THE JIHAD OF SHAYKH USMAN DAN FODIO AND
ITS IMPACT BEYOND THE SOKOTO CALIPHATE - 4

[Background]   [Impact Beyond the Caliphate:Borno]  [Masina ]    [Senegambia ]   [Nile valley ]   [African Diaspora in the Carribean ]   [Factors Facilitating Spread:Conclusion ]  SENEGAMBIA Sometimes in the late 1820’s, Umar al-Futi set out of his native Futa Toro, in the Senegambia area, for a pilgrimage to Makka and Madina. En route to Hajj, Umar went through Masina and Sokoto. Apparently impressed with what he saw, he decided to on his way back from Hajj to stay in Sokoto. In Sokoto, which he arrived about 1831, he was the guest of Muhammad Bello, the son of Shehu Usman and the Sultan of Sokoto. He stayed in Sokoto until the death of his host and dear friend Muhammad Bello in 1837. During his seven-year sojourn in Sokoto, Umar became involved with scholarly activities as well as administration. He was appointed a judge in Bello’s court and even took part in some of the military campaigns. He was particularly close to Bello, whose daughter he also married. He thus had the best opportunity to under study the movement. On return to Futa Toro, Umar begun vigorous efforts, following meticulously the footsteps of his mentors in Sokoto. It is in his writings, after the sojourn in Sokoto, that the impact of the Sokoto Jihad leaders reveals itself in Hajj Umar. Omar Jah had identified specific works which influenced Hajj Umar more than others. These include Shaykh Usman’s Works like, Hisn al-Afham min Juyush al-Awham, Masa’il al-Muhimma and Siraj al-Ikhwan. Others include Shaykh Abdullahi’s Diya’ al-Hukkam and Muhammad Bello’s Qadh al-Zinad fi Amr hadha al-Jihad. Some of the ideas of these works are to be found in Hajj Umar’s Tadhkirat al-Ghafilin, Tadhkirat al-Mustarshidin and his famous Rimah Hizb al-Rahim ala Nuhur Hizb al-Rajim. When Umar left for Hajj until he returned to Sokoto, his Sufi orientation had the better of him. He owed much of his dynamic interpretation of Amr bi al-Ma’aruf wa al-Nahyi an Al-Munkar to his Sokoto mentors. It is remarkable how Hajj Umar was able to imbibe a lot of the militancy of the Sokoto Jihad leaders, without abandoning his strong Sufi orientation. When he left Sokoto for Senegambia, Hajj Umar left with a number of his personal staff, some disciples and students from Sokoto who played a significant role in his movement. Once in Futa Jallon, Hajj Umar raised a large and disciplined following within a few years, whom he called the talaba, made his hijra in 1849 and started the jihad a few years later. By 1857 he had conquered the Bambara state of Segu and established his Islamic state on its ruins. Hajj Umar, however, found himself entangled with the neighbouring Islamic state of Masina, then already in some decay and needing rejuvenation, in the same way Sokoto found itself with Borno. It must have been interesting for Umar, for he was a party at some stage in reconciling Sokoto with Borno. While Sokoto managed to work out a truce with Borno, Segu under Hajj Umar could not but swallow up Masina in 1962. Here again we have another extension of the Jihad of Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio.