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istorical Society of Nigeria

A NOTE ON ATTITUDES TO THE SUPERNATURAL IN THE SOKOTO JIHADAuthor(s): Murray LastSource: Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. 4, No. 1 (December 1967), pp. 3-13Published by: Historical Society of NigeriaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41971197.

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JOURNALFTHE ISTORICALOCIETYFNIGERIA VOL.

V

NO.

DECEMBER

67

A NOTE

ON

ATTITUDES TO THE

SUPERNATURAL

IN THE

SOKOTO

JIHAD

by

Murray Last

Northern

istory

esearch cheme

Ahmadu

ello

University

F o R a study f the Sokoto ihad, partof its significanceies in seeinghow a

small

ommunity,

n

becoming

he

ruling

lite

of a

large ociety,

s

changed

by

that

society

nd how the

elite's

deals are

transformed,

rawing

loser to

the

mores

hey

re meant

o

replace;

how

in

the confrontationetween

deals

the

niceties

f

definition

an be

lost

and a

simple

ither-orake their

lace;

how,

n

short,

dealsare bent o the

men

and

women,

ld or

young,

lave

or

free,

who

have

to

live

by

them.

lsewhere have tried

o show how the Shaikh'scommu-

nity

f Muslims

n

Sokoto reacted o such

changes

on a

political

nd

legal

evel,

changing

ts

political

tructure

s well

as its

definition

f a Muslim. n

this

paper

want

to

move

to the rrational

spect

of

the

community's

orld,

not

only oemphasizehe mportant artthe rrational layed nthe ihadbutalso,

in

passing,

o raise he

problem

f howto

treat

he

supernatural

vents

eported.

It

is

not

for

me

to decidehow

anyone

will

establish

is belief

r his

scepticism

in

the

supernatural,

ut

I

think hat in these

days

of

fashionably

cientific

history

West

African

istorian hould

not avoid the

problem,

east of

all

by

implicitly

xtending

is

own rationalismo

those whose

history

e is

studying.

The Hausa

supernatural

orld

before

he

ihad

consisted

f a

largerange

f

spirits

ocated

n a

variety

f

places. Although

8th

entury

vidence

s

largely

lacking,

t is

possible

rom he

ihad

iterature

nd

byextrapolating

rom

modern

practice,

o

distinguishoughly

hree

roups (/) spirits

n

or near housesand

towns cting s patronsof the nhabitants;//) spiritsocated n rivers, ills,

wells,

tones, rees,

tones

n

trees;

iii)

spirits

ssociated

with

nimals.

Com-

binations

re

possible:

for

example,

he famous

patron

snake

of

Daura town

which

ccupied

well.

With

varying

orms nd

names,

pirits

were

present

ll

over Hausaland.1

All

of

them ould

be

venerated,

fnot

feared;

few

may

have

required

uman

acrifice;

most of them

could be invoked ither

y

devotees

seeking

emporary

ossession

y

them r

bymagicians

ntending

o

employ

hem

1

General

ccounts

re

given

n

J.

H.

Greenberg,nfluence

f

slam n

Sudanese

eligion

NewYork, 946 nd Some spectsfNegro-Mohammadanulture-contactmongheHausa", mericannthropologist,S43, 941,p.51-61P.G.Harris"Notes nYauri",

Journal

Royal

Anthropological

nstitute

LX,

1930,

p.

326-334;

. J. N.

Tremearne,

Hausa

uperstition

ndCustom

London,

913 ndThe an

f

he ori

London,

914.n

religiousractice

s

n

ther

spects

f

Hausa

ife,

ariationsetween

he

ifferent

rovinces,

are

uch hat

o one ccount olds

ood

or he

whole f

Hausaland.

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on

specific

asks.1

They

seem,

o us now

at

least,

o

constitute

chaotic

rowd

of

potentially

roublesome

eings;

nd,

although

t is

dangerous

o

exaggerate

the

nsecurity

f

the

past,

hefear of these

pirits,specially

s disasters

pproa-

ched,musthave been considerable. he compensatingdvantage f thespirits

was that

they

eemed able

to offer emedies

gainst

hosedisasters

and the

ct

of

veneration,

hich includedritual

and

sacrifice,

music and

dancing,

tself

provided

useful

motional elief

n

times

f

anxiety.

n

the

bsence

f

ancestor

worship

n

Hausaland,

pirits rovided

he

main

defence

gainst

he

unknown.2

Associated

with the

spirits

was a class

of

intermediaries,

riests,

magicians

(e.g.

mayu,

devotees

y

n

bori

-

some

served

he

political

stablishment,

ut

mayu

and sometimes

an

bori were

generally

ocial

outcasts.Yan

bori

being

associated

with

prostitutes

nd much

frequented

y

slaves,

wereof

ow

status,

but it did

not

prevent

hemfrom

eing

he

prescribers

f

medicine

or

ll levels

ofhouseholds. raining fa devotees, believe, comparativelyimple rocess,

taking

perhaps

fortnight

r a

month;

women re

the most

frequent

evotees,

but men

are

sometimes

ound

among

them.

