Article: Worlds Apart | A Brief Analysis Of The Role Of Scholars Of The Sokoto Caliphate And Scholars Of Contemporary Nigeria.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL.

‘مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ ٱلْكَلِمُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ وَٱلْعَمَلُ ٱلصَّٰلِحُ يَرْفَعُهُۥ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَمْكُرُونَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ ۖ وَمَكْرُ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُوَ يَبُورُ

“He who desires might and glory (ought to know that) all might and glory belong to Allah alone. Unto Him ascend all good words, and the righteous deed does He exalt. But as for those who cunningly devise evil deeds – suffering severe awaits them; and all their devising will come to naught.’’ Qur’an 35:10

Scholarship essentially pertains to the intellectual and moral nurturing of human beings, as well as the positive transformation and development of society. The learned, the alim, is first of all the pattern of conduct to be emulated by the people, he is the ‘Master’ who nurtures the individual and society to excellence; and prepares both for social change, he serves as a focus and pivot. The primary concern of the scholar in the Islamic intellectual tradition is to improve the intellectual and moral state of the individual, and safeguard the well-being of the community.

The scholar, in this tradition, and especially in the West African setting, emerges with a distinct and unique personality. As we are already familiar with towering scholars such as Abd al-Karim al-Maghili, Ahmad Baba al- Timbukti, Mukhtar el-Kunti, Usman dan Fodio and others, we may now draw example from a less known scholar, but by no means less important or spectacular.

This is Muhammad b. Abubakar al-Timbukti, known as Baghayogho (1523-1594). He is generally regarded as the Imam and the Mujaddid of the tenth Islamic century as far as West Africa is concerned. His personality, characterized by deep and vast knowledge and moral sanctity, best symbolizes the spirit of learning in Islam. His student, the learned Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti, described Muhammad Baghayogho as “our shaykh and our (source of) blessing, the jurist and accomplished scholar, the pious and ascetic man of God, the mufti, a man among the finest of God’s upright servants and practicing scholars. As for his role in society, Ahmad Baba wrote:
“Moreover he was always busying himself in seeing to people’s needs, even at cost to himself, becoming distressed when they fell into adversity, settling disputes among them and giving good advice, Add to this his love of learning and his devotion to teaching and study in which pursuit he spent most of his time, his love for men of learning and his own total humility. With all this he was constant in his devotion, pure in intent, loathing evil behaviour, thinking well in his heart of all men, even the wicked, engaging himself in what concerned him and avoiding inquisitiveness over what did not. He wore the finest cloak of decency and modesty and bore in his hand the firmest banner of integrity. These qualities were matched by his tranquility, dignity and moral excellence which he acquired and propagated, effortlessly. 

“As a teacher he was long suffering disdaining neither the beginner nor the dull-witted. When I came into contact with him he was teaching various lessons from after the early Morning Prayer until mid-morning; then he would go to his house and offer the mid-morning prayer (salat al- duha) for a while and afterwards go to the Qadi to look into certain people’s problems and to effect reconciliation between others. Then he would study in his house over the noon period and lead people in the midday prayer. He would then teach until it was time for the mid-afternoon prayer and, having performed it, would go and teach in another place until dusk or close to it. After praying the sunset prayer he would return to his house. I heard that he always used to spend the last part of the night in devotions.” [John Hunwick; ‘A sixteenth century African Scholar Muhammad Baghayogho ‘Paper to appear in Studies in memory of Kwane Yeboah Da’aku’]

This then is the profile of a typical, rather quintessential scholar in Islam: a man of letters, a man of humility and integrity, a man of the people, above all, a man of God. And equally vital is the breath of knowledge which such man acquires and disseminates.

As John Hunwick rightly points out: “The scholars whose works Muhammad Bagyayogho studied and taught represent every area of the Muslim world from Spain and North Africa in the West, through Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Iraq in the Middle East, to Persia and Soviet central Asia in the east. The way in which scholarly works circulated so widely in the Muslim world before the days of printing presses and mechanized transport is a testimony to the cultural homogeneity of the lands of Islam, to the broadmindedness of the scholars in their dedication to higher learning and to the effective network of trade and travel throughout the Muslim world.” [Ibid]

In short, the function of the teacher is to transmit to the student the cumulative knowledge and experience of the entire Muslim world and to mold him into a universal scholar.

