The African Caliphate: The life, work and teachings of Shaykh Usman dan Fodio The African Caliphate The life, work and teachings of Shaykh Usman dan Fodio Ibraheem Sulaiman © Copyright 2008 Ibraheem Sulaiman All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any language, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the expressed permission of the copyright owner. Published by: The Norwich Press e-mail: website: ISBN: Contents Foreword 3 Introduction 11 1. Hausaland before Usman dan Fodio 19 The Philosophy of Tajdīd 20 Philosophy of Law 25 The Timbuktu Tradition 28 2. The Education of Usman dan Fodio 33 The Shaping of a Character 40 3. Raising the Students 47 Intellectual Training 48 Spiritual Training 55 Ṣalāt 56 Fasting 58 Qur’anic Recitation 59 Remembrance of Allah 59 Charity 60 Taṣawwuf 61 4. Building the Community 65 Moral Ideals 65 Knowledge 66 Cognition 67 Repentance 68 Zuhd 69 Ṣabr 70 The AfricAn cAliphATe Diplomacy, Forgiveness and Ḥilm 71 Discipline 72 The Communal Spirit 75 Brotherhood 76 Parent-Child Obligations 78 Family Obligations 80 The New Culture 82 5. Inviting to All that is Good 89 Philosophy of the Call 89 The Callers 99 The Methodology of the Call 102 6. Reviving the Sunnah 115 Principles of Social Mobilization 116 Errors in Hausa Society 121 Innovation in Faith 122 Innovations in the Practice of the Law 123 Innovations in Iḥsān 127 Advice for the ‘ulamā’ 128 7. The Intellectual War 131 Mobilization of Muslims 131 The Subversive Parties 136 Membership of Muslim Community 139 Mobilization of Women 145 8. The Concerns of the Mujaddid 157 9. The Politics of Change 171 Shehu and the Rulers 172 The Shehu’s Multitudes 176 Factors in the Process of Reviving Islam 179 10. The Ultimate Break 183 The Flight 189 Putting Theory into Practice 191 The hijrah 191 The Imamate 194 The Jihad 199 vi Contents 11. The Declaration of Jihad 203 Stages of the Struggle 203 The Overthrow of the Decadent Order 205 The Internal Enemy 208 The Start of the Jihad 209 The Laws of War 213 The Jaysh al-Futūḥ 218 The Battle of Tsuntsuwa 218 The Battle of Alwassa 220 The Meeting at Birnin Gada 223 Abdullahi’s Departure from Gwandu 224 ‘ The Liberation of Alkalawa 226 12. The Vision of a Mujaddid 227 The Road to The Revival of the Sunnah 227 Shehu’s Vision for the khilāfah 230 The Moral Foundation of the State 230 The Social Edifice of the State 233 Forestalling Disintegration 238 13. The Triumvirate 243 Principles of Legislation 254 Means of Social Integration 260 Muhammad Bello’s Role 264 14. The Shehu’s Legacy 269 The Legacy On Policy Making 269 On Legislation and Administration of Law 271 On the Process of Reviving Islam 273 On the Need for Piety 276 The Shehu Passes Away 276 Achievements of the Mujaddid 277 The Advancement of Women 281 Conclusion 286 Causes of Success 289 Bibliography 297 Texts written by ‘Abdullahi dan Fodio 297 Texts written by Shehu Usman dan Fodio 297 vii The AfricAn cAliphATe Text written by Muhammad Bello 298 Other Arabic sources 298 Non-Arabic sources 299 Glossary 303 viii Allah has promised those of you who believe and do right actions that He will make them successors in the land as He made those before them successors and will firmly establish for them their deen, with which He is pleased, and give them, in place of their fear, security. They worship Me, not associating anything with Me. Any who disbelieve after that, such people are deviators. Surah an-Nur Ayat 55 1