Magicians

are

generally

f

two

kinds the boka

a traditional

ealer and

fortune-teller,

ho often

omes

from

a

family pecializing

n

thisuseful

form f

magic;

and

the

maye

a

witch,

who

workswith

particular

pirit

nd

specializes

n

capturing eople's

souls. Some

mayu

re

said to

have

been

born

witches

nd cannot

help

t

like

those

having

the evil

eye);

others

have trained or

the work.Both

men

and

women

an be

mayu

nd

they

usually

owe

allegiance,

t least

in

towns,

o

a leader

who

is

strong nough o force hem,fhewishes, odisgorgeheir ower.3

The existence

f the

spirits

as

recognized y

Muslims,

whoclassed hem s

devils

within more

comprehensible

ystem: ngels, inn

and

devils

shaitn)

are

all,

like

men,

under

the

will of

Allah,

and

the

pious

Muslim

ecure

n

his

faith

n Allah

has

nothing

whatsoever o

fear.

Nonetheless

s

Islam

was

pene-

trating

nto

a

superstitious

ociety,

t

is

not

surprising

hat

the

superstitious

element

n Islam should

have

been

emphasized.

art

of the

uperiority

f slam

and

its

attractiveness

ay

in its

greaterpower

over the

unknown:

t

offered

science,

nstead f

ritual,

s a means of

finding

rotection

and

the

ext-books

f

that

sciencewere

open

to

all. Thus the

study

f

Islamic

magic

numerology,

astrology,harms nd thevariouswaysof foretellinghe future tended o be

taken

up

by

ocal scholars

s a

way

of

replacing

he

pagan

magic

of

the boka

and

they

have

won

great

ame

for t: for

example,

n the

early

18th

entury

he

Katsina

scholar

Muhammad

al-KashnwI

was

feted

n

Egyptian

cholastic

circles

s

an

expert

nd was

askedto

write ooks

on

the

ubject;

opies

of these

i

Human

acrifice

s

today

hought

everohave een

ractised

nHausaland

roper,

nd

it s

only

or

ringe

reas,

uch s southern

okoto,

hatt s

reported

y

Tremearne:

an

of

he

ori

pp.

63,

65.

2

t

s

possible

hat

ncestorsave

een ssimilatednto he

roup

f

pirits

obe

venerated.

But lthough

ertain

ombs

rewell

emembered,

or

hemost

art raves

re

argelyneglected.

3

Their

ower

s

sometimes

epresented

s a

piece

f

ce

of

which

he

nly

aturalorm

known

n

Nigeria

s

hail).

eliefhat his

ower

s

nnate

r

cquired

eems

o

vary

ccord-

ing

o

ocality.

hough

eared,

ot

ll

mayu

ave een

utcast;

t s aid

hat

n

t

east ne

Hausa

mirate

maye

as chieved

high osition

nd

hasmarried

nto

he

oyal

amily.

4


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4/12

are

now to be found

n Moroccan and

Turkish,

s well as

Egyptian

ibraries.1

The

towns n thefrontiersf

slam,

ike

Zaria

or

Jenne,

ave

n

particular

ad

a

sinister

eputation

or

magic;

but as

the

spearheads

f conversion

hey

have

hadgreat ffect.

In the

Sokoto

community

efore

he

ihad

the

presence

f

jinn

was

well

recognized:

men

married

inn,

and a

genealogy

f some

inn

is

recorded,

n

arabic

cript,

n

the

inn

language.2

he

supernatural

orldwas felt o be

very

close ndeed:

on

more han one occasionthe

Shaikh s said

to have shown

inn

to

the

curious

mong

his

people

at

Degel,

and,

from he accountsof contem-

poraries,inn

were

familiar

ight.3

he

Shaikh at the same timewas

taking

active

measures o

stop pagan

magicalpractices

he

sent

out,

on

one

occasion,

somemen

o remove

magical

ock

nd

bury

t;

he banned

for he

attle ulani

their

ames

n the

forest;

n

the

ihad,

Bello

attacked he

major

entres f

pagan

magicwiththeresult hat heoutlying aganvillages rokeup; and thepagan

friend f one

scholarboasted

to

him how

the

spirits

uarding

nearby

own

wouldbe

strong nough

o drive he Muslims

ff.4n one

aspect,

herefore,

he

jihad

can be

seen as a continuation

f

the

ong

struggle

or

mastery

etween

the

Islamic

and

pagan supernatural

The

Shaikh,

however,

n

seeking

o overthrow he

pagan

magic,

did not

intend o

have

t

replaced

imply y

a similar

magic

based

on

old Middle

Eastern

practice,

nd

thereby

o continuen effect

he

process

f

slamizing

heterms

nd

formalities

f

essentially

agan

practices.

he

ihad

n

ts

econd

spect

herefore

was

against

such

pseudo-sciences

s

astrology, gainst

the

syncretism,

he

semi-Islam hathad spreadover thepre-jihadMuslimworldof WestAfrica.

