otherwise complicated

instructions. Typical of these is the one on inheritance:

Male heirs generally are ten.

Add five to them for specification,

Begin with the son, the grandson,

Add then the full brother related through

Mother and father, and the half-brother

Through the father,

And the son of the full brother related through

Mother and father and then the son of the

Half-brother through the father…(15)

Apt in their expressions, passionate in their appeal, melodious in

their tune, these poems spread all over the segment of the society, the

street and the market places; the schools and the courts; the farms and

the homes. They soon came to replace the vulgar songs which had

formed a significant component of the Hausa/Fulani jahilliyya. To the

men when at work as well as to the women when in the kitchen, these

poems seemed to inspire some tempo and vitality. They (poems)

eventually became (and still are) to the ordinary men and women what

books are to students and scholars.

In addition to his public talks and didactic poetry, Shehu Uthman

composed a large body of prose works (books and pamphlets) in

Arabic, apparently addressed to the students and scholars and through

them to the public at large. Here again the objective is the same: to

expound on the fundamentals of Islam; revive the sunna and obliterate

the bid'a; educate the public on the basic acts of ibadah (worship) and

muamalat (social intercourse); revive the spirit of al Amr bil Maaruf wal

(15) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in Hiskette, The Sword of Truth, London, O.U.P, 1973

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Nahy anil Munkar in the Muslims. This is evident in the very titles of his

writings during this phase such as Kitab Usul al –Deen (the book of the

roots ‘fundamentals’ of the Deen Islam) and Kitab Ulum al-Muamalat

(the book of Science of behaviour) in which he discussed such topics

as Iman, Ihsan (tasawwuf) and some elementary Fiqh.

Public response to Shehu's daawah activities was, as Abdullah

reported, remarkably favourable. Many people, male and female,

Muslims and non-Muslims, unlettered as well as men of letters were

reported to flock to his wa'az sessions. Many non-Muslims were

converting to Islam and his circle of students and disciples was also

growing as some people migrate to stay with him. The question that

need to be asked here is why this unprecedented massive and

spectacular public response? Are the answers to be found in the

content of Shehu's da'awa or are there other factors? Why couldn’t

other scholars (and there were many) attract similar response?

True, there were many scholars but the inter-state strife which

saw the rise of materialism and political corruption had taken its toll

among the scholars. A good number of them (scholars) had joined the

lucrative king’s court, giving a tint of justification to the corruption,

oppression and injustices in return for the king’s favours. Some had

turned to quackery, posing as Sufi Shaykhs or fortune tellers and

duping the ignorant people. Those that had endured clean, confined

themselves to their ‘ivory towers’ where they taught their few students

leaving the mass of the people to grope in ignorance.

Shehu on the other hand, never identified himself with the

establishment. Neither did he (Shehu) confine himself to an "Ivory

tower," but from the onset made the public and their problems his

concern. Shehu did of course visit Bawa (Sarkin Gobir) but that was

well after his fame had spread and even then his purpose was not to

curry favour but in fact to call Bawa to Islam and its Sharia.(16) Thus (16) Abd Alla b. Muhammad, Tazyin al Waraqah p. 86

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from the start, Shehu was "an activist concerned with the education of

the masses".(17) This sholar/activist posture of the Shehu must have

been a contributory factor to his remarkable success.

It should be recalled however that Shaykh Jibril b. Umar was also

a scholar/activist who seemed to have restlessly laboured to incite

Muslims to jihad without success. Jibril’s failure to master any public

support may however be attributed to his view on Takfir

(anathematisation): that any Muslim who commits a Kaba'ir (grave sin)

becomes a Kafir (non believer). This must have alienated him from the

mass of the people and rendered his effort abortive. The Shehu on the

other hand neither shared Jibrils view on Kaba'ir nor took such a

negative posture in his da'awa.

But Shehu's scholar/activist role cannot alone explain the public

response. There must have been other factors. Two come readily to

mind. On the one hand the society had for some time been undergoing

some social and economic crisis resulting from materialism and

misrule. The quick and massive public response can therefore be seen

as an expression of the society's yearning for some way out this crisis.

On the other hand, is the content of Shehu's da'awa, the poems in

particular. Pertinent and bold in the contents, convincing in their style,

the poems and even the talks, must have offered a ray of hope to the

no doubt, distressed citizens.

The implication of the public response and mass awakening,

which Shehu provoked, on the men of pen and the men of sword was

obvious. The first to react however were, the scholars, who, threatened

by desertion, and "loss of business" launched an offensive against the

Shehu accusing him of heresy and misleading of the common people.

This quite naturally triggered a counter attack from the shehu and

culminated into a fierce debate that continued well beyond this phase. (17) M.A. al-Hajj "The Wrtings of the Shehu….." Kano Studies 1, (2) 1974/77, p.9

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Shehu was reported to have authored more than fifty works in the

course of this debate.(18) Shehu’s counter attack was not always

addressed to the scholars alone but often to the public also, who would

otherwise succumb to the argument of his adversaries. His poem

Mbuhri is a good example in point:

On the description of the conceited (beast);

(One) whose learning made him pompous and

unfortunate.

Conscious of being superior to others;

Yet he is to speak on their behalf.

He is above eating up his words;

Even if he misses the point, he must win!

He is above replying, "I do not know";

Lest the common man takes him to be immature

(Mallam)

He will not permit any of his pupils to go and learn;

From any other Mallam, listen to what has been risked.

He will not allow a case to be taken;

To another Mallam, so that he will have monopoly.

He is too great to undertake his work himself;

In fact he is above going to farm;

He is above digging and planting.

He is above carrying a bag;

And go to the market just because of conceit(19)

This poem seems to suggest that some scholars tried to stop

some of their students from responding favourably to Shehu and

(18) Muhsnnad Bello, Infaq al-Maysur.

(19) Uthman b. Fodio quoted in G. Saidu, Ibid. P.200

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attending his open sessions especially. It also throws light on the

Shehu's modest and simple style of life as contrasted to the arrogant

behaviour of his adversaries among the scholars (Mallamai, Sing.

Mallam).

Some of these Mallamai, to be sure, are hardly any better in

knowledge than their ignorant followers. This fact is manifested by the

kind of misconceptions they were propagating, leaving to Shehu the

task of clarifying such confusion. The Shehu seems never to be tired in

doing what he believed to be his main job.

My aim is to compose for us on wrong interpretation;

Which have confused some and are infectious

One wrong interpretation is, that he whoever

Stops at "La ilaha" is to be termed an unbeliever, is utter

nonsense.

If that were so, then every Muslim, if he says the

Shahada;

even if he does not stop short would become an

unbeliever;

Another wrong interpretation is that every "Pullo"

(Fulani) should be regarded as Muslim(20)

It is significant here to note Shehu's effort to destroy the

misconception of equating a Fulani to a Muslim, as he has done in his

other works. This effort to dissociate belief in Islam with ethnic or

language affiliation renders hollow the contention of those scholars

who conceive Shehu's jihad as a Fulani Jihad. This argument will recur

at opportuned points in this chapter for it is basic to this study.

(20) Ibid., p.206

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Another misconception of equal magnitude is that propagated by

the Ulama al- Kalam, who made the understanding of Ilm al Kalam a

prerequisite for being a Muslim. Pointing to the absurdity of the

argument the shehu wrote to say:

"There are those who allege that nobody should be

accepted as a believer or a Muslim before memorizing

the creeds and their proofs, in accordance with the

method of the rationalist theologians (Mutakkalimun),

and is able to express himself clearly; I say this is

nothing but falsehood and confusion according to the

consensus of opinion (ijma). Verily, the distinguished

and erudite scholar Muhammad b. Ahmed Qumni rightly

states in his commentary on al-Umda of al-Nasafi that

such a stipulation had never been made by the

messenger of God at his time nor by al-Siddiq during his

caliphate when he fought the apostates (ahl al-ridda).

Moreover, Umar, during his caliphate, did not demand

such a thing from Zatt and Anbat, when he conquered

the Sawad of al-Iraq, in spite of their lack of intelligence

and their stupidity. In fact none of the companions of the

messenger of God, nor their successors up to the

present day, has made such a stipulation…"(21)

Shehu's good intellectual background served him very well in this

debate for his argument as is evident above is fully supported by facts

extracted from famous books or Muslim history. This must have given

him an edge over his opponents.

(21) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in M.A al-hajj, "The writings of Shehu…."Kano Studies, 1,2, 1974/77, p. 7

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Just as the misconceptions were many so were Shehu’s efforts to

clarify them:

Among their misconceptions is that some of them (i.e

Ulama) tolerate unworthy customs on the grounds of the

saving, which is widespread in the lands, that the

customs of a land is Sunna. But this 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 had heard some of them say:

forbidding evil in a 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 God the exalted; this is one of

the characteristics of the Jews.(22)

Another issue on which the Shehu was taken to task was the

question of women education. Shehu deplored the ignorance in which

he found the mass of the people and women in particular. He not only

permitted women to attend his public session but he deliberately

appealed to them to come out and learn what is obligatory (of

knowledge) to them. The women's favourable response to Shehu's

appeal provoked another wave of attack on the Shehu by his

opponents among the scholars. An incidence worth mentioning in this

respect, happened during Shehu's five years sojourn in Zamfara.

Seeing how large number of women flocked at Shehu's public

wa'az, one scholar Mustapha Goni, wrote to Shehu, condemning

women attendance and asking the Shehu to stop the women from

(22) Uth'man b. Fodio, Ibid., p.9

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attending his talks. Abd Allah replying Mustapha on Shehu's behalf

said:

Oh you who have come to guide us aright.

We have heard what you have said.

Listen to what we say.

You gave advice to the best of your ability

...But I do not agree that their (women)

being left in ignorance is good.

...We found people of this country drowning of

ignorance;

Shall we prevent them from understanding religion?(23)

A little later Shehu found time to make a more thorough counter

attack on this issue of women education:

In a treatise of Muhammad b. Yusuf Salum b. Ibrahim

there is a chapter on what many scholars (Ulama) of the

Sudan do to their wives, their daughters and their

slaves….They leave them neglected like cattle without

instructing them in what is obligatory upon them in

connection with their creed, their ritual ablution, their

fasting (of Ramadan) and other things which are

incumbent upon them. Nor do they instruct them in what

is permissible (Mubah) for them like buying, selling and

similar things. Indeed they regard them as nothing but a

pot which they use and when it breaks to pieces they

throw away in the place for dung and rubbish…

(23) Abd Allah b. Muhammad Tazyin al-Waraqa, P. 86.

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One wonders at their custom, of leaving their wives,

their daughters and their slaves in the darkness of

ignorance while at the same time they teach their

students every morning and evening. Indeed the only

motive in teaching their students is self-aggrandizement

and nothing else…(24)

This battle on women rights and education was apparently a

difficult one, and seemed to have lasted up to the last phase of the

movement, as is evident in Shehu's writing. To bring his point home he

often had to leave the books and come down to practical arguments.

He drew, for example an analogy between permission given to women

to go to Makka for hajj and their coming out for learning.(25) For those

who were still adamant Shehu went further to show the futility of their

argument by pointing to the fact that:

people see their women attending illegally, marriage

ceremonies; they also see them dancing and singing

and intermixing with men, moreover, they observe them

going out for ‘Id ceremonies in their full make-up without

denying these on pursuit of learning they say this is

reprehensible.(26)

Addressing the Muslim women themselves on this issue the

Shehu says:

“…O Muslim women do not listen to the words of those

misguided men who tell you about the duty of obedience (24) Uthman b. Fodio quoted in M.A. al-Hajj, "The writings of Shehu…." P.8 (25) See M.A Kani, unpublished M.L.S Thesis, p.102 (26) Ibid.

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to your husbands but they do not tell you anything about

obedience to God and His messenger…”(27)

Shehu's stern position on the education of women clearly explains

the literary and intellectual heights reached by his wife Aisha, his

daughters Maryam, Asma and a host of other women. It was these

women who supplied the man-power in the post jihad educational

institutions in which the ideals of the revolution were instilled in the

minds of the younger generation.

One other issue which took a prominent place in the debate and

became of considerable importance is the question of who is a Muslim

and who is not in a situation where syncretism and bid'a had blurred

the dividing line. We have already alluded to the view of the 'Ulama al-

Kalam and the view of Shehu's revered teacher Shaykh Jibril b. Umar

both of which Shehu did not share. There were also other views but for

our purpose we need to mention only the view which finally cleared the

confusion and restored sanity in this no doubt fundamental issue. This

was not supposingly Shehu's view, that:

Whosoever affirms the 'Confession of faith'

(shahadatain) 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. (28)

(27) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in M.A al-Hajj. "The writings of the Shehu…."p.8

(28) Ibid., p.7

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Fortifying his position the Shehu argued that 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 attitudes of the sinner. Since non but Allah can know what is

in the heart of a man, any judgment is better left to the last day.(29)

The dimension and significance this issue assumed in the debate

only reflected the state of Shehu's society vis-à-vis Islam. Had ethnic

affiliation been more important than religion (Islam), the issue couldn’t

have taken so much time and effort to resolve. Here again lies a strong

case against the ethnic colouring of Shehu's jihad.

As Shehu emerged victorious out of this great debate, both the

debate itself and indeed the victory boasted his position as a scholar of

high learning and courage and facilitated further the spread of his

teachings. Consequently the following of Shehu began to grow to a

proportion that could no longer be ignored by the authorities.

Sarkin Gobir Bawa's invitation of the Shehu to attend the eid al-

Kabir celebration at Magami, in 1789, during the Shehu's five years

sojourn in Zamfara is no doubt an indication of this concern.

Tradition(30) has it that Bawa planned to kill the Shehu at Magami.

Shehu, who was said to have arrived at Magami with an entourage of

about one thousand scholars, won a substantial number of the king’s

ulama and nobility, who decamped to his side. Frightened by this

development Bawa was said to have abandoned his plan. To justify the

invitation however he distributed a lot of wealth as gifts to the assembly

of scholars. Shehu, however, refused the gift and told Bawa that he

(29) See D.M. Last and M.A al-Hajj, "Attempt at Defining Muslim in 19th Century Hausaland and Bornu," J.H.S.N 111, 2(1965), pp. 232-233 (30) See M. Hiskett, The Sword of Truth, London, O.U.P 1973, p.45 (quoting from Gidado's Raud al-

Jinan)

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and his followers are not in need of the King’s wealth, but in its stead

he had some five requests to make:

1. To allow me to call people to God in your country.

2. Not to stop any body who intend to respond to my call.(31)

3. To treat with respect any one with a turban.

4. To free all the (political) prisoners

5. Not to burden the subjects with taxes.(32)

Shehu's refusal to accept Bawa's gift could not have come as a

surprise at least not to his following. Accepting Bawa's gift more or less

conveys, at the very minimum, a tacit approval of Bawa's sources of

wealth. His asceticism apart, Shehu, in course of his wa'az had been

subtly campaigning against the rulers abandoning of the Sharia and

descending to tyranny and oppression. He couldn’t have therefore

accepted any portion of what to him as well to his following, is an ill-

gotten wealth. His refusal, and publicly for that matter, must have sent

to Bawa a message. The message itself may not be new to Bawa -

Shehu's abhorrence of his rule - but the style of communication is both

new and far-reaching.

The five demands which Shehu made in place of the gifts, more

than any thing depict the relationship that had developed between the

Shehu and Sarkin Gobir Bawa, in course of this phase. The first three

demands, for example, indicate some strained relationship whether

latent or manifest. There is so far no evidence to show that Bawa had

taken any distinct step(s) to stop Shehu from his activities or stop

people responding to him. So until such evidence is found we shall

(31) This suggests that the turban had become characteristics dress of Shehu's followers (among men), whose dignity Shehu seems to want to protect. (32) quoted in F.H Masri, "The life of Usman Dan Fodio before Jihad". J.H.S.N, ii, 4(1963), p.44

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assume that Shehu had reasons to believe that Bawa was about doing

so and his was forestall such move.

The two other demands depicted the position of the Shehu vis-a-

vis the socio-political order, for no ordinary scholar can go that far with

his head of state and Bawa especially who was well known for his

ruthless rule. These two requests further identified the Shehu clearly

with the plight of political prisoners (many of whom were said to be

from Zamfara from whence Shehu came to the Magami meeting) and

the poor oppressed citizens of Gobir. This identification of Shehu with

the real plight of the common people made his position more than just

one through whom salvation in the next world could be attained but

also are through whom delivery from the prevailing tyranny could be

achieved. Bawa's conceding to the five demands only confirmed the

fears of Shehu and the hope of the oppressed and distressed people in

Shehu's ability to deliver them from Bawa's callous hand. This hope

quite naturally brought more followers to the Shehu from among the

oppressed and those who until then, had been secretly sharing the

plight of the oppressed.

Though Shehu's da'awa tours seemed to have been concentrated

in Gobir, Kebbi and Zamfara states, the message of his da'awa went

far beyond these three states. The Hausa land as indeed the whole

Bilad al-Sudan had for long been connected by an efficient network of

roads, along which students and scholars (among others) were

constantly on the move, copying works and spreading ideas. It is

therefore quite natural in such circumstances for Shehu's ideas to

spread all over Hausa land and perhaps beyond.

Shehu's teachings, though tied around the fundamentals of Islam,

gradually came to question the very logic on which the established

order rested. His debate with scholars and such incidences as

occurred at Magami only helped to unveil the "rebellious" potential of

Shehu's ideas. The content of his da’awah as well as the development

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it spurred brought to Shehu an unprecedented number of followers,

many of whom remained in their localities along Shehu's itinerary to

spread knowledge and propagate their Shaykh's ideas and thereby

recruit yet more following.

As this phase was closing, Shehu was finding himself at the head

of a large and growing community of Muslims (which he called the

Jama'a) whose allegiance was to a faith (Islam) and not to a state

(Gobir), sharing a common ideology, common aims and objectives,

rules and regulations, even on matters of dressing, thus transcending

all ethnic and national divisions. With such developments, the task of

tajdid was no longer one of wa'az tours alone but planning and

organizing this growing revolutionary crowd. Thus Shehu decided in

1793 to settle down for the purpose of coordinating the next phase of a

movement whose leadership had fallen on his shoulders.

This phase therefore is essentially a phase of intellectual

revolution which brought not only converts to Islam but gave to the

Muslims the true meaning and essence of Islam. This alerted the

Muslims to their responsibilities and gave them a mission in life beyond

the search for bread and butter. Simultaneous with this intellectual

revolution was the recruitment of a revolutionary party whose potentials

became evident as the phase closed. The development of this

revolutionary party to the outbreak of confrontation formed the second

phase of this movement as we shall now see.

2.2 THE PAHSE OF PLANNING AND ORGANISATION OF THE MOVEMENT (1795-1804)

Having spent nearly nineteen years roving the whole Gobir, Kebbi,

Zamfara and perhaps beyond, procuring converts to Islam, awakening

Muslims through this da'awa and recruiting - as it were - members of

the revolutionary party, the Shehu felt justified to settle at Degel, while

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the Jama'a continued to gather momentum. Shehu's settling in Degel

can therefore be said to be a milestone in the development of the

movement for it gave the Jama'a a kind of base for planning and a

headquarters for coordinating and organizing its members. Shehu's

objective in this phase seems to have been to enhance his already

high spiritual training and concentrate on bringing up his close disciples

and students, while the work of da'awa continues in the hands of the

network of students/disciples that he raised along his itinerary and

beyond. He was at the same time overseeing and directing the content

and course of the da'awa. The scheme Shehu envisaged for this phase

in respect of da'awa cannot be put any better than he himself did.

It is incumbent on every scholar not to keep silent in the

present times because innovations (bid'a) have appeared

and are wide spread. Verily the hadith states: ‘Any

scholar who keep silent in the face of dissensions (fitna)

may the curse of God fall upon him.’ Verily any one 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 sharia, 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 the tenets of their

religion. Similarly in every village it is incumbent on every

jurist who has completed the individual obligation (fard

kifaya) to go out to the neighboring territories and teach

the people there the tenets of their religion and the

stipulations of the sharia". (33)

(33) Uthman b. Fodio, Ihya al Sunna, quoted in M.A al-Hajj. The writings of Shehu Usman… Kano

Studies, I, 2(1974/77), p.9

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It is to facilitate this programme that Shehu Usman wrote a

voluminous work - Ihya al-sunna wa ikhmad al-bid'a in about the same

year he settled at Degel i.e 1793. The very title of the book reflects the

objectives of the author - something he had devoted his time on for

nearly nineteen years. Written in classical Arabic and having assumed

some knowledge of the subject matter, the book is clearly addressed to

the scholars and students who the Shehu envisaged will impart the

contents to the common man.

Lest some of his adversaries take it as an attack against them,

the Shehu made it very clear in the introduction that his intention (in

writing the book) is not to find fault in people, far from it. He only

wanted to revive the sunna and obliterate the bid'a. Further justifying

the need for the book, Usman said:

Know that all kinds of learning are available with the

ulama. But what is missing at the present time is

knowledge of sunna and bid’a, except with a few of them.

If you know one of these few during these times, cling to

him. For he is today like a precious gem.(34)

In teaching this (and of course other) book(s) to the common

people Shehu advised three precautions to be particularly guarded:

(a) Fault should not be found with people, and their weakness

should not be exposed unnecessarily.

(b) Unless an action by people is opposed to the Qur'an or the

Sunna, it should not be condemned, even if it appears

(34) Uthman b. Fodio, Ihya al-Sunna, quoted in I.A.B. Balogun. The life and works of Uthman Dan

Fodio Lagos I.P.B., 1975 p.74.

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contradictory to al-Mudawwana, for it is lawful for any

adherent of a school of law to follow the guidance of any

one of the jurist of that school.

(c ) The sinful ones among Muslims should not be hated in

every respect, much less the pious ones among them.(35)

Here Shehu seems to be sharing his nineteen years teaching

experience with his fellow scholars and students on whom this task of

communicating the contents of the book to the common man fell.

Shehu started the first chapter of this book with an exposition on

the position of Qur'an, Sunnah and Ijma in the life of Muslims. The next

two chapters he spent in defining and explaining the different types of

bid'a and their implications. The fourth chapter was on the foundation

of faith and the bid'a that are rampant in it. From the fifth until the

thirtieth chapter he covered almost every aspect of fiqh. From dahara

(purification) through ibadat (acts of worship), to business transaction

and other social aspects of life. The last three chapters were on some

general aspects like charms, dreams, Istikhara and Tasawwuf. He

ended the book with the usual difference and a remarkable advice.

Part of this advice may not be out of place.

“…. The only thing that can protect a Muslim nation from

fitna is a prophet and later (after him) his Sunnah, hence

follow it.

…Follow Sunnah and not bid'a. Be humble and not

proud. Be austere not rich…”(36)

The Ihya is in a way a collection of what Shehu had been

teaching in the first phase. It contains therefore the gist of the

(35) Uthan b. Fodio Ihya al-Sunna, Quoted in Ibid. p.51 (36) Uthman b. Fodio. (From a Hausa draft translation by Ibrahim Ahmad Aliyu)

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intellectual revolution. The book became - as it must have been

intended to be - a text-book for schools and a dai's handbook all over

the Hausa land.

In Degel, the Shehu found time to intensify his spiritual

training,(37) going into short periods of retreat occasionally. Soon he

began to see vision in his sleep - an indication, in Sufi thoughts, of a

high level of spiritual refinement from where one could derive

inspirations. Tasawwuf by Shehu's time had since become associated

with certain personalities whose peculiar methods of spiritual training

have become solemnised into Tariqa. Having subscribed to Qadriyya

Tariqa, his (Shehu’s) vision quite naturally became cast in the frame of

that Tariqa. Relating one such vision which came to him in 1794, the

Shehu said:

When I reached forty years, five months and some days,

God drew me to Him, and I found the Lord of djinns and

men, our lord Muhammad - may God bless him and grant

him peace. With him were the companions, and the

prophets and the saints. Then the saviour of djinns and

men, our lord Abdul Kadir al-Jilani, brought a green robe

embroidered with the words, "there is no god but God;

Muhammad is the Messenger of God" - May God bless

him and give him peace - and a turban embroidered with

the words, "He is God, the one “…He sat me down and

clothed me and enturbanned me… and he girded me with

the sword of truth, to unsheathe it against the enemies of

God…(38)

(37) See Abd al-Haqq Sayf al-llm. Biography of Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio, in: Handbook on Islam,

Norwich, Diwan Press 1978, p.3 (38) Uthman b. Fodio, quoted in M. Hiskett, The Sword of Truth, p.66

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The significance of such visions and this one in particular is to be

found not in the karama (miracle) of the Shehu, but in the development

of the movement, as it headed towards an eventual confrontation. As

the confrontation became more probable, the movement’s leadership

began to seek Allah's guidance and blessing in a manner similar to that

of their model - Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) - at certain crucial

moments of his mission. The visions to both shehu and his Jama’a, are

expressions of such guidance.

Clouded by Western secular thoughts, Hiskett couldn’t have

seen the real significance of these visions. Hiskett's impudence

became vivid when he suggested that large quantities of kola nuts

"when taken in a fasting state, could produce hallucination"(39) which he

insolently thought the visions were.

The Shehu was not alone in this spiritual training. He had, since

the beginning of his da'awa tours, been bringing up his disciples and

students including Abd Allah his brother and even his wife Aisha, along

the path of Tasawwuf. By training them to shun materialism and to live

in bare austerity the Shehu was aiming at inculcating into his team

higher values (ahlaq) which he deemed essential to the kind of task

they were out to accomplish. Once disciplined to disregard the material

aspect of life and to crave for the pleasure of Allah and the life of al-

Jannah, suffering and even death in the cause of Allah becomes not

only easy but a sublime goal. The role of such training in moulding the

revolutionary personnel is often ridiculed or at best played down by

conventional western scholarship - for reasons which are obvious and

therefore need not detain us. Perhaps it needs to be emphasized that

to the Shehu and his team, the Qadriyya fellowship meant no more

than a means of refining the soul to enable it shoulder the

(39) M. Hiskett in ibid., p.68. the fact that visions are not less common in Christian traditions only

express further Hiskett’s insolence.

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responsibilities the circumstances called for. That Qadriyya never

became a prerequisite of the Jama'a membership is of particular

significance.

With Shehu at Degel, scholars and students from all over Hausa

land and Bornu began to pour into Degel, seeking not only knowledge

but participation in the emerging force of change - the Jama'a. Thus

Degel began to grow into a kind of university town cum revolutionary

center. Though Shehu (seemed to have) spent most of his time at

Degel with his advanced students and disciples, he kept a separate

day each week for women and maintained a public lecture every

Friday. Shehu's concentration on his advanced students can easily be

appreciated when it is realized that by 1793 events were already

pointing to an eventual confrontation. In the event of any such

confrontation breaking out, it is on these students/disciples

(revolutionary personnel) the movement will have to rely for organizing

and leading the Jama'a at large (i.e. the revolutionary crowd).

Simultaneous to the developments in Degel was the growth of

Jama'a scattered all over Hausaland. The deterioration of the socio-

political order must have contributed to the growth of the Jama'a in

whom the Hausa society must have been nursing a growing hope for

liberation from their unending afflictions. The teachings of the Shehu

are also a factor, as has already been pointed out. The combined

effect of these mutually reinforcing factors seemed to have been

particularly great during this second phase. For the Jema'a soon came

to be characterized by a burning desire to check the prevailing munkar

(evils) and replace it with ma'aruf (the good.). To the Jama'a as to any

Muslim, the whole of their lives revolves around this idea of alamr bil

maaruf wal Nahy anil munkar. And their position in the next world is

largely determined by the extent to which they participate in this noble

task. The Jama'a, it could be assumed, must have discussed the

popular hadith in which the prophet (S.A.W.) said that who ever sees

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evil should correct it by his hands. If he can’t for reasons of weakness

then by his mouth (talking) and if he cant then he should hate it in his

heart, but this (last resort) is a manifestation of weak faith.

Motivated by this ideology, the Jama'a seeing their daily increase

must have thought themselves to be in a position to put a stop to the

evils of their society by their hands. The further they move into this

phase, the more tempted they seemed to have become for a show

down with the establishment. But Shehu Uthman, shrewd and

farsighted, would not allow the Jama'a to embark on what to him is

rush action that would not do Islam any good.

Shehu's book Al-Amr bil' ma'aruf wa l-Nahy an al-munkar,

though undated, must have been written at this point in time when the

Jama'a were exhibiting some impatience over the realization of their

goals. The main theme of this work is as the title indicates: enjoining

the good and forbidding the evil. Shehu argued that: "Every Muslim

should observe this duty, even though he be a sinner, because this

duty and individual piety are two distinct injunctions and failure to

observe one should not justify neglecting the other."(40) Shehu also

made mention, in this same work, of jihad as a Fard Kifaya (collective

duty) which can only be waged under an elected Imam, and warned

ordinary people against waging it separately without an Imam for "it

only results in failure and drags weak Muslims into perdition

unnecessarily".(41) It is of particular significance to note that Shehu

cited a number of examples of rash Jihads which ended up on total

failure, like that of Abu Mahalli in early 17th, century North Africa

(Marrakesh).(42)

(40) Uthman b. Fodio, al-Amr bil ma'aruf wal Nahy an al munkar, quoted in F.H, Masri, "Introduction

Bayan Wujub al Hijra, Ed. trans. By F.H Masri Khartoum K.U.P., 1978, p.22. (41) Uthman b. Fodio. (42) See F.H. Masri, Ibid.

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Shehu’s Amr bi l ma'aruf must have cooled down the Jama'a but

perhaps not for a longtime for their (Jama'a) impatience seemed to

have reached another peak around 1797 when the Shehu had to grant

them permission to cut away from the jurisdiction of the Hausa rule,

which they were finding more and more intolerable. Though the nature

of this break is not yet clear, some sources(43) suggest that it offered

some kind of refuge to the oppressed Hausa citizens, who joined the

Jama'a swelling its numbers and increasing its potential. This quite

naturally enraged the Hausa kings, as Abd Allahi reported(44) for every

increase in the Jama'a meant a shift of loyalty and the narrowing of the

Hausa political base. Gobir which has the base of the Jama'a, Degel,

within its boundaries was naturally the worst hit by this new

development.

To save his diminishing political base, Napata who took the

throne of Gobir in 1796, embarked on attacking the Jama'a (who where

distinguishable from their dressing) waylaying them and robbing their

properties in the hope that they will return under his jurisdiction. This

however had the opposite effect in making the Jama'a more firm and

militant in changing the state of affairs in Hausa land.

In the wake of Napata's persecutions the Jama'a demanded a

show down with the Gobir authorities but Shehu refused to consent to

any confrontation. Shehu however knew that a confrontation was no

longer inevitable. As if to prepare his Jama'a for the eventual

confrontation the Shehu composed a poem apparently in praise of

Shaykh Abd al- Kadir Jaylani, in which he urged the Jama'a to acquire

arms, as it is Sunnah (to do so) and prayed to Allah to show him

Islamic rule in Hausa land.(45) Shehu's message to both the Jama'a as

(43) Abd Allah b. Muhammad Tazyin al-Waraqah p.107 (44) Ibid. p. 107 (45) Ibid., p. 105

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well as the kings of Hausa land, Gobir in particular, was very clear.

Jama'a’s response to this call to arms frightened Napata who being

more desperate than ever before, thought to check this "menace"

through decrees. He had the following announced:

(a) Nobody, except Danfodio 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 wear turbans, nor women veils.(46)

These three decrees clearly reflect Napata's dilemma, and the

going ons at that time. The conversion to Islam and growth of the

Jama'a must have risen to such a rate that will soon leave Napata with

little or no subject to rule, or as it were, to oppress. The decrees

represent Napata's last hope in arresting the growth and potential of

the Jama'a and restoring his eroded political base. That with all his

rage, Napata could not dare ask the Shehu himself to stop calling

people to Islam should have revealed to him (Napata) his real worth in

that changing circumstances. The decrees were of no avail and Napata

finally resorted to assassinate the Shehu. The attempt was abortive

and soon after that Napata died leaving the throne to his son Yunfa, in

1803.

Yunfa inherited from his father an explosive fortune which he

would have done well to handle with care. But having taken after his

father's recklessness he began to intensify the persecution of the

Jama'a. This led a certain group of the Jama'a under one Abd

(46) F.H el-Masri, The Life of the Shehu before the Jihad, J.H.S.N., ii, 2(1961), p.445.

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Assalam to leave Gobir for Gimbara in Kebbi, to escape Yunfa's

persecution.

Yunfa's atrocities added fuel to the already tense situation and

left the Jama'a with hardly any alternative other than confrontation. The

Jama’a’s temptation can be appreciated when it is realized that theirs

was a society in which standing regular army as such did not exist and

there were relatively equal accessibility to arms - spears, swords,

arrows, shields etc. The situation notwithstanding Shehu restrained the

Jama'a many of whom, it could imagine, perturbed and impatient, may

not have seen the wisdom of the restraint. The Jama'a discipline and

loyalty as well as Shehu's able leadership saved what might have been

a tragedy.

The wisdom behind the restraint, was soon to be manifest in

fourteen point tract, Masail al-Muhimma which the Shehu wrote and

circulated in the same year, 1803. Shehu's main message in this

Masail is summarized by the following excerpt:

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 blood shed or

seizure of property in one area, they have to evacuate it

for another where nothing like that occurs."(47)

(47) Quoted from "Introduction" to Uthman b. Fodio, Bayan Wujub al-Hijra, (Ed. Trans. F.H. El-

Masri). Khartoum, K.U.P, 1978, p.24

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The very title of the work (Important Matters) suggests the crucial

position of the movement at the time the work was written. What Shehu

seems to be saying is that, the chances of the movement's success in

the event of any confrontation is not bright enough to warrant a show

down. And even if the movement is deemed ready for such a show

down, no confrontation can begin when the Muslims are "neglected",

without an Imam to whom allegiance is sworn. Though Shehu was the

unmistakable leader of the Jama'a, this to him did not automatically

make him the Imam, for his leadership position was something which

his learning, courage and charisma earned him and not election.

It was also in the Masail that Shehu for the first time drew a clear

line of demarcation between believers and unbelievers, regarding any

body who supported the latter as one of them. It appears that some

scholars who had joined the King's court giving tacit support to their

policies and actions tried to justify their position by arguing that they

could while in the court intercede on behalf of the persecuted Jama'a.

Dismissing this as futile, Shehu quoted a number of sources one of

which was a famous scholar Abd ' al-Aziz al- Andalusi.

“You might say that some of ill-treated and weak people

are being detained by the rulers and by visiting the kings

and acquainting (yourself) with the leaders of the people

for the purpose of intercession for the one who needs it

you are doing a good service… we say, this is one of the

devils deceptions”.(48)

By categorically ruling out any such link with the Hausa rulers

and imploring the acquisition of weapons and election of an Imam the

Shehu was in a way sanctioning a confrontation. It was Sarkin Gobir

Yunfa, however and not the Shehu who was to precipitate the combat. (48) Uthman b. Fodio Masail, quoted in M.A. Kani, unpublished MIS thesis 1978, p.110.

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Not without the consent of Sarkin Kebbi, the Gobir forces

pursued the Jama'a under Abdussalam as far as Gimbana, attacked

them, seized their property, destroyed the village, and took captives

their men, women and children. Infuriated by the agony of their

brethren the Jama'a at Degel ambushed Yunfa's forces on their way to

Alkalawa (capital of Gobir) and released the captives. Yunfa, incensed

by this incidence now turned to Degel. He asked the Shehu (and his

family) to leave Degel for he (Yunfa) was going to attack and devastate

the Jama'a there. But Shehu could not shirk off his responsibilities as

Yunfa foolishly thought. Replying Yunfa, Shehu said:

“I will not forsake my community, but I (and my Jama'a)

will leave your country. For Allah's earth is wide”! (49)

Though Yunfa soon changed his mind about Shehu leaving

Degel, perhaps in fear of certain consequences, Shehu continued with

preparation for a Hijra.

