Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
99. Resistance and Reform - Uthman Dan Fuduye of Nigeria – Part 2
By Prof Dr Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
Meanwhile, the political landscape of North Africa and the Mediterranean had also been transformed. The Ottoman armies, claiming to represent the full might of political Islam, had moved from Egypt and had occupied all of North Africa except Morocco. Muslim-Christian military rivalry was intense throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The Portuguese Christians had been stopped at the Battle of al Kasr al Kabir (1578), and Turkish land armies had frustrated the ambition of Catholic Spain and the Vatican in eastern Europe and North Africa. Although Turkish power in southeastern Europe was receding after the second siege of Vienna (1683), North Africa remained a part of the Ottoman Empire throughout the 18th century and strong cultural and religious interactions developed between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Turkish Empire as well as the independent Moroccan kingdom.
The powerful currents that produced the revolution of Uthman Dan Fuduye grew out of a confluence of animist culture and orthodox religion, in an environment of political uncertainty. By the year 1800, the social landscape of West Africa was being transformed. Islam was no longer the religion only of the ruling elite. It now had roots in the soil. Thousands entered the new faith through the work of the mallams. As demonstrated in the earlier experience of India and Indonesia, the acceptance of a new faith does not necessarily result in the repudiation of old cultures. The African newcomers brought with them their former culture and their old animist practices. Political conditions in Nigeria were far from settled. There was political instability due to the intense rivalry among the Emirates of Kano, Air, Zamfara, Kebbi and Katsina.
Uthman Dan Fuduye grew up in these turbulent times. In his childhood he received training in Qur’an, Hadith and the sciences of Fiqh. He mastered classical Arabic and he was fluent in the Hausa-Fulani languages. As a young man, Shaykh Uthman was influenced by the ideas of al Moghili, the well-known Islamic thinker from North Africa. Al Moghili, following some of the Hadith of the Prophet, believed that during each century a reformer would arise from among the believers to bring back the purity of faith to the masses. In the latter part of the 18th century, conditions were ripe for reform in West Africa. Many of the newly converted people used the Qur’an as a talisman around their neck to ward of evil rather than as a divine book of guidance. Divination by trees and stones remained commonplace. Al Moghili held that a jihad must be waged to stamp out such practices. Contrary to the Shariah, some of the local rulers imposed extortionist taxes on farmers and merchants alike. Al Moghili had stated that a ruler who is unjust must be overthrown. Some of the mallams, ill trained as they were in the classical disciplines of the Qur’an, Hadith and Fiqh, could not provide correct interpretations of the Qur’an. Al Moghili maintained that a person, who claimed to be a teacher, must know Arabic in order that he may correctly understand the Qur’an, Sunnah and Fiqh.
Shehu Uthman also studied tasawwuf and became an ardent Sufi. Tasawwuf is the inner dimension of Islam and has been an integral part of the Islamic spectrum from its inception. Sufi practices aim towards cleansing the soul so that it becomes conscious of the Divine presence. The Prophet placed great importance on self-purification and taught that struggle against the self was greater than struggle against external enemies. Shehu Uthman read the works of Al Ghazzali (d.1111) and became a follower of Shaykh Abdul Qader Jeelani of Baghdad (d.1166), founder of the Qadariya order, who is accepted in Sufi circles as Shaykh ul Mashaiq (teacher of the teachers). Shaykh Uthman believed that Abdul Qader Jeelani had spoken to him in a vision, urging him to wage a struggle against the unbelief of the age.
By the year 1800, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye had gathered around himself a large number of scholars, students and followers. He established a zawiya (circle) of the Qadariya order in the city of Degel. This center served a religious function similar to the city of Qum in modern Persia. The ulema of Degel became increasingly vocal in their criticism of the corrupt emirs and deviant practices of the general population. But the power of new ideas seldom goes unchallenged by the establishment. The ruler of the local province, Yunfa, first attempted to assassinate Shehu Uthman and then banished him from Degel. In 1804, following the example of the Hijra of the Prophet, the Shehu migrated from Degel to Gudu, some thirty miles away. The ulema and many among the masses, joined the learned man in this march and declared him their imam, shaykh and emir ul momineen. Alarmed at the growing strength of the Shaykh, Yunfa sent an expedition against Gudu. Skirmishes followed. In the summer of 1804 Dan Fuduye’s forces won a decisive victory against Yunfa. The Shaykh promptly declared that this victory followed the Prophet’s victory at the Battle of Badr. His vision now embraced all of western Africa and he declared a jihad against the Hausa kingdoms. However, in the winter of the same year, Dan Fuduye’s followers suffered a defeat. Notwithstanding these reverses, Dan Fuduye captured Birnin Kebbi, capital of Kebbi in 1805. Fulani cattle herders, Hausa farmers, merchants and scholars all followed his lead to establish a just social and political order. During the next three years, Shehu Uthman’s forces successively captured Alkalwa, capital of Gobir, Katsina, Daura and Bauchi. In 1808 successful campaigns were waged in the state of Borno.
Dan Fuduye was a prolific writer and a consummate orator. The central theme in his writings is the Qur’anic injunction, “You are the most noble of ummah created for mankind, enjoining what is right forbidding what is wrong and believing only in God.” Some of his well-known works include Fath ul Bassa (The Unlocking of Spiritual Vision), Tariq al Jannah (The Road Towards Paradise), Umdat ul Ulama (Support of the Scholars), Bayan Bida as Shaitaniya (Description of Religious Innovations of Shaitan), Umda ul Bayaan Fil Ulum Allati Wajib Alal Ayan (Supportive Exposition of Knowledge Obligatory on Every Person), Udmat ul Mutabideen Wal Muhtarifeen (Supportive Exposition of the Committed and Sincere Followers) and Umdat ul Bayan (Supportive Expose).
Shaykh Uthman viewed religion as composed of Islam, Iman and Ihsan. Islam, according to the Shaykh, was the implementation of the Shariah (Divine Law). Iman (faith) was the essence of religious life. And Ihsan was the realization of the spiritual potential of the human soul. The Shaykh considered it an obligation on the part of all believers to obtain knowledge of these three disciplines and to implement them in their lives.
(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)
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