The Shaikh

was

fighting

oth

pagans

and

lapsed

Muslims;

he was

renewing

Islam

as much

s

spreading

t.

As

teachers,

oth

the Shaikh

and, later,

Bello had a clear

attitude

owards

Islamic

magic:

sludies ike

astrology

nd

numerology

re

wrong

sometimes

the

trong

erm,

ufr

r

paganism,

s

used)

not

only

ecause

hey

re notfounded

on the

Qur'an

and

theSunnabut

lso and

this

s

mportant

ecause

t

side-steps

the

complicated

egal

controversies

because

they

distract

men

from

more

worthwhile

tudies nd can lurethem

stray.5

ittle

knowledge

n these

hings

is dangerous; nd knowledge ere, he Shaikh mplies, ould notbe anything

but

ittle,

ince

hebasic sciences ave been so

neglected.

i

Muhammad

. Muhammad

l-Kashnw,

l-Durr

l-manzwn

a-khul$at

l-sirr

l-maktm

fi

cim l-talsim

l-nujHm

finished

n 1146

H.

/1733-1734

.D.

and

publishedecently

in

Cairo).

orhis

areer,

eeA.D. H.

Bivar

M.

Hiskett

"TheArabiciterature

f

Nigeria

to

1804",

ulletin

School

f

Oriental

nd

African

tudies

1962, XV, p.

135-137.

2

Muhammad

ello

. cUthmn:

shra

wa'l-Plm.

he

haikh

lso

records

none

rather

curious

ulfulde

oem

ome

onversations

e verheard

monginn,

nd

mentionshat

e

could

ometimes

ake

n

a

iinn's

orm.

3

Gidado

b. Laima:

Raud

l-jinn.

4

Muhammad

ello:

nfq

l-maisr

ed.

Whitting,

ondon, 957),

p.

23,

31,

3-47, 4,

168.

Uthmn

.

Fd:

Taclim

l-ikhwn

rock

t

Toro).

Marginal

loss

n

Zd

b. Muha-

mmad acd:Khulsatl-qara'ihFulani ames);f.Muhammadello, p.cit,p. 23.Muhammadukur.Muhammad:iraal-ahibb'

5

Cf.

poem uoted

n

Muhammad

ello,

p.

cit.,

.

6. Certain

orms

f

stronomy

ere

sanctioned

y

the

Qur'n

nd

hadth;

ee,

for

xample,l-Suytfs

l-HVa

l-saniyya

fVl-haVa

l-sunniyya

G.

A.

L.,

I, 148)

n

which

Abdullh.

Fd

ased is

DirC l-kaVa

fi

hij

cilm

l-ha

,

a

book

written

n

1242

H.,

some wo

years

eforeAbdullh

ied.

5


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5/12

This attitude f the Shaikh

s

crucial:

he

is

trying

lways

o

instil

hefunda-

mentals

of Islam and to dissuade men and

students

rom

plunging

nto the

irrelevancies

f

egal

and

theological ophistry

n which

he

practice

f the

real

Islam is forgotten. is major earlywork, hya al-sunnalater ssued in an

abridged

orm

s

Bayn

l-bidca

l-shaitniyya,

is a

continual

epetition

f the

theme,

do as

the

Prophet

id'.

There s a

much-quoted

adith,

it

s

clearwhat

s

permitted,

nd t s clearwhat s

forbidden.

n

between

re

ambiguous

matters' 1

the

Shaikh

was

not

concerned,

n

Iyff

l-sunna

with he

ambiguous

it was

enough

for

a

Muslim

to understand

nd

do what s

permitted

nd

to

avoid

what

s

forbidden.2

The Islamic

magic

to which

he Shaikh

objects

s

of two basic kinds:

magic

as a

guide

o the

future,

nd

magic

s a

remedy.

n some texts he Shaikh on-

demns

bothkinds

generally:

ir

nd

talismans,

n

so far

s

they

nvolve

espect

forsourcesof powerotherthanAllah,are clearlypolytheisticnd therefore

pagan.

Methods of

prophecy

uch as thosebased on

writing

n the

sand,

the

study

f

the

stars,

ontactswith

pirits, bserving

he calls and

flight

f

birds,

the

casting

f

ots,

he

shooting

f

arrows t random r the use

of

the Muslim

version

f

the sortes

Virgilianae'

all

these

he

Shaikhdismisses

s

wrong;

o

is

anything

hich

nvolves

oing

o

kuhhn

i.e.

in

general

erms,

he

priests

nd

fortune-tellersf the

pre-Islamic orld).3

t

is

important

ere

o note

that

he

Shaikh s often

uoting

from

unspecified,

ut

presumably

orth African r

Middle

Eastern,

texts,

when

he

lists

objectionablepractices;

t

cannot be

assumed

hat

ll

the

practices

ere

o

be found

n

use

n

Hausaland.A

confirma-

tion of this ies n his

frequent

eferenceo

things

s

being

done

only

by

Jews

and

Christians. ad the

Shaikh

referredo the

practices

f

the

Magians,

t

would be

possible

hathe was

meaning

he

Maguzawa,

the

pagan

Hausa,

but

they

do

not

appear

significantly

n

his

writings.

t

is not

surprising

hat the

Shaikh,

unlike

ourselves,

hould

not be

interested

n

the

sociology

of the

syncretic

uslims: he was

presumably

o

expert

n

the

magical

scienceshe

condemns,

nd, besides,

o

describe

he details f

magic

s often o

promote

t.