Shehu soon wrote yet another tract which was to further clarify

the issues involved and this time calling for a Hijra and preparation for

Jihad that was to follow. This was the twenty-seven point Wathiqat ahl

al-Sudan wa man Sha Allah min al-ikhwan, which must have been

soon circulated through the network which the Jama'a had formed, in

course of the previous thirty years, all over Hausaland and Borno. The

first seven points of this Wathiqat summarized the core of the

message:

(i) That the commanding of righteousness is obligatory by

assent (lit. according to Ijma).

(ii) And that the prohibition of evil is obligatory by assent. (49) Quoted in Abd allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin p.108

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(iii) And that flight (Hijra) from the land of the heathen is

obligatory by assent.

(iv) And that the befriending of the faithful is obligatory by

assent.

(v) And that the appointment of the Commander of the faithful

is obligatory by assent.

(vi) And that obedience to him and to all his deputies is

obligatory by assent.

(vii) And the waging of Holy War (al-Jihad) is obligatory by

assent".(50)

By starting with Amr bil Ma'aruf… Shehu must have meant to

clarify the ideological stand of the movement which now, as ever

justifies the stand the Jama'a were taking vis-à-vis the crisis. Following

immediately is the Hijra and solidarity among the believers which

automatically call for the appointment of the Imam (Commander of the

faithful) and his deputies. These, besides being "obligatory by assent"

are particularly essential to the Jihad which the Wathiqat is in a way

declaring. The subsequent points were to give details of who and for

what the Jama'a are to fight. Points 11, 12 and 15 for example:

(xi) And that by assent the status of a town is the status of its

ruler; if he be Muslim, the town belongs to Islam; but if he

be heathen the town is a town of heathendom from which

flight is obligatory

(50) Uthman b. Fodio Wathiqat ahl al-sudan translated in A..D.H Biyar "The Wathiqat ahl al-Sudan".

Journal of Modern Africa History. Ii. 2(1961), pp. 235-243.

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(xii) And that to make war upon the heathen King who will not

say ‘There is no God but Allah’ is obligatory by assent,

and that to take the government from him is obligatory by

assent;

(xv) And to make war against the King who is an apostate -

who has not abandoned the religion of Islam as far as

profession of it is concerned, but who mingles the

observances of Islam with the observances of

heathendom, like the kings of Hausaland for the most part-

is [also] obligatory by assent, and to take the government

from him is obligatory by assent". (51)

While point (xi) defines "the land of the heathen" from which Hijra is

obligatory, points (xii) and (xv) point to the target (the heathen king-

government) as well as the purpose [take the government - and

replace an Islamic one] of the Jihad. It is important to realize that the

expression "Kings of Hausaland" in the context of the Wathiqat,

symbolizes the depraved (heathen) order the excesses of which the

jihad was out to check. The Wathiqat in a nutshell was like Bivar called

it, a manifesto of the movement, issued at the climax of a crisis which

had, for thirty years, been growing in the womb of Hausaland.

This then is a phrase which started with a distinct revolutionary crowd

and personnel which in the course of the phase snowballed into a size

and posture that threatened the continuity of the status quo. Efforts by

the kings of Hausaland to check this movement only culminated into a

kind of "quick sand" into which as we shall now see, the kings and their

governments sunk the more they struggled to survive. (51) Ibid.

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2.3 The phase of Hijra, Jihad and Victory:

To the Sarakuna of Hausaland in general and that of Gobir -

Whose state harbored Degel - in particular, the Wathiqa brought to the

fore a crisis which until then had been latent. To the Jama'a the

Wathiqa came as another milestone on their path of al Amr bil maaruf

wa'l Nahy an al-Munkar and ushered them into another phase of their

struggle; a phase of confrontation with what they will no doubt call Kufr

forces. To the Hausaland in General, the Wathiqa triggered a chain of

events which could as indeed they did, transform it into battleground.

The jama'a in compliance with the demands of their circumstances

began distributing the Wathiqa and mobilizing their brethren for the

Hijra with dispatch and efficiency. Muhammad Bello, for example, who

was away visiting Agali (A tuareg Scholar) when the wathiqa was

released, was on return, immediately dispatched to Kebbi for

distributing the document and mobilizing the Jama'a.(52)

The decision to make the Hijra, it is important to note, was not simply

necessitated by the circumstances in which Shehu and his Jama'a

found themselves. Obviously the circumstances contributed largely, but

the sanction for the Hijra came from an inspiration which the Shehu

received through visions in his dreams.(53) For the Shehu (at least)

believed to be guided, in every major move he made, by his lord and

sustainer - Allah most high. The visions, which not surprisingly are

characterized by the presence of the Prophet and AbdulKadir Jailani,

are to Shehu the media through which such inspiration or guidance is

received. (52) M.D Last, The Sokoto Calipahte, London, Longman 1977, p. 24 quoting Muhammad Bello in Infaq al maysur (53) See Hiskett. The sword of truth p.73

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But in deciding where exactly to make the Hijra to, the Shehu must

have consulted the Jama'a. The choice of Gudu, a town at the distant

borders of Gobir, about four to five days journey from Degel,(54) is

therefore not without strategic consideration. Located outside the

Sokoto river Valley, reasonably watered and farthest away from

Alkalawa the capital of Gobir, Gudu obviously offered some military

advantages to the Jama'a. Soon after the decision to move to Gudu

was taken, Ali Jedo, a leading member of the revolutionary personnel

rushed to Gudu to build a dwelling for the Shehu while Agali, the tuareg

scholar supplied camels and donkeys to carry Shehu, his group and

their precious library from Degel to their new found base - Gudu. The

movement of Shehu and a party of the Jama'a out of Degel and

heading for Gudu on the 12th of Dhul Qada 1218 A.H. /February 1804

A.D marked the Hijra.

No sooner was the Shehu at Gudu then the Jama'a began to find their

way and assembled there. Alarmed by this mass exodus, Yunfa

"ordered the governors of his town to take captive all those who

traveled to the Sheikh, and they began to persecute the Muslims,

killing them and confiscating their property".(55) This obvious danger,

the long distance they had to traverse, transport difficulties, perhaps

food shortages (February being the middle of dry season) did not

however dissuade many of the Jama'a from making their way to Gudu.

The result was as Abd Allah reported:

(54) See Last, The Sokoto Caliphate

(55) Abd Allah b. Muhammad Tazyin al Waraqa, p. 108

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"Some (Muhajirun) reached us complete with their families and

possession. Some only with their families, some arrived alone,

with their possession, no family.”(56).

To this one could add those who fell prey to the ambush and killings of

Yunfa's forces and never saw Gudu at all. The readiness with which

the Jama'a faced these formidable dangers and difficulties and flocked

to Gudu should leave us in no doubt about their courage and above all

their commitment to their cause - the cause of Islam. The assembled

Jama'a at Gudu, given the circumstances in which they had to make

Hijra, must have been a collection of poor people that had hardly

anything but their faith - Iman. It was on this Iman they seemed to have

all their hopes for survival in that no doubt precarious camp - Gudu.

In line with the points he raised in the Masail and Wathiqa, Shehu bade

the Jama'a (now Muhajirun) at Gudu to elect their Imam. Despite his

obvious qualities and conspicuous leadership position, the Shehu, it is

significant to note, did not arrogate to himself the imamship of the

Jama'a. Even when nominated he was reported (57) to have declined.

He was eventually persuaded however to accept the office.

The significance of this Hijra, which continued until April 1805 when

Birnin Kebbi fell to the Jama'a (Mujahidun), goes beyond a mere

gathering of oppressed people for the purpose of defence. To the

Jama'a, it is a solemn reminder to the struggle of the Prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W) against the heathen people of his time -

something they must have felt privileged to repeat. Just like the case of

(56) Abd Allah b. Muhammad. Quoted in a Shehu shagari and Jean Boyd. Uthman Dan Fodio, Lagos.

IPB 1978.

(57) A popular tradition. See also last, the Sokoto calipahte, p.24

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the Prophet so with the Jama'a, the Hijra represented a turning point in

their struggle and a total break with the heathen authorities. Their

election of Imam in a way registered the birth of an Islamic government

which now had to fight for both its survival as well as its establishment.

Having failed to succeed in stopping the Jama'a from assembling at

Gudu, Yunfa began sending army detachments to raid the Jama'a at

Gudu. He must have hoped to exhaust or even nip the nascent Islamic

community at Gudu before they could master any might. Faced by

such raids the Jama'a at Gudu, under their Imam and commander,

organized themselves for defense with their scanty military resources.

In the words of one of the commanders:

"….the affair came to the point where they were sending armies

against us, and we gathered together when that became serious,

and appointed the Shaikh (Usman)… as our commander…. Built

a fortress there, after that we began to revenge ourselves upon

those who raided us, and we raided them, and conquered the

fortress of Matankari. Then the fortress of the Sultan of

Kunni."(58)

Thus in the resulting skirmishes, the Jama’a captured Matankari and

Kwanni, which must have augmented their impoverished resources. As

if to put a final end to this unending "menace," Yunfa took a full-scale

military campaign against the Jama'a at Gudu. He seemed to have

planned a surprised attack but the Jama'a got to know through a

tuareg informant,(59) and began to prepare, thus:

(58) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al-Waraqa, pp. 108-9 (59) M.D Last, The Sokoto Caliphate p. 26

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"Then we received news that Sarkin Gobir had started to

assembly his men with a view to exterminating us. We therefore

dug a ditch round Gudu, learning from the example of the

Prophet of Allah (upon whom be peace.).(60)

Heavily armed the Gobir forces under Yunfa, with their "Colorful

cavalcade, with their cavalry in their gay saddle-cloths, their plumed

helmet and their long lances couched…heavily encumbered with a

"trial" of women and baggage…(61) met the ill-equipped and

comparatively small army of the Jama'a under Abdullahi, by the Lake

Kwatto near Gurdam not far from Gudu. Yunfa's forces were made up

of "Nubians and Tuareg and Fulani who followed him such as no one

knows except God".(62) The Jama'a on the other hand, though

composed of Hausa, Fulani and some Tuareg were outnumbered, and

ill equipped with only a few horses.(63)

As the battle line was drawn we find on the Gobir side a large and

heavily armed army ready to pounce on a people who have rebelled

against their authority and their way of life. On the Jama'a side we find

a small gathering of Mujahidun, confident in their Lord and ready for

Shahada or victory, in their struggle to check the excesses of Kufr and

establish Islam. The morals on both sides were necessarily different for

the commitment as well as motivations were different.

Soon after the battle broke out, the Muhajirun, their handicap not

withstanding was able to route the Gobir forces who fled. This

(60) Abd allah b. Muhammad, quoted in shagari and boyd, Uthman Dan Fodio p.9 (61) M. Hiskett, The sword of Truth, p.87 (62) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al- Waraqa p.109 (63) M. Last the Sokoto Caliphate p. 26

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incidence recalls to a Muslim mind the battle of Badr. The commander

of the Mujahidun at least recalled the battle of Badr when describing

this battle:

"By the help of him who helped the Prophet against the foe

At Badr, with an army of angels gathered together

And many a great man our hands flung down

And axes cleft his head spilt asunder

And many a brave warrior did our arrows strike down.

…We drove them off in the middle of the day.

………..And we are an army victorious in Islam.

And we are proud of nothing but that".(64)

Whatever factors scholars(65) might attribute the Muhahiduns victory to,

it is of interest to note the Mujahidun saw the success primarily and

wholly as the work of their Lord - Allah most high. The battle of Kwatto

being the first real encounter between Gobir forces and the Jama'a, the

latter’s victory shook Gobir and its sympathizers and gave the

Mujahidun a higher morale and good will. Abd Allah may have intended

to exploit this good will when he wrote soon after the battle a long

poem of appeal to certain Muslims who had not yet joined them, urging

them to join the victorious Mujahidun.(66) The large influx of people that

joined the Mujahidun at Gudu soon after the battle could be attributed

to this good will. It could further be argued that majority of the people of

this influx are "fence sitters" who had been waiting to see the winner

before they took sides. This influx, whatever be its real cause, coupled

(64) Abd allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al- Waraqa p. 110 (65) See: Last, The Sokoto Calipahte p. 26 and Hiskett, The sword of Truth p. 88, for example. (66) Abd allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al- Waraqa p. 111-3

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with the booty at Kwatto, augmented the poor military resources of the

Mujahidun and increased both their defensive and striking powers.

But the consequences of the Kwatto victory did not stop at

strengthening the position of the Mujahidun only. The defeat of Gobir

(a formidable force in Hausa land) quite naturally alarmed and alerted

the kings of Hausa land some of whom came to sympathize with Gobir

and even allied with it against the Jama'a. To forestall another "Kwatto"

in their country, many kings began a virulent attack on the Jama'a in

their territory. While a commercial embargo was imposed on their

brethren (Mujahidun) at Gudu(67)

It was here that Shehu's long friendship with the rulers of Zamfara

proved its worth. When the Mujahidun became hard pressed for food,

Sarkin Mafara Agwaragi, Sarkin Burmin Bakwa son Allah and Sarkin

Danko Kure sent traders with food to Mujahidun.(68) Though Bello

pointed out that the friendship of Sarakunan Zamfara was due rather to

their enimity with Gobir than to their adherence to Islam,(69) the value of

such aid to the movement at such crucial time in its struggle cannot be

over estimated.

As the circumstances changed following the battle of Kwatto, so did the

military posture of Mujahidun.

(67) Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-Muhsar, pp. 94-95

Commercial embargo seems to be the lot of Mujahidun of all time, for just like the prophet of Islam faced it in Makka so are the Muslims in Iran today facing an American organized commercial embargo.

(68) Garba Na-Dama, "The Rise and Collapse of a Hausa State: a Social and political history of

Zamfara;, unpublished Ph.D Thesis, ABU 1977, p. 426 (69) Muhamad Bello, quoted in Ibid.

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The Jihad now was no longer a matter of defence but a matter of

saving the cause of Islam which the kings of Hausaland were

desperately out to destroy. Thus the military posture of Mujahidun

changed from defensive to offensive. It is in the light of these

developments that Shehu's appointment of fourteen leaders"(70) from

the Jama'a to whom he gave flags to return to their respective

communities and lead them in Jihad should be seen. It was these

development that saw the spread of the Jihad all over Hausaland and

even parts of the Borno.

This offensive phase which continued up to the fall of Alkalawa in 1803

was not however characterized by fighting alone. Infact a good part of

Shehu's energy seemed to have been dissipated in giving,

admonishing and making peace and truce with the kings of Hausa

land, without compromising his ideal. From Magabci for example,

where Shehu stayed after the battle of Kwatto, Shehu wrote to the

Sarakunan Hausa explaining:

"What he was doing to secure the victory of good over evil and

revive the Sunna and suppress Bid'a. He asked them to worship

God sincerely, and rid themselves of all that the Shaykh

opposed and was resisting. He requested them to help him in

the Jihad against his enemies and not to be deceived by his

enemy's words. For God would mete out death to those who

helped his enemy against him, because he had ordained the

victory of the faithful and the humiliation of the unbelievers". (71)

(70) Balogun, The Life and Works of Uthman Dan Fodio, p.39

(71) A. Junaidu "A contribution to the biography of the Shykh Usman" in Y.B Usman (Ed.), The

Sokoto Calipahte, p.468

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But what happened when the Kings of Hausaland received Shehu's

letter? Waziri Juniadu continued to inform us: -

"When the letter reached the Sultan of Katsina, and he saw it,

pride took hold of him and he tore it up. So God rent his kingdom

apart. Also, when it reached the Sultan of Kano he was on the

point of accepting it, but then refused, and followed the way

taken by his brother. When the letter reached the Sultan of

Zakzak he agreed to repent. But his people rejected it and he

fought them until he died. After his death they rose against the

Muslims…(72)

From Magabci Shehu moved to Rikina, where the Emir of Sisilbe,

Manori accepted Islam and joined the Jama'a. When Shehu moved to

Sokoto - then a small village - the Galadima Doshero of Gobir arrived

to inform the Shehu that Yunfa, Sultan of Gobir had repented and was

determined to accept all the Shaykh had demanded. (73)After

consultation the Jama'a felt that, the coming of the Galadima was not

enough, "for they knew the trick and character of those people".(74)

Gobirs failure to honour their words agreed with the Mujahidun

confirmed the latter’s doubts and put an end to peaceful negotiations.

Though the Mujahidun continue to conquer the small towns and

villages on their way, nothing short of the capture of Alkalawa can

assure them the safety of their cause and give them the security they

needed.

Thus soon after the harvest in October 1804, a major offensive under

the command of Abd Allah was launched against Alkalawa. Despite (72) Ibid. (73) Ibid. (74) Ibid.

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three fierce attacks the Mujahidun were unable to conquer the fortress.

In December when Mujahidun withdrew to their camp to forestall a raid

by the toureg, the Gobir forces sneaked and made a surprise and

bloody attack on the Jama'a camp. Though the arrival of Abd Allah

saved the situation, nearly two thousand of the Mujahidun had made

Shahada. Majority of the Shuhada were top ranking scholars of the

Jama'a. This loss of dear ones grieved the Shehu as well as Abd Allah,

who it seems never recovered fully form this grieve throughout this

phase. For the decline in discipline which followed this battle of

Tsuntuswa, was to Abd Allah always a sad reminder of the loss of

these dear souls. As a poet Abd Allah put his feelings in stanzas:

Nothing grieved our hearts in religion,

Or in the world save the sadness of being far away.

And the loss of noble loved ones who follow one another

To the Gardens of Eternity in al-Qirari and Tsuntuswa

Whenever I remember the Imam, and his party

Seas of rancor surge in my heart,

And if that makes Ghubir and the Tuareg happy

Then war had varied chances! Our place of returning is not the

same!

Those of them who were slain are in Hell forever

And those who are in the garden of Eternity are not their like!(75)

The last three lines echo the exchange of words between the Muslims

and their enemies at the battle of Uhud, to which TsunTsuwa has a lot

in common.

(75) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al-Waraqa p.116

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Early in 1805 the Mujahidun left their camp and made their way south

to Zamfara which they took without fighting. From their camp at Sabon-

gari in Zamfara an army under Abd Allah was dispatched to bring

Sultan of Birnin Kebbi to submission. In the process, the army “left no

fortress of his” which they did not conquer. The sultan of Gumi

however sought truce from the Mujahidun and was granted.

With the whole of Kasar Zamfara and Kebbi now in hand by April 1805,

the Mujahidun found a permanent base from where the rest of the

fighting was to be organized and directed. It was not until October 1805

however when Shehu moved to Gwandu in Kebbi, which was later

walled by Muhammad Bello to give it the security which befits such a

base.

But with Alkalawa still at large, the job of the Mujahidun was far from

being complete. The Gobir forces, perhaps anticipating another attack

from the Mujahidun gathered a large army and headed for Gwandu.

The Mujahidun learning about this advance - perhaps through an

intelligent system they seemed to have instituted - decided to meet the

Gobir forces outside Gwandu. The result was the hectic battle of

Alwasa in which even the women of the Mujahidun had the opportunity

to participate. The hecticness of the battle is also reflected by the case

of Muhammad Bello who being sick and wishing to resign his

command was ordered back into the battlefield by Shehu.(76) Though

the Mujahidun emerged victorious, they suffered losses which could

only be compared to TsunTsuwa. According to Muhammad Bello not

less than one thousand Mujahidun made Shahada.(77) Here again like

TsunTsuwa Abd Allah was most touched by the departure of the

Shuhada as by the behavior of the remnants. (76) Hiskette, The second of Truth, p.93 (77) Ibid.

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"O God give help to heart with which is mixed care and sadness

On the night of the full moon, from morning to evening,

For the loss of friends in their Holy War at Tsuntuswa and some

at Qirari and Alwasa,

They were my provision in the victory of the religion of

Muhammad,

And he who (fought) with them in the Holy War is consoled,

Each of them was a Qur’an reader, a learned man in law…

I have been left among a remnant who neglect their prayers

And obey in procuring pleasures, their own souls,

And the majority of them have traded their faith for the world".(78)

The indiscriptive Abd Allah seemed to be complaining about could be

traced to the large influx of people who were formerly fence sitters,

following the victory of Mujahidun in the battle of Kwatto. This

indiscipline did not as it is obvious dissuade the Jihad from its set out

objectives.

While the Mujahidun under Shehu were engaged in Gobir, Zamfara

and Kebbi, Shehu's flag bearers took care of the rest of Hausaland as

far as Borno. The founding of the base at Gwandu and the victory in

the battle of Alwasa gave Shehu and his Mujahidun both the security

and the respite to once again organize and direct events beyond their

immediate domain. This restoration of control of events in Hausaland

and parts of Borno is all the more necessary now that the movement

had assumed the size and complexity of a state with its leadership

(Imam) to whom obedience is obligatory.

(78) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al-Waraqa, p.118

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Hence Umar Dallaji was dispatched by Shehu, to summon the leaders

of various Jama'a engaged in the Jihad in the region, for a meeting

which took place at Birnin Gada late 1805 or early 1806. The Shehu

was himself unable to attend. So he sent his message with Muhammad

Bello who represented him. In the message which Bello had taken care

to preserve, Shehu told the leaders that: -

“Allah had granted the conquest of the Land, but he was afraid to

pray for them in case they should be corrupted by the World and

become like the Hausa rulers; they should therefore take an oath

that they would not be corrupted or changed by power, as were

the Israelites in the desert, but they will avoid worldly aspirations,

envy, mercilessness, feuds, the pursuit of wealth; that they

would avoid falling into strife that ‘makes a man a Muslim in the

morning and a pagan by evening.”(79)

The Potentiation effects of this message on the morals as well as the

discipline of the Mujahidun needs no further elaboration. Shehu was

also reported (80) to have spoken in the message about the coming of

the Mahdi and that their Islamic rule will continue till then (the coming

of Mahdi)

The belief in the coming of the Mahdi had for many centuries spread all

over the Muslim world including Hausaland. Since the onset of strife in

Hausaland, the popularity of this belief increased. With the success the

Mujahidun were scoring against the oppressive Hausa rule, people (79) Last, The Skoto Caliphate, p.36

(80) Ibid.

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began to believe that Shehu in fact is the promised Mahdi. By alluding

to Mahdiyya in his Birnin Gada message, and deferring the coming of

the Mahdi to a much later date, the Shehu must have meant to refute

this popular notion. This was apparently not enough for Shehu had to

write about ten works to refute this popular claim. That the Shehu

laboured to refute a popular claim that he could have jolly well

marshaled for his ends should leave us in no doubt about the sincerity

and rectitude of both the movement and its leadership.

As the Jihad pressed on, territories with their people and properties

kept falling into the hand of the Mujahidun. The need to admonish the

Mujahidun on the rules and regulations of Jihad and to administer the

new territories and their peoples, not all of whom are Muslims must

have pressed on the Shehu also. Battle conditions notwithstanding, the

Shehu had to attend to these problems. Thus in Ramadan 1221 AH /

November 1806 in Gwandu, the Shehu completed his Bayan Wujub al-

Hijara ala l-Ibad…(The exposition of the obligation upon the servants of

Allah…) which must have received immediate and wide circulation

despite the warfare.

The Bayan is a voluminous work of sixty-three chapters, a number,

which may note be unconnected with the life span of the Prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W). The first three chapters true to the title of the

book were on the justification, obligation and benefits of the Hijra,

which though complete by the time of writing the Bayan, needs further

exposition for proper appreciation. The next two chapters were on

prohibition on befriending the unbelievers and the obligation of

befriending the believers. The relevance of this especially in that

circumstance is quite obvious. The following six chapters of the Bayan,

then dealt with the obligation of the appointment of an Imam, his

qualifications and principles of the emirate and Wilaya (delegation of

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powers). Here also the code of behaviour of the governors of the

Emirates was spelt, with particular emphasis on the prohibition on the

receipt of gift by the governors.

The greater part of the work (Chapter 12-32) was devoted to Jihad, its

definition, its philosophy, its obligation as well as its benefits and the

laws that govern it. The following ten chapters dealt with the issue of

acquisition and distribution of booty (including slaves). Chapters 43 to

57 touched on variety of issues including the law on giving protection

(Aman), on Dhimmis, on burying of Shuhada and such qualities of

character as is expected of a Muslim. The last six chapters are on Sira

of the Prophet, the Khulafa al-Rashidun and Hassan b. Ali b. Abi Talib.

The Bayan is therefore in a way, an exposition of the ideas earlier

contained in Shehu's al Amr bi' l Maarif, Masail and Wathiqa. There

are of course new issues like the appointment of governors, collection

and distribution of booty, the position of Dhimmis, which are sequels to

the jihad. Thus the Bayan combined a philosophy of revolution as well

as a constitution of the emerging Islamic state.

From its contents and language (Arabic) the Bayan is clearly

addressed to the scholars among the Mujahidun. Shehu’s poem

Tabbat Hakika, which seems to have been composed about the same

time with the Bayan contains many issues raised in the Bayan. It is

very likely that Shehu, consistent with his methodology, intended to

communicate to the rank and file among the Mujahidun some of the

ideas in the Bayan. What we cannot fail to see here is the deliberate

and conscious efforts of the revolutionary leadership to direct the jihad

to the ideals the movement stood for, for which it was fighting and for

which it was being fought.

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The years 1807 and 1808 saw the fall of Katsina, Kano, Daura and

most important Alkalawa. With Zaria (Zakzak) kebbi and Zamfara in the

hands of the Mujahidun since 1805, the whole of Hausa land was

virtually under the jurisdiction of the new Islamic state by 1809. This

victory brought the flag bearers at the helm of leadership of the

conquered territories. To guide their administration to conform to the

Islamic standards, the Shehu still at Gwandu, wrote in 1809, the Usul

al Adl Li Wulat al-Umur Wa Ahl al-Fadl, which Ahmad Kani identified as

an " abridgement of al-ijma Abu Hamid al- Ghazali's (d.111) book al-

Tabr al Mashbuk Fi Nashihat al- Muluk". (81) This book sought to

enlighten them about justice effective administration and the services

they are obliged to render to their subjects. (82)

With the different groups of people joining the Mujahidun in course and

especially towards the end of Jihad, it is only reasonable to expect the

levels of commitment to the ideals of the revolution among the (rank

and file of the) Mujahidun to vary. It is even more reasonable to believe

that such incidences of indiscipline or abuse that may have or did

occur in course of the jihad is due to this rather natural circumstances.

What is important and indeed interesting is that neither are these

incidences peculiar to this revolution, nor were they ever condoned by

its leadership. In the incidence where some Mujahidun at Gudu made

an unwarranted attack on a certain community, the Shehu immediately

rebuked them and ordered the booty returned and the captives

freed.(83)

Another incidence which beers out the leadership’s sensitivity and

repulsion of acts of indiscipline is Abd Allah’s dissatisfaction with the (81) M.A Kani, unpublished M.L.S. thesis, ABU 1978, p.129

(82) Ibid. (83) See Bayan Wujub al-Hijra. Ed. Trans by F.H El-Masri p. 80 Foot notes

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conduct of the Jihad at a time when the Mujahidun were capturing

towns and fortresses. So apathetic did he become that he abandon the

battle front and made his way to Hajj through Kano. In his own words: -

"then there came to me 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 its

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".(84)

Thanks to Allah, he was persuaded to stay in Kano where he wrote a

monumental work Diya al-Hukkam on the request of Mujahidun there.

We cannot therefore fail to see the fallacy of western Euro-Christian

scholarship, championed by Trimingham, M.G Smith Hiskett (among

others) who labour to question the integrity and sincerity of the

leadership of this revolution. For how else could they convince the

heirs of this tradition of the depravity of their past and the

"benevolence" of imperialism with its "good government" and "modern

institutions"?

By 1810 the jihad was over and the dust was settling. Shehu divided

the state that accrued from the Jihad into two, putting Abd Allah, in

charge of the western part with its headquarters at Gwandu, and

Muhammad Bello in charge of the eastern part with its headquarters at

Sokoto, while he himself moved to Sifawa, a village near Sokoto, to (84) Abd Allah b. Muhammad Tazyin al-Waraqa pp. 120-1

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continue his intellectual pursuit. It is important to note that despite their

undisputable victory, the Mujahidun found neither time to relax nor

cause to celebrate, for to them, the job was yet to complete. It was to

complete this job that Abd Allah at Gwandu, Muhammad Bello at

Sokoto and Shehu at Sifawa, with burden of administration lightened,

busied themselves in expounding and implementing the order that

Shehu had many years ago prayed to see in Hausaland.

This therefore is a phase in which the movement having been faced

with persecution and exterminations had to launch an armed struggle

to protect their cause and of course themselves. They started after the

Hijra as a small fragmented, ill equipped defensive force and grew into

a formidable force to whom the whole of Kasar Hausa and even part of

Borno had to submit to. Though some scholars tried to explain the

victory of Mujiahidun in terms of the disunity and military exhaustion of

the warring Hausa States, the Mujahidun saw their victory as doing of

their Lord in whose cause they fought. In doing so the Mujahidun are

not ignoring the key role played by a number of groups, especially the

rich, whose support or sympathy the Shehu was able to mobilize.(85)

Such practical factors are to them (the Mujahidun) part of the plan of

their Lord, for theirs is the belief that "success is from Allah" - a

constant formula in Shehu's writings.

This victory was not to the Mujahidun the end of the struggle. It was

instead the beginning of yet another phase of struggle, a phase of

consolidation and the establishment of the Islamic order.

(85) Material resources were obviously essential to the taks of the mujahidun. These resources must

have come from the rich among the Jama'a and the sympathizers outside the Jama'a who come to the aid of the Mujahidun at certain critical times.

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2.4 THE PHASE OF CONSOLIDATION AND ESTABLISHEMENT OF THE ISLAMIC ORDER (1810-1817):

Having fought and won, by 1810 the jama'a found themselves in

command of a large territory of about 50,000 square miles(86) standing

on the ruins of the warring Hausa states. The Amir al-Muminun

Shehu's abandoning of the caliphate at the height of this victory and

retiring to Sifawa, more than just an index of selflessness - which

indeed it is - is an indication of the revolution's commitment to a goal

higher and beyond the acquisition of territories. The goal, as the

leadership had taken pain to emphasize at relevant times is simply "to

make Allah's law supreme",(87) in other words to establish the Islamic

order in place of the Hausa-Fulani Jahilliya. For only under such

Islamic order can the commanding of good and forbidding of evil - the

rallying cry of the movement - be practiced. Thus the realization of the

movement’s goals necessarily involved the termination of the unislamic

order. To the Jama'a therefore, the overthrow of the kings of Hausa

land and the acquisition of the territories is only a means - a necessary

one though - to an end, and not the end in itself.

The victory of the Mujahidun, which procured the Dar al Islam, did not

however brought the fighting to an end. Many of the Mujahidun

enemies, especially the Kabbawa (Kabi people) after suffering defeat

escaped to ILLO across the river Niger and built a fortress from where

they continued to harass the Dar al Islam. Another source of insecurity

was the Gwari people, who Abd Allah described as "iniquitous

unbelievers who raided the countries of Islam."(88) Laying south of

(86) Y.B Usman "The Transformation of Political Communities" in : Y.B Usman Ed. The Skoto Caliphat, p.43 (87) Uthman b. Fodio, Bayan Wujub al -hijara p. 80 (88) Abd Allah b. Muhammad, Tazyin al- Waraqa, p.130

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Kebbi, surrounded by hills, castles and wadis, the Gwari had for many

years harassed many of its neighboring territories and proved

invincible. Nupe, further south was also there to add to the threat to

this new Islamic state. Even internally some of the non-Muslim peoples

who had been given protection, Aman (Dhimmis) under pacts, broke

their pacts and began to undermine the stability of the state. Referring

to this Abd Allah says, "the unbelievers are accustomed to breaking

their pact every time, and they do not fear God."(89)

Thus from within and without, the hard gained Islamic state was being

threatened. In such circumstances protecting the state was a duty no

less obligatory than the initial Jihad that procured it. In other words just

like the overthrow of the Hausa regimes became indispensable to the

procurement of the Islamic state so did the containment of these

internal and external threat became vital for making the law of Allah

supreme.

This task of consolidation was entrusted under the command of

Muhammad Bello who started with ILLO, then Gwari and Nupe,

bringing each under the jurisdiction of the Islamic state. This

consolidation which naturally incorporated more polities into the Islamic

state, had to continue so long as such threats continued, like they in

fact did. But after the completion of the major phase by Muhammad

Bello, the job passed over to the frontier emirates whose very position

imposes on them the duty to secure the boarders of the state.

With victory, pacification and consolidation secured, the stage was now

set for the establishment of the Islamic order. Underlying the

establishment of this order is the implementation of al-Amr bi’l Maaruf

(89) Ibid.

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wa’l Nahy an al-Munkar (Commanding the right and forbidding the

wrong). This principle, to be sure, is central to the life of a Muslim.

Every aspect of his life is pervaded by it. He lives for it and dies for it. It

is particularly important, in this regard, to appreciate the fact that the

revolutionary leadership were inspired by this belief. To them, the

territory (indeed the whole world) and what is contained in it is Allah's

property, theirs is to manage it in a way the owner stipulated and not in

any way they may wish to. The extent to which they comply with these

stipulations is what invariably determines their recompense from their

Lord to whom they believe is their ultimate return. Over looking this

vital point, especially in this phase of the movement will only lead like it

did with some scholars(90) to obscurities and even contradiction.

To the movement, the establishment of this order is not just desirable,

but an obligation which they owe to their Lord (Allah) as well as their

fellow brethren. As they set out for the task, they have as their model

that order which the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his Khulafa al-

Rashidun established. This is unmistakably evident in Shehu’s

conclusion to his work on government (Kitab al- Farq) when he said:

"…It behoves one who concerns himself with this matter to pay

strict attention to the reading of the biographies of Abu Bakr, and

Umar and Uthman, and Ali and Hassan and Umar b. Abd al-

Aziz, for the reading of them will help him to imitate them in their

blessed lives…."(91)

(90) Here I have in mind Professors M.G smith, Johnston Hiskett and even Last Adelye. For the obscurities and contradictions in their views on this movement see Usman "The Transformation of Political Communities" in Usman (ed.) The Sokoto Caliphate, p. 34 (91) Uthman b. Fodio, Kitab al-Farq

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Instrumental to the establishment of this Islamic order is an Islamic

government which beside ensuring security will provide the machinery

through which the goals and objectives of the order will be realized. For

the purpose of this government the whole state was divided into

Emirates. Some of which reflected former polities. These were further

subdivided into districts, which were usually made up of a number of

villages. Only some of the former Hausa states capitals, like Katsina,

Kano and Zaria remained capitals of the new Emirates.

At the head of the hole government is the Imam and Amir al-Muminun,

who in Shehu's time left the bulk of day to day administration to his

deputies Abd Allah and Muhammad Bello, to give himself time to lay

the intellectual foundations of the system they fought to establish.

Administratively, the village heads are responsible to the district heads

who are responsible to the Amir (governor), of the Emirate who in turn

was responsible to the Amir al-Muminun. The responsibility of

appointing the Amir al-Muminun just like their model the Khalifa

Rashida is on the Majlis Shura (Consultative assembly Ahl al-Hal wa L

Aqad). The appointment of the Amir (Governor) of Emirate is the

responsibility of the Imam and his Majlis. Essential to the appointment

of such officials as well as the discharge of their responsibilities is the

fear of Allah. This sense of accountability to Allah is echoed by the

Shehu when he said:

"….It is incumbent upon the commander of the believers in the

first place, to fear God, and to follow the habits of the Muslims in

their government and avoid the habits of the unbelievers in their

governments. " (92)

(92) Uthman b. fodio Ibid . p. 566

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The Amirs and other officials that came to be appointed over the

emirates and administrative offices, were the scholars among the

Mujahidun whose integrity and loyalty to the revolution merited them

the confidence of the Amir al-Muminun and his Majlis. Here at least

M.G Smith is correct when he observes:

"….all owed their positions, like Abdullah and Bello themselves,

to their pre-eminence as scholars and lovers of Islam. None of

these men were crowned, and all ruled as Mallams (clerics and

Islamic scholars) rather than kings, administering war, justice,

religion and civic affairs equally…. Leaders were thus first

among equals and entitled to no special rights on personal

grounds"(93).

