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Famous
Personalities of the Global Islamic Movement Throughout History
Shaihu Usman dan
Fodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو)
(also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio , Shehu
Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754 -
1817) was a writer and Islamic reformer. Dan Fodio was
one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the
Hausa city-states in what is today northern Nigeria.
Sheikh Uthman dan Fodio was a follower of the Maliki
School in law and the Qadiri order in Sufism (the Sufi
brotherhood that dates back to the 12th century). He
lived in the city-state of Gobir until 1802 when he
motivated by his reformist ideas led his Muslim
followers out of the state. He wrote around one hundred
books concerning his thoughts about religion,
government, culture and society. He was strongly
criticizing the Hausa ruling elite for their heavy
taxation and unacceptable violation of the Muslim Law.
He is considered an Islamic revivalist; he encouraged
the education of women in religious matters, and several
of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers.
Training
Dan Fodio was well-educated in classical Islamic
science, philosophy and theology and became a revered
religious thinker. His teacher, Jibril ibn 'Umar argued
that it was the duty and within the power of religious
movements to establish the ideal society free from
oppression and vice. His teacher was a North African
Muslim alim who gave his apprentice a broader
perspective of the Muslim reformist ideas in other parts
of the Muslim world. Dan Fodio used his influence to
secure approval to create a religious community in his
hometown of Degel that would, dan Fodio hoped, be a
model town.
Spreading Islam
However, in 1802, the ruler of Gobir and one of dan
Fodio's students, Yunfa turned against him, revoking
Degel's autonomy and attempting to assassinate dan Fodio.
Dan Fodio and his followers fled into the western
grasslands of Gudu where they turned for help to the
local Fulani nomads. When he moved to Gudu he was
proclaimed al-mu’minin (“commander of the faithful”) In
his book Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan
(“Concerning the Government of Our Country and
Neighboring Countries in the Sudan”) Usman writes: “The
government of a country is the government of its king
without question. If the king is a Muslim, his land is
Muslim; if he is an Unbeliever, his land is a land of
Unbelievers. In these circumstances it is obligatory for
anyone to leave it for another country”. In fact, Usman
did exactly this when he left Gobir in 1802. After that
Yunfa turned for aid to the other leaders of the Hausa
states, warning them that dan Fodio could trigger a
widespread Jihad. Eventually, he did and it was the
first major Jihad for the series of Jihads which were
surging during the 18th and 19th century across Sudan
and the neighboring states. It was called the Sokoto
Jihad and it took place in Hausaland.
Yunfa proved right and dan Fodio was proclaimed Amir al-Muminin
or Leader of the Faithful. This, in effect made him
political as well as religious leader, giving him the
authority to declare and pursue a Jihad, raising an army
and becoming its commander. A widespread uprising began
in Hausaland. This uprising was largely composed of the
Fulani, who held a powerful military advantage with
their cavalry. It was also widely supported by the Hausa
peasantry who felt over-taxed and oppressed by their
rulers. After only a few short years of the Fulani War,
dan Fodio found himself in command of the largest state
in Africa, the Fulani Empire. His son Muhammed Bello and
his brother Abdullahi were carrying out the Jihad and
were taking care of the administration. Dan Fodio worked
to establish an efficient government, one grounded in
Islamic law. After 1811, Usman retired and continued
writing about the righteous conduct of the Muslim
belief. After his death in 1817 his son, Muhammed Bello,
succeeded him as amir al-mu’minin or Sultan of Sokoto
and became the ruler of the SOkoto Caliphate which was
the biggest state south of the Sahara at that time.
Usman’s brother Abdullahi was given the title emir of
Gwandu and he was placed in charge of the Western
Emirates, Nupe and Ilorin. Thus, all Hausa states, parts
of Nupe, Ilorin and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and
Adamawa were all ruled by a single politico-religious
system. From the time of Usman dan Fodio there were
twelve caliphs, until the Birtish conquest at the
beginning of the twentieth century. Dan Fodio's uprising
inspired a number of later West African jihads,
including those of Massina Empire founder Seku Amadu,
Toucouleur Empire founder El Hadj Umar Tall (who married
one of dan Fodio's granddaughters), Wassoulou Empire
founder Samori Ture, and Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo
Adama.
The Sokoto Jihad
The Sokoto Jihad is one of the major jihads which swept
across the region of Sudan which resulted in the
emergence of a state (the Fulani Empire). Great number
of Fulani led by Usman dan Fodio, were unhappy that the
rulers of the Hausa states were mingling the Islam with
aspects of the traditional regional religion. After 20
years of writing, teaching and preaching, he finally
withdrew his people to Gudu in 1802 and after 2 years,
in 1804, he rose up and overthrew the unjust rulers. In
Islam Outside the Arab World, David Westerlung writes:
“The jihad resulted in a federal theocratic state, with
extensive autonomy for emirates, recognizing the
spiritual authority of the caliph or the sultan of
Sokoto.” That means that Usman achieved his goal to
raise the Muslim law above the power of the government
which is one of his main ideas in his written works.
Usman points out in his books many of the flaws and
demerits of the African non-Muslim or Nominal Muslim
rulers. Some of these are corruption on various levels
of the administration along with absurdity and injustice
regarding ordinary people’s rights. Usman is strongly
criticizing the heavy taxation and obstruction created
in the business and trade of the Hausa states by the law
system. One can assume he was fighting for common
equality according to the Muslim law which was
inexistent before 1804.
It is astonishing how the call for Jihad from Gudu
mnaged to spread throughout the whole county. The
communication was carried along trade routes and rivers
draining to the Niger-Benue valley, as well as the delta
and the lagoons. The call for Jihad did not only reach
other Hausa states such as Kano, Katsina and Zaria but
also Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, Nupe and Ilorin. These were
all places with major or minor groups of Fulani alims.
Nana Asma’u
One of the most prominent members of the caliphate was
Shehu Usman dan Fodio’s daughter. She was very devoted
to the education of the Muslim women and she was a
writer herself like her father. She witnessed many of
the Jihad wars and wrote about her experiences in her
books. Nana Asma’u was very well educated and well
versed in four languages (Arabic, Fulfulde, Hausa and
Tamachek) which gave her a widespread reputation of a
scholar and the opportunity to communicate with the
whole sub-Saharan African Muslim World. David Westerlund
wrote: “She continued to be a source of inspiration to
the present day.”
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