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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Friday, July 02, 2004.
The Caliphate is not a tool of domination —Idris
Alhaji Mohammed Bello Idris is one of the emerging ideologues of
the Sokoto Caliphate. A scholar in his own right, he is currently the
Director of the Waziri Junaid History and Culture Bureau, named after an
erudite scholar and historian, late Waziri Junaid. In an interview with
Ikechukwu Amaechi, Group Politics
Editor, in his Sokoto office, the affable scholar pours scorn on
the insinuation in certain quarters that the Caliphate in its 200 years
of existence is nothing other than an instrument of intimidation and
subjugation of others, even as he contends that the Sultanate lost some
of its awe as a result of the country’s colonial experience.
Excerpts:
History of the Caliphate
The history of the Caliphate and the Hausa land where
the Caliphate was established is very clear. A Caliphate is a Moslem
state governed by a Caliph who is the Sultan and that is when the Sultan
assumes both religious and political responsibilities of the state. At
the beginning of the 19th century, a scholar named Shehu Usman Dan Fodio
who lived in the state of Gobir together with members of his family and
members of his community found out that Hausa land was living in anarchy
and ignorance. The Hausa rulers were despotic rulers, the subjects were
being harassed and all sorts of evils in the society existed in those
days. And this scholar, named Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, was very much
worried about what was happening. Of course, as a Mallam, he was
preaching to his students and this did not go down well with the Hausa
rulers at that time. When he was 20 years old, he started his preaching.
As an erudite scholar, students from all over Hausa land and beyond used
to come to him at a place called Degel in the present Gwadabawal Council
of Sokoto State. They were very much worried about how the society was
being run. The talakawas (the masses) were living in ignorance; ill-ruled
by the Hausa rulers. So, there must be a change.
But this change came gradually because Shehu was not interested
in any land belonging to the Hausa and he was not interested in any
political position. He was not even interested in material wealth, but
rather he wanted to be allowed to preach. So the Hausa kingdom of
Gobirawa Shehu emerged at that time. But the Hausa leadership was worried
at the way people were joining him at his base in Degel, so, they decided
to turn him away from that land and that was what is regarded as the
Shehu’s Hajira. In the history of the Caliphate, Hajira means leaving
your hometown, migrating from that place to another place, which is safer
for you. So on February 19, 1804, Shehu made what is known as Hajira from
Degel to Gudu, on the frontiers of Kebbi and Gobir Kingdoms at the time.
The followers of Shehu who were later known as Shehu’s community
decided that they should have a leader. So under a certain tree called
Faru tree at Gudu, they chose Shehu Usman Dan Fodio as the leader of that
community.
Under that tree, the community pledged allegiance to Shehu. It
was Mallam Abdullahi, Shehu’s brother and his son, Mohammed Bello who
first pledged the allegiance and all the others pledged allegiance one
after the other.
So, from that time, Shehu was now considered as the leader of the
movement of the jihad that consequently produced what is known as Sokoto
Caliphate. Many people came from all over Hausa land when they heard
about Shehu to join him as his students and he will now give them a
symbol of authority in the form of a flag and they will now extend the
Caliphate to their areas. That is how the Sokoto Caliphate came into
being. The 18 flag bearers of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio were all over what is
now known as Northern Nigeria and some parts of Burkina Faso, Chad,
Northern Camerouns, etc. They all belong to this vast and diverse
political entity known as Sokoto Caliphate, which became the largest and
the most powerful political entity in West Africa.
It was so powerful that it swallowed all other areas bordering
Hausa land including Northern Cameroun, parts of Oyo Empire like Ilorin
which was part of the old Oyo Kingdom, the Nupe, etc. The Caliphate cuts
across ethno-regional background. The Tuaregs helped Shehu. The Hausa,
Fulani, Yoruba, Nupe and so on all helped Shehu.
But even among the Fulanis, some of them didn’t help Shehu in his
jihad. They were his kinsmen but they did not help him. So, that is what
made it not to be ethnic.
Legacy of Shehu’s Jihad and the Caliphate
Bringing all these people of diverse ethnic
nationalities under one Caliphate is considered to be the most important
legacy left behind by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio. The jihad itself was more
defensive than offensive.