Who else would be better in implementing the goals and objectives of

the movement than those who are learned and have struggled with

their properties and their lives for the purpose of its realization? This

should not, however make us overlook the obvious fact that these are

only fallible human beings and not free from making mistakes. Shehu

had that in mind and was quick to remind them of a hadith of the

prophet (S.A.W), "If we appoint an Emir, or assign to him a certain

stipend, then anything which he receives other than that is fraud".(94)

The details of the socio-political system which the leadership of the

movement laid down had been masterfully delineated by Mahmud

Tukur in his Ph.D Thesis. For the purpose of this study a quick glance

at Shehu's relevant works will suffice to throw light on the foundations (93) M.G Smith Quoted in J.P Smaldore, Warfare in the Skoto Caliphate: historical and Sociological perspectives, London, C.U.P 1977, p. 128 (94) quoted in Uthman b. Fodio, Kitab al-Farq, p.567

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of the system. The Bayan Wujub al-Hijra and Usul al Adl Li Wulat al-

Umur wa' L ahl al- Fadl have already been aluded to. Another valuable

though brief work in this regard is Kitab al Farq Bayn Wilayat ahl Islam

wa bayn wilayat ahl Kufr. (The book of difference between the

governments of the Muslims and the governments of the unbelievers),

which seems to have been written around 1810,(95) soon after shehu’s

move to Sifawa. Written at the beginning of this phase, the Kitab al-

Farq particularly commends itself at this stage of this study.

As the title of the book implies, Kitab al Farq is a comparative work on

the non-Muslims governments of the Hausa Kings and the new Islamic

government that the movement was seeking to establish at this phase

of its history. The first and infact the longest part of the book is a

description of the non-Muslim way of government of the Hausa Kings.

The idea here is to avoid copying the unbelievers in their government

"not even in the titles of their Kings (government officials)".(96) Having

taken this revolutionary stance, the shehu proceeded to say what the

purposes of a Muslim government are:

"…to strip evil things from religious and temporal affairs and

introduce reforms (masalih) into religious and temporal affairs,

and an example of stripping evil things from religious and

temporal affairs is that every governor of a province should strive

to fortify strongholds and wage holy war (Jihad) against the

unbelievers, and the war makers and the oppressors, and set up

a military station on every frontier, and combat every cause of (95) Though undated the Kitab al Farq seems to me to have been written between 1810-1811 for it appears to predate Nasihat ahl Zaman and Najm al- al- Ikwan which were written in 1811 and 1812 respectively. See M.A al-Hajj, "The Writings of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Kano Studies, I, 2(1974/77), pp. 5-14 (96) Uthman b. fodio, Kitab al-Farq, p. 569. Here it needs to be pointed out that even though later generations of this revolution reverted to the use of these titles, the copying remained only in form, but not in content

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corruption which occurs in his country, and forbid every

disapproved thing. An example of introducing reforms into

religious an temporal affairs is that the governor of every country

shall strive to repair the mosques, and establish the five prayers

in them, and order the people to strive to read the Qur'an and

make (others) read it; and learn knowledge, and teach it; and

that he should strive to reform the markets and set to rights the

affairs of the poor and the needy, and order the doing of every

approved thing".(97)

Evident here is the idea of a government whose very raison d'etre is

not only guaranteeing peace and security but also guiding its people in

every aspect of their human endeavours; their education; their welfare;

their social as well as economic activities. By combating every cause of

corruption and doing every approved thing, (according to Sharia), the

government raises the moral tone of the society and protects its

citizens from the temptations of Jahilliya.

Having outlined the purpose, the Shehu went further to give the

foundations, which alone can enable a government to perform such

comprehensive functions selflessly and efficiently.

"…the foundation of a government are five things; the first is that

authority shall not be given to one who seeks it. The second is

the necessity for consultation. The third is the abandoning of

harshness. The (98) fourth is justice. The fifth is good works".

(97) Uthman b. fodio, Kitab al-Farq, p.570

(98) Ibid.

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As for the ministers who can be likened to pillars standing on the

foundation and supporting the super structure of government's

administration, Shehu mentioned four here: -

"(the first) is a trustworthy Wazir to wake the ruler if he sleeps, to

make him see if he is blind, and to remind him if he forgets. And

the greatest misfortune for the government and the subjects is

that they should be denied honest Wazirs. ….the second of the

ministers of the government is a judge whom blame of a blamer

cannot overtake concerning the affairs of God. The third is a

chief of Police who shall obtain justice for the weak from the

strong. The fourth is a tax collector who shall discharge his

duties and not oppress the subjects". (99)

This portion summarizes for us the kind of government the movement

sought to establish for the realization of its goals. Explicit here is a

government based on justice, consultation and kindness with public

service and welfare at the top of its scale of priority. The ardent

concern for selflessness, humility and honesty of the government

officials stand out unique and reflect the values the movement stood

for and fought to establish.

To finance its programmes such a government, by the very nature of

its values, structure and mission, must rely on lawful resources, which

the Shehu did not forget to mention. Quoting from Shurb al-Zulal:

"The kinds of the public treasury are the fifth, the tithe and Poll

tax and land tax, booty and surplus, then that the owners of

which are not known, and inheritance, property having no owner.

(99) Ibid.

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These seven constitute the public treasury for him who wishes to

make use of lawful things".(100)

This drastically contrasted with the way the defunct regimes of Hausa

kings in which succession is by "hereditary right and by force to the

exclusion of consultation" and (in which) “whomsoever they wish to kill

or exile or violate his honour or devour his wealth (oppression) they do

so in pursuit of their lust, without any right in the Sharia".(101) Their

(Hausa Kings) sources of revenue were numerous and hardly

distinguishable from robbery. For beside "imposing on people monies

not laid down by the Sharia….janghali kurdin ghari and kurdin salla"(102)

they also collect a compulsory present called gaisuwa, over and above

random confiscation of subject's properties.(103) In laying down the

intellectual foundations of this Islamic order, Shehu's views by virtue of

his intellectual standing and his position as Imam and Amir al-

Muminun became prominent. But he was neither alone nor was his

view necessarily final. For he was "helped and sometimes even

nudged… by Abd Allah, Bello and their many helpers and

deputies".(104) This nudging in fact led to debates on the interpretation

and application of the letters of the Sharia; with Abd Allah and his few

disciples on the one hand and Shehu, Muhammad Bello and

apparently the great majority of the scholars on the other.

These differences of opinions between Abd Allah and Shehu could be

traced to their dispositions. Abd Allah grew to be very ascetic and

rigorous in his interpretations of the Sharia while the Shehu though

(100) Ibid. p. 571 (101) Ibid p. 567 (102) Ibid. (103) Ibid. p. 568 (104) Mahmud Tukur, unpublished Ph.D thesis A.B.U 1977 p. 449

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equally ascetic was at times flexible and generally more practical. This

is easily evident in the legal tussle, which arose soon after the fall of

Alkalawa, the capital of Gobir.

“Before the fall of Alkalawa, property belonging to the Jihadists

and to he Twariq who had a covenant with the Shayks

community [Jama’a] were being indiscriminately looted. In this

confused situation, some of the Jihadists seized Twariq property.

Thus the situation became complex to the extent that any

practical investigation into the ownership of contested property

would not be realistic. Uthman Ibn Fudi considered the fall of

Alkalawa to be the dividing line before which no claim could be

established. On the other hand, his brother Abdullahi could not

see why the fall of Alkalawa should be considered to be a

dividing line in legal decisions.” [105]

The difference here is not in their upholding the letter and spirit of the

Sharia but in what is ideal and what is practical. The debate of course

went further to cover such issues as the use or otherwise of musical

instruments by the common people; the question of magnificent

appearances affected by Imams, Qadis and governors; and the validity

or otherwise of certain titles for officials and the use of ornamented

clothes (gold and silver)(106)

Abd Allah perhaps in search for that ideal society of the Khulafa al-

Rashidun, which had all along been the gauge of the movement

continued to express his dissatisfaction pointing especially to the

worldliness of the society. Shehu felt the need to remind Abd Allah and

those who might share the letters view, the achievement of the

revolution.

(106) Ibid. p. 155

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"Know, O Brethren, that condemning (one’s) time is

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 defending ones self,

People and property is obligatory according to the consensus

and this is what happened at this time. That the application of

the sharia 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

(iman)…"(107)

What finally closed this debate was Najm al-Ikhwan, one of, if not the

last work(s) of the Shehu written in 1813. For the very purpose of

writing the book was,” the preservation of the order of the community,

the avoidance of disturbances of the common people and closing the

doors of disputes".(108)Here again Shehu reminds his audience with

Abd Allah implicitly in his mind, the favour which Allah had bestowed

upon them, one of which is "the power of defending of people, of giving

them good advice and urging them to worship him. "(109) Shehu

continued:

(107) Uthman b. Fodio Nasihat ahl al-Zaman quoted in Ibid p. 145-6

(108) Uthman b. Fodio, Najm al-Ikhwan

(109) Ibid.

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"In a fashion which suggests that he regarded them as the

principal purposes of the state and government which emerged

from the crucibles of the Jihad, to list the achievements of the

movement in the areas of community formation, establishment of

a government with its full complements of a bureaucracy,

building up an effective military organization, fashioning a

machinery for the delivery of justice and ensuring that the

welfare of the people is catered for".(110)

Summarizing the essence of the debate Mahmud aptly observes that:

"The point at issue between the Shehu and Abdullahi may,

however, be that the former thought he knew better just how the

‘Caliphal ideal’ could be more effectively achieved. What he may

be saying is that in deciding on policy for the achievement of

change of heart and outlook among a particular group of people,

it is necessary to pay great attention not only to the ideal itself,

but also to the spiritual and intellectual conditions of the group as

it actually is. In other words, effective reform cannot be achieved

by a simple decree enumerating principles (as Abdullah may

have thought in his administration of Kebbi), but by a more

complicated and inventive process devised after a careful

appreciation of local conditions and the local cultural

heritage"(111)

It is remarkable to note that as the debate was, it never led to a rift or

even constraint in the running of the state, for they all lived by the letter

(110) Mahmud Tukur, unpublished Ph.D thesis ABU, 1977. p.121 (111) Ibid. pp. 152-3

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and spirit of the famous hadith in which the prophet (S.A.W) said the

difference of opinion among his Umma is a blessing.

Before Shehu died in 1817, the philosophy as well as the structure of

the Islamic order the movement fought to establish was already laid

down. The task of putting in the details and developing the institutions

naturally fell on Muhammad Bello, a scholar of high standing, on whom

the leadership of the Islamic state - Sokoto Caliphate, as it came to be

known - fell after the Shehu. It was under him (Bello) therefore that the

frontiers of the state got pushed further south incorporating more

policies, which naturally led to the development of more complex

government apparatus and a "permanent organized and

professionalized military forces". (112) It was also under Bello that

agriculture, industry, commerce and urbanization boomed.(113) His

welfare programme covered not only the orphans and the poor but also

the captives.

The educational system that had served the region for centuries

became overhauled and developed to serve the ideals of the

government. The role women came to play in the system was

particularly remarkable. The new system ensured that virtually every

soul was instructed, male or female, rich or poor, freeborn or slave,

under an educational system, which sees learning as worship and

knowledge as responsibility. It was also here that the ideals, which the

movement gave the society, were being cultivated and nourished.

This phase saw how the movement, which had emerged victorious out

of battle fields, launched another struggle to implement its programme. (112) J.P Smaldone, Warefare in the Sokoto Caliphate. P. 129 (113) S. Abubakar "aspect of the urban phenomenon: Sokoto and its Hinterland to C. 1805" In: Usman (Ed) the Sokoto Calipahte pp. 125-139, see also : A Smith paper in Ibid. p. 247

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It faced the initial problem of consolidating its power and protecting its

hard gained freedom. It was in this phase that the movement translated

into reality the dream (so to speak) of its ideal society - a society based

on the Umma of the Prophet (S.A.W) and Khulafa al-Rashidun. In the

process the movement succeeded in transforming the society from one

dominated by materialism and Hausa-Fulani Jahilliya to one based on

and dominated by Islamic thoughts, Ideas and aspirations. Though this

was a phase in which the movement was holding the helm of power

and authority, the task was still not easy, for the leadership had to

come to grips with practical human situations. It was the ability,

patience, understanding and not the least practicality and flexibility of

the leadership which enabled the movement to deliver its goods.

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EPILOGUE TO PART ONE

E.1.1 THE PLACE OF THE MOVEMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE REGION:

The first chapter of this part shows how Islam appeared peacefully and

subtly into Hausaland. Forging links, integrating communities and

establishing a superior culture with its emphasis on learning and

fraternity. The consequent growth of the Hausa States and the political

disquities in the neighbouring regions, Songhai in particular, in the late

sixteen century, however saw the ascendancy of strife, insecurity and

disequilibrium and the impairing of the Islamisation process.

Materialism thereafter came to hold sway, while the region became

characterized by tyranny, laxity and sufferings. This situation quite

naturally gave birth to discontent, especially quite naturally gave birth

to discontent, especially in the Islamised segment of the society from

among whom sprang Uthman Dan Fodio who took the challenge.

The second chapter saw how this scholar/activist (Uthman Dan Fodio),

inspired by a sense of mission, spent nearly nineteen years roving a

good part of Hausaland generating current of thoughts and ideas which

permeated the whole region, Islamising its pagan population,

awakening its Muslim peoples, eroding the wisdom, values and

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assumptions of the status quo providing a new hope for a society

which had been immersed in ignorance, oppression and strife. The

following that came to rally around Dan fodio's teaching snowballed

into a mass movement that eventually had to confront the might of the

status quo for the achievement of its good and indeed its own survival.

Having survived the confrontation, the movement found itself with a

large state cutting across former boundaries and identities,

unprecedented in scope and complexity, in which its leadership busied

themselves, establishing its programme - The Islamic order. It was this

order, which finally solved the crisis and disequilibrium of the peoples

and polities of this vast region. Such a total and thorough revolution

especially when the circumstances and level of technology is

considered, is what earned this movement a noble and novel position

in the history of the region.

That the movement realized this novel achievement through

scholarship, thoughtful planning, careful organization and above all

Iman (faith) in Allah is beyond any dispute. We can now see that when

Adeleye says that this jihad was simply "a product of certain

circumstances in Hausa land”(114) he was misjudging the phenomenon.

One only hopes that Adeleye was not, like his tutors, using a western

secular frame to analyse a phenomenon that is neither western nor

secular.

That the movement is neither Fulani nor Hausa let alone bourgeois or

proletariat, but purely and simply Islamic needs no further emphasis.

What perhaps needs emphasis is the movement's conception of

community identity. Fundamental to this identity is Iman (faith), for "it is

the evidence of willingness to strive in God's way rather than for

(114) R.A Adeleye, "Hausa land and Borno 1600-1800". P. 596

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consideration of blood relationship and marriage” and of giving

“preference to the matter of religion over worldly interest”(115) that

determines the affiliation togetherness. Such a sense of belonging

centered on faith in Allah and blind to blood, colour, language or

country, has as its model the first Muslim Umma that prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W) founded. The efforts of some scholars to construe

this movement as expression of such alien concepts as Nigerian or

African nationalism can now be seen to have no basis and therefore

futile. It is this Islamic concept of identity, which made possible the

spread of the impact of this movement beyond Hausaland as far as the

Atlantic Ocean to the West and the Red Sea to the east. The

movement's impact on the eastern part of Bilad al-Sudan is of

particular interest to this study and warrant some mention.

E.1.2 SHEHU'S MOVEMENT AND THE MAHDIYYA:

The belief in the coming of a Mahdi (the guided one) towards the end

of time to deliver Muslim society from oppression and injustice has

been a popular one throughout Muslim world and Hausaland was no

exception. The tyranny and corruption of the pre-revolutionary regimes

of Hausaland only activated this belief. When therefore the Jama'a

(Shehu's movement) launched a Jihad against the oppressive regimes,

many Muslims in Hausaland thought that the end of the world was near

and the Shehu then must be the Mahdi. The Shehu however, it should

be recalled, refuted this popular claim and warned the people to desist

from it. In his own words:

"Know, O my brethren, that I am not the Imam al Mahdi and that

I never claimed the Mahadiyya - even though that is heard from

(115) M. Tukur, unpublished Ph.D thesis, ABU 1977 p. 93

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the tongues of other people. Indeed, I have striven beyond

measure in warning them to desist from that, and declared its

refutation in some of my writings, both in Arabic and Ajami

(Hausa and Fulfulde).(116)

But Shehu did not refute the idea of Mahdiyya itself, infact he affirmed

and even encouraged it. For in his message to the leaders of the

Jama'a which Muhammad Bello delivered on his behalf at birnin Gada,

he portrayed the Mahdiyya as a movement that will succeed his Jihad.

Alluding to this message Bello said:

"The Shehu sent me to all his followers in the east among the

people of Zamfara, Katsina, Kano and Daura…I conveyed to

them his good tidings about the approaching appearance of the

Mahdi, that the Shehu's followers are his vanguard and that this

Jihad will not end, by God's permission, until it gets to the Mahdi.

They listened and welcomed the good news".(117)

Even after the phase of the Jihad, Shehu continued to hold his view on

the Mahdi, who he said would appear in the east (of Hausaland). The

consequences were that: -

"As early as the time of Amir al-Muminun Abu Bakr Atiku (1837-

42) probably owing to the perturbed conditions within the Sokoto

Empire - a number of people started to migrate from Hausaland

to the Nile valley in anticipation of meeting the "expected Mahdi".

This created so much unrest and agitation that the Sultan had to

issue a proclamation declaring that the time of the exodus had (116) Uthman b. Fodio Tahdhir al- Ikwan, quoted in S. Biobaku and M. al-Hajj, "The Sudanese Mahdiyya and the Niger-Chad Region" in: Lewis (Ed.) Islam in Tropical Africa, p 228 (117) Muhammed bello, Infaq al- Maysur, quoted in: S Biobaku and M. al-Hajj, ibid., p. 229

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not yet come, "since there is still some good remaining among

us" (118)

Of course hundreds of years prior to this exodus the Hausaland had

been connected by several routes, plied by traders, Duat and pilgrims

(to hajj), among others. It is only reasonable therefore to believe that

the migration in anticipation of the Mahdi started much earlier than

1837, perhaps soon after the death of Shehu in 1817 or even earlier.

The grandfather of Khalifa Abd Allah, Mahdi's right-hand man and

successor was in fact part of this west-east movement of peoples. As

Biobaku and al-Hajj have established:

"His great - grandfather Ali al-Karrar, came from Niger-Chad

region on his way to Mecca. He, however, settled among the

Taisha in Southern Darfur and married a local woman".(119)

This might also explains Abd Allah (later Mahdi's Khalifa) search for

the Mahdi prior to the manifestation of Muhammad Ahmad as the

Mahdi.

Immediately the news of the Mahdi's manifestation reached the Sokoto

Caliphate, a grandson of Muhammad Bello, Hayatu b. Said, who had

reasons to take a leadership role, assembled as many followers as he

could get to swear allegiance to the Mahdi and to migrate to him.

Writing to the Mahdi, Hayatu Said: -

I and my father and all that belong to me swore allegiance to you

before your manifestation was perceived…. Shaikh Usman Dan (118) S. Biobaku and M. al-Hajj, "the Sudanese Mahdiyya and the Niger - chad Region" ibn : Lewis (Ed.) Islam in Tropical Africa,P.230 (119) Ibid. p. 233

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Fodio, recommended us to emigrate to you to assist you and to

help you when you were made manifest"(120)

Hayatu b. Said was consequently appointed the Mahdi's agent in the

region and he continued to lead the Mahdiyya until he died in his effort

to reach the Mahdi. Following his death the leadership of the followers

of the Mahdi passed over to his progeny who maintained the position

to this day. This phenomenon gave rise to peoples scattered from the

Niger to the Nile Valley who to this day see themselves as much part of

Shehu's movement as part of the Mahdiyya. These today remain the

living evidence of historical connection which contemporary political

boundaries drawn by imperialism could not and cannot obliterate.(120)

(120) Quoted in Ibid., p. 235

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PART TWO: THE MOVEMENT OF MUHAMMAD AHMAD AL-MAHDI.

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PART TWO

CHAPTER THREE

THE BACKGROUND OF THE MOVEMENT 3.1 THE NILOTIC SUDAN: ITS MAKE UP AND CHARACTER PRIOR TO ISLAMISATION

By Nilotic Sudan is meant the eastern part of Bilad al-Sudan,

consisting of the areas along the Nile south of Egypt; to the east as far

as the Red Sea Coast, to the west as far the Nuba Mountains and to

the South as far as the southern province of contemporary Sudan. The

White and Blue Nile rivers met at Khartoum, roughly the center of

Nilotic Sudan, from where the united Nile flows down through Egypt to

empty its water into the Mediterranean sea. The civilization that

developed along the lower Nile, in Egypt, is widely accepted to be the

cradle of human civilization. It continued to rival the Mesopotamian and

Greek civilizations up to the time of Christ. Much of our knowledge of

ancient Nilotic Sudan, the upper Nile, comes from the ancient Egyptian

sources. These sources however are not always clear on certain

issues. Historians, for example, are not yet agreed on the inhabitants

of ancient Nilotic Sudan.

What seems to have been generally agreed upon was that the Red

Sea area and the Nile Valley up to contemporary central Sudan was

inhabited by Hamites, while the Nuba hills in the west and the dense

forest to the south was inhabited by Negroid peoples. The movement

of the Semites into the Nilotic Sudan from time immemorial further

incorporated a good part of it into the semetic homelands.

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Human urge for curiosity and search for sustenance has since ancient

times brought the people of Nilotic Sudan in contact with ancient

civilizations. The degree of the contact was quite naturally a function of

proximity and accessibility. The peoples inhabiting the Nile Valley and

the Red Sea area being closer and more accessible came into early

and closer contact with the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Arabs. The

little that is known of such contact comes from early Egyptian historical

sources. It has not been possible to know exactly when such contact

started, but they seem to have been well developed by the time of the

Egyptian Pharaohs of the first four dynasties, who built the great

pyramids of Egypt.

The nature of the contact appeared to be mainly commercial. Though

the founders of the third and fourth dynasties (Zoser, Snefru) were

reported to have carried out military expedition into the Sudan as far as

northern Nubia. This could be for the purpose of pacifying the area and

facilitating flow of trade. In the course of this trade a number of articles

were exchanged.

“The most important trade articles imported to Egypt from the

Sudan were gold, which the Egyptians used in making of

statues, decorations and inscription; cattle and hides; ostrich

feathers and ivory which the rich families used for decorations;

gum Arabic, an ingredient in the making of medicine, and timber

from which the Egyptians built war ships and fishing boats, and

out of which roofs of houses and palaces were made. In

addition, the Egyptians imported slaves from the Sudan. The

strong men were enlisted to some extent in the Egyptian

army".(1) (1) Mandour El-Mahdi; A short Hisotry of the sudan, Oxford University Press 1965, p.7

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In addition to this were the product of punt i.e. perfumes, sandalwood

and myrrh, which the Egyptians used in religious ceremonies and in

temples. In return the Sudan imported agricultural iron implements, fine

pottery and linen cloth from Egypt.

In course of such commercial contacts three routes, which were to play

a very important role in the transformation of the region, came to exist:

"The route of Asyut Arbain, the Kharja Oasis, Salima and Darfur

known as the Arbain road; 2. The route which branched out of

the first route to reach Dongola, Korti, which crossed the Bayuda

desert and the river to where Shendi now stands, then followed

the river south to enter the blue Nile region; 3. The route, which

started at Daraw, crossed the Nubian Desert to Abu Hamad,

then until it joined with the second route. This route was not as

frequented as the two others owing to difficulty over water

supplies. There was a fourth route, the Nile, but this was of less

importance because its cataracts and meanderings slowed down

traffic on it, and also because some of the trading centers were

far- away from the Nile".(2)

The period 1580-1100 B.C saw a firmer Egyptian grip on the territories

of the northern Nilotic Sudan. The Pharaohs of that time, Aahmes,

Thotmes and Hatshepset extended their domains as far as the fourth

cataract. They may have even gone further south but so far nothing

has been found to confirm this. The remains of the temples and

fortress in Kawa, Amara and Jebel Barkal testify to the great influence

of the Egyptian civilization during these five centuries of occupation.

(2) Ibid. pp. 7-8

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The greatest of the Egyptian temples were built at Jebel Barkal where

many of the priests of Amon settled. "To each of the temples were

attached Egyptian scribe, learned in medicine, language and religion,

and also specialist artisans."(3)

By the 12th Century B.C however, the ancient Egyptian empire was on

the decline and so was its grip on the Sudan. Until about 750, when the

powerful kingdom of Napata rose in northern Nilotic Sudan, nothing is

heard of the Sudan in Egyptian sources. It is reasonable to assume

that trade continued during this period and the rise of Napata may not

be unconnected with this trade and the simultaneous decline of the

Egyptian sway. This kingdom named after its capital, Napata, grew so

powerful that it conquered and occupied a good part of Egyptian

territory, extending its role from Aswan to Blue Nile region in the south.

Its rule continued to about 300 B.C when on its decline another

powerful state, Meroe, rose on its ruins.

The capital of Meroe Kingdom was located at the junction of the Nile

and Atbara rivers, which being south of Napata and the gate to Gezira

was more fertile and formed a meeting point of the east-west trade

route. This strategic position not only helped Meroe in overtaking the

declining Napata but also and perhaps more consequential to the

region, helped it in developing internal trade routes and in extending its

ways as far west as Kordofan,(4) thus bringing the various peoples into

more intimate contact than hitherto achieved.

The grandeur of Meroe over Napata is testified by boost in agricultural

production and the development of a more indigenous culture with its

peculiar (Meriotic) writing. The remains of Amon temples however

seem to suggest no drastic change in the religious system. The (3) Ibid. pp. 10 (4) See. J. Greenberg, "Influence of Meroe Empire on Kordofan". In Boston University Papers p. 14

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Kingdom continued up to about the year 350 AD when after having

been weakened(5) by internal strife and stagnation, the Christian

kingdom of Axum of Abyssinia destroyed and annexed some eastern

parts of its territories. With this destruction the kingdom broke up into

small states, the most important of which came to be Nobadia, Makuria

and Alodia (alwa).

Until the second decade of the fourth century A.D., when the first

Christian emperor, Constantine ascended the throne of the Roman

Empire, Christians had been under severe persecutions. In search for

asylum from persecution, many Christians escaped to Nubia and

Meriotic Sudan. It is only reasonable to assume that some of these

Christian refugee may have tried or even succeeded in so spreading

their faith among their hosts. But organized Christian missionary

activities in the Sudan became only possible in the sixth century when

Christian enthusiasm was at its peak at Constantinople and by which

time the Meroitic kingdom had ceased to exist.

Through the competitive missionary zeal of various Christian sects and

invitations from some of the peoples of the Sudan, many Christian

missions arrived in Nubia, Makuria and Alwa. Here they built Churches

and monasteries and reduced local languages to writing for the

purpose of communicating their faith. Appointment of Bishops and

such other officials as the churches and monasteries required came

and continued to come from the Christian centers of Alexandria and

Constantinople. Administrative and political policies of these three

Christian states may have as well come from the Christian centers

too.(6) (5) Continous attack of Beja from the ast on Meroe was said to have contributed to this weakness. Seem El-Mahdi A short History of the Sudan, p.19 (6) Ibid. p. 26

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Though Nubia, Makuria and Alwa were Christian in outlook, Christianity

as such didn’t seem to have gone beyond the ruling class and the

urban elites of these states. This apparent absence of indigenous and

popular base of the Christian faith is further substantiated by the ease

and speed with which the Christian faith faded, once the link between

the Sudan and the patronizing Christian centers was severed by the

islamisation of Egypt.(7) Though it lacked roots in the indigenous

population, Christianity served to link Sudan much closer to the Greek-

Roman civilizations than would have otherwise been. It also helped to

unite the small states into two fairly big kingdoms. The northern

kingdom Makuria with its capital at old Dongola flourished until 1317,

when it disintegrated into smaller states that came to be ruled by

Muslim offsprings of Arab - Nubian marriages. The southern kingdom

Alwa with its capital at Soba lasted until it fell to the Funj Kingdom in

1504, by which time it had been so weakened that it could not hold its

domains.

3.2 Islamisation: It Agents, Pattern and Effects The Nilotic Sudan, as has been seen had been linked with the

civilization of the lower Nile, many years before Christ. Its contact with

the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula across the Red sea, also dated

centuries before Islam.(8) When therefore Islam appeared in the

seventh century AD and was spreading all over the Arabian peninsula

and beyond, the Sudan stood a good chance of coming in contact with

its message. It was from the lower Nile however, and not from across (7) See Y.F Hasan, the Arabs and the sudan, Khartoum University Press 1973 pp 124-132. See also T.W Arnorld the Preaching of Islam: A history of propagation of the Muslim faith, 2nd edition London, constable and Co. Ltd. 1913, pp. 111-112 (8) See, Y.F Hasan The Arabs and the Sudan p,.12

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the Red sea, that the message of Islam first reached Sudan. Until 640

AD, when the Muslims forces under the command of Amr bn al-As

conquered Egypt and initiated its Islamisation, the whole of the Nile

Valley as far as Soba (near Khartoum), could be said to be Christian.

With the ousting of Byzantine troops from Egypt, the latter became

rapidly lslamised. This rapid Islamisation was facilitated among others

by the welcome the Muslim forces received “from the native Christians

who hated the Byzantine rule not only for its oppressive administration,

but also and chiefly on account of the bitterness of the theological

rancour."(9) To the Copts in particular, who suffered an untold

persecution under the orthodox Byzantine rule, the Muslim rule

“brought a freedom of religious life such as they had not enjoyed for a

century.”(10)

"On payment of the tribute (Jizya), Amr left them in undisturbed

possession of their churches and guaranteed them autonomy in

all ecclesiastical matters, thus delivering them from the

continuous interference that had been so grievous a burden

under the previous rule; he laid his hands on none of the

property of the churches and committed no act of spoliation or

pillage."(11)

Such grace from the Muslim rulers, among other factors (not the least

of which is the credibility of the message of Islam), brought to Islam

large number of converts from Christianity. The massiveness of

converts to Islam is clearly reflected by the declivity of the revenue

(Jizya) from Egypt, which fell from twelve (12) millions during the reign

(9) T.W Arnold, the preaching of Islam p. 102 (10) Ibid (11) Ibid pp. 102-103.

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of Khalifa Uthman bn Affan (643-655) to five (5) millions during the

reign of Mu'awiyah (661-679). In fact by the time of Umar bn. Abd al-

Aziz (717-720) the conversion brought the revenue to such a low value

as to make the then governor of Egypt propose that future converts to

Islam would not be exempted from the payment of Jizya. But Amir al-

Muminun, Umar II rejected this proposal reminding his governor that

Allah sent Muhammad to call men to truth and not to be a collector of

taxes.(12)

The Islamisation of Egypt and its consequential isolation of the

Christian kingdoms of the Nilotic Sudan from their patrons in

Constantinople and Alexandria, affected quite naturally the socio-

political and perhaps economic life in Nubian Christian Kingdom of

Makuria and even Alwa further south. By the beginning of the second

decade of Islamic rule in Egypt, during the governorship of Abd Allah b.

Abi Sarh (in the reign of Uthman b. Affan) the Nubians had already

began raiding the southern frontiers of Islamic Egypt.(13) Abd Allah had

to send a large army against the Christian kingdom of Makuria. The

Muslim army marched as far south as Dongola but without subduing

the Nubians - If this had been the purpose of the expedition at all.

Following this expedition, a peace treaty - the famous ittifaqiyyah al-

Bagt was established between the Islamic Egypt and the Christian

Nubian state of Makuria.

The peace treaty guaranteed the Nubians the peace of Allah and His

prophet and allowed them to enter Muslim land (Egypt) as travelers but

not as settlers. The Muslims also were allowed by the same treaty to

enter Nubia as travelers (and perhaps traders) but not as settlers. The (12) For more details see: Ibid., p. 103

(13) See M. El-Mahdi A short Hisotry of the Sudan, p. 28 , See also Y.F Hasan The Arabs and the Sudan p. 18

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Nubians were to further allow the Muslims to found a mosque at the

outskirts of the town of old Dongola and protect it for them. The treaty

further stipulated that the Nubians pay an annual tribute of 360 slaves

to the Muslim governor as Aswan and by a convention not expressed

in the treaty, the Nubians received from the Muslim authorities gifts and

other goods which "at times exceeded the value of the slave-tribute".(14)

By providing for a free movement in and out of both lands, the treaty

succeeded in creating a free and peaceful atmosphere which was

conducive not only for the consolidation and development for the new

Islamic state of Egypt but also, and perhaps more important, for the

spread of the message of Islam over Nubia. Though settlement was

not allowed, the free movement of people was sufficient to expose both

parties to the belief and ideas of one another. The Muslim merchant

traveling in Nubia country, to which the treaty seemed particularly

favourable, could sell not only his goods but also his faith. Similarly the

movement of Nubians in Egypt at a time when large numbers of

Egyptian Christians were converting to Islam made the conversion of

Nubians to Islam particularly encouraging. The impact of the mosque

(apparently built for Muslim travelers), located in the heart of the

Nubian country must not be under-estimated.

The Islamisation of Egypt quite naturally deprived the Christian centers

of Byzantine and Rome of easy accessibility to Nubia. Having lost its

patrons, Christianity in Nubia began to loose its grip and undergo

gradual degeneration. With this the political and social institutions of

the Christian kingdoms began to decay. Meanwhile Muslims, mainly

Arab tribesmen began to infiltrate into Nubian territory.

(14) P.M. Holt; A modern History of the Sudan, London Weindenfield and Nicolson, 1974, p.16.

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The Turkification of the Egyptian army by al-Mutasim (833-842)

coupled with the opening of the Sudan gold mines, about the same

time, was to increase the number of Arabs tribesmen migrating into

Nubia.(15) There they began to settle and intermarry with the local

communities. By the tenth century the Muslims that had settled on the

Blue Nile were so large and influential as to request for a permission to

build a mosque in Soba, the capital of the Christian Kingdom of

Alwa.(16)

These developments, threatening to the Baqt as they appear, did not

lead to the termination of the peace treaty. They may have however

strained it, for in reigns of al-Mu'tasim (833-842) "ambassadors were

sent by the Caliph reviewing this treaty, and the king of Nubia visited

the capital (Baghdad) where he was received with great magnificence

and dismissed with costly presents.”(17)

The thirteenth century was to see much larger influx of Arab tribesmen

into Nubian territory; an influx which continued for about two

centuries.(18) Nubian efforts to resist this influx were abortive, for their

power base had over the years been enervated. To maintain their

thrones the Nubians tried to win over the Arabs through intermarriage.

Owing to the Nubian custom of matrilineal succession, the Arab tribes

of Banu al - Kanz and Juhayna were to take over the thrones of Nubian

provinces in course of a few generations.

As the Muslim presence and influence grew, the Christian influences

petered out. That the conversion of the Church of Dongola to a

mosque by Sayf al Din in 1317, was not accompanied by any rancour (15) See Y.K Hasan The Arabs and the Sudan pp. 37 and 41 (16) T.W Arnold The preaching of Islam p.110 (17) Ibid. P. 109 (18) Y.F. Hasan The Arabs and the Sudan p.125

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or opposition, perhaps more than anything indicates the context of

faintness of Christianity in the period.(19) It was not surprising therefore

that, by the first half of the sixteenth century there was hardly any

bishop or priest remaining in Nubia.(20)Efforts to secure some from

neighboring Abyssinia proved unsuccessful and with these Christianity

could not but die a natural death.

Another source of Muslim presence and influence in Nilotic Sudan was

the western and central Bilad al-Sudan, a good part of which had been

Islamised as early as the tenth century. The region had since then

produced pilgrims annually, many of whom crossed the Nilotic Sudan

on their way to Makka and Madina.(21) Though many of these pilgrims

returned to their respective places quite a number settled down and

boasted the Muslim number and influence in the region.

Of course not all the Muslim peoples that came to settle in Nilotic

Sudan worked for its Islamisation. In fact a good number of them were

nomadic Arab tribes who were lacking in their knowledge of Islam and

whose main interest was seeking suitable settlement and grazing area

for their herds.(22) The task of spreading the message of Islam in the

region, like in Hausaland and such other contemporary regions was

shouldered by scholars who were primarily motivated by an obligation

to call people to Islam. These scholars were often reinforced by Muslim

merchants (some of whom are sometimes scholars), who though

primarily motivated by trade never loose any opportunity to convey the

(19) Sayf al-Din being the first Muslim King if Nubia marked his succession by converting the church to mosque Ibid. (20) T.W Arnold, The preaching of Islam p. 112 (21) See Biobaku and al-Hajj. The Sudanese Mahdiyya and the Niger - Chad Region in Lewis (ed.), Islam in Tropical Africa London I.A.I 2nd 1980 (22) See M. El- Mahdi A short History of the Sudan p. 35

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message of Islam to the non-Muslim community in which they traded.

To this we can add the chains of pilgrims who passed through Nilotic

Sudan on their way to or back from Makka and Madina. Even where

the pilgrims were not scholars, their sojourn, in the holy land confer on

them a substantial amount of information and not the least important,

prestige to propagate Islam to their hosts, with whom they often spend

months and even years in the course of their journey (back). Of all

these groups the scholars, it must be said, distinguished themselves

not only by their knowledge but also by a high sense of duty and

dedication to the cause.

It is not known exactly when these agents of Islamisation began to

reach the Sudan. From what is so far known of the extant records the

earliest da'I in this region seem to have been Ghulam Allah Ibn Aid, a

scholar who came in the second half of the fourteenth century. He

settled in Dongola where he built a mosque and taught Islamic

Sciences(23). About a century later, a Shahdiyya Sufi Shayk Hamd Abu

Durana settled in the district of Berber where he undertook his Da'awa.

It is significant to note that both Ghulam Allah and Hamd Claimed to

have descended from the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Bearing in mind that the doors of the Sudan had since the seventh

century A.D been thrown wide open to Muslims, it is far-fetched to

believe that du’at began to come only in the fourteenth century. In the

same vein, pilgrims from the Western and central Bilad al-Sudan,

where substantial Islamisation was achieved as early as the 10th

century, (24) could not have waited until the fourteenth century before

crossing the Nilotic Sudan on their way to or back from the holy land. (23) P.M. Holt, A Modern History of the Sudan, p.28 (24) To appreciate the degree of Islamisation of tenth century Ghana and Kanem Borno in Western and central Bilad al- Sudan respectively refer to Chapter One of this study.

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The point being pressed here is that Muslim du'at must have been in

the Nilotic Sudan much earlier than the fourteenth century. These

could have come from the Arabian Peninsula as much as from the

western and central Bilad al-Sudan.

Having dwelt so much on the presence of Muslim peoples in the Nilotic

Sudan, it is time we consider the pattern in which Islamisation was

carried out in the region. In this regard it will be helpful to recall that

while Nubia (Northern Nilotic Sudan) was subjected to nearly two

hundred years of Christianity prior to their contact with Islam, the rest

of the Sudan could be said to have been pagan. But since the

Christianity of the Christian Nubia was largely limited to the big towns

an even there, to the elites, the du'at in the Nilotic Sudan can be seen

to have been confronted with largely an audience of fetish worshippers.

Here, as in Hausaland and indeed the whole of Bilad al- Sudan, the

Muslim da'I attracts the attention of his hosts either by his unique

personality or by his regular acts of worship, which a fetish worshipper

immediately associates with supernatural power. The life of a fetish

worshipping community being pervaded by the idea of a supernatural

power, the Muslim da'I is usually approached to solve a host of

problems ranging from drought to individual health difficulties. Where

the da'I succeeded, which is more often than not, the client and often

his relations accept Islam.(25) Where the client happens to be a chief,

his acceptance of Islam is usually accompanied by that of his people

en mass. Lest we get the impression of a da'I entering a pagan

community and posing as a healer, we should bear in mind that the

da'I sees his task as primarily that of communicating the massage. To (25) See H.J Fisher "Hassebu: Islamic Healing in Black Africa" in M. Brett( Ed.) Northen Africa: Islam and Modernisation London, Frank Cass, 1973. One may not howver agree with Fisher when he said that "there is little direct connection between conversion and cure".

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the da'I, the healing which he is often confronted with is secondary.

Thus he initially and continuously disseminated the message of Islam

formally and informally; in the court and in the market place.(26) It is

here he expounds on the nature of the message. Here reasoning

becomes more crucial to conversion than display of "extra human"

powers. But even here the belief in the da'i's ability to invoke the help

of certain super natural powers greatly facilitated his movement and

grant the hospitality of his hosts.

Where the da'I was a trader, his prominence in his host community

emanated more from his trade than from any ability to invoke the help

of supernatural powers. His well – known and harmless trade,

“Secures him an immunity from such feelings of suspicion, while

his knowledge of men and manners his commercial savoir-faire,

gain for him a ready reception and remove that feeling of

constraint which might naturally arise in the presence of the

stranger".(27)

Through the tireless activities of such du'at the different segments of

the non-Muslim (pagan) societies were called to Islam. Those who

accepted Islam in such process were immediately taught its message

and soon qualified to call others, especially their own people to Islam.

This boost in duat, especially the indigenous ones, naturally brought a

corresponding increase in both the number and rate of conversion to

Islam. This increase in conversion produced more du’at, which through

their activities brought about more conversions to Islam and so on. By

(26) This picture of the da'I is most recaptured by the itinerant Muslim da'I that today move from one public place to another calling their audience to Islamm in Western and eastern Africa. (27) T.W. Arnorld, the Preaching of Islam p. 419

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the sixteenth century this process of Da'awa had Islamised sufficient

people to warrant the rise of Muslim states of Funj and later Fur.

Though historians are not yet agreed on the factors that led to the rise

of these Muslims states, the role of the trade routes (28) has never been

disputed. Obviously the trade routes could not have acquired the

significance they did if not for the busy traffic of Muslim merchants,

scholars and pilgrims on them (routes). The very culture, thoughts and

ideas that were moving along the trade routes were Islamic and we

cannot fail to see the direct connection between the level of

Islamisation and the rise of these Muslims sultanates. The Funj had

been inhabiting the area around Sennar and had by the late fifteenth

century been Islamised for all practical purposes. Early in the sixteenth

century, the Funj under their ruler, Umara Dungus allied with the Arab

tribes under Abd Allah Jamma and dealt a finishing blow to the

declining Christian state of Alwa - to the north of Sennar. From then on

the Funj Sultanate continued to expand and develop into a big state.

The emergence of this state created a political stability, which was to

facilitate the movement of people and make the job of du'at, whether

they were traders, scholars or pilgrims, much easier.

The Muslims Sultans of Funj (though initially nominal) soon began to

patronize scholars, giving them grants and lavish privileges, that

encourage many to stay and open schools where they thought and

continued their task of Da'awa. As the news of the Sultan's generosity

spread - being on the way to Hajj it was easy - more scholars poured

into the Funj state, increasing the number of hands for the Job of

Islamisation. This is not to say however that all the scholars came to

(28) For more details see; Y.F. Hsan" the Fur Sultanate and the long distance Caravan Trade 1650-1850". An unpublished paper to the Third International Conference on the "The Central Bilad al-Sudan", I.A.A.S, Univwersity of Kahrtoum, November, 1977.

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Funj because of the generosity and privileges of the Sultan. Indeed

there were many who came out of genuine desire to spread the

message to whom the hospitality of the Sultan was only important in so

far as it gives them the security their job needed. Towards the end of

the sixteenth century, Islamic law (sharia) had gained formal

recognition and four judges were appointed to administer it throughout

Funj and Abdallabi territories(29).

In Darfur a very similar situation is found. The Fur territories had since

the thirteenth century been exposed to Islamisation from their western

neighbors Kanem Bornu, under whose dominion they may have once

been. The rise of the Fur Sultanate in the seventeenth century was

evidently the impact of the long distance trade and the Islamic

influences that usually accompanied the trade.(30) Form the time of

Sulayman Solonj, the first Muslim ruler of the sultanate, scholars, Sufi,

shaykhs, "holy men" and pilgrims of diverse origins and varied

attainments began to pour into Darfur as they did into the Funj. They

included such people as Muhammad Ibn Salih al-Kinani form Hijaz and

Ali al-Futuwi a qadi from Katsina, in Hausaland. Such scholars came to

enjoy many privileges such as land grant, immunity from taxation and

some times the proceeds of taxation of a whole community.(31) Though

most of them were involved in teaching and da'awa they often served

some judicial functions. Perhaps because of their status, prestige and

relative neutrality in local politics, they served some mediatory role, in

times of conflicts and civil war.

(29) P.M. Holt, A modern History of the sudan p.29 (30) Y.F. Hasan, "the Fur Sultanate and the Long Distance Caravan Trade.". p.4 (31) R.S O'Faey "Land an privileges in Dar Fur" an unpublished paper to the third International conference on the "Central Bilad al-Sudan", I.A.A.S University of Kahrtoum 1977, p.7

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By the time of sultan Abd al-Rahman 1787-1802(1) the nominal

Islamisation had began to give way for a more thorough adherence to

Islam. The application of the sharia, employment of Qadi,

establishment of mosques and Qur'anic schools, and the

developments of Islamic institutions became top most priority under the

Sultan.

Thus the eighteenth century saw a fairly thorough Islamisation

throughout Funj and Fur territories. The thoroughness of Islamisation is

reflected by the quality of scholars and scholarship during this period,

as evident by the Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah.(32) The relationship

between the Funj and the Fur sultanates was generally peaceful. This

may have been facilitated by the uniformity in school of Fiqh (Maliki

Madhhab) or by the fact that they both recognized the rule of the

Ottoman Empire or both.

The predominance of Maliki Madhab in the Bilad al - Sudan more than

just giving uniformity to the whole belt, suggests that the greater dose

of Islamisation of Nilotic Sudan came from the central or western part

of the belt (Bilad al-Sudan), rather than Egypt or the Arabian peninsular

where the Madhab was different. This suggestion could gain support

from the fact that the territories to the west of Nilotic Sudan had

undergone thorough Islamisation many years earlier.

The Sudan however had something unique to its western brethren.

This is the predominance of the claim and belief in the decent of

certain scholars from the family of the prophet Muhammad. This

descent gave the individual scholar (Faki) a kind of "holiness" which

(32) Kitab al-Tabaqat is a biographical dictionary of saints learned men, and peots which has written about 1804-5. It contains 270 enteries. See Y.F Hasan, some aspects of writing of history in modern Sudan, Khartoum I,A.A.S. 1978, p.8

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makes him a source and bestower of blessings [Baraka]. This belief in

the “holiness” of certain scholars and the prevalence of Sufi thoughts

and practices combined to give the Faki in the Sudan, a prestige and

reverence which his counterpart in western and central Bilad al- Sudan

never seemed to have enjoyed. It was around such Fakis that many of

the villages and towns in the Sudan sprouted.(33)

It is worth noting that, though most of the shaykhs were patronized by

the Sultans (Rulers), not all of them displayed the usual deference

scholars of that time are known to have shown to political authorities.

Ismail b. Jabir, for instance refused to use water coming from the

Shaygiya because the oxen, which raised it, had been taken by

force.(34) A Sufi, Hamad al-Nahlan known as Wad al Turabi (d.1704)

who incidentally claimed to be the expected Mahdi, “laid a powerful

and effective curse on the tax-gatherers of Sultan Badi III.”(35) This

however, is not to say that the relationship between the scholars and

rulers had always been hostile.

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the Funj Sultanate

was on the decline. But this do not seem to have affected the spread of

Islam in the territory. In fact it was during this same period when a host

of new Sufi orders, Naqshbandiyya and Sammaniyya for example,

entered the territory. Each of these orders tried to secure as much

following as possible but the competition did not seem to have led to

any serous conflict among them.

(33) See M. O Abusag, Precolonial ideated in East and Central Bilad al- Sudan , an unpublished paper to the Third al - Sudan I.A.A.S Univerity of Kahrtoum, November 1977 p.5 (34) PM Holt " The Islamisaton of the Nilotic Sudan in M. Brett (ed.) Northern Afric: Islam and modernization, London Frank cass 1973 p.17 (35) Ibid.

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A Sufi order of significance to this study is Khatmiyya, which entered

the Sudan early in the nineteenth century, on the eve of the Egyptian

invasion of the Sudan. Its leader and founder Uthman al-Marghani did

not Himself settle in the Sudan, but returned to Hijaz (Makka) after

extensive recruitment tour in the Sudan. Coming on the eve of

Egyptian invasion and having been extensively favoured by the Turco-

Egyptian colonial administration, the Khatmiyya order was thought to

have been used by Muhammad Ali to prepare the ground for

colonization. But concrete evidence are not forthcoming yet.

3.3 The Turco- Egyptian Rule(36)

The Ottoman Empire under Salim I (1517) conquered Egypt and

appointed a governor who ruled on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan. The

governor soon came to be nominal while the real power came to be in

the hands of the Mamlukes - "Originally slaves from Caucasus who

had grown into a powerful greedy interest group." (37) By the late

eighteenth century the Ottoman Empire was itself crumbling under

many years of European power conspiracy and internal weaknesses.

Napoleon was thus able to invade and capture Egypt in 1797.

In the confusion that followed Napoleons invasion of Egypt,

Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman soldier of Albanian origin, fought his way

into the power vacuum and made himself the ruler of Egypt. European

powers, Britain in particular, who had by then grown so powerful as to

direct affairs of the Ottoman empire, came in time to pre-empt

Muhammad Ali's ambitious plans of taking over the Ottoman empire. (36) the term "turco-Egyptian has come to be a conveineit way of expressing the nominal authotity of the Ottoomon sultan over Muhamamd ali's Egypt. Except for this nominality there is hardly anthing turksih in the Egyptian rule in th esudan (37) A.B Thebold, The Mahdiyya: A history of Ango Egyptian Sudan, 1881-1899 Longmans London 1962 p.6

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They however secured him (Muhammad Ali) appointment as the

hereditary ruler of Egypt from 1806. Having been confirmed in Egypt,

Muhammad Ali began a ruthless extermination of the Mamlukes, to

consolidate his rule.

While Egypt was undergoing these changes, the Funj kingdom was

virtually crumbling into petty chiefdoms. The internal dissentions and

anarchy in the Funj naturally constrained trade with Egypt. The escape

of the persecuted Mamlukes into Northern Sudan may have made

matters Worse, and even paralyzed the trade - a good source of

revenue for Egypt. Such cut in revenue at a time when Muhammad

Ali's army were engaged at battle fields and when he had embarked on

an ambitious plan of modernization at home, was particularly

frustrating.

Thus Muhammad Ali was soon to find himself in desperate need of

men and money, which he believed he could find in the Sudan. The

idea of invading the Sudan and plundering the untapped resources -

especially Gold and solves - became both attractive and promising to

Muhammad Ali. In 1820 he dispatched a force of ten thousand

(10,000) men under the command of his son Ismail and hid son-in-law

Defterder to the Sudan to procure men and money and whatever

valuable thing they could lay their hands on. Perhaps learning from

Napoleon, he accompanied the invading force with a team of European

experts in such fields as geology and agriculture to explore the natural

resources.

To give a stamp of legitimacy to this invasion, the army were also

accompanied with a team of Muslim scholars (shykhs), perhaps from

al-Azhar, whose job was apparently to call on the Muslims of the

Sudan to submit to the rule of the Ottoman Empire through Muhammad

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Ali in the name of Islam. This fraud of masking imperialism under the

garb of Islam did not seem to have worked out. For many refused to be

taken in and had to be brought to submission under brute and ruthless

force.

The natives of course resisted, but lacking in solidarity and modern

weaponry, they could not match the might of the invading Egyptian

forces. Many had to resort to flight. Though the Egyptian occupation

forces succeeded in ruthlessly suppressing local resistance, the

proceed of their plunder could not meet the insatiable needs of

Muhammad Ali who on the 23rd of September 1825 dispatched the

following to the Defterder:

"You are aware that the end of all our effort and this expense is

to procure negroes. Please show zeal in carrying out our wishes

in this capital matter".(38)

Perhaps realizing the futility of brute force and probably under the

advice of his European patrons, Muhammad Ali turned to a more

sophisticated form of imperialism. He recalled the Defterder and

appointed a governor general (Hikimdar) to the Sudan. In trying to

entrench the tools of colonial exploitation, the Hikimdar could not but

display an otherwise inexplicable grace and consideration towards the

weary inhabitants of the Sudan whose cooperation was essential for

the success of this phase of imperialism.

To facilitate administration, the whole colony (Sudan) was divided into

provinces under governors and the provinces further divided into

districts under Nazirs. Attached to each provincial governor was a

(38) Quoted in P.M. Holt, a modern historu of the Sudan p. 33

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police station, a judge, a mufti (to administer the Sharia) and a native

council. Khartoum replaced Wad Medani as the Capital, hosting the

Hikimdar and central administration. At the onset of this colonial

administration, the Sharia was confined to the bounds of matters of

personal status while a penal code was enforced in all other areas of

law.(39) The administration thus left its learned subjects, at least in no

doubt about its non-Islamicity.

The team of agriculturalists, mineralogists and engineers continued

their work under the colonial administration. Though agricultural

productivity greatly increased, the search for gold did not materialize.

As gold became elusive, the administration gradually reverted to the

earlier method of forced and heavy taxation. Even slave hunting

became part of the administration’s enterprise.

The establishment of a colonial administration made easy the flow of

foreign, and mostly European merchants into Khartoum. These soon

embark on all types of trade especially the slave trade, which grew to a

scale hitherto unknown to Sudan. With the European merchants came

also the first Roman Catholic Mission which opened in Khartoum in

1842. (40) Though this was short lived, it found precedent to a more

permanent one under Jesuit direction which was established in 1848.

Abbas who inherited his grandfather Muhammad Ali in 1849, continued

more or less the same colonial policy in the Sudan. He made some

administrative changes to check inefficiency and corruption. But more

important was his introduction of a primary school in Khartoum along

the western European "secular" lines. The school at least served two (39) L.E.M Kapeteijns, The Religious Background of the Mahdi and his movement" in African Perspectives (n.d) offprint, p.76 (40) M. el-Mahdi A Short History of the Sudan p. 69

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purposes: to train clerks for the colonial administration; and to serve as

a dumping ground for expelled staff of the Egyptian ministry of

Education. Under Abbas the Sudan became more exposed to foreign

Europeans traders whose involvement in the slave traffic increased.

Abbas could not, even if he had wanted to, stand on the way of the

European traders, for the letter, “backed by their consuls had

overgrown his powers.”(41)

Muhammad Said Pasha who took over from Abbas only gave this

process a further push. He even went as far as appointing, for the first

time, a Christian Arkil Bay, as governor (of Khartoum and Gazira)

under his decentralization programme.(42) Of course the appointment

was not without reaction from the Shukriyya tribe over whom he was to

govern.

Muhammad Sa'id Pasha was succeeded by Is'mail who had spent a

good part of his time in Paris where he became thoroughly

westernized. Ismail took the throne at a time when both the Ottoman

Empire and Egypt had virtually lost their power to the increasingly

powerful European (especially British) Consuls and became pawns in

the European power game. True to his training and circumstances,

Ismail Pasha brought sweeping modernization - westernization and

secularization as it were.

The western secular school started by Abbas was immediately

reactivated and expanded to produce clerks, accountants, telegraph

operators and such other officials as the colonial administration

needed. He sought to bring Sudan closer to Egypt by constructing

(41) Ibid.,p. 72 (42) P.M. Holt, A modern history of the Sudan, p.63

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railway and telegraph lines. Though it is doubtful if he had the welfare

of the Sudanese people in mind, his town planning and hospital

projects had the positive effects of improving the quality of life in the

Sudan. He was also said to have expressed concern over the

corruption and oppression of his colonial administration and to have

even made efforts to redress the sufferings they caused to the

subjects.

By the 1830's the so-called anti-slavery movement in Europe had

succeeded in becoming very vocal. The idea of putting a stop to slave

trade soon became associated with western liberal thoughts. Seeking

to identify himself with western liberal thoughts and thereby appease

his European patrons, Ismail began to take measures to stop slave

traffic in the Sudan. The measures basically consisted of control of the

movements of boats along the Nile and imposition of exorbitant taxes.

Even if these measures were in themselves sufficient the corruption

and inefficiency of the colonial administration would not have allowed

them to succeed. He even replaced the Egyptian and Sudanese staff

with Europeans but to no avail.

When all failed he resolved to physically attacking the native slave

traders in Bahr al- Ghazal province, where they had concentrated. The

Slave traders however mustered around their leader al-Zubayr Wad

Rahma and defeated the government's forces. Before another

government’s force was sent al-Zubyr declared his loyalty to the

government and was appointed governor of the province. Al-zubayr

finding himself powerful and perhaps aspiring to be more than just a

provincial governor fought and conquered Darfur in 1874, bringing it

into the fold of Turco-Egyptian colonial rule. Thus anti-slavery

measures ended up in expansion of colonial territories.

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Ismail, perhaps wanting to live to the expectations of his European

admirers, continued his anti-slavery measures in the Sudan. He

employed a British explorer and "expert" on the Nile slave trade, Sir

Samuel Baker. This again ended up in another failure.(43) But Bakers

failure did not apparently shake Ismail's confidence of his European

staff, for he replaced Baker immediately with another British officer,

Charles Gordon. Though Gordon, unlike Baker, conceived his mission

more in an evangelical framework, the result was virtually another

failure.(44) In 1876 Gordon resigned his post and returned to England

only to return to the Sudan the following year, this time as the

Governor General (Hikimdar) of the whole Sudan.

This appointment of a Christian as the governor General over the

Muslim Sudan represented the highest point of disregard for Muslim

sensitivity in the Sudan. The tolerance of the Muslim subjects, who had

been living for half a century under the yoke of a corrupt, tyrannical

colonial government,(45) was being stretched to breaking point.

Gordon's own insensitivity and recklessness must have made matters

worse.

Though Gordon resigned in 1879, when his employer Isma'il Pasha

was disposed, the damage his appointment and his policies caused

could not have been repaired by his successor Rauf Pasha who held

until the appearance of the Mahdi.

(43) A.B.M Ali The birtish the Slave Trade and Slavery in the Sudand (1820-1881) KUP Khatoum 1972 (44) Ibid. (45) The tyranny and injustice of the colonial administration is reflected by the wicked system of taxation: if they ( the Sudanese) wish to grow corn they must pay for permission to do so, pay for liberty to take water from the groad Nile, and pay for double taxes… if they don’t grow the corn tthey cant pay the taxes at all and… put into prison". See Thebold, The Mahdiyya p. 25

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That the Turco-Egyptian invasion of the Sudan in 1821 was neither

motivated by Islam nor was the administration of the colonized Sudan

in any way Islamic, is evident, and needs no further emphasis. The

gradual involvement of Euro-Christian and particularly British elements

In the Turco-Egyptian imperialism in the Sudan is also clear. What

remains to be discussed now is the consequences of this complex

imperialism on the Sudanese Muslim people.

The first six years of brutal plunder, by the invading Egyptian forces,

left such bitter and unforgivable feelings in the Sudanese, the

memories of which prevail in the mind of contemporary generation.

Even when the Turco-Egyptian government reverted to a less crude

and more expedient imperialism by instituting a government machinery

and working through tribal and religious shykhs, its credibility remained

stained with horrors of the earlier plunder. The colonial government’s

building of mosques, appointment of Sharia judges, and opening of the

gates of Azhar for the Sudanese students could be seen as part of

those efforts to rescue some kind of confidence and goodwill from the

Sudanese Muslims, without which the exploitation of their resources

would not be easy or even possible.

Even the graduation of a number of Sudanese students from the

University of Azhar in Cairo, and the recruitment of the support and

services of the Khatmiyya Sufi order could not inspire genuine love for

and sincere loyalty to the Turco- Egyptian government in the Sudanese

people. That many of the Sufi shykhs and orders kept a distance from

the government, despite the latters readiness to support and finance

the former, is a clear indication of the Sudanese resentment for the

colonial government.

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Faced with external aggression, militant westernization, over and

above oppression and injustices, unable to resist the might of

occupation forces, the Sudanese masses could only find consolation at

the feet of their Sufi Shayks, who at least remind them of the hope for a

better life hereafter. This psychological escape, as it were, from the

harsh realities of life to spiritualism led to a profound increase in the

following of the Sufi orders. As the following increased so did the

activities of the orders. The spiritual standing of the Sufi shykhs,

especially those outside government's pay roll, also increased and

many turned to them for Baraka.

In the course of time and perhaps when there appeared no real hope

for delivery from their misfortune, there soon grew the feeling that their

calamity is one of the signs of the hour (end of the world). The only

hope for delivery is therefore through the mahdi who the Muslims

believe will come at the end of time to fill the earth with justice as it was

filled with injustice. The presence of Muslims form the Sokoto caliphate

who had been awaiting the appearance of the Mahdi prophesied by

Dan Fodio must have helped both the credibility and the spread of this

popular belief. The waiting for a Mahdi soon became practically the

only good thing that could be done. Meanwhile the ulama were dusting

off their old books and reading with extra vigilance the prophetic

traditions and books on the expected Mahdi. It was amidst such

expectations that Muhammad Ahmad b. Abd Allah, who was to satisfy

this yearning and fulfill the prophecy, was born.

3.4 The Emergence of Muhammad Ahmad

The ancestors of Muhammad Ahmad are said to have been

descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) who migrated form

Hijaz through Egypt and finally to Sudan where they settled in Dongola

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at Labab Island. In Labab Island they taught the Qur'an and built boats

as a means of livelihood. They became famous for their piety and soon

Labab Island came to be known as Gezirat al-Ashraf (The Island of the

descendents of the Prophet).

On the 27th Rajab 1260/12th August 1844, Muhammad Ahmad was

born on the Labab Island. This birth, like that of most great men, more

so in the Sudan of that time, was associated, especially by his

followers, with many miracles. But, here again, we shall concentrate on

those aspects of Muhammad Ahmads' life significant in shaping his

thoughts and preparing him for the role he eventually came to play.

Shortly after his birth, his family were known to have migrated south to

Karari near Khartoum, where his father Abd Allah died after a short

stay. Under the care of brothers who continued with their boat building,

Muhammad Ahmad was sent to the village Khalwa,(46) like other

children, to learn Qur'an along with reading and writing. Here

Muhammad Ahmad showed a remarkable disposition to learning and

was encouraged by his brothers to proceed to another Khalwa at

Kutranj near Khartoum. At Kutranj he studied classical Arabic and Fiqh

in addition to the Qur'an.

After graduating from Kutranj, he had the option to take to trade or

become a Faki, but true to his disposition, he sought to go further to

quench his thirst for knowledge. Thus he went to the famous Khalwa of

al-Ghobosh near Berber to pursue higher studies under Shykh

Muhammad al-Khair. Here Muhammad Ahmad went further in his

studies of Qur'an, Fiqh, Arabic language and perhaps for the first time

Sufi literature. (46) Khlawa means a Qur'anic School. Note the name originally means a period of meditation of rhte Sufi. This reflects the influnce of Sufism in the Sudanese Muslim society.

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It was here (Berber) that Muhammad Ahmad's unique qualities began

to feature and to give him a conspicuous place among his colleagues.

It was here he was reported to have devoted so much of his time and

energy to prayer, contemplation, reflection, and fasting.(47) It was here

also he was seen to weep when reading the Qur'an(48)- a mark of

deeper understanding and/or emotional attachment to the Qur'an. A

number of times, he was reported to have entered into devotional

confinement "Khalwa," spending hours and sometimes days. Once he

was reported to have confined himself for three days and when the

teacher inquired and went into the room to see him he found him

(Muhammad Ahmad) reading Ihya Ulum al-Din of al-Gazali. The

teacher was reported to have advised Muhammad Ahmad against

reading the book because he was too young for it.(49)

Muhammad Ahmad distinguished himself in Berber not only in his

devotional engagements but also in his political consciousness and

concern for social justice. For Muhammad Ahmad refused to take food

coming from the Sheikh’s house on the ground that the food was mixed

with government’s grant, which the Shaykh received, the source of

which was obviously the illegally collected government revenue. He

thus began to find for himself an alternative source of subsistence,

which he was satisfied to be halal (permissible by Shari'a).

He started by collecting and selling firewood but abandoned it when

someone told him that it could be used in making local wine (Marisa).

He took to fishing. But even here he was unlike other fishermen, for

Muhammad Ahmad would not use a bate to "deceive" the fish, he (47) M. al-Mahdi A short history of the Sudan (48) Abdullahi Muhammd Ahmad - Personal interview (49) Ibid.

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would rather dip his net and occupy himself with reading of the Qur'an

until such a time he caught some fish.(50) Muhammad Ahmad was said

to have pursued this exacting means of subsistence until an agreement

was reached with his Shaykh to provide him from halal sources.

Behind these otherwise stubborn behavior is a message. What

Muhammad Ahmad was in effect doing was registering his

dissatisfaction over the prevailing injustices and moral slackness in his

society. Muhammad Ahmad’s life in Berber was clearly decisive in the

development of his personality. It was there he came into intimate

contact, though by his singular effort, with Sufi literature and developed

his ascetic inclination. Towards the end of his stay there he became a

full-fledged Sufi looking for a Shaykh. Thus when he left Berber, he

went directly to Umarrih around Hassa-Hissa in Gezira, to live under

Shaykh Muhammad Sheriff Nur al-Daim, leader of the Summaniyya

Sufi Tariqa and a grandson of al-Bashir who brought the order to the

Sudan. At this stage a brief survey of the nature and development of

Sufi thoughts is essential to our appreciation of Muhammad Ahmad's

career, thoughts and actions.

The origin of Sufi thoughts have been sought in vain in such places as

neoplatonic, Christian and Asian mysticism. While these may have had

some (superficial) influences on Sufism, the roots are to be found in

the teachings of Islam and the development traced to the cropping up

of deviation (from the Islamic ideals) in the Islamic polity following the

period of Khilafa Rashida. Irritated by these developments and

helpless in setting things right, some individuals began to withdraw

from active life and find solace in exclusively spiritual devotions. This

was soon to "develop in a fully esoteric system with a belief in an

(50) Ibid.

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invisible spiritual regime which is in real command of the destiny of the

world and which will ensure the victory of righteousness(51).

By the tenth century, Sufi thoughts had developed beyond mere

asceticism into an elaborate way of life and system of thoughts and

running the risk of being confused with patheism. This trend caught the

attention of Sunni scholars who immediately launched an offensive.

This clash reached its peak in 922 AD when a leading Sufi, al-Hallaj

was executed for heresy.(52) Efforts of Sufi writers was from then on

concentrated in providing the Sunniness (orthodoxy) of Sufism, a trend

which reached its peak with al-Gazali (d.1111A.D). The reconciliation

achieved by al-Gazali gave Sufism credibility, at least for some times,

among the Sunni.

But a century later came Ibn Arabi, who began yet another effort to

develop Sufism along independent lines, a trend which may not be al-

together acceptable to the Sunni Scholars. Already by the twelfth

century, the influence of certain prominent Sufi teachers (like al-Jailani,

al-Shadhili and al-Suhrawardi) had spread beyond their own locale.

Following their death, their disciples, perhaps inspired by al-Ghazali's

exposition:

"The disciple (Murid) must of necessity have recourse to a

direction (Shaikh or in Persian Pir) to guide him aright. For the

way of the faith is obscure, but the devils ways are many and

patient and he who has no shaikh to guide him will be led by

devil into his ways".(53)

(51) Al-Sadiq - al-Mahdi "Mahdism in Islam" an unpublished paper to a conference on Islam at Bayero University, Kano, Apri;l 1980, p.3 (52) J. O Voll. " A History of Khartmiiyya a Tariqa in the Sudan p. 56. (53) Al-Gazali quoted in J.O Voll. " A history of Khatmiyya Tariqah in the sudan". P. 71

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Began to organize their followers around the teachings of their master

and to develop a system of devotional exercise, which unified the

followers. These developments culminated into turuq (sing. tariqa), the

numerous branches of which suggests the uniformity with which the

whole enterprise was undertaken.

The tariqa came to be a hierarchical organization with each position

corresponding in a way to a stage of mystical development. At the top

of the pyramid was the Shaykh or leader of the order, on whose death

the leadership of the order passes to a member of the order, usually

the foremost of the disciples and often previously designated by the

Shaykh. (54)Sufism now institutionally expressed and formally organized

by the tariqa spread throughout the width and breadth of the Muslim

world, enlisting the bulk of the Muslim masses and forming a major

feature of the Muslim societies.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw a boost in both the

tempo and the number of Sufi turuq all over the Muslim world. But by

then unreason had come to triumph over the sober speculations and

the steadfast piety of the early great masters. Sufi's energy was then

being spent in "relating miracle stories arguing over the details of

various rites and writing magic formulas".(55) Ironically however, that

was the time they achieved a remarkable prostelysation on the

frontiers of Islam, including the pre-Mahdiyya Sudan.

After this digression, we can now return to our man, but in a better

position perhaps to appreciate his post Khalwa life. Having joined the

Sammaniyya, Muhammad Ahmad began to develop his asceticism

(54) J.O. Voll "A history of Khrtmiyya Tariqah in the sudan".p. 72 (55) C. Brockerlman, quoted in Ibid., p. 61

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under the guidance of his Shaykh and along the lines of the tariqa.

Here again as in the Khalwa, Muhammad Ahmad distinguished himself

by his rigorous spiritual exercises. This was soon to earn him prestige

among his colleagues and a place of reverence in the wider society.

No acknowledgement of Muhammad Ahmad’s distinguished qualities

could be better than a poem of praises from his Shaykh:

"There came to me in that year

On the Mountain of Sultan at the Sea Shore

He was searching for the straight path at my hand

So I took from him the oath of obedience.

And he took to the path of guidance with sincerity.

And kept the Zikr in secret and in open

He put all his efforts in good works

(For this) I praised his status ignorant of….

So many times he kept fasting, prayer, tahajjud and recitation of

the Qur'an

From fear of Allah his tears flow

So many times did he pray Duha (prayer) with wudu of the night

So many times did he complete the Qur'an in the Witr (prayer)

For this he drank form the source of the people of knowledge

For this he was loved by all other people."(56)

As a token of deep appreciation and confidence in Muhammad Ahmad,

Shaykh Nur al-Daim conferred on Muhammad Ahmad an honour very

rare for the latter's young age. This was his appointment as a Khalifa

(of his Shaykh) with the powers of accepting and initiating people into

the Tariqa on behalf of his Shaykh. This is said to have been around

(56) Shayk Nur al-Daim, quaoted in Makki Shibeka, al-Sudan wa L Thauratu L- Mahdiyya Vol. I Khartoum K.U.P 1978 pp. 19-20

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the year 1868,(57) seven years after he had joined Nur al Daim and

when he was in his mid twenties.

This is very significant development in the personality of Muhammad

Ahmad. Not only because this is one of the highest positions that a

disciple could ever hope to reach but also because it bestows him with

some measure of autonomy. As if to assert his new found autonomy,

Muhammad Ahmad undertook some tour (58) on his own initiatives to

preach to people and recruit them to his tariqa. About the year 1870,

two years after his appointment as Khalifa, Muhammad Ahmad even

left his Shayk and went to settle in Aba Island, a quite place remote

from the big cities. It is not clear why he chose Aba Island. But even if

nothing else, the Island gave him the serenity his mediation and such

devotional practices, as he was known to have engaged in, required.

