THE TRADITION OF TAJDEED IN WEST AFRICA: AN OVER VIEW - 5
|
[INTRODUCTION ]
[ AL-MURABIT FACTOR] AHMAD LABBO Ahmad's Macina in the pagan Bambara State of Segu was just next door to Hausaland and the conditions in the 18th century appear to be more or less the same as in Hausaland. Though he was in contact with scholars of Jenne, an old center of learning, and Shaykh Mukhtar al-Kunti the Qadiri Shaykh of the region, (25) he was clearly part of that expanding team of Shehu's students, many of whom like Ahmad did not have the privilege of meeting him. Though Ahmad did not meet his Shaykh he appears to have been in constant contact with him, receiving his books and seeking his opinion and advice. Due to the dearth of written records, especially when compared with the Sokoto Jihad, details of Ahmad Labbo's programme is not as yet very clear. He was known to be a scholar who, in the tradition of his days, was teaching and learning at one and the same time. He seemed to have relied heavily on the literature produced by the Sokoto triumvirates in addition to the standard texts and such famous works as the Fatawi of AL-MAGHILI. It was clear that in course of his teaching and inspired by the spirit of Tajdeed his growing team of students became conscious of their responsibility to uproot corruption which was rampant and establish justice. It was this new consciousness generated by his teachings that apparently led him into conflict with some Ulama at Jenne who like all venal scholars (Ulama al-Su') where finding excuses for the decadent order and delaying the process of change, He must have been referring to some of the practices condoned by the Ulama when he wrote in his only book al-idtirar illa Allah '"when I saw their satanic innovations in which they were so steeped as to take them for orthodox ..." (26) It was to Sokoto he turned for moral and intellectual support in his fight against the Ulama al-Su'. As Brown noted: "As early as 1815 - 16 A.D. there is evidence of his effort t to build a case against the Ulama of Jenne and other Muslims who followed similar practices. In his correspondence with Amir Abdullah b. Fudi of Gwandu in 1231 H. (1815-6) he sought clear legal (and moral) support for his criticism and received it." (27) As in Hausaland it was the excesses of the ruling Ardos of Bambara Sate which provoked the sense of Amr bil Ma'aruf wal Nahy anil Munkar of his Jama'a. The latter's response to one of the numerous incidences of injustice was what sparked off the confrontation between his Jama'a and the Bambara establishment. In keeping with the tradition Seku Ahmadu as he is often known, declared the Hijra and sent some of his studetns to Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, in his dying year (1817) to receive permission to carry out the Jihad. The permission came in a form of a Flag (28) and the Jihad broke out. By 1818 the pagan establishment was overthrown and Islamic administration made up of five emirates was established and new capital, Hamdullahi was founded. (29) The Caliphate of Macina had to rely on the literature of the Sokoto Caliphate, Ihya al-Sunnah of Shehu Usman, for example, was reported to have been adopted a s code of conduct for the State. (30) This nearly total reliance seemed to have been necessitated by the absence of local literature, which would have undoubtedly been for more relevant in dealing with the local day to day problems. Seku Ahmadu's apparent paucity of knowledge, having written only one book, has often been identified, as the scholarship in the Bambara State compared to Hausland and Songhay had been generally low (31) and Seku Ahmadu way well be one of the most learned of his days. In any case he was the best for he took up the challenge and led a process of Tajdeed which rid his society of the corruptionand injustices of the pagan Bambara, converted many to Islam and established in Islamic State. Seku Ahmadu himself died in 1843 and the caliphate lasted up to 1862 when it was taken over by the third major wave of Tajdeed led by Hajj Umar al-Futi. |
