BeiNG paper submitted and presented by Dr.Yusuf Adamu of
the department of Geography, Bayero University, Kano at the Bicentenary
Conference of the Sokot o Caliphate in Abuja, on June, 2004.
Introduction
"... So take to the reading the works of my brother
Abdullah for he is, on the whole concerned with the letter of the Shari'a.
Take to the reading the works of my son Muhammad Bello for he is, on the
whole concerned with the preservation of the Political Science of the
(Muslim) community with regard to the persons, aims, time, place, and
prevailing) conditions. Take to the readings of my works too for I am, on
the whole concerned with the preservation of both..
(Quoted in Ismail 1979 p.170)
The quotation above (though not an indication that these
are the only areas they have expertise) is an indication of the concerns of
the three major intellectual leaders of the Sakkwato Caliphate. It also
shows that beside been combatants and leaders, they are also intellectuals
of the highest order. The volume of the works of the Jihad leaders
show that despite their other commitments, their devotion to educating the
community was paramount. Isma'il (1979, p. 165) pointed out that more than a
hundred works have been written by the Shehu himself, more than sixty by his
brother Abdullahi Fodio and some seventy- eight by his son Muhammad Bello.
Nana Asma'u who can be seen as the greatest woman writer of her time and who
have contributed to women education and liberation provided the much needed
gender balance with sixty-six works (Boyd and Mack 1997 p. vii) Bugaje
(1995) explained that the leaders of the Jihad had specialisations as
far as their areas of concern and expertise are concerned as shown by the
Shehu himself in Najm al-ikhwan:
In their poetic works as the one quoted below, their
concern for learning and scholarship is clearly expressed. The verses from
Danfodio's Tabbas Haqiqa therefore, sum up the devotion of the
Sakkwato Caliphate to learning and scholarship.
"Let us study, and keep on learning. This gives mankind
all that he need. Do not stay among ignorant people Who violently seize
property in Muslim lands"
Shehu's mission is the establishment of an Islamic
Ummah modeled after that of the holy prophet Muhammad peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) in Medina. The achievement of that mission
required strong intellectual foundations. That necessitate the establishment
of his own school, where he train students to "subscribe to his ideas and
share his aspiration to bring about an Ummah dedicated to Islam in
order to transform the society" (Sulaiman, 1986, p.l9). This gave impetus
for establishing an intellectual base for the revolution in bilad-al-Sudan.
All its leaders including Nana Asma'u shared the
philosophy of learning in the caliphate. Mack and Boyd (2000 p.9) argued
"the Shehu's aim in teaching, which was to transmit the knowledge of God and
help how to learn about God themselves" and that "... all teaching had its
foundation the aim of establishing a religious community in which
prayerfulness was integral to the smallest of quotidian endeavors." Mack and
Boyd (2000, p. 12). Bugaje (2003) explained that, "learning is one of the
three foundations of the Caliphate (the other two being Hijra and
Justice). He went on to argue that "This statement coming from one of the
major architects of the Caliphate goes to confirm the fact that Sokoto
Caliphate was essentially a product of learning, an extension of decades of
the enlightenment campaign, the culmination of a mission to return to Islam
in its pristine purity, was not a coincidence. It was a deliberate choice of
a growing team of scholars to spread learning but not for learning sake but
for a higher goal of establishing justice in society. Because this
scholarship had a clear purpose these scholars were necessarily different
from their contemporaries. They distinguished themselves not so much by the
amount of their learning as by their sense of mission. They produced
scholars who were not only learned but upright and identified with the
oppressed wider society. They maintained their distance from the Sarakuna
of the time; the Shehu at Magami refused to take the generous gifts of
the powerful Bawa, politely declining and requesting the Sarki to
release political prisoners and relieve the ordinary men of heavy taxation
and allow his disciples to preach freely. They so totally devoted themselves
that they hardly had any time for anything other than teaching, preaching
and writing. It was not entirely surprising when the triumvirate that lead
this endeavour left behind an astonishing total of nearly three hundred
works between the three of them, some written in between battles, covering a
wide variety of subjects, from works on fiqh, tafsir,
jurisprudence, political theory, economics, history, medicine, psychology,
to virtually every field of human endeavour. They held learning in very high
esteem, hear the Shehu again, "A man without learning is like a country
without inhabitants. The finest qualitiesJ in a ruler, in particular, and in
people in general, are the love of learning, the desire to listen to it and
holding the bearers of knowledge in great respect - this is in fact the
surest way for a ruler to be beloved by his subjects. On the other hand, if
the king is devoid of learning, he follows his whims and lead people astray,
like a riding beast with no halter, wandering off the path and perhaps
spoiling what it passes over."
The above extensive quotation shows to us that the
tradition of learning and scholarship was paramount in the caliphate and was
its soul.
The aim of this paper is to examine the position of
learning and scholarship in the Sakkwato caliphate and how that has changed
during the colonial and postcolonial periods with a view of identifying the
legacies it left and the challenges facing us today. The paper would also
draw lessons of the legacies and make recommendations on how they may be
made to benefit our society today.