In Aba, Muhammad Ahmad intensitied his devotional activities. He was

reported to often seclude himself (Khalwa) in a little cave by the bank

of the White Nile meditating, reflecting and engaging in acts of

worship.(59) He did not however allow these seclusions to turn him into

a hermit. For though he “would not relax his attendance at prayer or

the repetition of the Qur'an, admonishing, reciting a Wird(60)……”(61) he

did find time to cater to the needs of the community.(62) He even found

time to go outside Aba Island, in the company of his disciples, perhaps

up to Kordofan, "to warn the community, preach to them, call them to

(57) H.Q Murad Islamic Studies 17, 1978, p.177 (58) Ibid. (59) M. el-Mahdi A short History of the Sudan p. 87

(60) Wird, usually means a special formular for prayer(du'a) which is recited periodically(daily) especially by members of the Sufi traiqa. (61) Haim Shaked The life of the Sudanese Ahmdi:- A Historical Study of Ismail b. Abd. Al- Qadir's Kitab New Jersy, transaction, 1978 p. 63 (62) Ibid

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God, caution them, forbid the reprehensible (al-Nahy an-al Munkahr)

and exhort them to do away with innovation (bid'a) and errors and to

repent".(63) He further found time to visit his Shaykh, perhaps for routine

consultation.

Sources are not very clear about the contents of Muhammad Ahmad's

preachings. But being the Sufi, an ardent one for that matter, one

would expect it to center around the theme of shunning away from the

vanities of this world. Knowing his concern for social justice and moral

slackness in society, he must have put his message in the context of

the prevailing tyranny and corruption of the Turco-Egyptian regime.(64)

This coupled with his reputation for piety and asceticism, soon secured

him a sizeable group of disciples at Aba. As his fame spread, travelers

up and down the White Nile made a point of stopping to get the Baraka

(blessings) of the "holy man" or Faki of Aba - Muhammad Ahmad.(65)

It is not very clear what impact Muhammad Ahmad's growing

reputation had on his relationship with his Shaykh, Muhammad sheriff

Nur- al- Daim, though it seemed generally good, it may have become

threatened by the tendency Muhammad Ahmad’s reputation was

showing, to overshadow his Shaykh. Whatever might have been the

case, the relationship took a new and altogether different turn when

Muhammad Ahmad attended the circumcision ceremony of the

Shayh's child. At the festival, dancing women, local wine and such

other laxities as Muhammad Ahmad had been preaching against were

present. To this Muhammad Ahmad reacted with stern disapproval. His (63) Ibid. See also H.Q Murad, Islamic Studies p. 177. (64) According to Slatin (Fire and Sword, p. 126) Muhmamd Ahmad distributed a pamplet in Kordofan during one of his visits, summoning the people to purify the religion which was becoming debased and insulated by corruption of government and the utter disregard of the officials for the tenents of the true fiath, See Murad, Islamic Studies, Supra 70. (65) S. al-Mahdi "Mahdisms in Islam, p.9

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Shaykh reacted by expelling him from his sammaniyya tariqa. Efforts

by Muhammad Ahmad to reconcile with his Shaykh did not materialize

and he finally severed his relations with Shaykh Muhammad Sheriff

Nur al-Daim.

This is a very important turning point in the development of Muhammad

Ahmad's personality. That he had the courage to defend the cause of

truth even against his very Shaykh is indicative of the quality of

character of Muhammad Ahmad. This becomes even more vivid when

we recall that tariqa set up does not give room for a follower to criticize

his Shaykh, no matter the issue, for the shaykh, unlike the follower, has

the knowledge of batin (what is hidden). Though a typical Sufi by

training, he stood different in his alertness and concern for what was

going on in his social and political environments. This must have

created in him the desire, if not the hope, to check the prevailing moral

bankruptcy along with the social and political injustices. He may have

given this desire a thought for a long time, perhaps since his school

days at Berber.

Having severed the relation from his Shaykh and perhaps not wanting

to remain without one, he joined Shaykh al-Qurashi Wad al-Zayn at

Masallamiya, the leader for the second faction of the Sammaniyya

tariqa. Some sources say he did so at the invitation of Shaykh al-

Qurashi.(66) Muhammad Ahmad's joining of this second faction was

said to have caused many of the followers of Shaykh Nur al-Daim to

decamp to join Shayk al-Qurashi.(67) Muhammad Ahmad almost

immediately took a position only second to al-Qurashi in the order.

Only two years after Muhammad Ahmad had joined al-Qurashi, the (66) Abd Allah Muhammd Ahmad, interview (67) Ibid.

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latter, who was already aged, died and the leadership of the order

passed to Muhammad Ahmad.

Abd Allah al-Ta'aishi, who had been earnestly searching for the

expected Mahdi since the death of his father, had been a follower of

Shayk al-Quashi. At Massallamiya, Abd Allah met Muhammad Ahmed

on the occasion of building the tomb of their dead Shayk (al-Qurashi).

It was here that Abd Allah was reported to have swooned twice at the

sight of Muhammad Ahmad (his incumbent Shaykh), calling him the

Mahdi. This incidence had been exhaustibly quoted by scholars to lend

support to the view that Muhammad Ahmad took the idea of being a

Mahdi from Abd Allah. This seems to me to be an over simplification.

Abd Allah, whose father (said to be a famous fortune teller) assured

him of meeting and helping the Mahdi,(68) seemed to have been

sincerely looking for the Mahdi and he tried this with al-zubair (the

slave trader) without success. He may have also tried the same with

other prominent people who he had reasons to believe could be the

expected Mahdi.

But Muhammad Ahmad, it should once again be recalled, had since his

youth exhibited not only an exceptional disposition to scholarship and

asceticism but also a militant dissatisfaction with the prevailing

injustices and moral slackness. His life at Berber as well as under

Shaykh Nur al-Daim all point to the scholar-activist posture of

Muhammad Ahmad; a posture which would eventually lead to a kind of

resistance to the status -quo. Having grown under a climate of Mahdi's

expectation, neither the idea nor the details of the expected Mahdi

could have been new to Muhammad Ahmad. It does not appear

reasonable therefore to believe that Muhammad Ahmad took the role

(68) A.B Theobolt the Mahdiyya p. 29

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of a Mahdi at the instance of Abd Allah's instigation. Had he assumed

such a role not out of conviction but out of someone’s instigation, it is

doubtful if he would have continued with such confidence, and

consistency as he did.

After the Masallamiya tomb building, Muhammad Ahmad returned to

his base at Aba Island, now a leader of the Sammaniyya Tariqa and a

leading Shayk (Faki) whose fame had spread far and wide. This

responsibility of organizing and guiding a larger following did not stop

him from continuing with his usual intensive devotional practices. Soon

these long years of intensive devotion, which had earned him

admiration, following and leadership, brought Muhammad Ahmad to a

mystical level where, according to Sufi thoughts he could communicate

with the person of the prophet.

This communication could be either in sleep (dream)(69) or even when

awake depending upon the mystical level of the individual. When

therefore on Rabi II 1298/March 1881, Muhammad Ahmad confided to

his closest disciples (including ‘Abd Allah) at Aba, that he had seen the

prophet in a vision who informed him that he has been appointed the

expected Mahdi, it was neither too strange nor difficult for them

(disciples) to believe. In fact for Abd Allah this is a confirmation of his

father’s prophesy and his positive response to Muhammad Ahmad's

secret declaration of Mahdiyya was instant, swift and unflinching.

Muhammad Ahmad's unshakable confidence in Abd Allah and the

latter’s prominent position and role in the Mahdiyya seems to be

primarily due to Abd Allah's response.

(69) There is a saying of the Prophet which says, :Whoseo seeth me in his sleep seeth me truly for Satan cannot assume the similitude of my form".

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Following this declaration, which for the first three months was to

remain secret, and confined only to the very close disciples,

Muhammad Ahmad undertook a tour of Kordofan and the Nuba

Mountains in the company of his disciples. During this tour,

Muhammad Ahmad met a number of Shayks and notables to whom he

was said to have confided in his mission. The response he received

was considerably encouraging.(70) The King of Taqali, Adam Dabbalu,

for example, promised his unflinching support and joined the cause.

This favourable support, right from the start, is as much an index of

Muhammad Ahmad's standing as of the prevailing widespread

discontent which had driven people to expect and welcome a deliverer

of any kind, especially the Mahdi whose credentials were well known

and accepted.

Being a prominent Shaykh and known to the people of Kordofan,

Muhammad Ahmad could not have limited his contact to the Shayks

and the notables only. He must have met or even addressed the mass

of the people. But it was clear he did not disclose to the masses his

Mahdiyya. He must have however reminded them, as he always did in

his sermons, of the need to check the laxity in religious practices and

the prevalent corruption and injustices. He may have added the

recurring theme of renouncing the world and its vanities. In other

words, he must have sounded out and at the same time prepared the

minds of the ordinary people for the take off of his movement, which

was only a few months away. Before June 1881, Muhammad Ahmad

and his disciples had returned to Aba to prepare for the next step in

their grand venture.

(70) M. El-Mahdi, A short History of the Sudan p. 88

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This section has tried to trace the life of Muhammad Ahmad, who from

childhood distinguished himself by his passion for scholarship and

ascetic life. This earned him respect and prestige among his

colleagues as well as people at large. His rigorous worship (Ibada) and

asceticism gave him a quick push up the Sufi tariqa hierarchy and

earned him a position of prominence and reverence in the Sudanese

social scale. Thus when he secretly declared his Mahdiyya he had no

difficulty in getting a good reception. His secret declaration of Mahdiyya

registered the birth of his movement and placed on his shoulders the

great task of mobilizing and organizing human and material resources

for the achievement of his goals. How the movement took off,

developed and succeeded is the subject of the next chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE MAHDIYYA: MANIFESTATION, DEVELOPMENT AND

FRUITION

“When God wanted to make the people of the thirteenth century

blissful and to link it with the (first) century (of the hijri calendar)

which was honoured by the existence of the prophet, he caused

the Mahdi to be manifest in spirit and in body from the world of

concealment. Through him, he revived Islam after it had become

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merely a trace (rasm), nay, a name. God singled out the Sudan

for the manifestation of the Mahdi so as to strengthen its people

who are, spiritually the weakest people of all the countries."(1)

This is how Ismail Abd al-Qadir, Mahdi’s biographer opened the first

chapter of his book. For the purpose of this study however, it will be

appropriate to open this chapter with a short discussion on the

credentials of Mahdiyya in Muslim thoughts and history.

The belief in the coming of a Mahdi towards the end of time to “fill the

earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and

tyranny” had for centuries been popular among Muslim peoples. This

belief has found support in numerous sayings attributed to the prophet,

eleven "11" of which Ismail quoted.(2) Ismail did not however (at least in

the Shaked’s translation) give the sources or the chains of the sayings

he quoted. Though the two most authentic compilations of the sayings

of the prophet, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, do not contain any

hadith on the appearance of the Mahdi, the other four accepted

compilations, Tirmidhi, Abu Daud, Ibn Maja, al-Hakim, are said to so.(3)

This perhaps explains why some scholars accept the authenticity of the

ahadith (sing hadith) on the appearance of the Mahdi and some reject

it.

To appreciate the credentials of Mahdiyya, we must look not only at the

ahadith but also at the early Muslim history where the popular belief

had found support. Since the Umayyads usurped the throne of the

Khalifa Rashida and began to depart from the ideals of the first

(1) Ismail Abd al-Qadir in H. Shaked The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi p. 55 (2) (2) See H. Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi. Pp. 51-3 (3) See. S. al-Mahdi "Mahdisms in Islam". P. 3

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generation (of Muslims), many pious Muslims had expressed their

dissatisfaction or protest in various ways. Some like al-Hussein b. Ali,

Abu Zar, Abd Allah b. Zubair, directly confronted the Umayyad dynasty.

Though they were unable to bring it down physically, they succeeded

in washing away a great deal of its legitimacy by their blood and

sufferings. Others expressed their protest by withdrawing from active

life and concentrating on the spiritual aspects of Islam - a trend which

as we have seen (in chapter three) led to the developments of Sufi

thoughts. There were others, perhaps the majority, who finding

themselves helpless, but believing in Allah's mercy and protection

began to develop a yearning for the coming of some one who would

"set things right".

This latter group quite naturally found a lot of consolation in the ahadith

on Mahdiyya. When Muhammad bn al-Hanafiyya, as early as 685-7

A.D., rose in arms against the Umayyad, some people were quick to

identify him as Mahdi(4) who has come to "set things right" and "restore

trust to those worthy of it".(5) The history of Muslim societies have since

then been punctuated by the rise of pious men at times of serious

social or political crisis, who declare their Mahdiship and mobilize their

followers towards wresting power and establishing Islamic states in the

pattern of the Khalifa Rashida. The case of Muhammad b. Tumart(6) in

twelfth century North Africa and that of Wad al-Turabi(7) in early

eighteenth century Nilotic Sudan serve as good examples of this

phenomenon.

(4) J.O. Voll " A history of Khartmiyya Tariqa in the Sudan (5) Qur'an (6) See P.M Holt, A modern History of The Sudan p. 50 (7) See P.M Holt " The Islamisation of the Nilotic Sudan "in M. Brett (ed) North Africa: Islam and Modernization, London Frank Cass 1973 p. 17.

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So the popular belief in a Mahdi revolves around sayings of the

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) some of which give details of the man,

his name, physical features, point of manifestation, duration of life, etc.

The belief has also found expression at a number of points in Muslim

history. What interests this study is not so much the authenticity of the

ahadith or the genuinety of the previous Mahdi's like the fact that the

belief in the appearance of the Mahdi was wide spread in Muhammad

Ahmad’s Sudan. The helplessness of the Sudanese Muslims in the

face of the Turco-Egyptian tyranny must have helped the spread of this

belief in the same way the helplessness of Muslims of early Umayyad

period helped to nourish it. Lending further support to the ascendancy

and predominance of this belief is Turco-Egyptian Sudan was Dan

Fodio's prophecy that a Mahdi will appear shortly after him in the east

(of Hausland). This prophecy not only brought people from Hausa land

to the Sudan to await the Mahdi but also heighten the expectations.

Born and brought up in the height of this expectation, Muhammad

Ahmad quite naturally shared the aspiration of his society and as a

scholar was conversant with the details of the Mahdiyya.

In such circumstances, whoever is to emerge as the awaited Mahdi

must naturally conform to the detailed credentials. In other words his

name must be like that of the prophet, he must show that he is from the

prophet’s family, some may even insist on mole on his cheek etc. It is

in this context that Muhammad Ahmad’s efforts to prove his decent

from al-Hassan (grandson of the Prophet) and such other details

should be seen.

Attention can now be turned to the subject of this chapter, the onset,

development had fruition of the Mahdiyya. In dealing with this

movement as in the case of that of Dan Fodio, the phase approach will

be adopted. Here, however, phasing is made more difficult by the

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speed at which the movement developed after take-off making the

phase to overlap. But once this is born in mind the problem becomes

minimized if not solved.

The first phase is that of public manifestation and mobilization which

could be said to have began from June 1881. Though mobilization

continued well after the Hijra and in fact throughout the jihad, August

1881 (when the Hijra started) is taken here to mark the end of this

phase. This periodisation though obviously nominal enable us to

discuss the second phase of Hijra and Jihad which started in August

1881. Though Jihad continued even after the fall of Khartoum and in

fact throughout the Mahdiyya, the fall of Khartoum, January 1885, is

nominally taken to be the end of this phase. The third phase is what

may be called "from Mahdi to Mahdiyya" - a phase in which the Mahdi,

successful in the Sudan, began to envisage plans of extending the

Jihad beyond Nilotic Sudan. But having died only six months after the

fall of Khartoum, the responsibility of administering the Mahdist Sudan

and extending the jihad beyond it fall on his Khalifa Abd Allah, whose

legitimacy and authority rested on Mahdiyya.

4.1 The Phase of Manifestation and Mobilization (June-august 1881) Having declared his Mahdiship secretly and gathered a handful of

support from his immediate disciples, Shayks and some notables, the

Mahdi was now ready for the public phase of his manifestation. This he

did through writing letters to individual Ulama and Shayks, the public at

large and even the Turco-Egyptian government. Though all these

letters carried the same message i.e. announcement of his Mahdiship,

the style and details differed according to the addressee - a point which

his biographer Ismail Abd al-Qadir, drew analogy with Prophet

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Muhammad (S.A.W) who addressed people according to their level of

understanding.(8) In one of his letters to the public, dated Sha’aban

1298/June 1881, he told the Muslims (his lovers in Allah and believers

in Allah and His book")(9) that the master of existence (the prophet

Muhammad S.A.W) ordered me to write to all Muslims and ask them to

go with us to a place where we can purify the faith".(10) Using the

appropriate ayat from the Qur'an and ahadith, the Mahdi warned those

who fail to comply with his call and assured them of loss in the two

worlds (al-Dunya and al-akhira). At the end of the letter the Mahdi

impressed on his audience his descent from the prophet, saying that

from his father's side he is from al-Hassan and from his mothers side

he is from al-Hussayn and al-Abbas. In another circular to the public he

informed the generality of Muslims that he was not expecting himself to

be appointed the Mahdi. "I was myself waiting for the appearance of

the Mahdi to be one of his followers."(11) This, even if not intended must

have augmented the authenticity of Muhammad Ahmads claim to

Mahdiship.

In some of his letters to the Ulama and notables, the Mahdi raised the

obvious issue of corruption and decadence in his society. Here many

Muslims were bound to agree with him. In his letter to Abd al-Fatah

Abd Allah, the mahdi referred to defects in Muslim practices all over

the Islamic World and the "none Islamic practices that spread

throughout the country (Islamic World), done by both the Ulama and

the believers, which had overshadowed the way of the prophet from

(8) H. Shaked the Life of the Sudanese Mahdi". P. 68

(9) M.I Abu Salim (ed.) Manshurat al-Mahdiyya, Bairut, Dar al-Jil 1979 p.19

(10) Ibid. p.20 (11) Ibid. p. 25

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among the people".(12) And of "Islam” the Mahdi observed, "remained

nothing except its name and of the Qur'an only its inscription".(13) When

it is recalled that it is such sorrowful conditions in the Muslim world,

which, according to popular belief, warrant the coming of a Mahdi, the

Mahdi’s expressed concern could give a lot of credence to his

manifestation.

A vivid description of the scene of his appointment is contained in a

letter,(14) which he (the Mahdi) sent to Shaykh Muhammad al-Tayyib al-

Basir, Head of a branch of Sammani order. It was a scene, which was

attended by the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), great saints (awliya) and

great Shaykhs that had long died. In this scene he was appointed the

Mahdi by the Prophet and was also given the “sword of victory” in the

same way Dan Fodio was given the "sword of truth" (p. above). It was

there also that the Prophet told him (the Mahdi) that those who do not

believe in his Mahdiship are infidels. This must have given the Mahdi

the ground, in another letter to al-Tayyaib al-Basir, to emphasize "that

all Muslims should join his movement except those empty of faith".(15)

He thus asked al-Tayyib to urge people to come over to him (the

Mahdi, then at Aba) to swear allegiance (Bay' an). Those who for

certain reasons could not come over to Aba were given the option to

make Bay'a to him (the Mahdi) through al-Tayyib, thus making the

latter his agent.

The Mahdi did not seem to have been in a hurry to alert the Turco-

Egyptian government of his manifestation. He only informed the

(12) Ibid. p.6 (13) Ibid. p.7 (14) Ibid..pp. 12-18 (15) Ibid. p.8

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government weeks after he had dispatched letters to the public and the

individual Ulama, by which time the news must have no doubt reached

the government. In a telegram (16) to the Governor-General of the

Sudan (Hikimdar), the Mahdi declared his appointment as the expected

Mahdi and urged him (Hikimdar) to submit to him (the mahdi) and

warned him of the consequences of defying his (Mahdi's) orders.

The implications of the manifestation of the expected Mahdi are both

grave and far reaching. His mere appearance suggests that the level of

tyranny, injustice and corruption, has reached an intolerable peak. It

naturally raises hope and expectations in the hearts of the oppressed

poor and those who had been tormented by the pervading moral

bankruptcy. Perhaps more important the manifestation heralds an era

of crisis for the socio-political order and all those who are associated

with it. For now has come a man buttressed by divine authority, whose

main mission is the destruction of the status-quo and its replacement

by an Islamic order, with its justice and equity.

Though in many of the letters and circulars he dispatched to the

various people, he expressed an ardent concern over the need to

reform Muslim practices and to purify the society of the non-Islamic

practices, it is very clear that the Mahdi did not intend to limit his

mission to mere reform of "religious practices" like Theobold has been

misled to believe.(17) Mahdi's reference to the stagnation in Muslim

practices and the spread of non-Islamic practices was clearly meant to

be an index of the society's decadence. By reiterating this obvious

point the Mahdi must have hoped to evoke in his brothers the courage

to rise and correct the situation. He may have also hoped to in a way

(16) Ibid . 308 (17) A.B. Theobold, The Mahdiyya p. 45

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justify his manifestation. When, for example, the Mahdi said "of Islam

nothing remained except name and of Qur'an except inscription" he

meant to show both the extent of the decadence of his society and the

nature of his task - to restore Islam's supremacy and return to the

teaching of the Qur'an. Restoring Islam and returning to the teachings

of the Qur'an should further be seen in the light of his declared mission

- Mahdiyya. The central mission of Mahdiyya, as alluded to earlier, is

the overthrow of the prevailing order and its replacement with a

prophetic model of society. The Mahdi therefore was not and could not

have been concerned with religious practices only. Indeed the very

wholistic and comprehensive nature of Islam would not admit such half

measures.

By pointing to the "sword of victory" the Mahdi seems to be indicating

the means to his ends. Not only did he signify, by so doing, his

intension to fight but that he would be victorious. This may appear to

be a typical war propaganda aimed at demoralizing the enemy. But it

should be recalled once again that by the very nature of his being the

Mahdi - as the belief goes - he was bound to ultimately succeed.

Mahdi's obvious enemy is the Turco-Egyptian government, which was

largely responsible to the sorrowful state of affairs that warranted the

appearance of the Mahdi and without the overthrow of which the

restoration of Islam (in the Sudan) would not be possible. This however

should not lead us to overlook the other junior enemy, the disbeliever

(in Muhammad Ahmad's Mahdiship), who could be quite fatal to the

Mahdiyya. This stand of the Mahdi Vis a Vis those who disbelieved his

Mahdiship has caused a lot of rancour not only among his

contemporary opponents but also among later day scholars.(18) Beside

(18) L.E. M. Kapteijns "The religious Background of the Mahdi and his movement". P.71

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its obvious practical utility, this stand is rooted in the popular belief

about the nature and position of the expected Mahdi. For the Mahdi,

this was a stand directed by the Prophet, who said in the scene of his

appointment (hadara) that any "who does not believe in his Mahdiship

does not believe in Allah and his Prophet - he said that three times".(19)

Mahdi's biographer even went further to cite a hadith(20) (Whose

authenticity could be challenged) buttressing this stand. Of course the

followers of the Mahdi had no problem in appreciating and justifying

this stand of "Who is not with us is against us."

The implication of the appearance of the expected Mahdi was to be felt

even in the traditional religious structure and institutions of the time.

For the majority of the Muslims belonged to one Sufi tariqa or the

other. Religious power and institutions were in the hands of tariqa,

shayks, of whom the Mahdi had been one. For the Mahdi to master the

large Muslim population around him and to play the dominating role his

very mission warranted, the sufi turuq (sing. tariqa) must necessarily

submit to the authority of the Mahdi. Where this mission cannot be

guaranteed, as was the case, the Mahdi had to use his authority to

submerge or at least enervate the turuq, to allow for the emergence of

a non-partisan Muslim solidarity. It is in this context that mahdi’s

abrogation of all Sufi turuq should be seen, even though the Mahdi

justified his action by arguing that the mere appearance of a Mahdi

obviates the need for the turuq. In fact, the mahdi extended this logic to

the Madhahib (schools thought in fiqh) which he also abrogated.

The abrogation of the turuq obviously meant that the power and

autonomy of the Sufi Shayk would be subverted or at least curtailed - a

(19) M.I Abu Salim (ed.) Manshurat, P. 14 (20) H. Shaked The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi p. 53

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development, which not all the Shayks would welcome. It may have

also meant that the ordinary follower of a sufi tariqa would loose his

wird - an exercise central to the whole tariqa enterprise. Some of the

sufi shayks however may have been compensated by appointment to

prominent positions in the mahdiyya hierarchy. Perhaps, it was to

compensate the followers and provide them with a good substitute for

their wird that the Mahdi composed the Ratib.

The Ratib is essentially a collection of prayers (du’a) extracted from the

Qur'an and ahadith, with special emphasis on those that inspire

tawakkul (an unflinching trust on Allah). Like the wird of the tariqa, the

Ratib is to be recited twice daily,(21) during the two blessed hours of the

day: the hour between dawn and sunrise, and that before sunset.(22)

Each recitation is also to be followed by a recitation of a part (1/60) of

the Qur'an.(23) The Ratib was infact more than just a substitute for wird.

For it symbolized the Muslim unity and solidarity under the Mahdiyya

and perhaps more important gives an intensive spiritual drill, which

prepared its reader for the risks involved in the new venture.

One thing which remains to be said on the manifestation is its

international dimension. The Mahdi according to the popular belief is

coming to assume responsibility for the whole Muslim world. True to

this, the Mahdi did not restrict his correspondence to the Turco-

Egyptian Sudan only. He did send letters announcing his manifestation

and calling for submission to basically all parts of the Muslim world, the

case of Hausaland and Sansui's Libya being a clear example. Even in

his letters to Sudanese Ulama, notables and public, his concern was

(21) S. al-Mahdi "Mahdism in Islam" p.9 (22) Qur'an 50:39. (23) S. al-Mahdi, "Mahdism in Islam". P.9

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clearly over the whole Muslim world of which Sudan was only a part.

This feature of Mahdiyya shall be taken up further at an appropriate

stage. For the moment this brief mention should serve to correct the

oversight, which some scholars made by presenting the Mahdiyya as

an exclusively Sudanese affair.

Having manifested, it was quite natural for the Mahdi to expect

multitude of followers. The response he received during the earlier

secrest phase of manifestation justified this expectation. These

followers, the Mahdi knew, need to be properly mobilized and

organized if his mission is to survive the eventualities. The Mahdi did

not risk loosing any time in this, for he urged people to come over to

him to take their oath of allegiance (Bay'a) in the same letters and

circulars he announced his Mahdiship. Just as in the case of his

prototype (The Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.), it was this oath of

allegiance (Bay'a), which instilled in the followers of the Mahdi the

unique discipline that characterized them. The Bay'a according to one

of those who made it entail the following:

"We swear by God and His Prophet, and we swear by you, that

we will not worship any but God, that we will not steal, that we

will not disobey your lawful commands, that we will not flee from

the holy war (Jihad)… We swear to renounce this world and

choose the next".(24)

This Bay'ah, once made, registers the individual's unflinching support

for the Mahdi and his preparedness to fight for the realization of the

(24) Y. Bedri and G. Scott (trans.), The Memoir of Babikr Bedri, London O.U.P 1969 p.29

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Mahdiyya. It is the Bay'a also which qualifies the individual as the

follower of the Mahdi and earn him the honourable name of Ansar.(25)

Though the Mahdi did give some of his supporters the option to make

their Bay'a through his trusted agents, his desire to assemble all his

supporters/followers in Aba was clear, ardent and consistent. Writing to

one of his trusted agents Shaykh Muhammad al-Tayyib al- Basir, the

Mahdi said:

"And because you are our agent, and you are like ourselves, in

all cases and circumstances you must encourage the natives to

immigrate to us. And all those who did not come to us you can

take their oath. I have made the oath to you like the oath to me

and you are trustable upon the rights of Allah the exalted."(26)

In his public circulars he particularly warned people not to allow

material or family considerations to dissuade them from coming over to

him to make the Bay'a. For who ever fails to come over, the Mahdi

said, "will loose the two worlds (this world and the hereafter) and will

benefit nothing from family or wealth and grief and sorrow will be his

lot".(27)

This apparently desperate effort of the Mahdi to assemble his followers

at Aba throws some light on his post-manifestation plans. He must

have realized the fact that no matter the size of his following, if they are

scattered all over the vast country, it will be difficult, if not impossible

for his mission to succeed. His earlier reference to a "sword of victory"

(25) Ansar lit. means helpers in naming his followers Ansar, the Mahdi is daid to have in mind Ansar Allah (See Quran 61:14) Later however they became popularly known as Ansar al-Mahdi (26) M.I Abu Salim (ed.) Manshurat, p. 13 (27) Ibid. p. 14

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must have given both his enemies as well as supporters a clue of what

lay ahead.

His efforts to collect his followers is one place, Aba, could therefore be

seen not only in terms of Bay'a but also in terms of logistics i.e. raising

and organizing an army.

The pervading of the belief in the appearance of the expected Mahdi

and the horrid condition of the Sudan all helped to make the job of the

Mahdi far less difficult if not easy. His standing as a revered Faki

whose Baraka many had sought, could also be added to the list of

factors that made his mobilization auspicious. But despite these

favourable factors, the Mahdi did not attempt to mobilize his supporters

outside the existing structure of his society. Though he wrote open

public circulars, the real mobilization was done through the tribal and

sufi shayks some of whose support, the Mahdi made sure he secured

before making public his Mahdiship. Had he ignored the tribal and Sufi

shayks, it is doubtful if the mobilization would be the success it turned

out to be.

It was this realistic approach that brought to the Mahdi at Aba, chains

of individuals and delegation to make their Bay'a. Mahdi’s biographer

had recorded in some details some of those tribes and individuals that

flocked to Aba for Bay'a:

"…. Arab and other (non-Arab) tribes flocked to the Mahdi from

every place: 1. The first tribe (qabila) to send a deputation (wafd)

was the tribe of Dighaym. Their deputation to Aba included

Mohammed W. Bilal… they swore allegiance and the Mahdi

greeted them. Deputations also arrived from the following tribes,

whose envoy swore allegiance and obtained the Mahdi's

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blessings and greetings: 2. The Kinana 3. The Fallata…(28)

Others who came to the Mahdi in Aba and swore allegiance

were Abd al-Rahman al-Nujumi, W. Jubara. Other deputations

from different districts and tribes and from remote countries

came successively to the Mahdi…..(29)

While many were favourably responding to the news of the appearance

of the expected Mahdi, those with vested interest in the status-quo,

which the Mahdi was duty bound to change, greeted the news with

disgust and fear. The first to make a move against these developments

were the official Azhar trained Ulama, whose job it had been to mask

the Turco-Egyptian imperialism under the guise of Islam. As was usual

to them, they met (at the instance of the government) and issued a

fatwa (ruling) disclaiming Muhammad Ahmad’s claim of Mahdiship.

The government through its network made sure that this fatwa gained

wide circulation.

The leaders of the Khatmiyya tariqa who had been enjoying

considerable privileges from the Turco-Egyptian government, not only

partook in the circulation of the fatwa, but also did all they could to

prevent their members from joining the Mahdi. Mahdi's one time

shaykh, Nur al-Daim, also seized the opportunity to thwart the plans of

his former "rude" student. Shaykh Nur al-Daim gathered a handful of

‘Ulama’ and made a delegation to the government to portray

Muhammad Ahmad as an impostor.

(28) The term Fallata refers to the west African Peoples, whether they are Fulani, Hausa, Kanuri etc. Who were in the sudan eithert on Hajj transit or to await the expected Mahdi. (29) H. Shaked, The life of the Sudanese Mahdi pp. 69-70

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The Mahdi couldn’t have been unaware of the row and opposition his

manifestation will raise, especially among the government paid, Azhar

trained Ulama, and those who had cause to side with the government.

When the government sent its committee of Ulama to talk him out of

his claim, the Mahdi was prepared to argue patiently and convince the

committee of the genuinety of his claim. Mahdi's arguments were of

course in the context of the popular belief. Being of the Prophet’s

family, having a mole, having been appointed in a hadara by the

person of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), he had every reason to

believe that he is the expected Mahdi. Though the committee of the

government Ulama was not, and could not have been satisfied by

Muhammad Ahmad’s arguments, quite a number of people were.

The Mahdi may have had the adamant Ulama in mind when he later

dismissed the whole exercise of proving his mahdiship uncalled for,

arguing that:

"Noble deeds prove the truth of my sayings respecting the

Prophet (i.e. the hadara), but neither noble deeds, nor miracles

are of any avail to him from whom God has withdrawn his light". (30)

He further conveys the irrelevancy of giving any proof when he said,

"we are only to transmit, and do not demand from Allah to reveal a sign

(which proves) our Mahdiship(31)

Indeed to many of the people who came to follow the Mahdi, proof of

Muhammad Ahmad’s claim was not only unnecessary but in fact

(30) Quoted in L.E.M Kapteijns "The Religious Background of the Mahdi and his movement".p.6 (31) Ibid.

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unreasonable. As one of them put it, “…to prove his Mahdiship is as

unreasonable as an attempt to prove the existence of the day”.(32) To

many of his followers, his very manifestation is a confirmation of the

"unchanging custom of God to return matters to their beginning after

they have reached their extreme end”.(33) Allah, by his wisdom, they

would argue, chose Muhammad Ahmad for the job of returning the

Muslim Community to true Islam. In fact to them the Mahdi was the

perfect man (al-Insan al-Kamil), who was favoured with the unique

qualities for the job and hence:

"The community is forbidden to oppose him on any matters, and

it is only by following the Mahdi to the letter that one can attain

the love (mahabba) of God and his Messenger.(34)

Right or wrong, this is how the Ansar saw their Mahdi.

The multitude of people that turned out to follow the Mahdi despite

governmental propaganda was soon to convince the government that

fatwa alone was no solutions to the Mahdi's "threat." Muhammad Rauf,

the then governor-general, summoned his council of Ulama who

agreed that, "the arrest of Muhammad Ahmad was necessary to

prevent the spread of false doctrine".(35) Muhammad Bay Abu al-

Su'ud was thus dispatched to Aba Island to summon the Mahdi or

arrest him and bring him to Khartoum.

(32) H. Shaked The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 208 (33) Ibid. p.51 (34) Ibid. p. 59 (35) P.M. holt, the Mahdist State in the sudan p.55

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Abu al-Su'ud reached Aba on the 11th of Ramadan 1298 (6th August

1881) and gained audience of the Mahdi. After he failed to trick the

Mahdi to come with him to Khartoum, he tried to persuade the Mahdi to

“abandon his call as he could not fight the government (hukuma) with

his (then) meager number of followers".(36) The Mahdi of course

ignored Abu al-su'ud, who he allowed to return to his superiors in

Khartoum. Only six days later, Abu al-Su'ud returned this time with a

detachment of government troops to arrest the Mahdi.

Apparently the Mahdi learnt of their coming and after consultation with

his council stationed his followers armed with clubs, spears and swords

in good time to await the government forces, by the bank of the White

Nile. No sooner did the government troops arrived, the Ansar charged

and routed them.

This heavy defeat of the superior armed government forces in the

hands of the poorly armed Ansar no doubt boosted the morale of the

latter. To the Ansar, this battle of Aba is likened to the battle of Badr.(37)

Just as Badr confirmed the help of Allah to the Prophet Muhammad

(S.A.W) and his followers so did the battle of Aba to the Mahdi and

Ansar. This success was further seen as proof of the authenticity of the

Mahdi and his cause.

The impact of Ansar's victory at Aba was by no means limited to the

Ansar alone. It dismissed the doubts of many of the fence sitters, who

now began to join the Mahdi. But the Mahdi, however, did not allow this

victory, spectacular as it was, to divert him form his main cause. The

battle to him was only sign of things to come, hence he lost no time in (36) H. Shakd, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 75 (37) Indeed the battle of Aba has a lot in common with Badr. Both were the first encounter between the two contending forces. In both the Muslims were victorious on Friday 17th. Of Ramadan. The last point however has been a subject of controvercy. See. S. al-Mahdi, Mahdism in Islam, p. 9 and H. Shaked. The life of Sudanese Mahdi.

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planning ahead. He engaged himself in preparations for a Hijra from

Aba Island to Jahal Qadir in the west.