In

general, ortune-telling

alls

under he

hadith,

a

good

Muslimdoes not

do

what does not concernhim'

the future

s the

concern f Allah

alone.4

Bello

on a more mmediatelyracticalevel, dds thatfortune-tellings wrong ince

it

may

cause

a man to

commit

uicide.5Bello

was,

however,

nterested

n the

number/letter

ystem

f

foretelling

he future

nd the

hidden

knowledge

on-

tained

n

letters,

ut n

his short

book on

the

subject,

l-Kitb

l-kfi Vl-jafr

1

Ab

Dwd:

unan, 2,

3.

2

The

haikh

nsistence

nfundamentals

ay

e

due

artly

o

he

ensef

rgency

rompt-

ed

by

he

mpending

nd f he

world: or

his

spect,

eebelow.

3

cUthmn

.

Fd:Nr l-albb.

n

one,

robablyarly, oem

n

Fulfulde,

he

haikh

describes

he

se f

stronomy

n

scertaining

uspicious

nd

nauspicious

ays

astronomy

was lso relevant

o

the

problem

f

dating

he

ppearance

f

the

Mahdi.

f.Bello's

Masa l can hn ajmalaca iSafar241. he odiacalalendarsedn stronomyasalsobeen n arly se mongarmersnd attleulani. or recenttudyor ausaland,

seeM.

Hiskett:

The

Arab tar-calendarnd

planetaryystem

n

Hausa

verse",

ulletin

School

f

Orientalnd

African

tudies

XXX,1, 1967, p.

158-176.

4

Al-Tirmidh:

amie.

4,

11.

5

Muhammad

ello:

Ujlat

l-rkib.

6


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waU-khawf

he is

mainly

oncerned

with

xplaining

he basis on which

ome

of

thedates

for

he

Mahdi's

appearance

n

the 13th slamic

century1785-1883

A.

D.)

were

calculated.

The

same

squares

were

repeated

n

his

al-Qaul

al

mukhtasar amral-imm l-Mahdi al-muntazarbut without xplanation.1

A

moredetailed

work

on

the

ways

of

predicting

he future as

writtenn 1828

by

Abd

al-Qdir

b.

Mustaf:

a student nd relative

fthe

Shaikh,

he

discusses

the

egal

tatus

f

he

various

echniques

nd n

passing

mentions ow

the

Shaikh

disapproved

f

disembodied oices

and the use

of

letter

magic.2

While he

problems

f the

community's

ealthwas

a

subject

which nterested

Bello

greatly,

he

Shaikh

devoted ittle ttention

o it:

in

Iyff

i-sunna,

e

quotes

s sunna he use

of

charms

made from he

wordsof the

Qur'an

or

the

Prophet's

harm

a

prayer),

o

long

s

they

re

notwrittenn

anything

nclean;

charms

onsisting

f non-arabic

words,

gibberish

r

symbols

re

forbidden.3

To thisMuhammadBello addsthat henames nd attributesf Allah can also

be

used,

o

long

s thewords re notcut

up

and

the etters akenout

of

order.4

One

of the

popular ustifications

or he use of

charms s that

hey

re a form

of

unspoken rayer,

hich

may

protect

hewearer

f

he

is unable

to mouth he

actualwords

n

time

f

crisis.

But

whereas

he

texts

f charms

may

often e

in

the

orm

f

prayer,

y

no means

may

ll

permissiblerayers

e

used

as charms.

Among

hekinds

f

metaphysical

uresBello discusses

the use of such invoca-

tions.

hese

consist

f

prayers

rawn rom

variety

f sourceswhichhave been

found

valuableas remedies

gainst pecific

roblems

whether

oison,

magic

or headaches.5

here

s

a considerableiterature

n the

slamic

worldon these

invocationsin Sokoto there s MuhammadTukur'sbook,

QirS

al-aibbff

and

ater,

Abd

l-Qdir

.

Gidado

collected ome

ofBello's

prayers

n

al-IktifS

another

ext

s cUmar b.

