[Preamble]    [Goals and Objectives of Zakat ]   [Zakat in Sokoto and Borno ]    [British Colonialism ]   [Zakat in the Colonial Period ]  [Zakat in the Post Colonial Period ]   [Future, Challenges and Conclusion ]   [References ]  Zakat in the Sokoto and Borno Caliphates The Sokoto Jihad was motivated by the gross ignorance of the populace about Islam and the tyranny and oppression, particularly in respect of excessive taxation, confiscation of property and wanton attacks and arrests of subjects by the Hausa rulers.[12] Having campaigned vigorously against these inequities and inspired by the ideals of the Khilafa Rashida, the architects of the Sokoto Caliphate, took great care to ensure that the state was founded on very firm foundations of justice and equity. [13] Even before the jihad Shehu Usman had made a formidable critique of the decadent and unjust order in Hausaland and drawing on the works of some of the prominent scholar of the region, like Shurb al-Zulal of al-Barnawi, he had articulated the Islamic alternative in his Kitab al-Farq. By 1806, barely two years after the jihad had began, Shehu Usman, working in between battles, completed the Bayan Wujub al-Hijra ala al-Ibad in which he spelt out the policies as well as the structures of the new Islamic state emerging on the ruins of the Hausa States. Later his brother, the jurist and conscience of the revolution, Shehu Abdullahi Dan Fodio, wrote his Diya’ ulu-l-Amr wa-l-Mujahidin, reinforcing the Bayan of Shehu and spelling out details with his characteristic meticulousness. [14] Abullahi’s Diya’ al Hukkam, written in Kano, has particular details on the collection and administration of Zakat. Much later Muhammad Bello, on whose shoulders the responsibility of implementation of these policies actually fell, joined in with works like Tanbih al-Sahib ala Ahkam al-Makasib, Usul al-Siyasa and several others.[15] By the time the jihad was over, some parts of Borno had been annexed to Sokoto Caliphate and what had remained of Borno had become revitalised under a new leadership that was eager to meet the new Islamic expectations. Among the new offices created in the Sokoto Caliphate was the post of the Sa’i whose main responsibility was to collect the Zakat.[16] It is significant to note that the role of Sa’i was not limited to the collection of Zakat, but often included the administration of nomads and the settling of their disputes.[17] This makes the Sa’i no ordinary tax collector, for not only is he familiar with the terrain and the people but as a settler of disputes he needed to display fairness and command respect. The Sa’i had a whole team of other officials, the jakada and the village heads, working with him who were given clear guidelines of what to collect, when to collect it and how to collect it. [18] Care was taken to see that wealth and zakatable items were not taxed twice or taken in a manner which ignores fairness to the giver of Zakat. Abdullahi Dan Fodio in particular emphasised the well-known stipulation of the Sharia that "when assessing the Zakat, people’s houses and property should not be investigated, but the tax collector will relay on the taxpayers word, unless the person in question was known to be untrustworthy".[19] Wealth from Zakat was kept separate from other revenues accruing to the state since the Zakat was bound to be expended strictly along the lines specified by the Qur’an.[20] The administration of Zakat itself did not appear to have posed any particular difficulty in Both Sokoto and Borno Caliphate. If anything European explorers like Clapperton who were in the Caliphates were as astonished as their later day colonial officers were embarrassed by the way citizens of these states insisted in paying up their zakat as and when due.[21] Fascinated by the zeal at which the zakat was paid and the simplicity with which it was collected, many scholars have been keen to unravel what in our contemporary world would look puzzling. Some scholars have suggested that over and above the religious reasons, Zakat is a tax which leaves no room for argument in assessment. Its simplicity and proportionality invited no disaffection. Furthermore the social and economic significance of the Zakat is fully appreciated by both the payer and receiver.[23] Village granaries from zakat proceeds for example acted as security against crop failure which in places like Maradi and Kano appeared often either from drought or pests. In Kano, to the astonishment of Clapperton, the blind were settled in one quarter, Unguwar Makafi, and their needs were met from the zakat funds, so they never had to roam the streets as is our lot today. [24] All these must have helped to bring the message of the institution of zakat for all and sundry, including intruders such as Clapperton. This appeared to have been the arrangement throughout the two Caliphates. As the tempo of the jihad waned with time, however, the high standards set by the architects of the Caliphate may not have been maintained. But, in the main, the Zakat as a prominent institution remained part of the two Caliphates until the arrival of the British colonial army.[25]