4.2 The Phase of Hijra and Jihad:

Before going into the logistics of the Hijra, we should ask and answer

the question: Why did Mahdi undertake the Hijra? For only then can we

hope to appreciate the events that accompanied and followed it (the

Hijra). Though the government punitive expedition had been defeated,

the Ansar knew very well that, that was just a beginning rather than the

end of their clash with the Hukuma. The Mahdi and his council at least

must realized that their victory at Aba only served to alert the

government who would be more prepared in subsequent expeditions.

The Ansar therefore must have anticipated a much more gigantic

government's expedition following their Aba victory. Their desertion

from Aba, immediately after the battle, can therefore be seen as a

flight.

The Hijra however is not a mere flight. To see it as just that is to ignore

the Islamic character of the Mahdiyya - a job which has became a

fashion, nay a standard among academicians. The Mahdi, it should be

recalled, saw himself and was seen by his followers, as a Khalifa of the

Prophet, with the obvious implication that his mission was to return the

Muslim society to true Islam as in the time of the Prophet. In his

approach to his mission, in his style of manifestation,(38) in his

interpretation of the battle of Aba and a number of such other events,

the Mahdi's ardent endeavour to follow (sometimes literally), the path

of the Prophet is conspicuously evident. Emulating the prophet, in fact, (38) Muhammd Ahmad ket his Mahdiship secret from the public for the first three months of his appointment. This is a much strategy as a conscious effort to tred on the path of the Prophet Muhammd (S.A.W) who spent the first three years of his mission calling people to Islam secretly before making public his prophethood and mission.

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is the ideal of every Muslim,(39) how much more of one who sees

himself as a Khalifa of the Prophet. In the light of these, and

considering the glorious place of the Hijra in the Prophet's mission, it is

only reasonable to expect the Mahdi to have thought and planned for

one. The choice of Jabal Qadir in Kordofan, a place whose hospitality

the Mahdi had earlier secured, further suggests that Mahdi's Hijra was

pre planned project rather than a haphazard flight. The point being

made here is that, the Mahdi undertook the Hijra nor so much for flight,

not even so much for strategy as for the place which Hijra occupies in

any such movement as his.

With the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as with various Islamic

movements that preceded Mahdiyya, Hijra always served to bring

together all those committed to the cause in one spot. Here all the

human and material resources of the movement are assembled. Being

remote from the harassment and oppression of its adversary, the

movement finds itself in a better position to map out its strategy for

survival. This often involved the election of leadership, appointment of

deputies and military commanders, the spelling out of policies,

strategies and programmes etc. In effect Hijra marks the birth of a

state, which sets out to fight for its identity, its sovereignty and, not the

least important, its territory.

At the beginning of almost every such Hijra, the Muhajirun turn out to

be small in number, ill equipped and ill-supplied relative to their

adversaries.(40) But they always turn out to have something, which their

(39) Qur'an 33:21: "Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto

Allah and the last day, and remembered Allah much.

(40) See the case of Dan Fodio in 2.3 above.

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adversaries lack - high degree of conviction, commitment and trust in

Allah - something which more than compensates for their physical

disadvantages. It is this quality of Muhajirun that the movement banks

on for victory. A Hijra therefore is not only essential but also crucial to

the success of a movement such as the Mahdiyya was.

On the very day the battle of Aba was fought and won (16th/17th.

Ramadan 1298/12th /13th. August 1881.) The Mahdi led his followers,

with their families and the little provisions they could carry, out of Aba

for Hijra to Jabal Qadir in Kordofan. When a few days later,

Muhammad Sa’id, Governor of Kordofan went to Aba with about 500

government troops, they found Aba deserted. Muhammad Sa’id and

his troops pursued the Mahdi but later abandoned it, due to among

other things, difficulties caused by rainfall. When the Ansar, who had

been anticipating a clash with government troops, learnt of Muhammad

Sa’id's flight, some of them were reported to have wept.(41) Ismail the

author of the Mahdi's Sira attributed this "to their grief at missing the

Jihad, which is a means of attainment of Shahada (martyrdom) - the

ultimate aim of the companions (ansar). (42)

It was not long however before the Ansar had a cause to rejoice. For

the Jabal Jarada area, one of the notables to whom the Mahdi had

earlier written letter of invitation (al-Muhktar w. al-Zubayr) confronted

the Mahdi with his forces. It took the Ansar one charge to contain his

attack, in the process of which al-Mukthar was killed. Seven days later

on the 7th Dhul Hajj 1298/31st October 1881, the Ansar reached their

destination at Jabal Qadir where they were welcomed by the Taqali

(41) H. Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 87 (42) Ibid.

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chief. There the Mahdi chose to settle in a place which he named Jabal

Massa.(43)

Government's effort to intercept the Mahdi did not end with Muhammad

Sa'id. The Governor of Fashoda, Rashid Bey Ayman, planned to

intercept the Mahdi, albeit against the direction of his superior, the

Hikimdar. Rashid gathered a force of 400 government troops and 1000

Shilluk irregulars for the venture. Before Rashid could intercept the

Mahdi, the Ansar intercepted him and defeated him in a surprise attack

on 16th Muharram 1299/9th December 1881.

The defeat of Rashid Bey may have confirmed the fears of the

Governor General, who had been looking forward for reinforcement

from Cairo. Rather than reinforcement the Urabi government sent a

message recalling Ra'uf Pasha. With the exit of Ra'uf, the Sudan was

left in the hands of German telegraph officer, Giegler, who acted as

governor General until the arrival of Abd al-Qadir Hilmi Pasha in May

1882.

While acting, Geielgler took upon himself to crush the Mahdi, perhaps

to curry favour from his superiors in Cairo. To do this he had to

assemble virtually all the military resources of the colonial government.

Yusuf Pasha Hassan al-Shallali was put in charge of the expedition,

who immediately made his way to Qadir. Having camped near Qadir

and confident of his military strength, al-Shallali wrote to the Mahdi

asking him to surrender. Al-Shallali’s letter was not extant, by Mahdi’s

reply which was extant throws some light on al-Shallali's letter-

(43) Mahdi is is said to have named this place Jabal Massa to conform to the popular tradition that, the Mahdi will appear in the West ( of Sudan) at a place called Jabal Massa. See Hlot, The Mahdist State, p. 56 and Shaked, The life of the Sudanese Mahdi.

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"You say that our only followers are the ignorant Baggara and

the idolaters (al-Majus). Know that the followers of the apostles

before us and of our Prophet Muhammad were the weak and the

ignorant and the nomads who worshipped rocks and trees. As

for the Ulama and the rich and the people of power and luxury,

they did not follow them until they had ruined their places, killed

their nobles and ruled them force…. We are not under your

command but you and your superiors are under our command…

For there is nothing between us and you save the sword: ….let

him who will believe and let him who will disbelieve, take

heed….(44)

The contrast between the level of thoughts of the Mahdi and that of

Turco-Egyptian government, as represented by al-Shallali is clear. Al-

Shallali may have hoped to determine the Mahdi by pointing to the

social status and military might of his forces. To the Mahdi however the

weak and ignorant following is a source of pride, for after all this

dovetails with the Prophet Muhammad's (S.A.W) situation shortly after

his (prophets) Hijra. And al-Shallali’s words happened to have much in

common with those of the Makkan Kuffar nobility to the prophet. Hence

the Mahdi lost no time in warning al-Shallali that just as weak and

oppressed people rallied round the Prophet with nothing but faith

(Iman) and conquered the nobility of Makka, so would the Ansar

conquer the forces and nobility of the Turco-Egyptian "infidel"

government - a prediction which turned out to be true by 1885.

Only eight days after Mahdi's reply to Shallali, the Ansar attacked the

latter's camp at dawn, devastated it, and killed al-Shallali along with a

large number of his men. Al-Shallali's defeat brings to three the

(44) Quted in P.M Holt, The Mahdist State in the Sudan,.

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sweeping victories the Mahdi and his Ansar have successfully won

over the government's forces. In course of these defeats, the

government had lost virtually all its fighting forces and the myth of

Mahdi's invincibility was becoming a reality deep into the hearts of the

government officials.

To the Ansar, their successive victories are but a fulfillment of the

promise of their Lord (Allah most high) to help their cause. This only

increased their confidence and conviction in their Mahdi and the cause

they were fighting for. IF they had entertained any fear in the

government forces it must have now faded.

To the Sudanese people at large, Mahdi's successive victories over his

powerful adversaries was a clear evidence of the authenticity of his

Mahdiship and the genuinty of the cause. To many of them there

couldn’t have been stronger evidence than this. Not only is the idea of

fighting the Mahdi futile but joining him became both righteous and

expedient. Fence sitters could now make up their mind with confidence

and conviction. It was not surprising therefore al-Shallali’s defeat was

followed by flocking of delegation to Jabal Massa to make Bay'a to the

Mahdi.(45) Even the people pf Nuba Mountains, a predominantly non-

Muslim area, were said to have visited the Mahdi to swear allegiance

(or alliance).(46)

The Mahdi's camp at Qadir, came to be made up of assorted groups of

people, becoming a kind of microcosm of the then Sudanese society.

The West African elements seemed to have been, at least at the

(45) For details see H. Shaked, The life of the Sudanese Mahdi p. 99 (46) Ibid.

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beginning, the largest single group.(47) This can be understood if we

recall the spell Dan Fodio's prophesy had on them. There were of

course those who had been disciples, followers and admirers of

Muhammad Ahmad since he was the head of his faction of

Sammaniyya Sufi order. These might have been at the forefront in fact.

There were also the slave traders and their servant-soldiers whose life

had been one of military adventure either whose life had been one of

military adventure either when hunting slaves or when defying

government orders. Not the least important in the camp where the

nomads, like Baggara, and the riverian agriculturalists.

Though most, if not all the groups that came to constitute the Mahdist

camp had their own grudges against the Turco-Egyptian regime. It will

be an exaggeration to say that it was this grudges that motivated them

to join the Mahdiyya. To believe that Mahdiyya appealed to most of

these groups, (especially the nomads and slave traders), only in terms

of their grudges against the colonial government - like Holt and his

students would like us to believe(48) will be to ignore the obvious effects

of the sweeping victories or Mahdiyya, thus far. More serious, is to

ignore the fact that these people were Muslims, and even if nominal,

were proud to that emotional appeal of Islamic solidarity especially in

such crisis situation.

With his camp having swelled up from hundreds to tens of thousands,

comprising of assorted tribes and groups; with booty accumulating as

victories were won in battle fields, the need for organization and

administration pressed itself on the Mahdi. This need was further

reinforced by the fact that the Mahdi was expecting to soon launch an

(47) S. al-Mahdi, "Sudanese in Islam". P. 5 (48) See P.M. Holt A modern History of the Sudan, p. 81

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offensive. Soon therefore he organized his Ansar and appointed his

deputies and such officers that his situation called for.

It was in the appointment of his deputies that Mahdi's conscious effort

to emulate the prophet becomes very vivid. Abd Allah, who had right

from the start been the Mahdi's right hand man, was appointed

Khalifatu-l-Siddiq - corresponding to the position of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,

the first Khalifa after the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and the latter's

closest companion. Ali Wad Hilu, a well-known Faki and an early

adherent of the Mahdi was appointed Khalifatu-l-Faruq - corresponding

to the position of Umar al-Faruq the second Khalifa. The position of

Uthman b. Affan, the third Khalifa was given to al-Sanusi of Libya, who

however did not respond and the seat remained vacant throughout the

Mahdiyya. Muhammad Sharif, a young relative of the Mahdi was

appointed the fourth Khalif, corresponding to the position of Ali b. Abu

Talib, the fourth Khalif after the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)

The Ansar at Qadir were then split into three groups, each being put

under the charge of one of the Khulafa, and given a distinct flag - black

for Abd Allah, Red for Ali Wad Hilu and green for Muhammad Sharif.

Though the Mahdi did not deliberately divide the Ansar along tribal

lines, each Khalifa seemed to have attracted to his flag the tribes of his

own area. Abd Allah attracted the men from the west of the Nile valley,

the baggara especially; Ali Wad Hilu attracted the men of the White

Nile area. The people of the Northern provinces rallied round the green

flag of Muhammad Sharif. It must be appreciated however that this

apparent regional solidarity did not affect the solidarity of the Mahdiyya

- at least in the lifetime of the Mahdi. If anything it seemed to have

augmented internal order and discipline.

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With the resources for this growing community of Ansar increasing

through proceeds from the battlefield, taxation, etc. the need for a store

and central treasury arose. This need was fulfilled by the creation of a

Bait al-mal and the appointment of Ahmad Sulayman as a treasurer.

For the dispensation of justice (Sharia) among the Ansar community, a

Qadi and his assistants were appointment and at times the Mahdi

himself, in company of his Khulafa sat to hear very serious cases.

Even in distant provinces (from Qadir) like Gezira, and White Nile, the

Mahdi appointed governors from among his following there. The Amir

acted as both civil and military governor and was directly responsible to

the Mahdi. Each Amir created a similar administrative pattern of Bait al-

mal, Sharia court and an army unit - to which all able men

automatically belonged. The soundness of this administrative set up is

perhaps reflected by the tough resistance which the Ansar in Gezira

and white Nile provinces put up against the government for many years

before the fall of Khartoum.

The Mahdi at Qadir had more to do than just administration and

organization. He knew his stay at Qadir was for a short period and it

was to enable him organize his forces and plan his strategy. The Mahdi

relied very much for his success on the faith and commitment of his

following more than on arms and ammunition - an area in which his

enemies were far ahead of him. His preparation for the battle to come

were therefore not so much in securing arms like in raising the level of

commitment of his followers in the cause of Mahdiyya. It is in this light

that the public session - majalis which the Mahdi often held, should be

seen.

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The contents of the majalis reveals that it was primarily geared towards

this end.(49) Indeed many of the Mahdi's manshrurat (circulars) were

geared towards this same end. Though time and circumstances did not

allow me access to the Majlis, much of their theme could be made out

from the relevant manshurat. The call for the renunciation of al-Dunya

(this world) and the looking forward for al-akhira (the hereafter)

seemed to have received top priority. Humility, austerity and tawakkul

(trust in Allah) featured prominently. There were also some elementary

fiqh, which the ordinary Muslim need for his day-to-day Ibada (acts of

worship). "There is nothing good in the world or its leisure"(50) the

Mahdi told his followers. In fact:

"Allah prescribed the Jihad upon us in order to remove us away

from the harm which arises from leaning towards this impure

world and clinging to its things which actually nothing and the

only benefit one can obtain is regret. Thus my beloved ones

support Islam by your souls in order to gain his acceptance…"(51)

To the Mahdi and his Ansar, this world and all that is contained in it of

property or power is not only useless but also harmful. To move away

from it and to struggle for the benefits of the next world is the obvious

thing to do. Indeed life in this world to the Ansar should be used, i.e.

sacrificed, to obtain the goods of the next world and only then can the

life in this world be said to be useful. This is very clear when the Mahdi

said:

(49) Interviews with Abd Allah Muhammad Ahmad. See also majalis al-Mahdi.

(50) (50) M.I Abu Slaim (ed) Manshaurat) p. 123 Qirshi Muhammad Hassan (ed.) Kin Majalis al-Iman, al-Mahdi, Silsilatu Turath al - Mahdiyya 1-5 (h.d) (51) Ibid. p. 124

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"There is no doubt in the mind of the believer that, his being in

this world is an image that will disappear as if it never existed. If

he achieves a complete and everlasting benefits (the goods of

the next world) with this disappearing image of his then he will

have both joy and satisfaction. And when he faces death in the

Jihad he becomes happy…. For he has heard the words of the

exalted. Those who fled their homes for the cause of Allah and

then were slain or died (Allah verily will provide for them a good

provision… Assuredly he will cause them to enter by) an entry

they will love. Lo! Allah verily is knower, indulgent".(52)

With such message constantly and no doubt discreetly inculcated into

the minds of the Ansar, Mahdi's appeal, "the beloved ones, let us

hasten to obtain what is in the life to come and leave what is in this

world of mirage",(53) could not have fallen on a deaf ear.

Much of Ansar's celebrated austerity, discipline and valour in

battlefields owe much to these teachings of the Mahdi. To ignore the

impact of these teachings or the thoughts and behaviour of the Ansar,

like a number of scholars have done, is to run the risk of misjudging the

whole enterprise.

Motivated by shahada (martyrdom), confident of the help of their Lord

(Allah),(54) about 30,000 Ansar under the leadership of the Mahdi,

moved out of Qadir to Kordofan in the first leg of their offensive, on the

12th Ramadan 1299 (May 1882). Until then they had virtually been on

the defensive. Though level of commitment and motivation obviously

(52) Qur'an 22: 58-9 (53) M.I Abu Salim (ed) Manshrate, p. 125 (54) Ibid. p. 126

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differed among the Ansar, they all shared an unshakable confidence of

success. Their envisaged victory, they believed would come neither

through their number or weaponry but from their Lord in whose cause

they rose. As the Mahdi had beseeched them:

"Follow God's way (Jihad)… and care not for the vanity of

preparation and supplies, for that can only lead to delay… know

that this enterprise of ours is with God and for God, form the

beginning to end. If victory came from money or from Goods,

verily the Turks have plenty of them: but who ever works for

God, God works for him".(55)

As the Mahdi and his Ansar moved towards al-Obeid, the capital of

Kordofan they gathered the support of the tribes along their route. By

the time they camped outside al-Obeid, their number had reached well

over 30,000. Following the practice of the prophet, the Mahdi on 21st of

Shawwal (5th September 1882) sent a letter to the governor,

Muhammad Sa’id asking for surrender. Muhammad Sa’id not only

refused to surrender, but executed the messengers of the Mahdi -

something which the Mahdi (following the example of the prophet) (56)would not do.

If by executing the messengers, Muhammad Sa’id meant to impress

and win the confidence of his people, then he failed. For the execution

only triggered wave of desertion from al-Obeid to the Mahdi's camp.

Perhaps Muhammad Sa’id never realized, or if he did, he must have

underestimated, the number of Mahdi's supporters and sympathizers in

(55) Allah says in the Qur'an 30:47 "To help the believers is incumbent upon us" (56) Bedri and Scott (trans) The memoir of Babikr Bedri p. 35

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al-Obeid. The desertion must have boosted the Mahdi's camp not only

with number and resources but also with useful information.

Only three days after his dispatch to Muhammad Sa’id, the Mahdi

gathered all his fighting forces under their commanders, exhorted them

to Jihad and ordered them to deliver a general attack on al-Obeid.

When the Ansar failed to take the town at that go, they decided to lay

siege to it until it surrendered. Meanwhile another siege was laid to

Bara, the second largest town in Kordofan.

Muhammad Sa'id’s refusal to surrender might have been due to his

hopes in a relief expedition from Khartoum. But the relief expedition of

about 3,000 men sent from Khartoum could not reach him, for it was

intercepted and crushed by the Ansar.(57) Under siege, unable to obtain

any reinforcement from Khartoum faced with desertion, among other

problems, al-Obeid could not have held for long.

The news of the fall of Bara on 26th, Safar (6th January 1883) must

have dealt a heavy blow to whatever courage the government forces at

al-Obied had. On the 10th of Rabi 1, (19th January 1883), al-Obeid

could not but surrender to the Mahdi who entered the town and led his

victorious Ansar in the Juma’a prayer.

With the capture of Bara and more important al-Obeid, the largest and

richest town after Khartoum, the Ansar grew not only in human but also

in material resources. Al-Obied, also gave the Mahdi a permanent

base and a kind of headquarters from where further attacks could be

planned and organized, In the same way Birnin Kudu served Dan (57) A.B. Theobold, The Mahdiyya, p. 39

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Fodio and his Jama'a in 1805. With this permanent and fairly secure

base, contact between the Mahdi and his agents in the remoter regions

of the Sudan became enhanced. It was here that Uthman Digna met

and made Bay'a to the Mahdi. Coming from Beja tribe, he was

immediately commissioned as Amir (Commander) of the eastern

provinces and dispatched there to organize the followers of the Mahdi

and wage a Jihad against the enemies.

When the Mahdi was at the gate of al-Obeid demanding its surrender

in September of 1882, the British, whose colonial interests were

threatened by the Urabist revolution, invaded and occupied Egypt.

British designs to control Egypt dated back to many centuries in course

of which it became the de facto ruler of not only Egypt but even the

Ottoman empire. Though following the invasion, Muhammad Tawfiq

was appointed as the ruler of Egypt, it was obvious that the latter's

position was only nominal and the British had the final say. But

whoever took Egypt at that time when its authority over the Sudan was

being threatened by Mahdiyya must also face the threat. Though the

British pretended to treat the Mahdiyya as solely an Egyptian problem,

the missions of Hicks, Gordon and Kitchener (all British Officers) were

soon to uncover the facade. In fact before Hicks and his two other

brothers, Colonel Stewart, a British Officer was first dispatched to

Sudan, soon after the British occupation, to report on the situation.

Though Colonel Stewart advised the maintenance of a defensive

posture, the powers that be in Cairo felt more comfortable with a big

plan to crush the Mahdi, especially when they realized that the

reinforcement sent in December 1882 were consumed in only

quenching the riots in the Gezira area.

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By February 1883, the big plan had been hatched and Hicks was put in

charge. Abd al-Qadir was recalled from Khartoum and a new Governor

General Ala al-Din Pasha Siddiq was appointed in his place. Both

Hick’s plan and administrative changes were made in the name of an

Egyptian government, which had no say.

As soon as he reached Sudan, Hicks took upon himself to crush the

Mahdist risings in the Gezira - a job which the previous governors had

tried without success despite reinforcements from Cairo. Having

satisfied himself with his self-assigned job in the Gezira, Hicks

marched out of Omdurman (early September 1883) with 7,000 infantry,

500 cavalry, 400, mounted irregular, 2,000 camp followers and 5,000

camels for transport.

After a short stay at Duem, Hicks marched out on 27th September

1883, and headed for Kordofan, Mahdi's base. The Mahdi was

apparently monitoring Hicks movement through his reconnaissance

system. As hicks expedition was approaching, the Mahdi sent circulars

to the dispersed tribes along the route, asking them to enlist in the

cause of Allah and warning Hicks and telling him the futility of fighting

the "Soldiers of Allah". In some such circulars which Hicks expedition

came across, the Mahdi said:

"It is not hidden from the intelligent man that the affair is in the

hand of God… there is no protection for any save whom God

Most High protects… do not be deceived by your weapons nor

by your companies with whom you wish to fight the soldiers of

God… if ye say that our Mahdiship is a lie, then know that denial

comes only form him who loves the world and fears men and

underestimates the powers of God".(58) (58) P. M. Holt, The Mahdist State in the Sudan p., 72

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By the 5th of November 1883, the whole of the Hicks forces were

surrounded, unaware, by the Ansar, at Shaykan, south of al-Obeid.

There the Ansar fell on them and virtually exterminated the entirety of

the Hicks forces except for a very few who managed to escape. Both

Hicks, the commander, and Ala-al-Din, the governor general were

killed. This brought to four the woeful failures of the government

offensive against the Mahdi. This to many was a further confirmation of

the genuinety of the Mahdi's cause, and it must have brought to a peak

the morale of the Ansar.

The Mahdi's sweeping victory over the largest expedition ever mounted

in the Sudan sent a wave of shock throughout the Sudan, as far as

Cairo and London. The last hope of the enemies of Mahdiyya had

perished. While Cairo, or more correct, London, was busy wondering

what to do next, their agents in the Sudan were seeking means by

which they could submit to the Mahdi and save their poor souls.

Rudolf Von Salatin, the Austrian Officer and governor of Darfur

province, who had all his hopes in the Hicks expedition, accepted Islam

and submitted to the Mahdi, after hearing of the fate of Hicks.

Muhammad Zuqal who was appointed by the Mahdi as governor of

Darfur smoothly took over in December 1883. The British Officer

Lupton who had been the Governor of Bahr al- Ghazal province had to

similarly accept Islam and submit to the Mahdi by April 1884. The

balance of the officers of the colonial government scattered all over the

Sudan were profoundly shaken. Even if they continued to doubt the

Mahdiship of the Mahdi, they could no longer doubt his invincibility.

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While Hicks army were advancing towards their fate, Uthman Diqna,

the Mahdi's Amir in the North - eastern provinces, was launching

several attacks on the Egyptian and British posts in the eastern

provinces. He succeeded in cutting off communication links between

Suakin and Berber. He also took Tokar and Sinkat from government

troops, and shook the heavily reinforced British strategic Red Sea Port

of Suakin. This only added to the bewilderment of the British

government, which for some time didn’t know what exactly to do.(59)

While Britain was working out yet another plan, Egypt, which was for all

practical purposes a colony, could not but sit and wait for instructions

from Lord Baring, the British Consul in Cairo. Egypt was simply

instructed to evacuate its balance of about 24,000 troops, but the way

to do it and the man to do it were both British. The same old Gordon,

just returning "from Palestine, where he had been… trying to locate on

the ground many of the pots mentioned in the Bible,"(60) was appointed

for the evacuation mission; "a mission which was variously understood

by the different parties concerned."(61)

True the mission was enveloped into a "cloud of confusion" from the

start. The British government was said to have sent Gordon "to report

on the best method of carrying out the evacuation".(62) Lord Baring was

said to have thought that “Gordon was authorized to execute the

(59) In a frantic effort to escape the eminet disaster, Britiish officials thought of all sort of solutions to the Mahdi's "threat". They considered returning Zubayr Pasha, fro mwhere he was held in Cario, to rally his country men against the Mahdi. They arranged an dfinancned the tour of Muhammad Uthman II al-Mirghani ( The leader of the Khatmiyya Tariqh) in the eastern provinces " to convince the tribesmen that Muhammad Ahmad was a false Mahdi and that they should not support the government of the Egyptian rulers". Just like the theological propaganda failed so did all other efforts. For details see J.O. Voll "A History of the Khatmiyya Traiqa in the sudan. Pp. 273-80 (60) A.B Theobold The Mahdiyya p. 75 (61) P.M Holt A Modern History of the sudan p. 87 (62) Ibid

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evacuation."(63). Gordon had his own different ideas - "to smash the

Mahdi"(64) perhaps. But we are not told what the nominal Egyptian

government, which gave Gordon two documents - one appointing him

as governor general, and the other announcing evacuation - thought of

the mission.

Some British historians have portrayed this "confusion" as an

evidence of British reluctance to be involved in the affairs of the

Sudan.(65) It is contestable if this is a "confusion" at all. That all the

different parties soon rallied around Gordon in almost all his actions

and requests, lends support to the contention that, what appeared to

be a confusion was infact part of the whole plan. That the plan did not

work out as envisaged does not affect the validity of the contention.

On his way to Khartoum, Gordon announced (some say by mistake)(66)

the evacuation project while passing through Berber. But shortly before

then he sent to the Mahdi some gifts along with a letter appointing the

mahdi the Sultan of Kordofan and soliciting his cooperation. Thus from

the start Gordon grossly misunderstood the Mahdiyya and

underestimated its aspirations and capacity. Even Mahdi's reply did not

seem to have taught Gordon what Mahdiyya meant. It was not

surprising, therefore that he continued to make "mistakes" which

eventually cost him both his mission and his dear life.

(63) Ibid (64) Ibid (65) See Ibid. for example. (66) Ibid.

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In his fairly long reply to Gordon,(67) The Mahdi informed Gordon that

he neither needed wealth nor power, nor does he like kingship nor the

way of life of the Kings. On Gordon’s claim to reform the Muslims, and

open the roads for them to Makka and Medina, the Mahdi asked how

he (Gordon) could accomplish this while he was a Christian. The Mahdi

made it very clear to Gordon that there was no basis of any

cooperation between Muslims and Christians (Nasara). He however

invited Gordon to accept Islam, in which case he (Mahdi) would

cooperate with him and even give him power, if he (Gordon) wanted.

The Mahdi did not loose the opportunity to remind Gordon that he is

the expected Mahdi and the deputy of the Prophet of Allah who had

been promised victory over his enemies. He also made sure he

cautioned him and drew his attention to the fact that all previous

supporters of the government had joined the Mahdiyya and are being

treated well and those who insisted in opposing have been killed. He

also returned to Gordon the gifts.

On reaching Khartoum Gordon announced his Governor Generalship

and began a desperate effort to secure acceptability. He gave general

amnesty to many prisoners, reduced taxes, conferred titles to people

and gave money to the needy - alas to no avail. For as one of the

beneficiaries of the amnesty had observed:

"Although he had reduced the taxes, cancelled the slave

ordinances, given money to the needy and poor and conferred

ranks and titles on may, he failed to win the people of the Sudan.

This happened in spite of the propaganda against the Mahdi

designed and carried out by the Ulama of Khartoum".(68) (67) M.I Salim (Ed. ) Manshurat pp. 319-327

(68) M.O Bashir "Nasihat al- Awam", S.N.R XII p. 63

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That Gordon, a one time anti-slave trade crusader, lifted restrictions on

slave trade, reflects Gordon's desperate efforts to secure "legitimacy."

That he could not secure one also reflects the impact of Mahdiyya

even in the government's capital and amidst the propaganda. Gordon

may have realized the futility of his trick, for he soon asked his

superiors fro reinforcement to "smash the Mahdi". The reinforcement,

for reasons having to do with British way of doing things, however

came a little too late to save the life of Gordon. Gordon's mission was

however to be saved by his brother Kitchner, though many years later.

While Gordon was waiting for reinforcement, the Ansar were scoring

more success. By 12th March 1884, the telegraph line joining Khartoum

with Cairo had been cut and by mid May the town of Berber had fallen

to the Ansar, thus virtually isolating Khartoum. By 23rd October 1884

the Mahdi himself arrived from Kordofan and established his camp on

the western bank of the White Nile.

With Khartoum isolated and besieged Gordon could not but only praye

for a timely arrival of help. But the news of help coming to rescue

Gordon only hastened the fall of Khartoum and the death of Gordon.

For when the Ansar got the news of reinforcement on its way to save

Gordon, they decided to forestall it by attacking Khartoum. In the early

hours of 26th January 1885, Khartoum, which had been weakened by

siege and deficient in moral courage, fell to the Ansar and Gordon

(against the orders of the Mahdi) got killed in the process.

The Fall of Khartoum brought to a final end the series of efforts that the

so-called Turco-Egyptian government had been making since 1881 to

"smash the Mahdi". It also represented a climax in the chain of

"miraculous" victories the Ansar had been scoring against their

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enemies. Behind these "miraculous" victories however lied some

tangible forces - skill and resources. The Skill came from those veteran

slave traders among the Ansar, who had ample experience in warfare

especially against the government. The resources came from the rich

among the Ansar many of whom surrendered their wealth for the

Jihad.(69) Of course the resources was in course of their victories

augmented by booty. To all these we must add the morale and

confidence of the army, which was uniquely high.

Though the fall of Khartoum gave the Mahdi the control of almost all

the Egyptian Sudan, it by no means meant his Job is over. IF anything

it meant a beginning. For his is the whole of the Muslim World, of which

Sudan was only a part. How he went about the next step of his mission

is what the next section discusses.

4.3 From Mahdi to Mahdiyya.

By the fall of Khartoum, Kasala and Sennar were still resisting the

Ansar. Some of the tribes of Taqali in Nuba Mountains were also in

revolt. While these pockets of resistance were being crushed by the

victorious forces of the Ansar, the Mahdi was busy reorganizing the

administration of the vast territory that had just been liberated from the

Turco-Egyptian colonialism. In doing this the Mahdi took particular care

to avoid copying the previous system, in the same way Dan Fodio took

care to avoid copying the Saruata system he overthrew. Mahdi’s

vehement rejection of the Turks way of life is very clear when he said:

"Put aside everything that has the slightest resemblance to the

manner and customs of Turks and infidels…All their dressed

(69) (69) See. H. Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 214.

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therefore, as well as drums, bungles and other articles must be

put aside".(70)

Mahdi's hatred for the Turks and their way of life, it must be

emphasized is not because they were aliens (geopolitically), it is rather

because:

"They transgressed the Command of (God's) apostles and His

Prophets and of him who commanded them to imitate them.

They judged by other than God's revelation (i.e. the Qur'an)(71)

and altered the Sharia of our lord Muhammad, the Apostle of

God, and corrupted the faith of God…"(72)

In the reorganizing the administration of the Sudan the Mahdi was thus

essentially aiming at replacing the non-Islamic (secular) system of the

government of the Turks with the Islamic one, as he understood it.

The application of the Shari'a being central to the Islamicity of a state,

the Mahdi spared no time in restoring the supremacy of the

Shari'a. Ahmad Ali the Qadi of Islam was given the responsibility for

seeing to the application of the Sharia throughout the vast territory

under the Mahdi. This step marked a drastic departure from the old

order of the Turco-Egyptian regime where only lip service was being

paid to a Shari'a whose jurisdiction was confined to matters of personal

status. With restoration of the Shari'a, a number of other aspects of

(70) (70) Al-Mahdi, quoted in L.E.E Kaptiajns, "The Religious Background of the Mahdi and his

movement" p. 76.

(71) See Qur'an 5: 44"… Whoso judgement not by that which Allah has revealed, such are disbelievers (72) Al-Mahdi, quoted in P.M Holt, The Mahdist state

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government and society had to also change, for the Sharia, by its very

nature pervades every conceivable aspect of human endeavor. Most

important perhaps is the states sources of revenue which under the

Sharia must be just and fair. Thus the heavy taxation of the Turco-

Egyptian regime was replaced by a light taxation approved by the

Shari'a.(73) The lightening of the taxes may have been further spurred

by the belief that Mahdi's era marks the end of injustice and the

beginning of justice.

The issue of distribution and use of land has always been an important

one in all human societies at all times, more so in the nineteenth

century largely nomadic-agricultural Sudan. The system of land tenure

has always been used as an index of social justice in a given society.

Here again the Sharia came to hold sway. The Mahdi took Special

pains to remove the exploitation and unfairness which characterized

land distribution and use prior to the victory of Mahdiyya.(74) To see this

measure as one designed to win the hearts of certain section of the

Sudanese society is to deliberately ignore the obvious fact that Mahdi's

policies were primarily motivated by an ardent desire to comply with

the provisions of the Sharia.

The state's economic resources remained under the Bait al-Mal.

Taxation, Zakat (poor due) and other revenues were deposited there. It

was from there also that states expenditure was financed. New coins

were struck to replace the old ones. The coins were largely made out

of the gold seized during the victorious battles of the Ansar.

(73) M.I Abu Salim (ed.) Manshurat p. 196 (74) It was by appealing to the Muslim sense of unity and brotherhood that the Mahdi abolished the exploitative system of Dangandi

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Mahdi's reorganization programme also included the building and

maintenance of the Mosques, the development of schools and other

social aspects of the society. Marriage dowry for example was slashed

down, marriage feasts were made simple and modest and no room

was given for extravagancy or display of wealth.(75) A lithographic unit

was maintained to facilitate communication and the spread of

information and circulars from the administration to the people.

Though Khartoum, the headquarters of the "infidel" Turks had fallen

into the hands of the Ansar, the mission of the Mahdi, it should be

recalled was far from being complete. The state's need for a fighting

force as well as military equipment was thus as great as ever before.

The reorganization of the army and the setting up of cartridge

production factory76 could be seen as moves to satisfy this need.

These efforts to establish an Islamic state and society, sincere as they

appear, were not without serious setbacks. In the application of the

Shari'a for example, emotions and unreason appeared to have

triumphed over reason and scholarship.(77) Hence though its Sharia

supremacy had been restored, it was the letter of the law that prevailed

over the spirit.