Muhammad

l-Bukhr'sMacnat

l-aibb'

Bello

warns

gainst

using

hese nvocations ithout

knowledge

r with

the

wrong

intent,

nd

it

may

have

been

n order

o

regularize

he use of

them n Sokoto

thathe

wrote ome

of his books

they

nclude

lengthy recis

f

al-Qastalln's

work

n

metaphysical

edicine,

nd

a

short

work,

dateable

o the

year

before

Bello

died,

which

was writtenfter

he visit

of

Qamar

al-Dn,

a

distinguished

Egyptian

cholar

nd

Qadiri

sufiwho

passed

on

to

Bello

some

of

his

medical

knowledge.6

Medical

studieswere

not

confined

o the

metaphysical.

hough

the Shaikh

again

only

mentionshe

Prophet's

eference

o the

drinking

f

honey,

o

cupping

and to

cauterywhich

was

normallyegal

under

ertain

ircumstances),

ello

wrote ome detailed

books based on Arab texts:

he

deals,

for

example,

with

i

Theres ome

onfusionver wo

opies

f

his

ook. ne

opy

sdated 204

1790),

hen

Bellowas

nly

ine

ears

ld;

the thers dated 235

1820).

s Muhammad

l-Hajj

as

pointed

ut,

he

haikh

n

his

Nasihat

hi

l-zamn

uotes

s his

wn book

with

similar

title,

l-Qaul

l-mukhtasar

i

calmt

l-Mahdi

l-muntazar;

ut

heres nodoubt hat he

fina

ection,

hich

ncludeshe

quares,

f

oth

he 204 nd 235

opies

s

by

Muhammad

Bello.^Kashfl-hgit a -raibdhikrnwLmaftihl-ghaib.

3

cuthmn

.

Fd:

hy

al-sunna

Cairo,

962),

p.

220-222.

4

Muhammad

ello:

Tibb

l-Nabi;

.f.

jjlat

l-rkib.

5

Muhammad

ello:

Ujlat

l-rkib.

6

Muhammad

ello;

Tibb

l-Nabi;

l-Mawrid

l-nabawiyya.

1


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7/12

remedies

or

eye

diseases,

forworms nd for

piles,

nd in

one

work,

possibly

apocryphal,

e tabulates

lphabetically

ome

diseases and

their ures.1When

Clapperton

ame

to see

him,

ello

was

particularly

nterested

n

getting

resident

doctor or okoto, inceBellohimselfeemed ohave served s such: when he

Emir

of

Zaria wrote o

say

he had

kidney

rouble,

ello

answered

with

long

letter

f

possible

ures,

ut

complains

hathe cannot

eally iagnose

hedisease

without

eeing

him.2From

the

copy

of the letter

hat

urvives

t would have

been

very

difficultor

the

Emir to have tried

ny

of

the

ures

suggested:

he

arabic

s

very

wkward nd

the

herbs

prescribed

re hard o

identify

ith ocal

plants,

ven

assuming

he Middle Eastern

plant

was

recognizable.

hough

he

Fulani are themselvesamed

or

heir

urgical

kill,

nd

the Hausa

pharmaco-

peia

is

very omplex

nd

prescribes

hemically

seful

lants,

onetheless

ello

may

well have

intended,

y

importing

he medical

knowledge

f the

central

Islamicworld, o convert he boka or to replacehimwith heMuslim cholar

learned n arabic

physical

medicine.

In

short, hen,

oth heShaikh nd Bello

expressed

heir

isapproval trongly

and

explicitly

f

almost

all

magic foretelling

he

future;

hey

condemned ll

protective

magic

except

harms

sing

he

words,

names or

attributes

f Allah

and

specialprayers

madeunder

ertain onditions

under

hese

all

uch

ommu-

nal

prayers

s

istisq'

the

prayer

or

rain).

n

their

ttitude

hey

re

orthodox,

if

rather autious nd

correct;

nd much

f

their

materials

quoted

from

nown

Middle Eastern

or North African

ources. But in

relation o the

common

practice

f

Muslim cholars

f

their

ay

and

place they

were

omewhat evolu-

tionary, ismissing

he interests f

many

of their earned

ontemporaries

s

pagan

or at best

dangerous

nd

unnecessary.

ndoubtedly

uch f the

hostility

of

contemporary

cholars

mong

the

establishment as

due

to their ivelihood

and

prestige eing

threatenedn this

way.

The Shaikh's

position

within his ame

society

was also based on the

super-

natural.A

distinction, owever,

as to be

made between

ccult

power

and

spiritual

uthority,

etween

magic

and miracle: he

distinctionies firstn

the

differenceetween

eeking knowledge

f Allah and

seekingknowledge

f

forces ther

han

Him,

and, second,

n

the

nature nd

quality

f the

purpose;

'actions are judged by intentions'.3ufism, r theseeking f knowledge f

Allah

had.

over

the

centuries,

hough

not

without

tiff

ispute,

een

accepted

as an

orthodox

ubject.

As an esoteric

ubject,

owever,

ufism

ttracted

many

of

themore

peculative

cholars,

nd it was

under he

guise

f

sufismhat cien-

ces

such as

numerology eveloped.

The

Shaikhwas

moderate ven n

sufistic

practices

ike

the

retreat,

nd he thus

represented

more

orthodox,

ess

exotic

branch

f ufismhan

may

havebeen

fashionable

n his

time.

1

cUthmn

.

Fd:

hy

i-sunna

loc.

cit.

Muhammadello:

Jibb

l-hayynal-Qaul

al-manthr

ibayndwiyat

illat

l-bsr;

anbh

l-ikhwnal

dwiyat

l-didn;

alkhis

al-maqsidl-mujarradaVl-admyal-farida

2

D.

