Volatility Components

1. Assess the factors responsible for the popularity of ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jilānī.

2. Highlight the role played by each of the prominent Qādiriyyah Shaykhs in the propagation of the Order in West Africa.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Margoliouth, D.S. (1960). “Kadiriyyah’’ In: Encyclopaedia of Islam.

Martins, B. G. (1976). The Muslim Brotherhoods of the Nineteenth Century Africa. Cambridge.

O’Brien, D. B. (1971). The Mourides of Senegal. Oxford.

Trimingham, J. S. (1971). The Şūfī Orders in Islam. Oxford: London.

Trimingham, J. S. (1972). Islam in West Africa. London.

95 UNIT 4 THE QĀDIRIYYAH IN BORNU, HAUSALAND

AND SOKOTO

CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content

3.1 The Position of Sufism in Bornu before the Sokoto Jihad 3.2 The Qādiriyyah in Hausaland and the Sokoto Caliphate 3.3 The Twentieth Century Qādiryyah in Nigeria

4.0 Conclusion 5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor–Marked Assignment 7.0 References/Further Reading 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Unit 3 gives a brief account of the emergence of Qādiriyyah Order and its spread to the North-West African Maghrib region, the Western Sahara, and the Senegambia. It focused on the roles played by prominent Qadiriyyah personages, the religious, social and political roles of the Mouridiyyah as a branch of the Qādiriyyah in the region. This unit traces the position of șūfī sm in Nigeria through the ages with particular references to the Qadiriyyah.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 describe the position of Șūfī sm in Bornu before the Sokoto Jihad

 provide an overview of the Qādiriyyah in Hausaland during the Sokoto Caliphate

 summarise the place of the Qādiriyyah in contemporary Nigeria.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Position of Șūfī sm in Bornu from 200/800 A.H. to 1200/1860

In the oral tradition of the Bornu Muslims, a notion suggests that the Qādiriyyah was introduced into the area by Arab immigrants from Yemen. This may be an extension of the tendency towards tracing their Origin to Yemen which has become fashionable among the pro-Arab Muslim historians of that area. On the other hand, the notion may be

96

based on the statement that the religion of Islam was first introduced into Bornuland by a descendant of the Ummayads called Hādi

al-‘Uthmānī.

On the other hand, in a note sent to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1953, the then Governor of the Northern Region claims that the Qādiriyyah reached what was then known as the Bornu Province in the twelfth or the thirteenth century by the caravan routes which crossed the Sahara from the Nile to Lake Chad. The Governor’s view seems to have considered Qādiriyyah synonymous to Islam.

At Ngazaragama which was established by Mai ‘Ali (Ghazi) Ibn Dunama (1476 – 1503) were reported to be many God fearing mallams, many blameless nobles and many learned Șūfī s and Saints of the Ţarīqah. The Emir’s learning itself did not fall short of the wisdom of the learned Imams and the pious God-fearing saints. Also, between1600 – 1660, at a place called Kulumbardu in Bornu, about fifty miles west of Mir, there sprang up a large zāwiyah, which acquired great celebrity as its inhabitants were noted for their piety and learning.

The first among the holy men of Bornu and during the period for whom we have scanty information is Shaykh Abu Makarim Muhmmad al-Bakri (c. 1000/1600).

Shaykh ‘Umar Waldidah and Shaykh Hasan ibn al-Jarmi were two other saints of Bornu. The two are reported to have lived in Kulumbardi and have been preachers and propagandists of Șūfī sm in the area thus acquiring a large following. Reports of their activities were during the reigns of Mai ‘Huma b. Qasam (1032 – 1062/1626 – 1645). Shaykh Waldidah died in Baghirmi while Shaykh Waldidah travelled to Aghades and Timbuktu. Before his death, it is claimed, he prophesied the advent of a saint who would revive religion, acquire large following and wage a Jihad in the area.

Two other holy men were Muhammad al-Wali b. Shaykh Sulayman and Abubakr al-Barikum. The former has been described as an erudite, ascetic and prolific writer. Some of his surviving works include Al-manhal fi ‘ilm al-tawhid, a verse—work in which he condemns his contemporaries who were deserting the study of Qur’ān, Hadīth and Fiqh taking keen interest in the cabalistic sciences such as astronomy, letter symbolism, and astrology. The latter, known as a Shaykh Tahir b.

Ibrahim al—Fulati, inhabited Dhati `l-Baqar. He too acquired reputation as a teacher, pious learned man and author of many books in prose and poetry and predicted the advent of a Jihadist in the Sudan.

97 The foregoing accounts of those holymen do not provide us the required insights into their mystical inclination so as to enable us determine the Ţarīqahs to which they were affiliated. The travel of some of them in Egypt, Timbuktu and Western Sahara in search of knowledge or during their pilgrimage to Mecca and the proximity of their area of activities to the Nilotic Sudan where the impact of the Qādiriyyah was already being felt should have exposed them to the Order. However, the existence of a Zāwiyah and a large number of Șūfī s and pious learned men at Ngazaramu as established earlier on, is an evidence of the fact that the people of the area were conversant with mystical practices.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Describe the position of Șūfī sm in Bornu before the Sokoto Jihad.

3.2 The Qādiriyyah in Hausaland and the Sokoto Caliphate