Usman dan Fodio

Lineage and childhood Usman Danfodio belongs to the generation of wandering scholars who started settling in Hausaland since the 1300–1400s, some 400–500 years before the Jihad. The Sheikh's ancestors were Toronkawa who migrated from Futa Tooro in the 1300s under the leadership of Musa Jokollo. Musa Jokollo is the 11th grandfather of the Shehu. There were 11 generations between Musa Jokollo and Shehu Danfodio. Abdullahi dan Fodio stated that the Torankawa (Turubbi/Torobe) have Arab ancestry through one Uqba who married a Fulani woman called Bajjumangbu. Muhammed Bello was not sure if it was Uqba ibn Nafi, Uqba ibn Yasir or Uqba ibn Amir. Usman dan Fodio's mother Hauwa is believed to be a direct descendant of Muhammad as she was descended from Maulay Idris I, the first Emir of Morocco, who was the great-grandchild of Hasan, grandson of Muhammad. The Toronkawa first settled in a village called Konni on the borders of Bornu Empire and Songhai Empire, till persecution drove them to Maratta under the leadership of Muhammad Sa'ad, the Sheikh's great-grandfather. A faction of them split and moved to Qoloba. It was in Maratta that Usman Danfodio was born on 15 December 1754. He was born as bi Fodiye, dan Fodio or Ibn Fudiyi, 'the son of Fodiye', his father has earned the Fulani title of Fodiye 'the learned'. A further move by the sheikh's father, Muhammad Bn Fodio after 1754 brought them from Maratta to Degel, but several of their relatives still stayed in the town of Konni. Other Toronkawa, such as Gidado's family moved to Kebbi. Usman and Abdullahi's first teacher was their mother Hauwa who came from a long line of famous literary scholars. Her mother, Usman's grandmother, was Ruqayyah bin Alim, who was a well respected ascetic and teacher. According to Murray Last, Ruqayya is linked to the branch of the family noted for its learning. Ruqayyah's work Alkarim Yaqbal was popular among Islamic scholars of the 18th and 19th century. Hauwa's father and Ruqayyah's husband, Muhammad bin Uthman bin Hamm, was even more famous and respected than Ruqayya. He was regarded as the most learned Fulani cleric of the time. Education While Usman was young, he and his family shifted to Degel where he studied the Quran. After studying the Qur'an with his father, Danfodio moved to other teachers. They included his relations, Uthman Bn Duri, and Muhammad Sambo. He also insisted on the observance of the Maliki fiqh in personal observances as well as in commercial and criminal law. Usman also denounced the mixing of men and women, pagan customs, dancing at bridal feasts, and inheritance practices against women contrary to Sharia. Soon, the young Danfodio got massive followership among the peasants and other lower class. In the 1790s, Usman later had visions of Abdul Qadir Gilani, (the founder of the Qadiri tariqah) and ascension to heaven, where he was initiated into the Qadiriyya and the spiritual lineage of Muhammad. Usman later became head of his Qadiriyya brotherhood calling for the purification of Islamic practices. His theological writings dealt with concepts of the mujaddid (renewer) and the role of the Ulama in teaching history, and other works in Arabic and the Fula language. == Notable works ==

Danfodio wrote more than a hundred books concerning Economy, History, Law, Administration, Women's rights, government, culture, Politics and society. He wrote 118 poems in Arabic, Fulfulde, and Hausa languages. Balogun (1981, PP. 43-48) has compiled a list of 115 works through various sources. Notable among his works include; • Usul al-`Adl (Principles of Justice) • Bayan Wujub al-hijrah `ala’l-`ibad7 (description of the obligation of migration for People). • Nur al-Ibad (Light of the Slaves) • Najm al-Ikhwan (Star of the Brothers) • Siraj al-Ikhwan (Lamp for the Brothers) • Ihyā’ al-sunna wa ikhmād al-bid’a (The revival of the Prophetic practice and obliteration of false innovation) • Kitab al-Farq (Book of the Difference) • Bayan Bid`ah al-Shaytaniyah (Description of the Satanic innovations) • Abd Al-Qādir b. Mustafā (ten questions put into verse by ‘Uthmanb. Fūdī in one of his non-Arabic poems.) • Ādāb al-‘ādāt • Ādāb al-ākhira • ‘Adad al-dā’i ilā al-dīn • Akhlāq al-mustafā • Al-abyāt ‘alā ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī • Al-ādāb. • Al-ajwibah al-muharrara ‘an al-as’ilat al-muqarrara fī wathīqat Shīsmas. • ‘Alāmāt almuttabi‘in li sunna rasūl Allāh min al-rijāl wa-al-nisā’ • Al-amr bi-al-ma’rūf wa-al-nahy an al-munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil) • Al-amr bi-muwālāt al-mu’minīn wa-al-nahy ‘an muwālāt al-kāfirīn. • Al- ‘aql al-awwal. • Al-dālī li-Shaikh ‘Uthmān. • Al-farq baina ‘ilm usūl al-dīn wa baina ‘ilm al-kalām. • Al-farq baina wilāyāt ahl al-kufr fi wilāyātihim wa-baina wilāyāt hl al-islam fī wilāyātihim • Al-fasl al-awwal • Al-hamzīyah • Al-jāmi’. • Al-jihād • Al-khabar al-hādī ilā umūr al-imām al-mahdī == Reforms ==