Denham H.

Clapperton:

arrative

f

Travelsnd

DiscoveriesnNorthnd

Central

Africa

London,

828),

I,

pp.

335,

42, 51,

73.

Muhammadello o

Amr

akzak,

n

c

Abd

l-Qdir

-

Gidado,

Maimcl-rasil

letter).

3

Ab

Dwd, p. it., 3,

0.

8


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8/12

But the

reputation

f the Shaikh was

not

solely

based

on his

sufic

bility.

Through

is

ong years

of

studying

nd

teaching

he basic

Islamic

sciences,

e

had

acquired

onsiderable

uthority

orhis

earning

nd

piety.

These

qualities

are themselvesnough o makeforrespect,ndevery cholar n somedegrees

respected

orhis

potential

s an

intermediary

n

the

earch ordivine ssistance.

The

Shaikh

throughout

is life

had

lived

simply,

with

only

a fewclothes nd

with

plain

food

and

accommodation;

part

from hort

periods

f

solitude,

e

had once

gone away by

himself

or

while

nto

the desert'.1

n his

scholastic

training

e had received

large

number

f the

cademic hainsof transmission

that

ink a

student

o his

teacher nd

thusreach

back to the first uthor.

The

Shaikh

put

great

tore

by

these

hains,

nd tried o

revive

he

practice

f recor-

ding

hem

n

writing:

he

practice

was

already

ll but dead

in

the

Maghrib,

nd

it

seems t

had

lapsed among

the

majority

f

scholars

n

Hausaland.2

More

commonlyransmittedere he hains ecordingstudent'smysticalnheritance,

and the

Shaikh ookcareto

pass

on to

his own studentshe

mystical

enealogies

in

the

Qdiriyya

nd the other

arqas

which

he had

received.3

he

authority

given

by

such an accumulation f inkswas

very

eal:

they

ink he

tudent

ot

only

to

his

own immediate

eacher

ut also

to all his

predecessors,

nd

their

spiritual lessing

s

transmittedo him.The Shaikh's nheritancehus

brought

him nto

mystical

ontactwith

he

great

aints f

slam,

nd an

important

esult

of this was his

sei

es

of

visions

of the Shaikh

cAbd

al-Qdir

al-Jailn,

he

founder

f the

Qdiriyya

nd

spiritual

ather f the ufi

ommunity

n

general.

Although

he

actual

meetings

with

cAbd

al-Qdir

al-Jailn

were

nfrequent,instructionsre said to have been

regularly

eceived. t is

important

ot to

underestimatehe nfluence f

these

nstructions,

owever rrational

hey

may

seem.The

most amous

nstance,

hich s

reported

y

theShaikh

himself,

s

the

occasion when

the Shaikh

was invested

with he swordof Truth

by

cAbd

al-

Qdir

al-Jailn imself:

his,

nd his

poem

about the

same

time n

praise

of

cAbd

al-Qadir

marking

he

arming

f the

community

en

years

before

he

emigration, ay

have been a

decisive

tep

n the

Shaikh'srealization hat

ihad

was

inevitable.4

nother

ritical

ision eems

o

have

been the nstruction

ot

to make

the

emigration

o Iname it was received t an

unspecified

ime

before

theemigrationf February 804,butno reasons re givenforthechangeof

plan.5

1

Gidado

. Laima:

Raud

l-jinn.

2

cUthmn

.

Fd:

Asnd

l-faqr

he

quotes

l-Hasan .

Mascd

n the

ituation

n

the

Maghrib).

he

nterest

as ot ustained

y

ater

cholars,

erhaps

ecausehemost

alued

chains

ere

hose

eading

ack o the haikh

imself;

ut

oday

cholarsre

returning

from

he

ilgrimage

ith

cademic

hains

nd

icences

although

ow

hey

re

eady rin-

ted

n

mall

ooklets,

ithhe

tudent's

ame obe nsertedn nk

ater),

nd

t s

possible

thatnterestill

erevived.

3

The

lecture

otes'

f

studentf he haikh

t Sifawa ave

urvived:

hey

ontain

he

various

mystical

enealogies

ransmitted

y

the Shaikh

cAbdullh

.

Muhammad

al-KanawI:

35

'ira]).

he

haikh

ad ver

hree

undred

tudents

t

Sifawat

the

ime

(Muhammadaii

b. cAl:

Risala).

4cUthmn.Fd:Wird.Abdullh.Fd: azyinl-waraqted.Hiskett,badan,963),

pp.

1-54. he

ision

robably

ook

lace

fter

is

eriod

f

etreat:tmarked

he

piritual

crisis

sually

xperienced

tthe

ge

f

orty,ollowing

he

rophet's

xample.

wo

books

were

lsowritten

y

Bello n

his

xperiences

n

his ortieth

ear

it

s

perhapsignificant

that

ello,

who

eldom ates

is

books,

hat

ear rote,

nd

dated,

t

east

ight).

5

Gidado .

Laima:

Raud

l-jinn.

