HAJJ AND THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT:
TOWARDS A CLEAR AND SUSTAINABLE POLICY ON HAJJ-2

[ Preamble ]    [Hajj in West African History]   [Hajj and European Imperialism ]    [Hajj Policy in Independent Nigeria ]   [Towards a Clear and Sustainable Policy ]    [Concluding Remarks & References ]  Hajj in West African History Hajj in West Africa is as old as Islam itself. Islam spread into the region of West Africa sometime in the second century of the Hijra, 8th century AD. About two centuries later there was already an Islamic state on the bank of river Senegal, the state of Tukrur. Muslims from this state of Tukrur appear to have been one of the first to make the hajj not only from the region but perhaps from the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. For they were known in Hijaz as Tikari (singular, Tukrur) and that name became generic for all black people from the West African sub-region to this day. Infact the whole region of black Africa came to be known to early Muslim geographers and historians as Bilad al-Tukrur. Subsequent scholars continued to refer to the region as Bilad al-Tukrur with a sense of pride.(2) Hajj subsequently became an important institution in the Muslim states of West Africa, reaching proverbial level in the state of Mali with the famous pilgrimage of Mansa Musa in 1324-5 AD who carried so much Gold with him that the price of gold in Egypt fell dramatically.(3) Askia Muhammad’s caravan set out in 1496, travelling from Gao, the capital of Songhay through Takeda, Air, Fezzan and Cairo.(4) Though not as eventful as that of Mansa Musa, the hajj of Askia Muhammad was just as, if not more, significant than that of Mansa Musa in the way it opened the region to the flow of learning and the promotion of scholarship. Although hajj in West Africa became associated with the rulers of Mali and Songhay, it is in actual fact the rulers of Borno who, perhaps more than any in the region, undertook the most frequent pilgrimage. In fact going by historical records, the earliest recorded pilgrimage from the region is that of Kanem, "Mai Dunama b. Umme who between c. 1098-1150 made the pilgrimage twice and died returning from a third."(5) Even wars and battles did not stop the Mais of Borno from performing hajj and it was typical for a Mai to perform hajj several times during his reign. Even as he had performed hajj a few times before his reign, Muhammad Amin el-Kanemi, the first Shehu of Borno continued to lament over the way the affairs of the state have made it impossible for him to make hajj. He in fact sent some of his sons to go ahead of him to Madina to remain there to study until he joined them, which however, never materialised.(6) All these go to show the position hajj occupied in the hearts of the people and governments of the Muslims states in pre-colonial West Africa. Thus since the spread of Islam in to the region the institution of hajj had developed and grown strong with the passage of time in spite of the rise and fall of states and the changing fortunes of regimes. There did not appear, however to be a clearly explicit and articulated official policy during this period. Many of the states had institutionalised pilgrimage caravans and had kept a regular endowment, sometimes quite lavish, to the holy places in Hijaz on an annual basis.(7) But there was not explicit policy as such. Perhaps the first attempt at an explicit state policy in West Africa was in the Sokoto Caliphate, the Tanbih al-Raqid li ma ya’tawir al-hajj min al-Mafasid(8) of Muhammad Bello. The Tanbih was written at a time when Muhammad Bello, having assumed the leadership of the Caliphate following the demise of Shehu Usman, was faced with the task of building the caliphate in the face of serious challenge to security of the state in the form of internal revolts and external attacks. Despite his life-wish to make the hajj, Bello realised immediately that he simply could not do it for as long as he remained the Sultan of Sokoto. He later realised that the caliphate cannot even afford to encourage people, as it ought to do under normal circumstances, to go to hajj. In fact it became obvious to him that until the state tempers the zeal of its citizens with the reality of their situation they may insist on going to hajj and thereby putting in to jeopardy of the interest of the state. The message of the Tanbih, therefore, was essentially to put hajj in to the context of his time and prioritise the demands of Islam on the Muslims of the caliphate. This was not an easy thing for Muhammad Bello not only because of the strong tradition of hajj in the region but also because Shehu had started, soon after the jihad, to appoint an Amir al-Hajj to organise the pilgrimage.(9) But then Bello could see the consequences of the trend if not checked and could not abscond from his responsibility both as scholar and as a leader. Bello’s argument revolved around three issues all tied to the interpretation of the key condition of Istita’a, ability. The first issue is that of knowledge of how to perform the hajj itself and appreciate its significance to a point that one could drive the spiritual benefits that accrue to the pilgrim. So people who are ignorant do not possess the ability and should remain to learn first. The second issue has to do with material provision. Bello argued that if one knew that he would end up begging and becoming a liability to others along the way or in the holy land, then he ought not to embark in the first place. Worst, according to Bello, are those who will in fact collect money and assistance from tyrant and oppressive rulers and sometime even promise to pray for them in the holy land for blessings. These kind of people, Bello argued, are better off staying at home. The third issue was physical ability, which for Bello went beyond the individual physical ability to include the safety of the route itself. But Bello’s greatest argument was that at a time when jihad was needed to protect and establish the caliphate firmly, it was folly to insist on going to hajj. For, as he argued, without the existence of the Muslim community the issue of hajj does not arise and in any case, as he cogently argued, the reward of a mujahid in the circumstance were far greater than that of a pilgrim. Prioritisation was clearly Bellos’ message. So here, perhaps for the first time, was a clear policy which tried to put hajj in perceptive and give a sense of priority in the practice of Islam. This official policy of the Sokoto Caliphate appeared to have been maintained long after Bello. Of course people continued their traffic, but in all probability not as much as if there had not been such a policy. It is difficult to assess the real impact of Bello’s Tanbih, but it certainly did not stop the traffic and it was clearly never meant to do so. For despite Bello’s position he himself did despatch a special envoy to hajj with a letter apparently addressed to the leaders of Hijaz explaining the reasons for their jihad in Hausaland and the wish to establish Islam on a proper footing.(10) Indeed he seemed to have assisted many pilgrims that passed through Sokoto on their way to hajj. Some of them like Hajj Umar al-Futi went through Sokoto on his way to hajj and on returned stayed in Sokoto for years in close association with Bello, whose daughter he married, before proceeding to Futa Jallon from where he started his jihad.(11) This situation seemed to have continued until the European colonisation of the region.