Women rights The first major revolutionary action that Danfodio took at the beginning of his mission was the mass education of women. The Shehu criticized ulama for neglecting half of human beings and ‘leaving them abandoned like beasts’ (Nur al-Albab, p. 10, quoted by Shagari & Boyd, 1978, p. 39). He responded convincingly to objections raised against this (ibid. pp. 84-90) raised by Elkanemi of Borno. He equally educated and taught his sons and his daughters who carried on his mission after him. Economic reforms The Shehu strongly criticized the Hausa ruling elite for their heavy taxation and violation of the Muslim Law. He ‘condemned oppression, all unfairness, the giving and acceptance of bribes, the imposition of unfair taxes, the seizing of land by force, unauthorized grazing of other people’s crops, extraction of money from the poor, imprisonment on false charges and all other injustices (Shagari and Boyd, 1978, p. 15). The Shehu’s followers were required not to remain idle. They were encouraged to learn a craft in order to earn a living. It was considered improper to eat what one had not earned by one’s own efforts’. They engaged in various handcrafts to produce necessities of life (Shagari and Boyd, 1978,. p. 18). He argued for revival of just Islamic economic institutions such as al-hisbah, hima, bayt al-mal (State treasury), Zakat, Waqf, etc. Mostly his economic ideas are found in his work Bayan Wujub al-Hijrah `ala’-Ibad. Other works in which some economic ideas are found are Kitab al-Farq, Siraj al-Ikhwan, Bayan Bid`ah al-Shaytaniyah, Najm al-Ikhwan and Nur al-Ibad. Property earned through fraudulent means would be confiscated and the funds obtained credited to the state treasury. The Shehu was very emphatic on Fair market functioning. In his work Bayan al-Bid`ah al-Shaytaniyah (On Satanic Innovations) he forbade ignorant persons from dealing in market. It is for the sake of fairness in dealing in the market that he emphasized revival of the Hisba institutions whose functions include checking the prices, Inspection of the quality of goods, correct weights and measures, prevention of Fraud and Usurious practices, removal of Monopolisation of products, etc. (The Shehu’s work al-Bid`ah al-Shaytaniyah, quoted by Kani, p. 65). Public expenditure On public expenditure, the Shehu based his ideas on Ibn al-Juza’iy (d.741/1340) and al-Ghazali (d. 505-1111). In his treatise to the Emirs, Shehu emphasised expenditure on Defence by preparing armaments and by paying soldiers. If there remains anything, it goes to the judges, state officials, for the building of mosques and bridges and then it is divided among the poor. If any still remains, the Emir has the option of either giving it to the rich or keeping it (in the bayt al-mal) to deal with disasters that may occur (ibid. p. 131, quoted by Gusau, 1989, pp. 144-45). According to the Shehu, the zakat al-fitr (poor due at the fast breaking) would be spent on the poor and the needy only. The state's income is not exclusively for the poor. Nor is it necessary to spend equally on all heads of expenditure (Gusau, 1989, pp. 144-145). Land reforms All lands belong to the state. The Shehu declared all lands as Waqf, or owned by the entire community. However, the Sultan allocated land to individuals or families, as could an emir. Such land could be inherited by family members but could not be sold. Tax on land was introduced. == Background to the Jihad ==

Origins and foundation In 1780–the 1790s, Usman's reputation increased as he appealed to justice and morality and rallied the outcasts of Hausa society. The sultan responded violently to Danfodio's Islamic Community. Some members of the Jama'a were imprisoned. Assassination attempt In 1802, Nafata's successor Yunfa, a former student of Usman, turned against him, revoking Degel's autonomy and attempting to assassinate Usman at Alkalawa. He captured some of Shehus followers as prisoners. After unsuccessful attempt, Yunfa then turned for aid to the other leaders of the Hausa states, warning them that Usman could trigger a widespread jihad., Yunfa at the end of his first year faced rebellion from Zamfara, Invasion by Katsina, the Sullubawa who are loyal to Katsina, and the Muslim Community who are becoming increasingly powerful and who are restive under the moderation of the Shehu. The salute of allegiance was first given by Abdullahi dan Fodio, and then by Muhammed Bello. Danfodio was old (50 years) and weak and was to take no part in the fighting. The position was mere ceremonial (p. 24). By this time, Usman had assembled a wide following among the Fulani, Hausa peasants and Toureg nomads. After Usman declared Jihad, he gathered an army of Hausa warriors to attack Yunfa's forces in Tsuntua. Yunfa's army, composed of Hausa warriors and Tuareg allies, defeated Usman's forces and killed about 2,000 soldiers, 200 of whom were hafiz (memorizers of the Quran). Yunfa's victory was short-lived as soon after, Usman captured Kebbi and Gwandu in the following year. At the time of the war, Fulani communications were carried along trade routes and rivers draining into the Niger-Benue valley, as well as the delta and the lagoons. The call for jihad reached not only other Hausa states such as Kano, Daura, Katsina and Zazzau, but also Borno, Gombe, Adamawa and Nupe. The Battle of Tabkin Kwotto The first skirmishes when a small group of soldiers from Gobir were beaten back (p.24). After only a few years, Usman found himself in command of the states. The Sokoto Caliphate had become the largest state south of the Sahara at the time. In 1812, the caliphate's administration was reorganized, with Usman's son Muhammed Bello and brother Abdullahi dan Fodio carrying on the jihad and administering the western and eastern governance respectively. Around this time, Usman returned to teaching and writing about Islam. Usman also worked to establish an efficient government grounded in Islamic law. The Sokoto Caliphate was a combination of an Islamic state and a modified Hausa monarchy. Muhammed Bello introduced Islamic administration, Muslim judges, market inspectors and prayer leaders were appointed, and an Islamic tax and land system were instituted with revenues on the land considered kharaj and the fees levied on individual subjects called jizya, as in classical Islamic times. The Fulani cattle-herding nomads were sedentarized and converted to sheep and goat raising as part of an effort to bring them under the rule of Muslim law. Mosques and Madrassahs were built to teach the populace, Islam. The state patronized large numbers of religious scholars or mallams. Sufism became widespread. Arabic, Hausa and Fulfulde languages saw a revival of poetry, and Islam was taught in Hausa and Fulfulde. == Death ==

In 1815, Usman moved to Sokoto, where Bello built him a house in the western suburbs. Usman died in the same city on 20 April 1817, at the age of 62. After his death, his son Muhammed Bello, succeeded his as ''amir al-mu'minin'' and became the second caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate. Usman's brother Abdullahi was given the title Emir of Gwandu and was placed in charge of the Western Emirates of Nupe. Thus, all Hausa states, parts of Nupe and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and Adamawa were all ruled by a single political-religious system. By 1830, the jihad had engulfed most of what are now Northern-Nigeria and the northern Cameroon. From the time of Usman ɗan Fodio to the British conquest at the beginning of the 20th-century there were twelve caliphs. == Legacy ==

Usman has been viewed by Encyclopedia Britannica as the most important reforming leader of the 19th century Western Sudan. In Islam outside the Arab World, David Westerlund wrote: "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". Usman addressed in his books what he saw as the flaws and demerits of the African non-Muslim or nominally Muslim rulers. Some of the accusations he made were corruption at various levels of the administration and neglect of the rights of ordinary people. Usman also criticized heavy taxation and obstruction of the business and trade of the Hausa states by the legal system. Dan Fodio believed in a state without written constitution, which was based on the Quran, the Sunnah and the ijma. == Personal life ==

In Rawd al-Janaan (The Meadows of Paradise), Waziri Gidado ɗan Laima (1777–1851) listed ɗan Fodio's wives as his first cousin Maymuna and Aisha ɗan Muhammad Sa'd. With Maymuna he had 11 children, including Aliyu (1770s–1790s) and the twins Hasan (1793– November 1817) and Nana Asmaʼu (1793–1864). Aisha was also known as Gaabdo ('Joy' in Fulfulde) and as Iyya Garka (Hausa for 'Lady of the House/Compound'). She was famed for her Islamic knowledge and for being the matriarch of the family. She outlived her husband by many decades. Among others, she was the mother of Muhammad Sa'd (1777 – before 1800). == Writings ==

Usman ɗan Fodio "wrote hundreds of works on Islamic sciences ranging from creed, Maliki jurisprudence, hadith criticism, poetry and Islamic spirituality", the majority of them being in Arabic. He also penned about 480 poems in Arabic, Fulfulde and Hausa. == In fiction ==

Usman ɗan Fodio appears as a playable character in the 2020 video game Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. == See also ==