JIHADS IN WEST AFRICA.

The jihads were Islamic war movements against pagan rule in west
Africa. They occurred in areas such as Hausa land 1804, Massina 1818
and fauta djallon.
Causes.
 Jihads broke out because of a number of causes which were
political, social, religious and economical.
Religious.
 The jihads were organized by Muslims to purify Islam which had
declined after the collapse of Songhai and Mali. It said that in
some west African states, i.e. pagan rules were mixing with Islam
practices e.g. drinking openly and not observing the pillars of
Islam.
 The need to spread Islam to other parts of Hausa and other states
of west Africa led to jihads since the pagan people in those areas
did not want to embrace Islam.
 Some Muslims especially Fulani clerks and schools had also
settled in pagan states and intermarried with pagans and adopted
the pagan customs. It is these customs that the Muslims wanted
to remove hence they wedged Jihads.
 Fulani scholars wanted the unorthodox Muslims practices i.e.
approved practices and beliefs like no smoking, no keeping dogs
which were thought if they were eradicated Islam would have
been purified.
Political.
 Many parts of Hausa were ruled by pagan rules. The Fulanis
who had acquired better education had been looked down
 upon by pagan oppressors, they therefore demanded for their
overthrow.
 There was need to revive the system of administration. Fulani
administrators wanted the system of administration based on
Islamic code of law/ sharia to be followed and to achieve this
they had to fight those who never wanted it.
 The jihadists / scholars were demanding for reforms within the
court system where there was unfair judgement of cases which
needed a change.
 There was corruption and bribery in cases concerning
appointments to offices so the outbreak of the Jihads needed
to change the situation.
Social.
 Fulani and Hausa Muslims were against the act of fighting
Muslim brothers they did not want to be conscripted into
pagan armies that fought against Muslims.
 Muslims did not like the act of selling fellow Muslims into
slavery by other leaders. It was against qur’anic laws.
 The Fante Muslims despised the Hausa sultans and their
sacrifices and their belief in spirits, they therefore wanted to
replace them with more religious leaders.
 The Fulani Muslims objected forced pagan marriages.
Economic.
 Merchants disliked the heavy market prices that were
imposed on them by the pagan leaders.
 The Fulani nomads were also against the burden of cattle
tax; these were regarded illegal considering Islamic
principle.
 The formation of Muslim brotherhood unified the
Muslims in their struggle to revive and purify Islam.
GENERAL EFFECTS OF JIHADS IN WEST AFICA.
 The jihads led to the formation of large strong political
units e.g. Sokoto caliphate, Massina, Jokeror, and
Mandinka empires.
 Jihads led to introduction of a system of administration
modelled along Islamic principles. (sharia law)
 Jihads increased on the spread of Islam in west Africa.
Islam became the main religion in west African states.
 The Arabic language was used in many of the
educational institutions in west Africa (i.e. it became
the literacy language.)
 Education institutions were introduced e.g. Timbuktu
university which became the centre of Islamic
education. The above led to the increase in the
number of people who could then read write i.e. many
people became illiterate.
 There was peace and stability because of the
formation of large, strong political units.
 It led to emergence of strong powerful leaders e.g.
Uthman Dan Fadio, Al-Haji, Ahmed Seku, Samoure,
Toure.
 Jihads also led to instability and disorder e.g. Dan
Fadies distabilised Hausa land.
 The spread of Islam led to decline of African traditions
and customary beliefs.
 Jihads led to the over throw of old dynasties e.g. Hausa
rulers were over thrown by Fadies jihad.
  The Fulani who had been a wandering group assumed
power as on upper ruling class.
 It led to the collapse of some kingdoms like Oyo Kanem
Bornu. People lost lives because of wars. Conflicts
worsened between Muslims and non-Muslims.
 Divisions among Muslim brotherhoods. Instead uniting
people, they divided themselves among brotherhoods
of Tifaniyya and Qadiriyya
 Many Muslim scholars came to west Africa.
 Sale of Muslims into slavery was stopped.
 Heavy taxes came to an end.
 Injustices ended.
 Trading posts and stations were opened up on river
Niger e.g. Lakoja. European traders.
 There was introduction of a new system of agriculture
on crops and therefore commercial plantations were
introduced in west Africa.
 It led to the rise of new men if slave origin in two
positions of responsibility e.g. Jaja of Opobo.

The Jihads in Hausa land.

The career of Uthman Dan Fodio and his role in Fulani jihads.