The application must have been made more difficult by the fact that,

the society, though sufficiently motivated to fight a Jihad had not been

(75) See appendix to Book III F.R wingate, Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan, London Frank Cass, 1968, 2nd ed. pp. 535-549 see also A.B Theobold, The Mahdiyya pp. 43-3 76 “The use of bad language, drinking of alcoholic liquor, smoking or chewing of tobacco, and smoking hashish were all sternly forbidden. So were dancing and playing of musical instruments. Wedding ceremonies were greatly simplified for the payment of minnows dowries and the holding of elaborate feasts were prohibited. The same simplicity was applied to funerals, and the traditional wailing was no longer allowed. Why mourn for a true believer who had gone to enjoy the delights of paradise? And if he were not a true believer, and had therefore gone elsewhere, there was even less cause for grief.” (77) Smoking for example carried a much more severe punishment than alcohol drinking, many books which could have been useful in the understanding and application of Shari'a were banned.

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sufficiently prepared to appreciate the rulings and provisions of the

Shari'a. Mahdi's unquestionable dominance over the judiciary, which

gave little or no room for Ijma, (Consensus of opinion among scholars)

may have added to the problems of dispensation of justice. Such

independence in the application of the Sharia appear to be typical or

Mahdi's Islamisation programme.

Despite these obvious setbacks, Mahdi's efforts to establish an Islamic

state and society, as he understood them, is beyond doubt. In

establishing an Islamic state and society, the Mahdi like his brother

Dan Fodio, had as his model the Prophet and Khalifa Rashida. It is

therefore unjust, unfair and unobjective to see the Mahdi and his

mission through the western Euro-Christian frame of reference, which

has today regrettably come to be synonymous with "standard"

objective scholarship.(78)

The death of the Mahdi only six months after the fall of Khartoum was

no doubt a big blow to the Mahdiyya. That the Mahdi died before the

Mahdiyya realized its goals, was particularly tragic to the Ansar. But

the Ansar knew that the Mahdi was not immortal. In fact they believe

that after the death of the Mahdi, al-Dajjal (anti-Christ) will come to

challenge and even halt the mission of Mahdiyya. This sad event will

then be followed by the coming of Nabi Isa(79) the Prophet Jesus, who

will fight and defeat the Dajjal and restore the Islamic system - the

(78) Theobold for example, even after admitting that "political thoughts and religious teachings were to the Mahdi indivisible: he went further to say "it was bad religion and not bad government that was intolerable (to the Mahdi). Holt also thought that "when the Mahdi and these men spoke of the misgovernment and purification, they were thinking in theological rather than political terms. Both Thoebold and Holt were clearly misjudging the situation for the simple reason that they were applying a frame of reference which was only Theobold and Holt, does not suffer from the religious/political dichotomy that is characteristic of contemporary western thoughts. (79) Muslims generally believe that the Prophet Isa (Alaihi Salam) was never killed but raised up and shall return to the world, live a life and die a normal death.

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mission of the Mahdiyya. Until the coming of the Dajjal therefore the

mission of the Mahdiyya is to continue under the leadership of the

successor of the Mahdi.

The Mahdi, like his model the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) did not

appoint his successor before his death. But when he fell sick, like the

prophet, he appointed Khalifa Abd Allah to lead the prayers in the

Mosque. This and earlier Mahdi's proclamation(80) on Abd Allah's

superior qualities were however pointing to the Mahdi's tacit approval

to Abd Allah's candidacy. Abd Allah's very position, Khalifatu l-Siddiq(81)

is a further indication of Mahdi's preference of Abd Allah over others.

All these made the job of the council that sat to select Mahdi's

successor easy.

Abd Allah, who was incidentally a member of the council, was elected

as the successor of the Mahdi and Bay'a was made to him. Thus the

task of establishing an Islamic state and society in the Mahdist Sudan

as well as continuing with the Jihad fell on the shoulders of the Abd

Allah. Both tasks were however made more difficult not only by the

changing circumstances outside the borders of the Mahdist state, but

also and perhaps more crucial, by the death of the Mahdi, whose

vacuum could not have been filled by Khalifa Abd Allah. For the death

of the Mahdi deprived the Ansar of that unquestionable charismatic

personality which could hold together divergent groups and mobilize

them for the achievement of common objectives.

Thus internally Khalifa Abd Allah soon faced revolts and threats to his

rule by groups, especially the Ashraf kins of the Mahdi, whose reason (80) See F.R Wingate, Mahdism p. 229 Kahlifa Abd Allah’s appointment as Kahlifat --Siddiq, it could be argued as an indication of Mahdi's wish to be succeeded by Abd Allah. (81) Abu bakr al- Siddiq (R. A was the first successor of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)

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for discontent lay outside the ideals of Mahdiyya. Abd Allah's

immediate attention had to therefore go in the direction of checking

these threats and securing his rule. Though he succeeded, more often

than not through the use of force, in containing the threats and

consolidating his authority, he continued to be hunted by fear of threats

and his administration continued naturally to be characterized by

mistrust.

The administration Abd Allah came to build had to consequently be

centered on his own person, governed by his absolute power. He also

was soon to resort to visions, which must have helped to reinforce his

authority with an air of Mahdism. Abd Allah's attention seemed to have

been so much carried away by the need to hold the state together and

maintain his authority that, the issue of islamisation could not get the

attention it deserved. The administrative structure and staff of the old

order continued to give the state under Abd Allah its administration.(82)

Abd Allah’s obsession with consolidation of his power and the

development of a trustable administration could be appreciated if the

circumstances in which he found himself is recalled. The battle

condition and the large population movements, (especially of Abd

Allah’s tribesmen the Baggara who he brought to Omdurman to

reinforce his security) impared agricultural production and upset the

economy. The famine, and epidemic that followed, and Abd Allah’s

refusal to open trade with Egypt,(83) only made matters worse.

Abd Allah did not however, abandon all together the task of

establishing an Islamic state. He did reorganize the judiciary and tried (82) See P.M Holt, The Mahdist State p. 254 (83) See Ibid. 255-6

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to improve the dispensation of justice. Even Rev. Father Chrwalder

noted that Abd Allah’s efforts brought a marked improvement over the

situation in the time of his predecessor.(84) But as with the Mahdi it was

the latter of the law that prevailed over the spirit, and " the dependence

of the judicial officers on the Khalifa made their work particularly

laborious, when they were far removed from the capital".(85)

Externally the situation outside the Mahdist Sudan was rapidly

changing. European scramble for Africa had gathered momentum.

France, Belgium and Great Britain had already invaded and occupied

territories neighboring the Mahdist state and were preparing to pounce

on the latter. Bu the jihad had to continue. The little resources available

were marshaled for the Jihad. Letters were dispatched to Muhammad

Tawfiq the Khedive of Egypt, Abd al-Hamid II the Ottoman Sultan, and

Queen Victoria, in April 1887, urging them to submit to Mahdiyya.(86)

The Khailfa’s writing to the Queen of England only reflected the extent

of involvement of British forces in the venture to conquer and colonize

the Sudan.

After they made sure the messages reached their destinations, the

Ansar under al-Nujumi began to march northwards and fighting the

Anglo-Egyptian forces on the Egyptian frontier. At the same time

Uthman Dan Fodio continued his Jihad against the British and

Egyptian posts in the Red Sea area. At the same time, some Ansar

forces were sent to suppress a revolt in Western Sudan and some

under Abu Anja to settle an old boarder dispute with Abyssinia. While

these last two projects succeeded, the first two could not and the Ansar

had to resort to only defending their boarders against the Anglo- (84) See Theobold The Mahdiyya p. 181 (85) P.M Holt The Mahdist state p. 264 (86) P.M Holt A modern history of the sudan, p. 98

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Egyptian forces. Since it took off in 1881, this was the first time

Mahdiyya could be said to have met with a decisive defeat in the

battlefield.

The defeat of al-Nujumi must have encouraged the Anglo-Egyptian

forces to summon courage and fight the, until then, invincible Ansar.

The British in particular must have had a sigh of relief, for Mahdiyya

was the only force in the region that was checking its imperialistic

designs.

Under pretexts, which apostles of European imperialism have done

their best to justify, another British army General, Sir Herbert Kitcher,

was armed to the teeth and sent to Sudan in 1869 to achieve what

Gordon failed to achieved -"smash the Mahdi". Sufficient precautions

were taken this time and the surrounding European colonial powers

must have been alerted in case a helping hand would be needed.

Having made his way through Wadi Halfa and Berber, Kitchner arrived

at Karari near Omdurman (the headquarters of the Mahdist state) in

September 1898. There his heavily armed forces met and defeated the

Ansar. About ten thousand Ansar accepted Shahada (martyrdom) with

a unique and celebrated valour and the British reached its long nursed

objective of conquering and colonizing the Sudan. This battle of Karari

marked the end of the Mahdist state in the Sudan and the beginning of

the so-called Anglo-Egyptian condominium, whose details fall outside

the scope of this study.

To the Ansar, their defeat in the hands of the British forces, and the

institution of another "infidel" colonial government, was obviously tragic

but certainly not inexplicable. To them the British were the Dajjal

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whose coming has been prophesized.(87) Theirs was to wait for the

appearance of Nabi Isa who like the Mahdi, they somehow believed

would appear in the Sudan, and who will fight and defeat Dajjal and

once again restore Islam.

Though victorious, the British were still being hunted by the fear of the,

militant Ansar. Sufficient measures were therefore taken to avoid any

repetition of their bitter experiences. The Ansar were outlawed, their

leaders either killed or jailed, or in one form of arrest or the other.

Despite this however, "hardly a year passed during the first generation

of condominium without a Mahdist rising”(89) against the Anglo-Egyptian

colonial government. These uprisings were always spearheaded by

individuals who claimed to be Nabi Isa. Though none of them

commanded overwhelming following, these "neo-Mahdist risings

continued to terrorist the "infidel" colonial government for more than

two decades.

(87) See A.J Hasan "Mahdist Rising against the condominium in the Sudan 1900-1927" in I.J .A H S XII(1979) p. 441. The Ansar believed that both the Mahdi and Khalifa Abd Allah had prophesized this. "They also appealed to the prophesy of Farah Wad Tuktuk that at the end of time the English will come to you, whose soldiers are called police, they will measure the earth even to the blades of the sedge grass. There will be no deliverance except through the coming of Jesus. The west African elements were also said to have laid claim to being Nabi Isa were from West Africa. (89) Ibid. p.440

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EPILOGUE TO PART TWO

E.2.1 The Place of Mahdiyya in the History of the Sudan

The unique geographical position and features of the Sudan exposed it

to currents of thoughts and ideas from neighboring lands from time

immemorial. Islamic thoughts and ideas thus flowed into the Sudan

from a number of directions. It was not until the sixteenth century

however that the first Islamic state, the Funj Sultanate rose. A century

later rose yet another Islamic state, the Fur Sultanate. The

degeneration of the Funj late in the eighteenth century was followed by

the Egyptian invasion and colonization of the Sudan early in the

nineteenth century.

The Turco-Egyptian colonialism carried out a ruthless exploitation and

a militant modernization, which not only challenged the Islamic values

of the Sudanese society but also made conditions unbearably harsh

even to the irreligious. Such developments were to encourage escape

to spiritualism and potentiate the popular belief in the expected Mahdi.

When therefore Muhammad Ahmad declared himself the expected

Mahdi at the climax of these developments in 1881 he had not much

difficulty in mobilizing followers. Following its victory over the "infidel"

government, Mahdiyya sought to create an Islamic state which will

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reflect the values and aspirations of its people and give them the

justice and equity the former regime denied them. But British

imperialism would not allow it. Thus there was the so-called re-

conquest of 1898, the decisive battle of which took place at Karari

(Omdurman).

After the battle of Karari, the Anglo-Egyptian campaign against the

Mahdiyya continued, not only through persecution and legislation but

also on the scholastic front - in writings. Thus the Anglo-Egyptian

officers and scholars wrote to portray the Mahdiyya as a "rebellion"

against constituted authority. The trace of this well orchestrated

propaganda is still to be found in contemporary modern scholarship.

Since the independence of the Sudan (1956), a lot has been done(1)

under the auspices of modern western secular scholarship, to liberate

Mahdiyya from the claws of imperialist propaganda. One is never sure,

however, of the extent these efforts, based as they are on western

secular ethos, will be ready to go in according Islam its place in the

Mahdiyya. For by giving Islam its proper place, Mahdiyya becomes

liberated not only from imperialist propaganda but also from the more

subtle western secular propaganda. Without liberating the Mahdiyya

from both these propaganda's, finding its place in the history of the

Sudan is, to say the least, precarious.

With the attempt made in the course of this study, however to give

Islam its proper dimension in Mahdiyya, perhaps something can be

said about Mahdiyya's place in the history of the Sudan. Seen from a

wider perspective of Islamic history, the Mahdiyya is one of the series

of Islamic revolutionary movements in the nineteenth century Bilad al-

(1) See, Y.F Hasan, Some Aspects of the Writing of History in Modern Sudan, Khartoum I.A.A.S, 1978, pp. 17-18

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Sudan. In this respect it represented the Muslim reaction to internal

stagnation and external aggression in the region.

By cutting across tribal, regional and geographical boundaries,

Mahdiyya's appeal could be seen to represent a thorough level of

Islamisation of the Sudan of its time. For it was the first time in the

history of the Sudan that such a Muslim solidarity was mobilized

against a common Islamic cause.

Mahdiyya's "miraculous" success over the powerful colonial

government was that checked the militant "modernization" subversive

to Islamic values, and reasserted the Islamic identity of the Sudan; an

identity which even British colonialism had to recognize and respect.

By being a source of inspiration to many millions in the contemporary

Sudan, the Mahdiyya continues to provide a check for any militant de-

Islamisation either from the left or from the right.

E.2.1 Mahdiyya and the Muslim World For centuries before the Mahdi, the chair of the leadership of the

Muslim Umma had been occupied by the Ottoman Sultan. After

degenerating into corrupt and oppressive regime subservient to foreign

Kufr powers, by the eighteenth century, the Ottoman Sultan obviously

lost the moral and spiritual credentials to lead the Umma. The Mahdi

by virtue of his office and his mission(2) was to occupy this vacant chair

and give a functional leadership to the Umma. The Mahdi, at least,

conceived of his mission in this vista. In his letters and proclamations

as in his plans, the Mahdi always had the whole Muslim Umma in his (2) The Mahdi it should be recalled saw himself as the success of the Prophet, who has been charged with the responsibility of restoring the Islamic order. See: Manshurat pp. 319-327

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mind. Mahdi's vision, following his first major victory, the fall of El-

Obeid in January 1883, is clearly indicative of his conviction and

confidence in eventually taking control of the whole Muslim world. He

said:

"The apostle of God gave me good tidings in the prophetic

vision, and said to me, ‘As thou hast prayed in El-Obeid, thou

shall pray in Khartoum, then thou shall pray in the Mosque at

Berber, then thou shall pray at the sacred House of God (the

Ka'aba of Mecca) then thou shall pray in the mosque of Yatrib

(Medina), then thou shall pray in mosque of Egypt, then thou

shall pray in mosque of Egypt, then thou shall pray at the Holy

House (Jerusalem), then thou shall pray in the mosque of al-

Iraq, then thou shall pray in the mosque of al-Kufa'(3)

But what was the reaction of the Muslim Umma itself? Did the Umma

share with the Mahdi his vision of the Mahdiyya? The greater part of

the Muslim world, it should be recalled, was by the late nineteenth

century under the spell of one form of imperialism or the other. Where

imperialism had not yet set its foot, the political leadership had already

degenerated and abandoned most of the Islamic ideals. The news of

the appearance of a Mahdi who will restore the prophetic model of

leadership and society could not have been welcomed by the political

leadership of the Muslim world. Indeed it was not.(4)

(3) M.S. Nujumi, Quoted in P.M. Holt, the Mahdist State in the Sudan p. 112. (4) The reaction of the Sokoto Caliphate (whose founder had prophetised the appearance of the Mahdi) seems typical. Mahdi's letter to the leaders of the Sokoto caliphate, was simply received, filed and ignored, with the obvious hope that the Mahdi or his agents will never find their way there. From interview with Wazirin Sokoto (Dr.) Junaidu.

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But amidst this cold reception from the political leadership in the

Muslim world, were individuals and groups that seemed to share with

the Mahdi his vision of Mahdiyya.

Many responded favourably and some were even able to meet the

Mahdi for their bay'a. Most of the individuals and groups who rose in

support of the Mahdiyya seemed to have been earlier disenchanted

with the situation of their respective Muslim societies and saw in the

Mahdiyya a likely solution.

Hayat b. Sa’ id, the grandson of Dan Fodio, for example, received the

news of the appearance of the Mahdi with jubilation, for not only was it

a fulfillment of a prophesy but it ushered a period when the ideals Dan

Fodio fought for would once again be revived. After swearing his

allegiance, in a letter to the Mahdi, Hayat said:

"….Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio recommended us to emigrate to

you, to assist you and to help you when you were made

manifest".(5)

Jamal al-Din al-Afgani, who spent the most active part of his life

championing the cause of pan-Islamism also welcomed and actively

supported the Mahdiyya. The active and unflinching support al-Afgani

gave to Mahdiyya is reflected by the numerous articles on Mahdiyya

which he published in his journal, al-Urwa-Wuthqa.(6) Deeply perturbed

by the problem of imperialism and disunity in the Muslim world, Al-

Afgani may have seen in the Mahdiyya a force which if supported could

liberate and unite the Umma.

(5) Quoted in Biobaku and Al-Hajj, The Sudanese Mahdiyya and the Niger - Chad Region" p. 235 (6) See Al-Urwa-L-Wuthqa, Cairo Maktabatu -Ahliyya 1928, pp. 245-353. The Original was published by AL-Afgani and Abduhu in 1884 A.D

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Another individual of prominence who supported the Mahdiyya actively

is al-Awwam, a war secretary in the Urabist revolution who the British

exiled to a prison in the Sudan. He got released from prison under

Gordon's amnesty and used his freedom relentlessly in supporting the

Mahdiyya, and sabotaging Gordon's government. Al-Awwam argued

that the Turco-Egyptian government had deviated from Islam and

betrayed the Muslims and hence no longer qualified for Muslim

support. The Mahdi who is fighting to establish Islam must on the other

hand be supported by all Muslims. (7) Al-Awwam clearly saw in the

Mahdiyya a better future for the Umma.

Following Mahdiyya's celebrated victory over the Hicks expedition in

November 1883, many delegations from Hijaz, India, Tunis, Morocco

were said to have visited the Mahdi to hear his teachings(8) and

perhaps to partake in his venture. Though not much is known about the

degree of support such delegations gave to Mahdiyya, their mere visit

is a sufficient indication of favourable response. Another individual al-

Kahhal came from Damascus (Syria), made Bay'a to the Mahdi and

took a letter from him to another pious man in Jerusalem,(9) perhaps

requesting the letter to rise in support of Mahdiyya. There could have

been more.

What is evident is that, the Mahdi was not alone in thinking and

believing that his mission covered the whole Muslim world. Even British

imperialism by its efforts to check the spread of Mahdiyya, out of the

Egypt and Sudan to other parts of the Muslim world, could be said to

be aware of the international character of the Mahdiyya. It is

unfortunate therefore if certain academic or political circles reduce the (7) See. M.C Bashir, "Nasihat al-Awam", S.N.R XII pp. 59 (8) P.M Holt The Mahdist State in the Sudan p. 74 (9) H. Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi p. 176

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Mahdiyya to solely a Sudanese national affair. Neither is this position

supported by history nor by Islam, the cause of which Mahdiyya

championed. One hopes that scholars, whose prime responsibility it is

to correct this misrepresentation of Mahdiyya will live up to their

expectations.

PART THREE: Comparison and Evaluation

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PART THREE CHAPTER FIVE

COMPARISON AND EVALAUTION

In the beginning of each of the two preceding parts (one and two),

efforts were made to trace the process of Islamisation from the earliest

times to the onset of the two movements (i.e. movement of Dan Fodio

and Mahdiyya). This is to help place the movement and the Jihad they

fought in their proper contexts.

It will be pertinent here to recall the fact that, in both Hausa land and

Nilotic Sudan, Islam spread extensively and peacefully during the

course of many centuries, integrating communities, boosting learning

and commerce and raising states of varying complexities. The

movements took off at a time when the continuity of the Islamic culture

that had already found roots in the societies was being threatened by

ignorance, superstition and powerful materialistic (Jahilliyya) forces -

represented by Sarakuna in Hausaland and the Turco-Egyptian

government in the Sudan. The Jihads waged in both cases were to

check the excesses of the materialistic forces and to restore to Islam a

supremacy which merited it merited by virtue of its message as well as

history.

Though both movements were inspired by the same ideals (belief) and

sought to realize basically the same objectives, they did differ in a

number of respects. To compare them and appreciate the extent of

their similarities and differences and to explain these where possible is

the prime objectives of this part of the study. The other is to attempt to

assess their achievements in terms of their goals and objectives and in

the context of their socio-cultural environment and level of technology.

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Comparing events such as these, which occurred at different times in

different locations is no doubt a difficult job. For one thing there is the

time lag of about a century, for another, there are circumstantial

variations. Such difficulties, while not making the task totally

impossible, certainly constrain its extent substantially. By having the

peculiar historical circumstances of each of the movements constantly

at the back of our mind, however it is hoped that the obvious hazards

that afflict such enterprise will be minimized.

This part of the study has been condensed into a single chapter which

starts with a discussion on the areas of similarity between the two

movements. This is followed by a similar discussion on the areas they

differed. The discussion on their achievements take the Third and the

last section of this chapter.

5.1 Areas of Similarity 5.1.1 Goals and Objectives

Both movements were born and nurtured under a climate of discontent,

and a rising tide of hope.(1) The men who kindled and (eventually) led

the movements were both Muslim scholars who enjoyed considerable

respect in their societies, not only for their learning, piety and rectitude

but also for their repugnance for the horrid state of affairs. Shehu's

refusal to accept Bawa's gift and Muhammad Ahmad's refusal to eat

food from his Shaykh whose school was being subsidized by the

Turco-Egyptian government, (2) were all expressions of this

(1) See sections 1.3 and 3.3 above (2) see pages

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repugnance. Motivated by their situational problems, the movements

were geared towards the procurement of a solution, which to them was

the restoration of the Islamic order.

Dan Fodio (who started as an itinerant da'I was primarily concerned

with expounding and extending the true message of Islam to his

society, which was drowning in ignorance and syncretism. His

relentless campaign for the revival of Sunna and obliteration of Bid'a

was soon to produce the consciousness it must have been intended to.

For soon his growing following realized that their society needed

Sunna not only in acts of worship but also in its law, economy and

politics. By the time Dan Fodio settled down in Degel, he left no one in

doubt about the goals and objectives of his whole enterprise - in his

own words "to make the law of God (Allah) supreme".(3) In other words

to replace the decadent order with an Islamic one.

By declaring his Mahdiship, Muhammad Ahmad was announcing to his

society, indeed the whole (Muslim) world, that the end of the decadent

"infidel" systems had come. For now had appeared the man who had

been divinely ordained to replace the prevailing tyranny with the fair

and just Islamic order. By emphasizing the fact that he was the Khalifa

(successor) of the Prophet, the Mahdi was pointing to his commitment

to the establishment of an Islamic state and society in the pattern of the

Prophet.

Thus the goals and objectives of both movements were primarily the

procurement of an Islamic state and society. Overthrowing the status

quo was thus a necessary step in the realization of their objectives.

This is very clearly born out not only by what some scholars describe

(3) Uthman b. Fudi, Bayan, p. 80

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as their manifestos(4) but also by their preoccupation soon after the

battles that gave them final victory.(5)

5.1.2 Model and Frame of Reference When they set out for their lofty venture to institute an Islamic order in

their decaying societies, the leadership of the two movements knew

that they were treading a path, which had been beaten by the Prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W) many centuries before them. They also knew that

the Prophet’s enterprise was meant to guide the faithful in their

continuous struggle to check the excesses of Jahilliya and establish

the message of Islam. So from the start both Dan Fodio and Mahdi

took the Prophet as their model not only by seeking to create his kind

of state and society but also by seeking to be in his shoes at every

stage of their venture.

As early as the age of twenty (20), Dan Fodio, in a poem praising the

Prophet, declared himself to be a muqtadi(6) (i.e one who modeled his

life on the Prophet's). Therefore, Dan Fodio continued to take the

prophet as a model in his simplicity, austerity and of course his

mission. His obsession with the revival of the Sunna throughout his

itinerant life and even after the Jihad clearly expresses Dan Fodio's

deep attachment to the Prophet and his way of life. That Dan Fodio's

vision in which he received the sword of truth came to him at the age of

forty (40) may not be a coincidence. It could be seen as an expression

of a desire in Dan Fodio to fit into the pattern of Prophet Muhammad's

(S.A.W) life who received his prophethood at the age of Forty (40).(7) (4) See Appendix I and II (5) See sections 2.4 and 4.3 above. Their unrelenting efforts to revive and institutute all Muslim institutions of government are incontestable. (6) See F.H El-Masri (ed. trans.) Bayan p. 2 (7) But the Mahdi received his mission of manifestation when still under forty years of age. By presenting this as a token of honour, Mahdi's biographer, Ismail was trying to cast the Mahdi in the pattern of the Prophet. See Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 65

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In the case of the Mahdi, the semblance with the Prophet was in fact

dramatized. From the onset of his manifestation the Mahdi saw himself

as the Khalifa (successor) of the Prophet who "follows in the Prophet’s

footstep".(8) This not only secured him the highest rank possible in his

society but imposed upon him the responsibility of executing his

venture in the manner and style of the Prophet. When therefore their

poorly armed supporters defeated the superior armed government

troops at Aba in their first encounter with the "infidels", the battle was

quickly noted as another Badr.

Mahdi's appointment of four deputies corresponding to the four Khulafa

al-Rashidun is yet another dramatic manifestation of Mahdi's desire to

fit in the pattern of the Prophet. Of course the Prophet Muhammad

(S.A.W) did not himself appoint the four successors who came after

him. They were all elected by their respective communities and it was

their distinguished rule that earned them the name Rashidun (the

guided ones). But by such appointments the Mahdi left no one in doubt

about who his model was.

As they defied the spirit of quietism and withdrawal typical of Sufism,(9)

by venturing to change their respective societies, so did the leadership

of both movements defied the spirit of Taqlid (following of earlier

rulings) in their effort to create Islamic state and society. Though from

different levels of perception, both Dan Fodio and the Mahdi strove to

derive the rules and regulations governing their Islamic states and

(8) Ibid. P.55 (9) It should be recalled that both Dan Fodio and the Mahdi were Sufis. Dan Fodio was known to have patronized the Qadriyya Sufi order, while the Mahdi until his manifestation was that of the Sammaniyya order.

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societies, directly from the Qur'an and Sunna, as they understood

them. Mahdi's abrogation of the Sufi orders and Madhahib, much as

they may have been intended to pre-empt any partisanship is clearly

an attempt to link the society he wanted to create directly with Qur'an

and Sunna. Even the classical Sufi Sharia-hakika dichotomy was

shattered by the Mahdi(10) to give way to the forging of a prophetic

model of society in which such dichotomy was never cherished.

Though Dan Fodio did not categorically abrogate Mahdhahib, he

undermined the whole idea by arguing that "neither God in his Book

nor the Prophet in his Sunna made it obligatory that one particular

Madhab should be allowed (sic-followed)."(11) Thus in their venture to

change the world, and create an Islamic state and society the model

for both movements was the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and their

frame of reference Qur'an and Sunna.

5.1.3 Character of Following In recruiting their following both Dan Fodio and the Mahdi left no one in

doubt about the Islamic nature of their cause. Islam by nature of its

universality knew no national, regional or tribal barrier. Thus the call of

both movements appealed to Muslims irrespective of their country,

region or tribe. The people that came to constitute the membership of

the movements came from different regions, tribes and walks of life

having nothing in common other than Islam and their commitment to

the movements.

(10) "He (the Mahdi) never accepted the contract which some Sufis drew between Al-Shariah (the law) and Al-Hakika (the Truth). He considered the latter to be the roots of the former. He considered Shari'a withous those roots shallow and Hakika without Shari'a toothless". See S. al-Mahdi, "Mahdism in Islam". P6 (11) Uthman b. Fudi, Hidyat al-Tullab, quoted in A.M. Kani unpublished M.L.S Thesis ,1978, p.142

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Dan Fodio a Fulani by tribe and perhaps Gobir by nationality, gathered

around him Hausas, Tuaregs, Kanuris, Fulani's among others, coming

from all the seven Hausa states, Borno and beyond. Similarly the

Mahdi, believed to be an Arab from Dongola in the Northern provinces,

gathered around him a multiplicity of tribes from Kordofan, Darfur,

Gaziru, Northern and Eastern provinces.(12) The term Jama'a Dan

Fodio used to describe his following like the term Ansar which the

Mahdi used, carries no national, regional, tribal or even class

connotation. Both terms were driven from either Qur'an or Sunna, to

describe an assembly of the faithful. Thus both represented neither

national nor tribal nor class feelings.

Even in their profile the following of both movements shared basically

the same character. The overthrow of the status quo and the

restoration of social justice being central to both movements, the

majority of the following naturally turned out to be the poor oppressed

mass of the people. Indeed the movements had in their following

students, scholars, merchants and even a few of the nobility but all

these remained the tip of an iceberg. Thus both were mass movements

whose following cut across boundaries of tribe, region, country, colour,

class etc. and reflected the true Islamic concept of community identity.

This is not to say however that the Jama'a did not differ from the Ansar

in any way. The difference in the perception and approach of their

leadership was naturally reflected on the followers. The Jama'a having

been formed over a span of three decades of itinerant Da'awa and

teaching and having been led by an erudite scholar, came to be more

sober and scholarship oriented than the Ansar who were mobilized

rather instantly and led by a Mahdi. (12) Perhaps it should be added here that majority of Mahdi's following came from the Western Provinces of Kordofoan and Darfur - something which may be a reflection of the difference I nthe culture and

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5.2 Areas of Difference

5.2.1 Conception and Strategy of Revolution

Though both Dan Fodio and the Mahdi set out to bring about an

Islamic revolution in their respective societies, their conception and

strategy of this revolution differed remarkably. Dan Fodio's focus was

first and foremost on the society which in his time was submerged in

ignorance, superstition and materialism. He roved a good part of

Hausaland restlessly, clarifying the message of Islam, reviving the

Sunna and obliterating the Bid'a (innovation) – using all means of mass

communication at his disposal. In the name of reviving the sunna and

destroying the bid’a, Dan Fodio called to question the "prevailing

norms and thereby the basis of social institutions and

arrangements".(13) The difficulties, opposition and challenges he met

with, prompted him to write prolifically not only to solve immediate

problems and respond to criticisms but also to develop a clear vision of

the alternative (Islamic) order he was unmistakably calling for. During

the course of a quarter of a century of this subtle intellectual revolution (14) he raised a large body and efficient network of following, the

Jama'a, who were soon to realize that the revivalval of Sunna and

destruction of Bid'a included the overthrow of the decadent Hausa

Sarauta system.

Of course Dan Fodio knew that the task he set out for in 1774

constituted a direct challenge to the security and continuity of the

existing order and will eventually culminate into a confrontation. But he

(13) M.M Tukur, Values and Public Affairs". P. 420 (14) Dan Fodio, though obviously the champion, was not alone in bringing about this intellectual revolution. His large team of students and scholars, among whom Abd Allah and Bello featured prominently, contributed a great deal, each according to his capacity.

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did not go out of his way to announce to the world his intent until after

he succeeded in eroding the cultural and socio-political basis of the

Hausa Jahilliya. The inevitable confrontation the Jama'a had with the

Sarauta system (the custodian of Hausa Jahiliyya) seems to have fitted

well in the scheme Dan Fodio envisaged. For as Dan Fodio was

opportuned to say on the eve of the confrontation:

"Before Islam is strong, Taqiyya (simulation Sic. Precautionary

dissimilation) is permissible. But now that it is strong there is no

excuse of cooperation and collaboration with syncretic state. The

community has reached a stage in its evolution when it could

come out to declare its objectives openly". (15)

In the heat of the confrontation (battles) that ensued between the

Jama'a and the Sarakunan Hausa, Dan Fodio and scholars within the

Jama'a (Abd Allah in particular) found time to spell out the details of

the blue print for the Islamic order they had planned to establish after

the jihad.(16) Soon after the victory in the battle fields, Dan Fodio and

his lieutenants dropped the swords and returned to the pen this time to

put finishing touches(17) to their blue print, address themselves to the

new problems arising from the revolution(18) and pave the way for the

realization of their goals and objectives.

Muhammad Ahmad, however, in line with the prevailing intellectual

climate under which he grew, concentrated his attention on his own

individual spiritual drill. It was this that acquired him prominent position

in the hierarchy of the Sufi order and attracted to him people in search

of Baraka. Of course in the course of his spiritual career, Muhammad

(15) Uthman b. Fudi, Masail al-Muhima, quoted in M.M Tukur and Public Affairs". P. 438 (16) See Dan Fodio's Bayan and Abd allah Diya al-Hukkam. (17) See Dan Fodio's Kitab al-Farq. (18) See Dan Fodio Kitab al-Farq.

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Ahmad seized opportunities to register his repugnance for the

oppressive colonial regime as well as the moral laxity in the society -

incidences which reflect Muhammad Ahmad's quest for change. It is

difficult however to say exactly how his conception of this change

developed, since unlike Dan Fodio he didn’t write.(19) What seems to be

certain is that, in the course of time he became overwhelmed by the

popular belief in the expected Mahdi and conceived his charge in that

framework. For as he said he was himself "waiting for the appearance

of the Mahdi to be one of his followers".(20)

The expected Mahdi however turned out to be Muhammad Ahmad

himself. Form his contacts and consultations during the three months

secret phase and his proclamations at the public manifestation,

Mahdi's strategy was clearly to first overthrow the Turco-Egyptian

regime (and its like in the Muslim world) and restore the Islamic state

and society through legislation. Thus the Mahdi declared war against

the existing order simultaneously with his manifestation. This is evident

for the Mahdi's report of the scene of his appointment (Hadara) where

he was told that war is the first of the six characteristics of the

Mahdiyya and given a "sword of victory". (21)

Thus while Dan Fodio conceived of his task as Tajdid and spent a

greater part of his time raising his societies level of Islamic knowledge

and consciousness, to see the necessity for an Islamic order, the

Mahdi conceived of his task in the frame of Mahdiyya. His (Mahdi's)

immediate priority was the overthrow of the colonial regime. He did not

seem to have paid much (if any) attention on resisting his society's

(19) Until his manifestation as the Mahdi, Muhammd Ahmad was not known to have authored any work. After manifestation of course he issued proclamations and letters (manshurat) in addition to ratib and perhaps majalis. Dan Fodio on the other hand authored about 115 works, many of which were before outbreak of the Jihad. (20) M.I Abu Salim (ed.) Manshurat p. 25

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level of Islamic knowledge and consciousness(22) or developing a clear

vision of the post-revolutionary society let alone a blue print.

Conception, like perception, is a product of the individual's mental

make up. The difference in their conception and strategy may have

therefore arisen from differences in their mental make-ups, which in

turn is a product of their respective backgrounds. Indeed the

intellectual and socio-political climate under which the two leaders

developed their thoughts and ideas were different.

The intellectual tradition in Hausaland, like Timbuktu, was based on the

study of the classical literature - Tafsir, Hadith, Figh and course Arabic,

the language of scholarship. It is the mastery of the classical literature

that confers one a position of respect, as a scholar, in the society. Dan

Fodio naturally took to this path.

In Muhammad Ahmad's Sudan, however, the intellectual tradition

appeared to have been based on Sufi literature, which at that time was

saturated with the stories of Barakat and Karamat (miracles) of the

earlier great Shayks and saints. Spiritual drills seemed to have been

the most effective way of approaching the position of the great Shayks

and saints and acquiring the abilities of giving Baraka and performing

Karama. Muhammad Ahmad, as has been discussed, took to this path

and even succeeded in reaching a position where he could give

Baraka.

The idea of waiting for, or even the coming of the expected Mahdi, who

will score a miraculous victory, is clearly more palatable to the

(22) The Mahdi, it should be recalled, was reported to have undertaken preaching tours especially after he reached the autonomous rank of Khalifa to his first Sufi Shaykh. But it is difficult to say if this is directed at raising the level of his society's knowledge of Islam as very little if anything seems to be known of the content of such preachings.