The process through which students were produced was highly involving indeed. It required students to be acquainted with the knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunna in the broadest possible manner, and to develop a sharp consciousness of history. But knowledge is acquired for practice, and students must necessarily be trained as men and women of learning and practice, trustees of history and civilization; so students were necessarily trained as revolutionaries, upon whom the responsibility to transform society would eventually fall. The student was also the soldier, a man and a woman both of pen and sword.

In Hidayat al-Talibin, Shehu Dan Fodio gives us a glimpse of the fundamental values he inculcated in his students. There is first the human obligation to obey Allah and the Prophet “to the best of your ability,” and to seek nearness to Allah by observing all obligations, refraining from prohibited actions and engaging in superogatory acts. In this way a person wins the love of his Lord to the extent that Allah becomes, as it were, the hearing with which he hears, the sight with which he sees, aid the hand with which he grasps. And every prayer he makes is answered. The essence of obedience to Allah and the Prophet is moral discipline or the avoidance of low passions, especially what Shehu Usman calls subtle passion, (shahwa khafiyya).

Then there is a whole range of attitude which should form the basis of the relationship between man and his Creator. Shehu Usman told his students to always seek the forgiveness of Allah, and to be conscious of the fact that Allah is with them wherever they are. He sees their wrong actions, as well as their virtuous deeds. The act of tawba, or seeking Allah’s forgiveness, is the most eloquent acknowledgement of the human weakness. Man is inherently weak, and given to sin and moral inconsistency. His strength lies, not in a false claim to perfection, but rather in seeking strength from the Fount of forgiveness, Allah. Shehu Usman also taught his students to keep the flame of hope ever alive, and never to fall into the sin of despair or despondency, “Verily,” says the Qur’an, “none but people who deny the truth ever lose hope of Allah’s life-giving mercy.” Shehu Usman added that it was imperative for students to have full confidence in Allah and to expect relief especially in situation of turmoil and hardship. “Expectation of relief is the best form of “worship,” says; the hadith. In other words, there can ‘be no situation where a Muslim loses hope in life: if there is tyranny he hopes for its overthrow, if there is pervasive corruption he hopes for its elimination; if there is social injustice or hardship he expects its amelioration. As long as all things are controlled by Allah, a Muslim expects relief after hardship. There is no never an irretrievable condition.

Shehu Usman also taught his students how best to enhance human relationship. They must first cultivate in themselves the quality of mercy, for none will gain admission to Paradise except a person of mercy and compassion. It is not enough to show compassion to a relative or a close companion. Mercy must be shown to all
mankind.

Students “were also taught to be people of humility, having no trace of pride in them. Humility entails that the aged, the learned and just rulers be honoured, and that mercy be shown to the young. Pride is a blameworthy quality. As Shehu Usman wrote in Kitab Ulum al-Mu’amala. [Ai’sha A, at-Tarjumana; Handbook of Islam Diwan press, 1973]:

“When (the proud man) exalts his own value in relationship to someone else, he despises the one below him and puts himself above the other’s company and confidance, if it is very extreme, he may spurn the other’s service and if not extreme, he may reject his basic equality, and put himself above other in assemblies, wait for him to begin the greeting, think that it is unlikely that he will be able to fulfil his demands and be amazed at him. “When the proud man teaches, he is not courteous to his students. He looks down upon then and rebuffs them. He is very condescending towards then and exploits them. He looks at common people as if he were looking at asses. He thinks they are ignorant and despicable.”

And students must eschew envy and rather love fellow Muslims, as love for Muslims is the key to Allah’s pleasure. Above all, however, is the quality of patience; in adversity, when provoked by others and when living in a corrupt society. There is also a whole range of obligations which a person owes to himself. The first, of course, is to strive to be learned. Then he must avoid immoral and unbecoming utterances, such as backbiting, defamation, calumny, and all forms of obscene language. Lying and treachery must be avoided at all cost.

A believer says the hadith, is stamped with all the characteristics except treachery and falsehood. In short, a Muslim must be a man of self- dignity. Shehu Usman further taught his students to be utterly and unconditionally committed to cleanliness. All filth or impurities must be removed from the body. The Prophet has said; “There are five things from the fitra or human nature: cutting the nails, trimming the moustache, removing the hair from the armpit, shaving the public region and circumcision.” Furthermore, the whole human environment must be clean end free of pollution. “Allah is pure and clean,” the Prophet said, “and loves cleanliness”. So make clean your environment. Students were also taught to eschew waste, to spend resources prudently in the manner enjoined by Islam.

