THE TRADITION OF TAJDEED IN WEST AFRICA:  AN OVER VIEW - 3

[INTRODUCTION ]     [ AL-MURABIT FACTOR]  [ TAJDEED MOVEMENTS OF THE 19TH CENTURY]   [SHEHU USMAN DAN FODIO ]    [ AHMAD LABBO ]   [HAJJ UMAR AL-FUTI ]  [ THE PATTERN ]   [THE BACKBONE]    [ CONCLUSION ]  THE TAJDEED MOVEMENTS OF THE 19TH CENTURY Sequel to the Moroccan invasion of Songhay in 1591, the region lost not only its source of inspiration but also the restraining force of Songhay whose political influence had reached as far as Sene-gambia to the west and Hausaland to the east.  With the scholars of Timbuktu scattered, some like Ahmad Baba taken in chains to Morocco, the intellectual stamina of the region became weak and the tempo of scholarship went down, to pick up only later on the eve of the Jihads.  Matters were made worse by the political vacuum which the demise of Songhay created.  The weakness of Borno at that time did not help the situation.   Lacking in any regional power strong enough to check the excess of other states, the region slipped back into interstate warfare with its effect on security, commerce and learning.  The resulting chaotic and desperate situation gave a receding paganism a chance to resurface leading to syncretism, decadence, heavy taxation and other forms of oppression b rulers. The ideas of Tajdeed that were preserved amidst the corruption and injustices of the 17th and 18th centuries were eventually to find their way to their deserving heirs.  Rather suddenly, for the whole of the 19th century, the region was seized by series of revolutions that were to totally change it complexion.  Syncretism along with the decadence and injustice it fostered was terminated, Islamic states were re-established, learning and commerce went unhampered under the peace and security the new arrangement brought.  To be sure these revolutions started even before the 19th century, and were to continue until the first two decades or so of this century.  There was al-Karamako Alfa Ibrahim b. Nuhu in Futa Jallon as early as 1725, there was Sulayman Baal in Senegal valley in 1775, and Ahmad Bamba d. 1927 in Sene-gambian region among many others. (17)  Restricted by a number of factors these Jihads were of limited scale, their effects largely limited to their locality.  For our purpose we only wish to consider the three major ones:  Usman Dan Fodio in Hausaland, Ahmad Labbo in Masina and Umar al-Futi in Sene-gambia.  What we are primarily interested here is such outline as will allow us to discern the pattern of these Tajdeed movements.