THE SOKOTO CALIPHATE IN MODERN NIGERIA:
Ending it, Mending it or Reinventing it? - 4

[Preamble ]   [Formation of the Caliphate ]   [Foundation of the Caliphate ]    [Decline of the Caliphate ]   [British Intervention ]   [Modern Nigeria ]   [The Caliphates in Modern Nigeria ]   [Ending it, Mending it or Re-inventing it? ]  Decline in the Caliphate Despite the high standards set and the efforts made to maintain them decline was bound to set in and the architects of the Caliphate were too learned to be under any illusions about it. In fact Muhammad Bello’s perceptive mind had caught glimpses of the seeds of decay within the Caliphate as they crept in stealthily and promptly warned about it. These warnings are contained in one of the less known works of Muhammad Bello, which he simply if aptly titled al-Dhikra, reflections. The views of Bello on this important subject are particularly important because of the unique position Bello occupied in the process that produced the Caliphate. Bello, we shall recall was born into a State which was in decline; he was brought up under the ambience of a scholarly movement which through a long and arduous struggle, brought about a revolution and established a Caliphate; and he led the construction of the new Islamic dispensation. Furthermore Muhammad Bello lived long enough (d. 1837) to see the seeds of decay beginning to germinate barely three decades after the establishment of the Caliphate. So Bello was writing al-Dhikra from the vantagepoint of leadership and scholarship and a scholar of the Caliphate rightly describes it as "a philosophy of history written by a maker of history." In al-Dhikra, Muhammad Bello contended that there are three major factors responsible for decline. The first is the human crave for ease and comfort which is the opposite of the spirit of struggle, the spirit of jihad, which was largely responsible for their victory. "This attitude, Ibrahim Sulaiman observes, "indicates a failure to sustain the momentum of the revolution, born out of the desire on the part of those concerned, to rest, take it easy and enjoy the fruits of a struggle. The feeling here perhaps is that they have done enough after such a long and tedious struggle. This is a fatal mistake on their part, for it involves fundamental compromises of the imperatives of the revolution." Indeed it was a fatal mistake for what it means is that the moral and intellectual qualities developed during the long years of struggle and where the very factors responsible for their success are now no longer considered necessary in the new dispensation and may soon come to be seen as a burden. Thus the continuos drive for moral and intellectual excellence, a vital ingredient for social economic and political ascendancy is now compromised and from that point in time the slide begins. The second is what Bello himself called tabdeel, exchange. As the crave for comfort and luxury grows so would people find it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the rigours of the sharia and the uncompromising justice of Islam. Thus soon people would learn to exchange principles for expediency and here the unalloyed loyalty to Allah which is the very foundation of the movement becomes compromised. This opens a flood gate of corruption, beginning with cornering of power and nation’s resources for a few, followed by the emergence of two set of laws, one for the powerful the other for the weak, and then people of conscience, those who dare to think and speak become a threat and have to be put away in an effort to prolong stay in power. Third, Amana, trust becomes gradually replaced by Khiyana, deceit or treachery. People given trusts begin to see them no longer as trusts but as opportunities and breaching of these trusts become quite common. The Amana Bello had in mind here is the rights of people to social justice, equality before the law, sanctity of their lives and property and the sanctity of their honour, irrespective of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. Bello was particularly worried about injustice against non-Muslims as it has been a major cause of the destruction of nations of old. Muhammad Bello was certainly worried but not entirely surprised about the creeping of decline rather so early. In fact He believed and clearly stated that decline was inevitable, in his very apt words, "La budda li al-nas min tanfis", suggesting that the inclination towards ease and comfort is inherent in men. He quickly added, quoting from the Qur’an and from the history of bani Israel, that despite this inherent proclivity for decline there will always remain a righteous portion, the seeds of regeneration in the Muslim community. These seeds will be distinguished, according to Bello by three characteristics: the first is Zuhd, abstemoniousness in perfect contrast to the gluttony and licentiousness around them; the second is Yaqeen, absolute faith and conviction in Allah and the third is the readiness to make sacrifice in the cause of truth and justice. So while decline was inherent, regeneration was also inherent in the community. Though Bello did not explicitly say where these seeds of regeneration where likely to come from he seemed to imply th">