Shehu Usman taught his students to discharge their basic obligations to society. Foremost of these responsibilities is the establishment of a family “Four characteristics“, Shehu Usman quoted the Prophet as saying, “pertain to the practices of the Messengers of Allah: modesty, the use of perfume, the use of tooth-stick (or oral hygiene) and marriage and safeguarding the rights of the family.” The family has the greatest right to one’s property, and what a great sin it is to destroy one’s family through neglect! The absolute injunction of Islam is that family obligations must be met first before all others. Parents deserve nothing less than absolute reverence and children, especially female ones; absolute compassion.

The Prophet has made it known that whoever has daughters and gives them sound education, “provides for them and shows them mercy deserves paradise”. Both the parent and the child have mutual obligations to each other, which each must discharge. Students were also taught to maintain the unity of the Muslim Umma, to strive for social justice, where everyone is adequately fed, and to struggle for an upright and just government, which will guarantees the well-being of the Umma. There are other obligations as well for instance, discharging trusts, fulfilling all promises and consorting with people in a just and proper manner. As students who were being nurtured for a revolutionary change, Shehu’s talaba were taught to be prepared for Hijra “from the land of unbelief and sin.” Perhaps more importantly, they were taught to acquire military training, having in mind the rather inevitable conflict between the forces of moral transformation and the forces of corruption and decadence; Scholarship and soldiery go together in Islam. These in brief are some of the values on which scholars were raised in the Sokoto Caliphate. It is apt to say that they were raised not as ordinary scholars, but as men and women of destiny.

The scholar in the Sokoto setting assumes the role of guardian of the conscience of society, and the protector of the rights of the individual. His task, when he finds himself in a state of decadence, is to guide society to moral rectitude, through a process known as amr bil ma’ruf wan nahy anil munkar, commanding good and prohibiting evil. The process must necessarily involve dealing with the masses of the people with understanding said compassion. The scholar must avoid all actions which may cause them avoidable loss of lives or property. He is advised not to take rash actions that may lead to premature or precipitous confrontation with the authority lest he leads the people into turmoil and annihilation. The scholar is also advised by Shehu Usman not to place purely political interests above the greater requirement to establish a sound moral, social, and above all, intellectual foundation for Islam. Premature political confrontation is only a sign of inordinate love for political power.

The scholar, in other words, must adopt a measured and calculating approach in his effort to bring about a re- orientation of society. He must consider the well-being of the ordinary people, and should not drag then into destruction in the name of correction. He should be clear about which risks to take, and which to avoid considering the overall interest of the Community and the objectives of Islam. Shehu Usman further implies that the history of Islam is replete with social movements which were destroyed because of their desire to achieve quick results and gain political power. They threw restraint and caution to the wind, as a result of which they failed. Yet at no time, in the Sokoto tradition of learning, is the scholar permitted to fraternize with the oppressors; nor is there an acceptable excuse for so doing.

The scholar is with the oppressed, not the oppressor; he is with justice, not injustice, he is with the truth, not falsehood. In Masail Muhimma, Shehu Usman dan Fodio, outrightly ruled out economic dealings with oppressors, on the ground that most of their wealth was obtained by fraud and usurpation. This was after his movement had grown into a formidable force, whose march to social change had reached irreversible proportion. Shehu Usman stated further that the scholar has no valid excuse whatsoever to associate with oppressive rulers, or frequent the Government Houses or palaces. In his own words:

“Ibn al-Hajj has stated in his book, al-Madkhal. “Let (the scholar) guard strictly against frequenting anyone belonging to the group of worldly men (abna aldunya)… since a learned man should be the person to whom people come, not the other way round. It is no excuse for a learned man to frequent other person’s houses on the pretext of securing advantages for the masses of the people and warding off harm from them… Assistance towards securing the needs of Muslims lies in total abstention from visiting worldly men, and in reliance upon Allah and having recourse to him. “The devout servant of Allah, Abd al-Wahab al-Sha’rani has stated in his book, Lawaqih al-Anwar; Sufyan al-Thawri has said, ‘Beware of princes O my brother! You oust not go close to them and mix with them in any way. It is said to you: ‘Intercede and save someone oppressed and restore his rights to him.’ This is nothing other than satanic deception. The deluded merely takes that as a ladder to acquire some worldly gain.’ Abd al-aziz al-Andalusi has said: ‘If you should claim that there are some people, the weak and oppressed in the hands of oppressors, and that frequenting kings and getting acquainted with rulers, with a view to intercede on behalf of those seeking such intercession, is a means of rendering great service to Allah…, we should reply by pointing out that, that is the essence of satanic deception. Besides such an action is the real for perdition… due to what it entails of degradation for the guardians of the Shari’a (i.e. scholars) who represent the honour and sanctity of Islam, in every country.’ That is so because fraternizing with oppressors is a great sin, hypocrisy and is tantamount to waging war against Allah and His apostle.”

