THE TRADITION OF TAJDEED IN WEST AFRICA:  AN OVER VIEW - 9

[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 ]  CONCLUSION This paper has attempted the impossible task of reviewing the whole of the 12 centuries of Islam in West Africa.  The idea of this tour d'horizon was to see if we can discern the pattern of Tajdeed  during  the period and identify some of its elements.  What we  have so far been able to find can be condensed into three points. 1.  The tradition of Tajdeed in West Africa bears the stamp of al-murabit, later to be reinforced by al-Maghili,  both coming from a background of struggle for the supremacy of Islam, they conferred on this tradition a taste for thoroughness and perfection that  distinguished it from traditions in other parts of the Muslim world. 2.  The Tajdeed in West Africa follows a pattern that seem to be made up of four phases, one inevitably leading to the other.  It always starts wtih  the phase of Education which is followed by Mobilization.  The latter  leads to Jihad which is followed by Victory.  The longer the educational phase the more thorough  the process and the longer the benefits last. 3.The Qur'an, Tasawwuf and Hijra have been identified as the major elements which constitute the backbone of the  process of Tajdeed in West Africa.  That these  elements as  symbolized by the almajirai are already under attack may suggest the beginning of another wave of the process of Tajdeed.  Perhaps, like  the Sokoto wave before it, this may also cleanse the whole  region of the forces of unbelief and corruption now thriving under the patronage of imperialism. USMAN M. BUGAJE (23 June 1987) Footnotes 1.The West African Region had alwasy its historians born of  its own educational institutions nurtured in its own traditionof Scholarship people like al-Sa'adi, al-Ka'ati, Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu, Ahmad bin Fartuwa, Abdullah Dan Fodio, Muhammad Bello, Abdul-Qadir bn. Mustapha, and in our days Wazir Junaid.  Sequel to European imperalism, western scholarship was developed essentially as a back up support and propaganda machinery for western imperialism.  While many western scholars and their local pupils like Rev. Father  Trimingham, Levtzio, Hiskett, remain unrepentant otheres like Murry Last and John Hunwick have conceded to Islam its place in West Africa. 2. See Abdullah Dan Fodio,'ida al-Nusukh; J.O. Hunwick The Influence of Arabic in West Africa in Transactions of the Historical society of Ghana Vol, vii 1964; Ahmad Kani's 'The Rise and Influence of Scholars in Hausaland before 1804' an unpublished paper, Wilks 'The Trasnmission of Islamic Learning in the Western Sudan' in J. Goody (ed.) Literacy in Traditional Societies London, C.U.P 1968; Also J.O.  Hunwick, ‘Salih al-Fulani (1752/3 - 1809) the Career and Teachings of West African Alim in Medina’ unpublished paper, Sa'ad Timbuktu.  Cambridge C.U.P. 1983. 3. SeeDr Omar Jah. 'Sufism and Nineteen Century Jihad Movements in the Western Sudan: A case Study of al-hajj Usman al-Futi's Philosophy of Jihad and its Sufi Bases.'  Unpublished Ph.D. Theses 1973. 4. See Suyuti Jalal al-Din, 'Tajdid,' Manuscript in author's possession. 5. al-Maghili, 'Ajwiba,'  ed. and trans. hunwick, J.O. , in Sharia'ah in Songhai, Oxford, 1985 6.Sa'id, Muh. Bustaini, Mafhum tajdid al-Din, Kuwait: Dar al-Da'wah, 1984 7. See al-Bakri in Hopkins (trans.), Hopkins and Levtzion (eds.) Corpuse of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. P. 71 8. Ibn Abi Zar in Ibid, p. 240 9. See al-Bakri in Ibid, p. 84 10. See Hunwick, J.O. Sharia in Songhai, Op. cit., p. 15 11. See Abubakar al-Bartili 'Fathi Shukr fi Ta'arif A'ayan Ulama' alTakrur 12. See Gwarzo, H.I., 'The Life and Teachings of al-Maghili with Particular Reference to the Saharan Jewish Community.' Ph.D Thesis Univ. London, 1972 p. 86 13. Kani, A. 'The Rise of Scholars in Hausaland Before 1804' 14. See Hunwick, J.O.,  'Notes on a Late 15th century Document Concerning 'al-Takrur',  in African Perspectives  ed. c. Allen and R.W.  Johnson, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1966, pp. 269-317. 15. See Kani, A. The Intellectual Origin of the Sokoto Jihad, Ibadan, 1405 A.H., p. 20 16. Hiskett, M., 'An Islamic Tadition of ReforM in the Western Sudan from the 16th - 18th century,' in  B.S.O.A.S. XXV, Part 3, 1962, P.591 17. Smith, Abdullahi, A Little New Light, Zaria.  Abdullahi smith  Centre for Historical Research, 1987, p. 134. 18. Abd 'Allah b. Muhammad, 'Ida al-Nusukh 19. Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-Maysur 20. Smith, A., A Little New Light, Op. cit, p. 136 21. Bivar, A.D.H.,  'The Wathiqat ahl al-Sudan:  A Manifesto of the Fulani Jihad,' J.A.H.  II, (1961), p. 239. 22. For details see Sulaiman, Ibrahim, Islamic State and the Challenge of History, London: Mansell, 1987 23. Smith, A., A Little New Light, Op. cit., 138 24. Smith, A.,  A Little New Light, Op. cit., P. 138 25. Ibid., P. 139 26. Quoted in Brown, W.A.,  'The Caliphate of Hamdullahi,' Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Wisconsin, 1969, p. 27. [1]Ibid., . 20 28. Ibid., p. 17 29. Smith, A. A Little New Light, Op. cit. ., p. 138 30. Sulaiaman, I. 'Tajdeed in West Africa.' Unpublished article 31. Brown, W.A., 'The Caliphate of Hmdullahi,' op. cit., p. 104 32. Smith, A. A Little New Light,  Op. cit., p. 140 33. Jah, Umar, 'Sufism and Nineteenth Century Jihad Movements' Op. cit. 34. Sulaiman, I., 'Tajdid in West Africa', Op. cit. 35. Ibid.