Abd

l-Qdir

.

al-Mu?taf:

aufat

l-Sdn.

9


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In

addition o

his

being

guidedby

visions,

he

Shaikh

s

also credited

ith he

power

of

prayer

o

influencevents.

he

mostnotable

xample

n

the

ihad

was

during

he

ong-drawn-out

attle

t Alwassa: Bello's

account

oes not

explicitly

make t miracle,houghn Gidado's aterversiont s isted mong heShaikh's

karmt.1

idado

also mentions he

Shaikh's

knowledge

f the ecret

ame

of

Allah

which onfers

mmense

upernatural

ower.

Although

here s no

record

of his

using

he

power,

e

helped

Bello receive

t

himself,

nd Bello toldGidado

thathe

had

himself

sed

t,

with

reat

ffect,

wice

uring

is

ampaigns.2

The Shaikh's

miracles,

s witnessed nd sometimes

ecorded

y

his contem-

poraries,

were numerous.He

is

said to

have travelled

reat

distances

n

an

instant itherwith omeone r

to

help

Muslim

n

difficulty;

e

is

said

to

have

had

powers

ver

inn,

animals nd

rainclouds;

o know

the

past

and

thefuture

and to be awareofwhat

s

going

n

simultaneously

n

other

arts

f

the

ountry.

Theseare standard ttributesfMuslim aints, ut the ocal detailwithwhich

they

re

recorded

makes t

unlikely

hat

hey

have been

copied

from

lassical

sources.

Perhaps

the most

striking

f

the Shaikh'smiraculous

nterventions

n

the course of the

ihad

was

during

he

difficult

iege

of Kannu

town,

which

suddenly

aught

fire.

Gidado

reports

hat the

Shaikh

was seen over

the town

while t the ame

time

mentioning

he ncident o our

mother',

ossibly

is

wife

Maimna.3This

is

the

only

miracle f

the Shaikhdescribed s

such

by

Muha-

mmadBello.4

t

is

striking

ow ittle ttention ello

pays

to his

father's

mira-

cles

in

particular

while

saying

n

general

hat his father

erformed

everal.5

The

Shaikh,however,

ook

pains

to

deny ny ability

o

fly

r walk

on water:

onlyreal saints, e says, an do that.6 t is indeed rue hathadtheShaikhused

all the

powers

redited o him he

ihad might

ot have

been so

near

to disaster:

for

example,

t

Baure near

Alkalawa,

t was thanks o Bello alone

that

the

Shaikh

scaped

death.7

While the

attitude f the Shaikh and his son towards heir

miracles

eems

rather mbivalent

though

here s

nothing slamically

rong

n

acknowledging

such divine

gifts),

is

followers ere

deeply

mpressed.

As

Gidado

says

n the

introductiono his

book on themiracles f Muhammad

Bello,

wonders

uch

s

he

is

about

to

recount

nly

ncrease he nthusiasm f

the faithfulnd

thus

re

useful n promotinghereligion.8Withoutdoubt the effectf the Shaikh's

reputation

ust ave

been

considerable,

ot

only

n

attracting

ollowers

ut

also

in

demoralizing

pponents.

he

danger,

s theShaikh

mplies enerally

n

Ihy

al-sunna

is

that

mpostismay

make

false laimsor

magicians

make

bad use

of

1

Muhammadello:

nfq

l-maisr,

.

100.

2

Gidado .

Laima:

p.

it.

3

Gidado . Laima:

l-Kashf

l-bavn.

4

Muhammadello, d. it.. . 113.

5

Muhammadello, d. cit.. d. 41. 187 writtenn 1812.

6

cuthmn

.

Fd

Tahdhr

l-ikhwn

in

ddica

l-mahdiyyat

l-maucdat

khir

l-zamn.

This

s late

ook,

inished

n

1229/1814,

ndwritten

artly

o refute

hose ho umoured

that ewas heMahdi. ere e smore eticentbout ismiraculousowershann omeofhis arlieroemsnFulfulde.

7

Gidado . Laima

al-Kashf

-bayn.idado, robably

or

ersonal

easons,eproduces

some tories

hat

mply

ello's

uperiority

ver he

haikh.

hat

uperiority

s no

onger

suggestedy

radition

oday.

8

Gidadob. Laima:

l-Kashf a'1-bayn.

10


8/10/2019 41971197.pdf

10/12

their

powers,

nd so mislead

he faithful:1

t is

wrong

o belittle

miracle

f t

is

one,

and

wrong

o

believe t

if t s not

yet

ecognizing

real

miracle s diffi-

cult.

t

is,

I

think,

ather

s

a

cautious

uspension

f

udgment

hat he

mbiva-

lenceof the Shaikh ndBello,and as MrEl-Masri has pointedout,thecomp-

lete

reticence

f the Shaikh's

brother,Abdullh,

oncerning

miraclesmust be

seen.