The ultimate goal of the scholar, in the Sokoto tradition, is to establish a society where the Shari’a is upheld end all oppressive end corrupt laws, are suppressed, a state where Islam thrives and Muslims discharge the obligations of their faith in total security and safety. This is where the clash between the Islamic forces and the forces of decadence becomes almost inevitable. Here the role of the scholar becomes even more central and crucial. He leads the Muslims, first to hijra if it “becomes necessary, and into jihad if it becomes imperative. It is the scholar who determines what society should do at different phases in the process of change.

The scholars of Sokoto lived up to the challenges of their times: they raised a crop of students who shouldered the responsibility of transforming society; they established and nurtured a mass movement which when it gained maturity created a revolution and a Caliphate; they successfully run the Caliphate for a whole century, until Allah willed that the forces of evil overcame them. The hope of the Sokoto scholars was that this noble land would raise once again a generation of scholars who would inspire a new process of Islamisation. Their hope is well justified, and will be fulfilled, God-willing. For as the Prophet said: “To hope for a relief is the best form of worship.”

As for our contemporary scholars, it is better to leave the assessment as to whether they possess the same merit or share similar characteristics and aspirations as the ulama of Sokoto to the perceptive reader of this paper. But three crucial issues must be raised here. First, how much is the commitment of the contemporary scholars to the social upliftment of the people? Have they ever cried out against social injustice, corruption and misuse of power in this country? Secondly, what caliber of students are the scholars raising for the Muslim Umma? Are they, students with the breath of knowledge required of Islam? Do they possess the same broadmindedness, the universalism and profound understanding of the issues at stake as their predecessor? Are the students; men and women of destiny, like the talaba of Shehu Usman, who would penetrate deeply into the sea of knowledge, help in the mobilization of the masses, who are ready for the hijra when it cones, and jihad whenever Allah graces the Muslim with it? Finally, do the contemporary ulama see their role as that of unifying the umma, rather than disuniting it? What we know for sure is that the Muslim Umma today, just like in the days of Shehu Usman, must unite in order to move ahead to become a social force and a political reality. We may note in passing that there is yet another category of ‘ulama’: these reside in the universities, at present, majority of them are ulama al- dunya, merchants of falsehood and purveyors and touts of secularism. Many of them move from one Government House to another, desperately looking for a role to play in a society where their intellectual orientation has made them strangers. Some are merely hired writers, preparing speeches for inept rulers. Can they be other than surrogates or mercenaries?

In short, there is a world of difference between the scholars who created the Sokoto Caliphate and the scholars who live in present day Nigeria. The former are men and women who made destiny, the latter perhaps are men who are content to be manipulated by destiny. The Sokoto Scholars created an Islamic society and an Islamic State, and Allah exalted then because of their endeavors. Nigerian Scholars today are content to make minor adjustments to neo-colonialism. For that anyone they are ready to fraternize with who comes into power and frequent Government Houses claiming to be protecting the interest of Muslins. But as Shehu Usman
has said: “Such an action is the real perdition because of what it entails of degradation for the guardians of the Sharia.’ But even so, the gulf between the Sokoto Scholars and their Nigerian counterparts can yet be bridged if only the latter accept the verdict of the Qur’an: “He who desires might and glory (ought to know that) all might and glory belongs to Allah alone.” (35:10).

Gratitude is hereby expressed to Alhaji Bello Daura of Centre for Islamic Legal Studies for his rendering of the quoted passage into English.

Prof. Ibraheem Sulaiman, 

Formerly Director, Centre for Islamic Legal Studies Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Paper delivered at the International Seminar on the Role of Ulama in the Sokoto Caliphate organized by the Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Sokoto (now Usman Dan Fodio University) from 8th – 11th April 1986.