Position of learning and scholarship in the Sakkwato
Caliphate
There is hardly any major work on Sakkwato Caliphate
failed to refer to its intellectual traditions. This is showing how
important learning and scholarship is to the Jihad leaders as well as the
society itself. There may be nothing new to say now. My job here is simply
to review what has been earlier said and discuss it.
Even before the Jihad, Hausaland has produced
prominent Muslim scholars in cities like Katsina, Kano and 'Yandoto. See
Albasu (1997 p. 185) and Kani, (1997 p.29-32). It is therefore only right to
suggest that the tradition of scholarship has been in Hausaland prior to the
Jihad period. Therefore, by the opening of the 19th century,
therefore, the problem in Hausaland was not that of lack of Muslim scholars
or the practice of Islam, rather the corrupt nature of the scholars in such
a way that Islam was re-defined by pre-Islamic practices and the scholars
justify the excesses of the Hausa rulers, "legitimizing the corrupt social
order" Sulaiman (1986 p.76). Islamic knowledge among the generality of
masses was lacking, there was mass ignorance about the basics of the
religion and its rituals. One other concerns of the Shehu beside the ones
just mentioned are the prevalence of psuedo-saints "who pose as sufi
shayks" and dupe unsuspecting masses. (Al-hajj, 1979 p.9).
The Shehu set to fight the misrepresentation of Islam and
the tyranny of Hausa leaders and transform the society on the teachings of
Qur'an and Sunna. The Ulama of the time, otherwise called
ulama al-su by the Jihad leaders in their attempt to maintain
status quo posed a great challenge to the Shehu intellectually. For example
Sulaiman (1986, p.76) noted that
"The scholars stated that customs that had become
pervasive and prevalent in society should, as a result of the prevalence, be
regarded as sunna and by implication, it would be wrong to attack
them, let alone seek to displace them"
In order for the Shehu to counteract their challenges he
has written a number of works and rejoinders, but most importantly set to
educate masses on the true teachings of Islam. This made learning a
corner-stone of the Jihad movement.
There is a community of scholars with the Shehu. There
are scribes who are considered very important in the dissemination of
knowledge as observed by Last (1967 p. 18) as they help as copyists of rare
books that are needed for studies. They are multi-ethnic as well as multi-
racial. There were also Imams and muezzins as well as panegyrists and
reciters of the holy Qur'an. When Shehu went to meet Bawa at Alkalawa, it
was said that there were more than a thousand scholars with him. This shows
how scholarship has taken root in the Jihad community Last (1967 p.
20).
Books are sacred to the Shehu and his family, they are
valued property and are taking care of very well. Even during hostilities,
'Whatever else was jettisoned in the bleak days of the itinerancy, books
were not sacrificed" Mack and Boyd (2000 p.9). The Shehu write books and
also encourage scholars to also write "their books in the light of
particular situation, despite the fact that books of earlier scholars might
have provided all that they require" (Sulaiman, 1986 p. 171) this shows his
commitment and vision to learning devoid of stagnation.
The importance of any aspect for the Jama'a is
usually supported by a write-up from the Jihad leaders. As part of
his commitment to learning and scholarship, Abdullahi Fodio, wrote a
commentary titled: Lubab which he said is a summary of Al-Madkhal
of Muhammad b . Muhammad al-Abdart of Paz itemized the requirements of a
Muslim scholar. This was to guide students who wanted to be scholars that
there are requirement they must meet to be truly Muslim scholars. This is
because a Muslim scholar "has a moral responsibility to his society" Bugaje
(1997 p. 86).
According to Dalhat (1990), sincerity of purpose is the
first requirement followed by the need for a scholar to act in accordance
with what he knows. Next he must be in company of good friends and he should
show humility in teaching. Scholars are also advised to be truthful even if
it means speaking against his actions that go contrary to the Shari'a.
Simplicity and humility in lifestyle are expected of him and much more (See
Dalhat p. 266-279) for details.
Beside, the Jihad leaders have wsecond evil
relates back to genealogy" (Sulaiman, 1978)
Thus, women education was given prominence and that has
produced Nana Asma'u (whom are beginning to know more about just
recently-thanks to Boyd and Mack). Nana Asma'u the daughter of Shehu and
sister to Bello has had a strong impact on women and women education in her
time and to date. She organized women into an itinerant teaching scheme that
has over the years educate women about religion. Boyd and Mack (1997 p.7)
described Nana Asma'u's contributions as being "in transforming the women's
organization that had existed among the non-Muslim women prior to their
capture, and channeling their interests and needs into organitzing
representative of the Jihadic community's values. Through her organization
of itinerant women teachers of other women (the 'Yan Taru....) Nana
Asma'u made working for the community both desirable and honorable". Her
legacies are with us as the legacies of other Jihad leaders and the
caliphate itself.