 Uthman was born at Maratta in Gabir in 1754. He grew up as a
street Muslim of the Maliki school. He got further education at
aghades and became a famous Muslim scholar.
 While in aghades Fodio became in touch with reformant Muslim
ideas. He kept in tosh with Quadiriyyo Muslim brotherhood. This
relationship forced him to organize a jihad Gabir. Afterwards he
returned to Gabir and settled with his family at Beyal. He carried
out tour in various places of Hausa land e.g. Kebbi and Zamfana.
 Through his preaching, he got a large number of followers. He
became a famous religious leader. His work attracted Natata’s
attention who employed him as a royal tutor to his children. This
earned him great fame and influence in Hausa land.
 In 1802, Yunfa, who had been at one time his student rose to
power. He became jealous of Fodio’s influence in Gabir. He was
enslaved by Fodio’s racial reformists ideas which were a great
threat to his power.
 He took steps to counter Fodio’s growing influence. Fadio was
forced to back to the royal count in Beyal. However, he
continued throwing verbal attacks on the oppressive, Hausa rule
and influence e.g. constriction of Muslims into pagan armies and
corruption in courts of law, oppressive, Hausa, taxation,
disrespect from sharia requirements etc.
 Yunfa took further steps to destroy Deyal to Gudu. This war was
the famous Hijroon 21st February 1804. This was the beginning of
open declaration of war by the Muslims against other believers.
 Uthman got support from the Fulani and the common Hausa
group of Tulkwas at Gudu.
 Following the above support, he was then declared as the
Suakin, Muslim of Amin Al-Mumiran meaning commander of the
faithful and therefore opened war against Yunfa and defeated
his army.
 The defeat gave him moral support. Many people from the
distant and nearby areas joined him in the struggle. He provided
intellectual guidance and inspirations to the jihadists. He was
determined to conquer the entire Hausa land in order to build an
orthodox Muslim states in the region.
 He gave out flags to trust worthy followers and leaders in various
Fulani communities to spread the jihad all over Hausa land. He
 commanded the to raise armies and carry out jihads in their
respective areas. In areas where they succeeded they became
Emris there and were instructed to set up orthodox Islam and
system of orthodox government.
 The king of Gabir was killed in 1808. That marked the success of
jihads in Hausa land. The jihadists then moved to their capital to
Sokoto and established the large and Islamic empire and
therefore the Sokoto caliphate.
 The caliphate was divided into two divisions. The western part
was ruled by Abdallah who was Fodio’s brother. The eastern part
was covered and the Sothern part was ruled by Mohammed
bello his son, he died in 1817 after establishing a Fulani
caliphate. By 1831, the old Hausa kingdom had been overthrown
and fourteen Fulani emirates under the Sokota caliphate were
established.
 These jihads led to the outbreak of other jihads e.g. Macina and
Fauta Djallon.
WHAT WERE THE EFFECTS OF FADIO’S JIHADS IN HAUSA LAND?
 It led to formation of a large and strong Fulani empire (Sokoto
empire).
 Political unity was achieved in this region due to the Islam’s
former Fulani nomads assumed power as a military class.
 The Muslim law was enforced in offices which had not been the
case before the sharia law.
 The Gabir jihad led to the outbreak of jihads in other areas i.e.
Macina, and Fauta Djallon jihad.
 It led to the collapse of Oyo and Bornu. Oyo was converted to the
emirate of Ilaria.
 In Bornu, this jihad led to the emergency of a learned Muslim
reformat Al-Kanumi who overthrew the Mai dynasty and
established Shehu dynasty.
 Peace and stability were established in Hausa land where
agricultural activities increased because of the prevailing peace
and also trade activities increased with their neighbours.
 There was loss of lives and destruction of property. This further
resulted into famine.
 The Fulani jihads resulted into sokota caliphate. The caliphate
was divided into eastern and western sectors. The western
sectors were under Abdallah with a base of Gwendu in Kebbi. The
eastern under Mohammed Bello, son of Fadio.
 The caliphate was subdivided into about 14 emirates each under
an Emir of Gwendu. All the emirates except one were Fulani but
the unity ushered in by the jihads had certain limitations as there
was no complete unity achieved in all Hausa land.
 For instance, Kebbi Gabir and Katsina were not completely
conquered therefore they continued organizing revolts against
Fulani rule.
 In general, however, the old Hausa system of administration was
retained through the Sharia law. This became the basis of Sokoto
administration while Arabic was the official written language. This
was only broken after colonialism of the area by the British.