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intellectual tradition of Muhammad Ahmad's Sudan than that of Dan

Fodio's Hausaland. Given the circumstances, it will not be

unreasonable to expect Muhammad Ahmad to be more disposed to

conceiving change through Mahdiyya than through ordinary un-

miraculous methods like Tajdid. The mental propensity of Muhammad

Ahmad to the idea of Mahdiyya was to be reinforced by the fact that his

Sudan was charged with Mahdist expectation. Of course the belief in a

Mahdi had spread all over the Muslim world, including Hausaland, but

the seemingly unending tyranny of the Turco-Egyptian regime and Dan

Fodio's prophesy potentiated the belief in the Sudan. (23)

Perhaps a more plausible explanation for this difference in conception

and strategy of revolution is to be found in the difference in the

stimulations for change. In Dan Fodio's Hausaland the stimulations for

change came from internal stagnation of the Muslim society -

ignorance, superstition, syncretism etc. which the Sarakuna as well the

venal Ulama had been exploiting. So his focus was on the society at

large and the confrontation with the Hausa establishment came only

after the society had reached a level of understanding and

consciousness that it demanded the establishment of an Islamic order.

In the case of Muhammad Ahmad's Sudan, the stimulation for change

came from the external aggression of the Turco-Egyptian regime.

Hence Muhammad Ahmad in his drive for change focused his attention

on the "infidel" colonial government which, he must have believed,

once removed will pave the way for an Islamic order. The confrontation

with the government therefore became both the first and the last step

in the realization of the goals of Mahdiyya in Sudan.

(23) In the heat of the Jihad in Hausaland, when the Jama'a were scoring victories, some people took Dan Fodio to be expected Mahdi - appoint which he immediately repudiated. This eems to be a popular Muslim reaction to such crisis situation rather than an indication of Hausaland's pronness to Mahdiayya.

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5.2.2 Nature and Style of Leadership(24) Though both Dan Fodio and the Mahdi geared their movements

towards basically the same goals and both had the prophet as their

model and Qur'an and Sunna as their frame of reference, the type of

leadership each gave his movement was distinctly different.

From the onset of his mission, Dan Fodio saw and distinguished

himself as a scholar with a message to his decaying society. His first

and immediate adherents were the students and scholars who came to

partake in the Da'awa and the propagation of Dan Fodio's teachings to

the people at large. It is these teachings that appealed to the mass of

the people that eventually came to constitute the Jama'a. By the time

the Jama'a emerged as a distinct community with its grass-root

network, Dan Fodio found himself leading a movement that had been

motivated by his own teachings, centered around it (teachings) and

yearning for its realization. The leadership that the Jama’a implicitly

conferred on Dan Fodio was one which his knowledge and teachings

earned him.

Following the Jama' a’s Hijra to Gudu and just before the outbreak of

the Jihad, the movement found itself requiring a kind of leadership

befitting the kind of phase of struggle they were moving into. Their Dan

Fodio, despite the obvious leadership position he had been occupying,

refused to assume the Imamship of the Jama'a until after he had been

formally and legally elected in a manner stipulated by the Sharia. Even

as the Imam of the Jama'a, his powers were defined by the Sharia, and

was duty bound to consult the Jama'a to whom he was also (24) Leadersship here is thought of in terms of exsiting patterns in Muslim history, for this is more useful to the study than the popularized "charismatic", traditional and beraucratic (rationo-legal) leadership

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answerable. Thus the leadership Dan Fodio gave to his movement can

be linked to that of Khalifa Rashida in its Nature as well as style. By

helping, nudging and sometimes even challenging Dan Fodio’s

opinions, Abd Allah, Bello and perhaps other scholars, were affirming

this and further expressing the fact that the Imam is like any one of

them who could make mistake and could be questioned.

In the cause of Mahdiyya, a different type of leadership obtained. Even

before Muhammad Ahmad declared his Mahdiship, popular belief had

already surrounded the office of the Mahdi with an air of supernatural

powers. The Mahdi according to popular belief was to be divinely

appointed and inspired to take the automatic and unquestionable

leadership of the faithful and lead them to a predestined victory.

Believing in him and following him when he was made manifest

became a mark of faith.

All Muhammad Ahmad needed to do was to convince his people that

he was the true Mahdi and he would be conferred with the kind of

position popular belief deemed of the Mahdi. Those who became

convinced of Muhammad Ahmad's assertion and eventually constituted

the Ansar came to rally not around a message but around the very

person of the Mahdi. Since he was divinely appointed and inspired, he

was neither answerable to them (Ansar) nor was he duty bound to

consult them. Theirs was to simply follow a leadership whose powers

were neither clearly defined nor restricted by the Shari'a. The

leadership the Mahdi gave or found himself giving to his movement can

therefore be likened to that of Imam al-ma'asum(25) of the Shi’a in that

he had access to divine inspiration which made him independent of the (25) In Shi'a thoughts, the Imam al- ma'asum is divinely appointed and inspired. IT was an obligation on the believer to identify and follow th eImam (without question). But recent events in Iran are indicating a departure from this centuries old position. By a departure from this centuries old position. By allowing an elected scholar to deputise for the Imam and introducing Shura I nthe decision making machinery,

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normal requirements and limits of leadership. By believing that the

Mahdi is al-Insan al Kamil(26) (the perfect/complete man) some of, if not

all the Ansar were expressing the unquestionable nature of Mahdi's

leadership.

The Mahdi it should be recalled did not consult his deputies especially

on military matters. But the fact that he had access to divine inspiration

(through visions), which overrides all other opinions, undermines the

efficacy of the shura institutions and underscores the fact that he (the

Mahdi) was not duty bound to always consult his deputies.

The difference in the nature and style of leadership was reflected not

only during the lifetime of the two leaders but also, and perhaps more

consequential to the movements, after their death. The death of Dan

Fodio though definitely sorrowful to the Jama'a did not disrupt or inhibit

the movement’s march towards the realization of its goals. In fact it

was under Dan Fodio's successor and Son Muhammad Bello that the

greater part of the goals of the revolution were realized. The death of

the Mahdi however seemed to have greatly affected the movement's

march towards the realization of its goals. This was apparently

because the point around which the Ansar rallied and on which they

pinned all their hopes was no longer there and Abd Allah who

succeeded him was no substitute for a Mahdi. Indeed Abd Allah did his

best. But the constant internal threats to his (Abd Allah) rule which

constrained his ability to achieve much is a sad reminder of the

vacuum the Mahdi left unfilled.

Perhaps this difference in the nature and style of leadership of the two

leaders is a product of their difference in conception and strategy for

revolution, as well as the circumstance each found himself in. Dan (26) See Shaked, The Life of the Sudanese Mahdi, p. 59

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Fodio was conceived his work as Tajdid, endeavoured to achieve his

goals through teaching and writing. As he had no predestined victory,

he could fail and he could succeed. He therefore needed as many

hands as he could lay his hand on; students and scholars to

disseminate his ideas and a revolutionary crowd to give his cause

sufficient defensive and striking powers in the event of any

confrontation. The nature of the task, the ordinariness of the leadership

and the spirit of scholarship that came to pervade the Jama'a made

consultative and answerable leadership a necessity.

Muhammad Ahmad on the other hand was convinced of his

appointment as the expected Mahdi whose supernatural powers and

unquestionable leadership had already been decided and publicized by

popular belief. Just as he had to forward credentials to prove his claim

of being the Mahdi so he had to take the supernatural posture in his

leadership to conform to what popular belief expected of him. This

however is not to say that the Mahdi gave the kind of leadership he did

only to prove that he was the true Mahdi. The Mahdi it should be

recalled was himself part and parcel of that popular belief.

5.2.3 Consolidation and Goal Realization

Following the successful overthrow of the status quo in both Hausa

land and Egyptian Sudan, both movements strove to consolidate their

power and realize their goals - creating an Islamic state and society.

The depth and thoroughness with which the two movements carried

out this programme showed a remarkable difference.

In the Sokoto Caliphate, the administrative structure was immediately

and radically changed from the Sarauta system to the Amara (emirate)

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system, (27) which reflected the political values and philosophy of the

Islamic state.(28) The changes in the administrative structure were

accommodated by a simultaneous change in the institutions. The

institutions of consultation Ahl hal wa 'l Aqd, the vizarate, the police,

the judiciary, the Bait al-mal began to take shape. The educational

institutions were developed and geared towards the inculcation and

preservation of the prevailing Islamic values as outlined by the

revolutionary leadership.

Of course this was not a hitch-free operation. The great and sometimes

hot debate, dominated by Dan Fodio and his brother Abd Allah, soon

after the procurement of the caliphate reflected some of the problems

faced. But the debate rather than constrain the goal realization, only

helped to further clarify the issues involved and to enrich the

intellectual contribution of the revolution. It was after the death of Dan

Fodio and under Muhammad Bello that the greater part of the blue

print gained practical application. The socio-economic and political

institution in particular took a deeper root in the society. Agriculture,

technology, urbanization and commerce boosted under the judicious

and discreet leadership of Muhammad Bello.(29) Though Bello's era

seems to represent a zenith after which things were never as good, the

state continued to cherish most of its values and hold its domains until

it fell prey to British imperialism in 1903.

(27) For details of this transformation see T.B Usman, "The Transformation of Katsina: C. 1796-1903 unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. (28) For the values and philosophy of the Sokoto Caliphate, see M.M Tukur "Values and Public Affiars", 1977 (29) See A. Smith, "The contemporary significance of the Academic ideals of the Sokoto Jihad" in Y.B Usman (ed.) Th eSokoto Caliphate, p. 247 "…Bello busied himself with such matters as public health and community development, the encouragement of agriculture and manufacturing and the development of communications …. Urbanization….". See also M. Last, The Sokoto Caliphate.

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In the Mahdist Sudan however neither the structure nor the institutions

of the old order appear to have undergone any fundamental change,(30)

despite the Mahdi's vehement abhorrence of the Turco-Egyptian order.

Even when the supremacy of the Sharia was restored, the intellectual,

socio-economic and political institutions did not appear to have

undergone sufficient changes to give the Sharia the congenial

environment in which it was designed to operate. The application of the

Sharia was thus accompanied with undue harshness and sometimes

obscurantism. All these seem to have been in spite of Mahdi's sincere

efforts.

The death of the Mahdi only six months after the fall of Khartoum put

his successor Khalifa Abd Allah in a different situation. The threat to

Abd Allah's authority took so much of his time and energy that little was

left for goal realization. This plus the natural disasters - drought,

famine, epidemic - that afflicted the state made it more difficult for Abd

Allah to pursue the realization of Mahdiyya's goals effectively. It is to

the credit of Abd Allah that he even attempted to realise the goals both

internally and externally in the thirteen "13" hard years he was able to

hold intact the Mahdist Sudan.

Thus the extent of goal realization in post-revolutionary Sokoto

Caliphate contrasted with the relatively frustrated situation in the

Mahdist Sudan. True, the Mahdist State, unlike the Sokoto Caliphate,

lost its Mahdi rather too early and his death was followed by internal

disquiet and natural disasters, but even before these no doubt

formidable constraints, the Mahdiyya appeared to lack a clear vision of

its post-revolutionary society and a blue print of the Islamic order they

fought to establish. The strategy of the Jama'a prompted them to

develop a clear vision of their post revolutionary society and a (30) See P.M Holt, The Mahdist State, p. 253.

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corresponding blue print in the course of their arduous march towards

victory - something which the strategy and circumstances of the

Mahdiyya did not particularly favour. Furthermore the leadership Dan

Fodio gave to the Jama'a is a type that could be replaced easily. But

the leadership the Mahdi gave the Ansar, though perhaps more

efficient than that of Dan Fodio, was not one that could be replaced

except of course by another Mahdi and if Muhammad Ahmad was the

true Mahdi then never again should there be one.

5.3 Achievements

5.3.1 Answering the Call of Allah

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the two movements is answering

the call of their Lord, whose mercy they all hoped for, that: "Let there

arise among you a community (Umma) inviting to goodness, and

enjoining right conduct (ma'aruf) and forbidding indecency (munkar).

Such are they who are successful"(31) This call of al-Amr bi 'l ma'aruf

wa 'L-Nahy 'an 'L-Munkar is of course directed to all Muslims, of all

times, of all places. Answering the call starts by a clear statement of

what is right and what is wrong. This is followed by a pertinent and

judicious call for its implementation in society. If and when this call is

physically threatened, the caller (umma) is to use all means at its

disposal, including force, not only toward-off the threat but also to

secure an environment (a state) where this call can continue

unhindered. The Jihads the movements fought were clearly to secure

the environment (State) where the enjoining of right conduct and the

forbidding of indecency could be practiced unthreatened.

(31) Qur'an 3:104

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The achievement of the movements becomes more spectacular when

it is recalled that they answered this call under the most ruthless and

tyrannical regimes. Dan Fodio started his call and gathered a good

number of following when his state Gobir was under Bawa Jan

Gwarzo, apparently the most ruthless of the Sarakuna Hausaland had

ever had. (32) Similarly when the Mahdi rose to secure his Islamic state,

the Sudan was under a tyrannical regime that had ruled ruthlessly for

over half a century. Neither Dan Fodio nor the Mahdi nor any of their

following had such a body as United Nation to lodge their complaints to

nor did they have such "good Samaritans" as the Amnesty

International to make noise when human rights was violated.

5.3.2 Overthrowing the Status Quo

Considering the material and physical handicap of the two movements

and the difficult circumstances under which they had to carry out their

missions and not the least the military might of the powers they had to

confront, it was no small achievement that they were able to defeat and

overthrow the status quo. Even the mobilization of people within the

vast areas of Hausaland and Sudan, considering their level of

technology - transport and communication especially - was no doubt a

great achievement.

The members of the Jama'a that managed to reach Gudu amidst

harassment and organized ambush were not only small in number but

impoverished in resources. It was not until fifteen "15" months later

were they able to secure a base for themselves. Even after securing a

base, their military position remained precarious compared to their

enemies. (32) According to Hausa oral tradition "during the reign of Bawa Jan Gwarzo even a cock dares not crow! This only reflected the tyranny and ruthlessness which characterized Bawa's rule. Yet it was under these same conditions that Dan Fodio started his "subversive" mission.

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Similarly the Ansar started at Aba Island as a small group armed with

only clubs, spears and swords. Though their number increased in the

course of their Hijra, it is with these poor weapons they faced and

defeated series of government offensive made up of regular combat

troops and up to date fire arms. Even when the Ansar set out of Qadir

in their first leg of offensive against the Turco-Egyptian government,

their military position was too poor to suggest victory.

To both the Jama'a and the Ansar, their spectacular victory in the

battlefields came not so much from their weapons or good planning as

from Him in whose cause they fought - Allah Most High. It was this

victory that enabled them to check the excesses of munkar, which the

status quo had been championing, and to procure a state where

ma'aruf can be established. Even if the establishment of ma'aruf had

been inadequate, the fact that they challenged and overthrow the

forces of munkar remains a major achievement.

5.3.3 Establishment of Islamic State

That both movements strove to establish a state where the supremacy

and totality of the Shari'a and the practice of al-Amr bi 'L-Ma'aruf wa 'L-

Nahy ' an 'L Munkar became a prime state responsibility is remarkable

achievement. By this they sought to give their societies the peace,

justice, equity and direction which their Jahilliya could not give them.

Even where the state suffered set backs, the leadership at least

succeeded in raising the moral tone of their societies and giving their

people a purposeful leadership. The leadership's sense of mission,

rectitude and simple and austere life remain to be a source of

inspiration to the heirs of these movements.

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In Hausaland where it lasted a whole century, it came as a solution to

centuries old socio-political crisis in the region and continued to this

day to give the Northern States of Nigeria its administrative structure,

unrivalled land tenure system and perhaps more important its high

moral values. (33) The Mahdiyya, by creating a state, turned out to be

the most successful Mahdist movement in history. Though it didn't last

long, the Mahdist state in the Sudan succeeded in postponing British

imperialism for nearly two decades. Even after the so-called "recon-

quest" and the entrenchment of Anglo-Egyptian imperialism, the

persecuted Ansar continued to harass the imperialists for nearly three

decades.(34)

5.3.4 Socio-Cultural Integration By bringing together people from different tribes, regions and countries

under one umbrella sharing the same aspirations and fighting for the

same cause, both movements succeeded in achieving a massive

socio-cultural integration. Of course the major integrating force is the

belief in Islam, which establishes the equality of all men and women

irrespective of their tribe, region, country or colour.(35) The faithful that

assembled in the camps of these movements found in Islam a

brotherhood which united them together with a bond stronger than that

of blood and kinship.

(33) In contemporary Nigeria the highest security to Life and property is to be found in the northern states. Its very low crime figure (compared to the south-east and west of Nigeria) is but a reflection of the high moral values Dan Fodio's Jihad gave to the region. It is in the restoration of such values and not in modernizing the police that hope for security lies. (34) A.I Hassan, "Mahdist Rising Against the Condominium Government in the sudan 1900-1927" I.J.A.H.S, 12 3 (1979), p. 440

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Though ethnic feelings may have featured at certain times and

circumstances, at no time did these question the equality and

brotherhood of all believers. The massive socio-cultural integration

achieved by these two movements is what makes the job of the

contemporary nation states of Nigeria and Sudan a lot easier than it

would have otherwise been. By subverting Islamic influence, the nation

states are not only biting the finger that fed them but they are, perhaps

unknowingly, undermining the very basis of their own integrity. It is to

be hoped that contemporary Nigeria and Sudan and indeed similar

nation states soon realize that the much talked about integration

comes about not through propaganda and legislation but through such

deeply rooted unifying force as Islam provides.

CONCLUSION

The delineation of the background of the two movements reveals the

peaceful manner in which Islam spread into Hausaland and the Nilotic

Sudan in the course of many centuries. This Islamisation process was

characterized by the boosting of learning and commerce, the

integration of communities and the rise of states of various

complexities.

Both movements emerged at crucial points in time when the

supremacy of Islam and its culture were at stake. The restoration of the

supremacy of Islam and the establishment of its order were the rallying

cries of the two movements. The universality as well as the

comprehensiveness of Islam were vividly reflected in both movements.

Neither was Dan Fodio's movement a "Fulani Jihad" nor was the (35) "O mankind! Lo! W e have created you male and female and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know each another. Lo! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is knower, Aware". Qur’an 49:13.

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Mahdiyya a "Rebellion" and none of them represented a "national"

feeling.

Comparison showed that both Dan Fodio's movement and the

Mahdiyya had basically the same goals and objectives - the restoration

of the Islamic order. In their struggle to achieve their goals and

objectives, both had the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as their model

and the Qur'an and Sunna as their frame of reference. They however

differed in the conception and strategy of revolution. While Dan Fodio

conceived of his task as tajdid and took the pain and patience to bring

about an intellectual revolution before confrontation, Muhammad

Ahmad declared his Mahdiship in a manner, which brought him into

immediate confrontation with the establishment. As the conception and

strategy differed so did the nature and style of leadership of the two

movements. The extent and thoroughness of the realization of the

movement's goals also showed a remarkable difference. While the

Jama'a realized a substantial part of their blue-print in the Sokoto

Caliphate, the Ansar in the Mahdist Sudan appeared to have been

largely frustrated by the chain of events, the early death of the Mahdi,

the natural disasters as well as the absence of clear vision and blue

print for the post-revolutionary society. Generally the differences

appear to be as much the product of the different temperaments of the

two leaders as of the different circumstances each found himself in.

Taking into consideration their level of technology and peculiar

circumstances, both movements accomplished remarkable success,

their setbacks not withstanding. By setting out to change their societies

when no one else dared to, by overthrowing their oppressors and

instituting a state in which they strove to give their society the justice

and equity they were denied, the movements made noble

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achievements, which continue to be a source of inspiration to their

present day heirs.

APPENDIX I THE WATHIQAT AHL AL-SUDAN: A MANIFESTO OF THE FULANI JIHAD Translation In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. May God bless

our Master Muhammad, with his family and his companions, and

welcome (them) with greetings.

Praise be to God Who has bestowed upon us His dispensation of

Islam, and guided us by our lord and master Muhammad, on whom

from God the Exalted be most gracious blessings and noble salutation.

After which, this is a dispatch from Ibn Fudi, the commander of the

Faithful, Uthman to all the folk of the Sudan, and to whom so God wills

of the brethren in the (Hausa) state; it is a dispatch advantageous in

the present times. Thus speak, I, and success comes of God.

Know then, my Brethren:

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(i) That the commanding of righteousness is obligatory by assent

(literally "according to the ijma”)(1)

(ii) And that the prohibition of evil is obligatory by assent;

(iii) And that flight (al-Hijra from the land of the heathen is obligatory

by assent;

(iv) And that the befriending of the Faithful is obligatory by assent;

(v) And that the appointment of Commander of the Faithful is

obligatory by assent.

(vi) And that obedience to him and to all his deputies is obligatory by

assent;

(vii) And that the waging of Holy war (al-Jihad) is obligatory by

assent;

(viii) And that the appointment of emirs in the states is obligatory by

assent;

(ix) And that the appointment of Judges is obligatory by assent;

(x) And that their enforcement of the divine laws (ahkam al-Shar) is

obligatory by assent;

(1) The Muslim legal concept of ijma may be defined as the unanimous agreement of those qualified in the law. It forms one of the sources of Muslim legislation.

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(xi) And that by assent the status of a town is the status of its ruler; if

he be Muslim, the town belongs to Islam, but if he be heathen

the town is a town of heathendom from which flight is obligatory;

(xii) And that to make war upon the heathen king who will not say

"there is no God but Allah” is obligatory by assent, and that to

take the government from him is obligatory by assent;

(xiii) And that to make war upon the heathen king who does not say

"there is no God but Allah” on account of the custom of his town

(bi-sababi urfi’l-baladi), and who makes no profession of Islam, is

(also) obligatory by assent, and that to take the government from

him is obligatory by assent;

(xiv) And that to make war upon the king who is an apostle (al-malik

al-murtaddu), and who has abandoned the religion of Islam for

the religion of heathendom is obligatory by assent, and that to

take the government from him is obligatory by assent;

(xv) And that to make war against the king who is an apostate - who

has not abandoned the religion of Islam as far as the profession

of it is concerned, but who mingles the observances of Islam

with the observances of heathendom, like the kings of

Hausaland for the most part - is (also) obligatory by assent, and

that to take the government from him is obligatory by assent;

(xvi) And that to make war upon backsliding Muslims (al-muhammalin

min al-muslimin) who do not own allegiance to any of the emirs

of the faithful is obligatory by assent, if they be summoned to

give allegiance and thay refuse, until they enter into allegiance;

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(xvii) And that the anathematizing of Muslims on a pretext of heretical

observance is unlawful by assent;

(xviii) And that the anathematizing of Muslims for disobedience (takfir

al-muslimin bi l-mu'asi) is unlawful by assent;

(xix) And that residence in enemy territory (fi bilad al-harb) is unlawful

by assent;

(xx) And that refusal to give allegiances to the Commander of the

Faithful and to his deputies is unlawful by assent;

(xxi) And that to make war upon the Muslims who are residing in

Muslim territory is unlawful by assent, and wrongfully to devour

their property is unlawful by assent;

(xxii) And that to enslave the freeborn amongst the Muslims is

unlawful by assent, whether they reside in the territory of Islam,

or in enemy territory;

(xxiii) And that to make war upon the heathen to whom peace has

been granted (al-Kuffar ahl al-aman) is unlawful by assent;

wrongfully to devour their property is unlawful by assent, and to

enslave them is unlawful by assent.

(xxiv) And that to make war upon the congregation of the apostates

(juma 'at -murtaddin) is obligatory by assent, and that their

property is booty (fai'un), and that in the matter of their

enslavement there are two opinions, the widespread one being

its prohibition, and the other that the perpetrator of this act does

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not disobey (the law) if he is following an authority which asserts

its lawfulness;

(xxv) And that to make war on the congregation of the warmongers

(juma'at al-muharibin) is obligatory by assent, and that their

property is booty, and that their enslavement is unlawful by

assent;

(xxvi) And that to make war upon the oppressors (al-bughat) is

obligatory by assent, and that wrongfully to devour their property

is unlawful by assent, for use is made of their armour against

them. And afterwards it is returned to them;(2) and their

enslavement is unlawful by assent;

(xxvii) And that in the matter of the property of Muslims who reside in

enemy territory there are two opinions, the sound one being that

(its seizure) is permitted.

Here concludes the dispatch to the folk of the Sudan and to whom so

Allah wills amongst the brethren; with praise to the Bountiful

King,(3) and in prayer and salutation for the purified one(4) of the

offspring of Adnan, and for his family and his companions, and

all men of true religion. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

(2) The words have the appearance of a question, but the source has not been traced. (3) i.e God. (4) i.e The Prophet Muhammad.

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APPENDIX II

MANIFESTO OF THE MAHDI TO THE INHABITANTS OF KHARTOUM

In the year 1300 In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate. Praise be to

God, the bountiful Ruler, and blessing on our Lord Mohammed and his

successors, with peace.

From the servant of his Lord, Mohammad the Mahdi, son of the

Sayyed Abdallah, to his beloved in God the believers in God, and His

Book (the Qur'an).

The changes (disturbances) of the times are not hidden from you, nor

the forsaking of the Sunna, and he who has the (true) faith and

understanding will not be pleased thereof, but will leave all he needs

and his native place (house and home) in defense of religion and

Sunna; and therefore jealousy for Islam will not delay to posses in full

strength (the heart of) the believers.

Now, O my beloved! As to what the Most High God, to whom be

praise, has willed in His eternity and in his decrees to grant to his

servant, the humble and lowly, in (bestowing on him) the great

Caliphate: -

The eminent lord (Mohammad), on whom be blessing and peace,

several times informed me that I am the Mahdi the expected one, and

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(appointed) me (as) successor(1) to himself, on whom be blessing and

peace, to sit on the throne, and (as successors) to their excellencies

the four Khalifs and Princes(2) (of the Faith), and El Khudr, (3) on whom

be peace: And God gave as my helpers, the angels (who are), the

Cherubim and the saints from Adam to this our day, and also the

believing Jinns(4) and in the hour of battle the eminent Lord, the

bountiful one, on whom be blessing and peace, will in person go with

them before my hosts. As also the four Khalifs and the Princes (of the

faith), and El Khudr, on whom be peace.

And he gave me the sword of victory of His Excellency (Mohammad)

on whom be blessing and peace; and it was made known to me that

none of either race, human or jinn, can conquer him who has it.

Then said he on whom be blessing and peace, "God has given to thee

a sign that thou art the Mahdi". Which (sign) is the mole on my right

cheek; and he likewise gave to me another sign (namely that) there

should go forth before me in the hour of battle a banner of light, borne

by Azrail,(5) on whom be peace, that by it God should convince my

friends, and terror should fall upon the hearts of my enemies, and (that

God will destroy whoever should encounter me in hostility).

Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said to me: "Thou are

created out of the effulgence of my innermost heart," and he to whom

happiness (is granted) will believe I am the Mahdi, the expected one.

But God has put hypocrisy (wickedness) into the heart of those who

(1) The Word here used is the one from which Khalif is derived. (2) This word primarily means the pole or axis of the universe, etc (3) The saint who is supposed to be immortal, and to have appeared fisrt as Elijah and afterwards as St. George. (4) The Mohammedans divide the jinns (or demons) into believers in Mohammad and unbelievers. (5) The Angel of Death.

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love vain pomp, and they will not believe being greedy of their vain

pomps.

Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said: Love of wealth and

pomp cause hypocrisy to spring up in the heart as water causes the

herb to spring up; and it is found in the Athar (traditional sayings about

Mohammed): if you see worldings loving this world, charge them with

it. And it is found in some of the ancient books (saying): Do not ask of

me a world intoxicated with love of earthly things, for it will close

against thee the way of my love. And these (are they who like

brigands) stop the way of (true) service (of God.).

And when there came to me, O my beloved, from God and his prophet

the decree of the great Khalifate, He ordered me (to take my) Hegira(6)

(flight) to Jebel Kadeer close by Masat, and he commanded me to

write thence to all entrusted with public offices. I wrote thus to the

Emirs and Sheikhs of religion, and the wicked denied (my mission), but

the righteous believed; even those who do not mind any hardship they

may encounter for God, nor what they fail to attain of their dearest

wishes; but steadfastly regard the promises of the most High God, to

whom be praise, in which He said that He will reserve that other world

for those who do not desire exaltation in this world, nor (its)

corruptions. Now since it is for God to decree, and since He was willed

to bestow the office of Mahdi upon his humble and insignificant servant

Mohammad the Mahdi, the son of the Sayyed Abdallah, it behoves us

to submit to the will of God; and seeing that it is unanimously agreed

by the present and past generations to attribute supreme knowledge to

God, and as his knowledge, to whom be praise, is not limited by control

of rules nor by the knowledge of the malevolent, and since God will blot

out (abrogate) or establish what He wills, and since He is the source of (6) This Hegira is a evident imitation of flight of Mohammad.

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the Book (the Koran). of which none can understand anything save

what he wills, and since with him is the key of the unknown (future), -

none knows but He , nor is He to be questioned as to what He does, -

He creates what He will, He chooses and bestows His mercy on whom

He will. Sheikh Mohi ed Deen Ibn el Arabi especially says in his

commentary on the Glorious Koran that knowledge of the Mahdi is like

knowledge of the hour (of resurrection), and that hour none knoweth

but God most high. And Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Edrees said, fourteen

generations of the generations of the people of God have denied the

(coming of the) Mahdi. Then he said: he will come forth from a place

that they do not know and in a condition, which they will disown.

If it is not hidden from your knowledge that the writings about the

(coming of the) Mahdi are among others the Athar and the Keshef el

Hlema and others: and the conclusion of them all (is), and I understand

from them, that God will blot out (abrogate) what passages he will, and

some of these are the Hadiths (traditional sayings), and among them

Ed Dha'eef and El Maktooa' and El Mansookh and El Mowdhooa.' The

Hadith Ed Dha'eef is superseded by the Hadith El Saheehh word for

word. The Ayat also are replaced by other ayat.(7)And the truth as to

this is not known save to people of deep thought and insight.

Further, this is what the eminent Lord (Mohammad) on whom be

blessing and peace, said to me, "He who doubts that thou art the

Mahdi has blasphemed God and His Prophet." This he, blessing and

peace be upon him. Declared to me thrice.

All that I have told you about my succession to the office of Mahdi was

told to me by the eminent Lord (Mohammad), on whom be blessing (7) Verses; usually applied to verses of the Koran.

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and peace, when I was awake and in perfect health, free from all

transgressions of the law, not in sleep nor in (a state of) hallucination,

or drunkenness or madness, but accounted to be of sound mind,

following the tradition of the prophet, on whom be blessing and peace,

in ordering what he ordered and forbidding what he forbade.

And my Hegira (flight) to the aforesaid places was necessary,

according to the Book (the Koran) and to the Sunnas. The Most High

God has said, "Those who have had to flee (make a Hijra) for the sake

of God after having been persecuted; He will give them good things in

this world, and the reward in the next will be greater. And He, on whom

is blessing and peace, said, "one who has fled from land to land, even

though it be but a handbreadth of land, has deserved Paradise, and

has become (in so doing), a partner with (8) Abraham, the friend of God

and of Muhammad, on whom be blessing and peace".

Thus also in other passages of the Hadiths. And the duty of listening to

God and his prophet is binding. The most High God has said, Follow

the way of those who are sincere to me".

If you have understood this, we order all the chosen ones to flee (make

their Hijira) unto us for the Jihad (holy war) in the cause of God, to the

nearest town, because God Most High has said, "Slay the infidels who

are nearest to you". And he who holds back from this has come within

the threat uttered by the Most High. Say if your fathers, your sons, your

brethren, your wives, your tribes, the wealth you have gained, the

merchandise you are in fear of losing, or the dwellings you delight in

are dearer to you than God and His Prophet and the Jihad (holy war) in

(8) In as much as Abraham, the Friend of God was a pilgrim who left his land and his father's house by Divine command to escape the idolators.

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His cause, then wait till God shall come with His sentence (against

you). (so far) the Aya (verse).

The Most High has also said, "O you who have believed, why do you

cleave to the earth when called upon to fly (to the war) for God? Do

you love the life of this world better than that of the next? But the

possessions of this world will be less than nothing in the other world."

(9)

He has also said, "seek not to fly". He will torment you with eternal

torments, and will accept others in your place. Now, if you have

understood the foregoing, hasten to us, and fear none save God, for

fear of the creature shows lack of trust and confidence in God, from

which may God preserve (us).

The most high has said, "fear ye not man, but fear ye Me". And the

Most High has said, "Dread them not, but dread Me, if ye be believers".

The Most high has said, "God is worthy to be feared". And especially

because God has promised in his precious Book (the Koran) victory to

him who contends for the faith.

The most high has said, "If you fight for God, He will fight for you and

establish your goings".

And the Most high has said, "If you do not fight for him (the Mahdi) God

fighteth for him". Because you have known this, if you do not respond

to him who calls (in the name) of God and hasten to fight for the faith,

you must receive punishment from God, in as much as you are the

light of creation, its strength, and its head.

(9) This paragraph is thus repeated in the original.

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256

Whoever among you is anxious about his faith and zealous for the

command of his Lord will answer the call, and will join with those that

fight for the religion of God.

Be it known unto you that I am of the family of the prophet of God, on

whom be blessing and peace. My father is a Husni on his fathers side;

and his mother, and my mother likewise, on the side of both father and

mother (are) Abbassides, and God knows that I am of the blood of

Hussein, and these excellent indications will suffice for him who has

been touched by His grace and (by) the faith.

It will not be wonderful if some do see and do not believe it.

Fear God and join the righteous, and help one another in

righteousness, and in the fear of God and in the Jihad (holy war) in the

cause of God, and stand firm within the boundaries of God, for he who

transgresses those boundaries will injure himself.

Know that all things are in the hand of God. Leave all to Him and rely

on him. He who makes God his support has been guided into the

straight way.

Peace (be with you).

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Fuglestad, F. "A Reconsideration of Hausa history before the jihad

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UNPUBLISHED WORKS

Abu Sag, M.O "Precolonial Ideation in East and Central Bilad al-

Sudan"; A paper to the third international conference on the Central

Bilad al-Sudan, I.A.A.S . University of Khartoum, Sudan, November

1977.

Hassan, Y.F "The Fur Sultanate and the Long Distance Caravan Trade

1650-1850". A paper to the Third International Conference on the

Central bilad al-Sudan. I.A.A.S, University of Khartoum, Sudan,

November 1977.

Jah, O "Islamic History in the Western Sudan". A paper to the

international Islamic Seminar on Education, Bayero University Kano,

January 1977.

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Kani, M.A "Literary Activity in Hausaland in the Late Nineteenth

Century: with Special Reference to Shaykh Uthman b. Fudi, D. 1817";

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"The Rise and influence of Scholars in Hausaland before 1804", (n-d)

Al-Mahdi, S. "Mahdism in Islam". A paper to the International

Conference on Islam, Bayero University, Kano, April 1980.

Na-Dama, Garba, "The Rise and Collapse of Hausaland States: A

Social and Political History of Zamfara". Ph.D Thesis A.B.U, 1977

O'Fahey, R.S "Land and Privileges in Dar Fur". A paper to the third

International Conference on Central Bilad al-Sudan, I.A.A.S University

of Khartoum, Sudan November 1977.

Tukur, M.M. "Values and Public Affairs: The Relevance of Sokoto

Calipahte Experience to the Transformation of the Nigerian Polity"

Ph.D Thesis, A.B.U. 1977.

Usman Y.B "The Transformation of Katsina: The Overthrow of the

Sarauta system and the Establishement of the Emirate, C. 1796-1903,

Ph.D. Thesis, A.B.U., 1974.

Voll, J.O, "A History of Khatmiyya Tariqa in the Sudan". Ph.D Thesis,

Harvard University, 1969.

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