Shehu in the process of defending his religion and his people who
were sent away form their homes and their lands, which were seized, had
no choice other than to fight. They were first attacked in the Gobir
kingdom where Shehu started his preaching. They were also attacked in a
place called Tafkin Kwato in the present Gudu local government council in
Sokoto State.
So, Shehu was defending his people, religion and his community and
in the process, from all over the country, people were coming to him,
joining his forces and expanding the Caliphate. But most importantly, the
jihad was intellectual. It wouldn’t have succeeded in any way if not
because of the intellectual contribution. They not only took up arms to
fight, they also extensively wrote on a number of subjects, on politics,
religion, sciences, etc. The original documents of the jihad scholars are
there for everyone to see.
Now, based on education and intellectualism, Shehu continued his
jihad, gave flags to his lieutenants and they went and established
authority in their areas. Currently, the descendants of those
flag-bearers are the emirs in those respective emirates where the flag-bearers
established the jihad.
Among the most important legacies of this Caliphate was the fact
that it made it imperative that people should be governed according to
the universal concept of justice. There should be no selfishness, people
should not mix the religion of Islam with other animist practices and to
the rulers of the Hausa, they should not be despotic, they should rule
people according to the laws of Islam. They should not overtax the
subjects, and the common man for the first time got educated. Another
important legacy left behind by the jihad scholars of Sokoto Caliphate is
the unity of the people. Before the jihad, Hausa land was living in
anarchy. There were wars everywhere but when the jihadists took over
administration of Sokoto Caliphate, everybody came under one single
political entity and that was how, when the British came, they colonised
the Caliphate but found it very easy to administer because they did what
was known as Indirect Rule through the Emirs. The administration, the courts,
the schools were well established. The economy of the Caliphate was well
entrenched. So, when the British came, they found it very easy to
colonise the Sokoto Caliphate. They even broke the Caliphate into smaller
political units known as Provinces of Northern Nigeria and that was what
later became the government of the Northern Region.
Till date, a man from Kano is a brother to the man from Sokoto
and their former ethnic backgrounds no longer matter. They belong to the
same Caliphate, the same political entity.
Relationship between the Sokoto Caliphate and
the Diaspora
Inter-marriages, visits and diplomacy take place
between the Sultan, for example, and his brothers in Cameroun, Niger,
Chad, etc. The Ardo in Northern Cameroun till date considers the Sultan
of Sokoto as his spiritual leader. These divisions or boundaries were
creations of the colonialists and they are only artificial barriers, but
deeply in the hearts of the people of the Caliphate, they are one.
Influence of the Sokoto Caliphate
The Caliphate has undergone colonialisation and like
any other kingdom that has been occupied by foreigners, it is bound to
have such changes. But the basic thing is that the people were united
under one religion and political umbrella.
Caliphate as an instrument of domination
When you look at the whole situation objectively,
there is nothing like domination. I don’t agree with the view that the
caliphate is a tool of domination. Afterall, we were colonised by the
British and we are now speaking their language - English; yet we do not
accuse them of domination. Shehu Usman Dan Fodio was a Fulani, but he did
not impose his language on the areas he conquered. People are now living
independently. It is just the people making mischief who see the
Caliphate as an instrument of domination.
The Caliphate was just a political entity that existed and
brought people together. I still don’t know how people will say the
Caliphate is dominating, for instance, the Middle Belt, parts of which
were not even conquered during the jihad. Even within the Caliphate, Zuru
in Kebbi State was not conquered, yet they were allowed to get on with
their religion and culture.
Influence of the caliphate on post-independent
Nigerian politics
It is because of its vastness - size and population.
If you are dealing with a big or large kingdom made up of a lot of
people, that area is likely to be influential. It is just the population.
So, if the government should go by numbers, or population of people,
definitely the influence of the Caliphate must affect the politics of
Nigeria. Sultan of Sokoto is somewhat powerless as a result of
colonialisation, but he remains a natural leader who can be consulted
when the need arises because the people listen to him. That is why
governments and political leaders respect natural leaders and consult
them from time to time. The Sultan is the supreme leader of all Nigerian
Moslems.
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