 Revival/ restoration of staunch Muslim and other Islamic
practices like dressing, prayer, fasting etc.
 There was promotion of educational institutes built e.g. Schools,
colleges, universities, mosques, great libraries. The Tifaniyya and
Quadiriyya brotherhoods played a big role in this field.
 Dan Fadio’s jihads led to the abolition of slave trade e.g. Islam
forbade the enslavement of fellow Muslims.
  The jihads gave birth to strong leadership. The new leaders
established true Islamic judicial, social and political reforms.
 Islam became a dominant religion in the northern parts of
Nigeria. The success of this Jihad attracted many Muslim scholars
to Hausa land.
 The development of the manufacturing industry e.g. cloth
weaving, hides and Kana became an industrial town in Hausa
land.
WHY THE JIHADS IN HAUSA LAND WERE SUCCESSFULL?
 Lack of unity among the Hausa kings could not enable them
to raise a strong force against the jihads.
 Wars between the Hausa states Gabir, Kana, Katsina i.e. the
1750’s and Zenfara, Fadio and his followers isolated the
Hausa states and attacked them one after another.
 Appointment of flag bearers to different Hausa states made
them to fight and defeat Hausa kings i.e. struggle for power.
 The Fulani nomads who formed majority of the armies were
more organized militarily than the Hausa communities and
had experienced warfare because of their wandering life.
 The Fulani had stronger weapons compared to the Hausa.
The calvary was tight compared to the Hausa calvary. This
made them to attack the Hausa and defend themselves.
 The strong leadership provided by uthman, his son Bello
Abdallah. They had an organizing ability that made the Jihads
successful.
 Hausa kings waged a general war in persecution of Fulani.
This followed a warning from king Yunfa of Gabir. The Fulani
were then fighting a defensive and revenge war.
 Hausa kings had no support from their subjects especially the
peasants who were disgruntled with the oppressive taxes and
 government. The Takawa therefore supported Uthman who
had been condemning the cruel practices.
 Uthman’s intellectual role he preached and produced books
which gave his followers determination to fight Hausa
oppression.
 Muhammed Bello and Abdallah also wrote books and
pamphlets which inspired the Fulani to fight.
 Fadio who had popular support from the fellow Fulani. Out of
the 41 generals who rushed for flags to spread the jihads in
Hausa land. 13 were Fulani. He had support from his son
Bello and his brother Abdallah.
THE JIHADS IN FUTA DJALLON UNDER AL- HAJJ UMAR (1854-1864)
 The jihads were the 3rd largest Islamic movement in west Africa
which took place in Fauta Djallon area in west Africa. It was led by
Al- hajj Umar in Tokolar Muslim school. It also covered areas of
Futa Toro and Futa Bandu.
 Coastal kingdoms like the state of Wolof were also affected, the
reasons for its occurrence are the same as the jihads already
discussed above.
REASONS FOR ITS SUCCESS.
 Intellectual and scholarly experience of Umar drew him to
many supporters which contributed to his success.
 Exposure and experience from jihads, elsewhere, Umar had the
experience of Muhammad Ali’s reform movement in Egypt
which he applied among the Tokalor.
 He worked under the influence of Ali Kanem, Bello and Sekor
Ahmed. He also had experience of the Wahhabi revolt against
the Turks in Arabia. The above experience was asset when he
sorted his jihad.
  Umar had a personality which won him a number of supports.
He had influence of the tifaniyya brotherhood. He successfully
used this to spread his ideas among the Tokolor people as far
as Mandinka empire.
 Umar used the philosophy of alitarianism (equality of all). This
was opposed to elite leadership of the Quadiriyya leaders.
 The simplicity teaching of the Tifaniyya brotherhood earned
him more support. This claimed the superiority of their sect.
 He acquired modern weapons from the French which he used
to arm his fighters unlike the pagan armies.
 He had a well-trained army.
THE ROLE OF UMAR IN THE FUTA DJALLON JIHAD.
 Umar was a Tokolar born at Fauta Toro in 1794. He grew up as a
famous Muslim scholar.
 In the 1820’s he went for a pilgrimage in Mecca where he stayed
for 20 years. While in Mecca, he joined the institute of the
tifaniyya brotherhood and was appointed a caliph of tifaniyya
order in western Sudan.
 Still in Arabia, he witnessed the Wahabi revolts against the Turlos
and Mohammed Ali’s movement Egypt. He was impressed and
inspired to carry out the same in Tokolar.
 On his way back to Fauta djallon, his home place, he spent some
time in the Sokoto caliphate with Bello who inspired him to lead a
jihad. He then married some of his daughters. His contract with
Bello inspired him to lead a jihad.
 In 1838 he returned home and settled in Fauta Djallon where he
established his base as a religious and military training centre and
got a number of followers whom he was armed with fire arms
from European traders.
  This alarmed the Fauta Djallon who feared and his growing
influence/ power forced Umar into a flight (hijra)to Dinguiray in
1848.
 Accompanied by his followers, he formed a fighting force in 1854,
he declared a jihad against the Mende and the Bambana states.
He captured Segou in 1861 and 1862 following the 40 days of
meditation, he declared a jihad on massina killing Ahmed the 3rd
and went to capture Timbuktu.
 This conquer marked the climax of Tokolar empire while jihad
suppressing Massina, Al- Hajj Umar was killed in 1864. He had
however nominated his son Ahmed as his successor, it should be
noted that carry out the above, Umar was also inspired by Dan
Fado’s, Bello’s, and Sekou’s, jihads. At home, Mohammed
campaigned for Islamic reforms and was opposed by Quadiriyya
principles of intellectual leadership. This was his popular support
as he condemned the oppression of commoners, he assured them
of the benefits the jihads would bring them for example good
governance, justified fair trials and fair taxation.
 Finally, he got more support after first conquering his homeland
Fauta Toro and his tribe mates supported him.
EFFECTS OF THE JIHADS.
 After the success of Tokolar jihads Umar introduced social,
economical and political changes.
 Islam was revived under the banner of Tifanniyya brotherhood.
Islamic culture was revived e.g. veils, turbans and the Sharia law
was implemented.
 All the pagan ruling aristocracy was replaced by Muslim
leaderships e.g. Segou and Maccina states.
 Maccina, Segou and Kaarla states were defeated and the empire
of Tokolar was established in west Africa.
 With the establishment of the Tokolar empire, the emirates were
established as the title of leaders in the empire. The empire was
divided into emirates under Emir.
 There was unity among the people of the Tokolar empire. There
was economic prosperity and trade flourished.
 The jihads led to loss of lives and destruction of property.
 Tokolar unity was exploited by the Europeans especially the
French who later colonised west Africa.
 Umar encouraged establishment of qur’anic schools which
promoted literacy.
MOHAMMED BELLO’S ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE JIHAD.
 Mohammed Bello was a son and successor of Uthman Dan
Fadio who was placed in charge of the sokota caliphate. His
headquarters were at Sokota.
 From 1809 he carried out practical administration of the
caliphate where he set up a system of relationship between
Sokota and the emirates. The relationship above held the
caliphate together and ensured a degree of religious, cultural
and political units.
 He consolidated the foundation started by Fadio and together
with Abdallah exhibited military brilliance. They almost
completed the conquest of Hausa land by 1802.
 After the death of Fadio Bello became the caliph and Sultan of
sokota.
 Through able military leadership he saved the caliphate from
external attacks by the hostile Gabir, Tuareg and Bornu.
 Between 1817 and 1827, he fought hard to ensure the survival
of the caliphate. Through mature tactics and diplomacy, he
kept Sokota united. He reconciled his leadership with that of
Abdallah.
 He also established religious, social and cultural units between
Sokota and other emirates. He further sought peaceful
existence with Ali Kanem Bornu.
 He initiated for administrative reforms which contributed to
peach stability in the caliphate. He recognized the army and
stationed it on frontiers away from peasant settlements. In this
way, he ended peasant oppression by the army.
 Military rulers in local administration was replaced by Maltams
acceptable to the people.
 He ended corruption and also enforced good laws justified and
fair taxation based on the Quran and Sharia law.
 He promoted Islam and emphasized reformist ideas of the
jihads. He attached great importance to the administration
managed by Muslim scholars. He gave a great push to
education as a means of converting people to Islam.
 Bello made Sokota a famous centre of learning. His scholars’
outlook won the admiration of many schools some of whom
came to his court, made personal and intellectual contribution
to the prosperity of Sokota. These have remained a valuable
source of historical information on the jihads and the caliphate
of Sokota.
 Bello saw economical prosperity of sokota especially regarding
agriculture. He also maintained Arabic as the official language
and Hausa as the cultural language.
THE END