If

the

spiritual

eputation

f the Shaikh was

formidable,

ts

importance

was

enhanced

y

the

widespread

xpectation

hat heworldwas

nearing

ts end and

that he

Mahdi was

soon

to

come.2The Shaikh

was

believed

y

many

o be

the

Mahdi, or,

in one

version,

he

eleventh

aliph,

the

last

beforethe Mahdi.3

Certainly

e was

recognized

s the reformer

estined

or

he thirteenthslamic

century.4

lthough

e denied

being

the

Mahdi,

n

one

poem

he does

acknow-

ledge

ome

of the imilarities

etween

hem,

while

n

others

e

refers

o

himself

as the fore-runnerftheMahdi;5 in the earlypart of the ihad he toldhis

supporters

hat

he

power

stablished

y

themwould last till he

Mahdi

came.6

As

prophecies

aidtheMahdiwould

ppear

n

twenty

r

sixty ears'

ime,

his

was

no idle

claim,

oming

s

it did from

he

most earned nd

saintly

cholar f the

land.7

t is

likely

hat

the

community's

opes

were

re-inforced

y

its difficult

position

n

Hausa

society,

he

community

eing

both

predominantly

ulani

and

strictly

uslim the

persecution

nd ostracism hat

eem to have been nc-

reasing uring

he

years

preceding

he

ihad

musthave

made

millenial

rophecies

still

more ttractive.

ith uch an

atmosphere

hereforet s littlewonder hat

thecall to

repent

made such an

impact;

and thebelief

n

the

approaching

mil-

leniummust e counted

mong

he ausesofthe

ihad's

success.

It is

necessary,

owever,

o

try

o

distinguish

etween

he

attitudes f the

jihad

leaders and those of their

followers;

he

evidence

for both has to be

1

cUthmn

.

Fd:

hya

i-sunna,

p.

232-233.

2

The

xpectation

as

not,

f

ourse,

onfined

o

Hausaland:

.f.,

or

imbuktu/Masina,

al-Mukhtr

.AbiBakr l-Kunt

died

811),

l-Tarif

quoted

n

Umar .

Sacd,

imh

Cairo

926-1927,I,

16);

nd

he

ate ecensionf

Trlkhl-Fattsh

Paris, 964), .

16,

wherel-Thaclab

d. 1468)

s

quoted

bout

13th

Islamic)

entury

eformer

n

Takrur.

3

LetterfYsuf .

Usma

o the

haikh,

n

cUthmn

.

FdL

Tahdhr

l-ikhwn

and

letter

fMuhammadello oAhmad

obbo,

whereello

uotes

l-uytI

nd he

haikh's

own

laims

n

Nairn

l-ikhwn.

4Ab wd,unan36, ): "Surelyllahwill aisep or his ommunity,t he eginning

of

every entury,

ne who

will

reformheir

eligion':

quoted

rom

uhammad

li,

Religion

f

slam,

ahore,

950, .

263).

n some

fhis

poems

n

Fulfulde,

he

haikh

refersohimselfs a

'mujddid';

e

s

frequentlyiven

hat

itle

y

Bello

nd

thers,

n

additionomore onorificitles

uch s

Nr

l-zamn'

'Light

f he

ime').

5

The ulfulde

oems

o

whichreferre hose ranslatednto ausa nd ue

obe

publish-

ed

by

he

Gaskiya orporation,aria,

with he

ponsorship

f

he

Northern

inistry

f

Education.

am

greatly

ndebtedothe ooks

Manager

f he

orporation

or

llowing

me

o

see

the

ranslations

n

manuscript.

notherausatranslationfone

poem

as

already

een

ublishedy

R. A.

Adely,

.

Mukoshy

nd

thers,

ithn

English

ransla-

tion nd

ommentary,

n heResearchulletinCentre

f

Arabic ocumentation

Ibadan),

1966,11,

.

6

Muhammad

ello:

nfq

l-maisr

pp.

104-105.

7

For

he arious

rophecies

nd alculationsbout he

hirteenth

enturyy

Abd

l-Wahhb

al-Shacrn,Abd l-Rahmnl-Thaclab,b'l-Hasanl-Ashcar,bn l-Arab,l-Sharnb,l-Hasanl-Biiblndothers,eefor xample,Uthmn. Fd, i-Naba'

al-hdil ahwl l-imm

l-Mahdiand Muhammad

ello, fdat

l-ikhwn

al-Qaul

al-mukhtaar

al-Kitb

l-kfif

ilm

l-jafr a'1-khawfi.

ompare

hese

ith

he

iscussion

of

earlieralculations

n

bn

Khaldn's

uqaddima

trans.

.

Rosenthal,

ew

York,

1958),

h.

T,

ections

1 & 52.

11


8/10/2019 41971197.pdf

11/12

adduced

from

he

writings

f

the Shaikh nd Bello. That

both of

them

hared

in

the

millenial

opes

s shown

n their ooks

the

writing

f which

covers

he

period

from

he

Shaikh's

preaching

t

Degel,

to the ast two

years

before

Bello

died. The booksreveal n awareness fthegreatdiversityfpropheciesbout

the dates

of the Mahdi's

coming,

nd an

even

greater

oncern or

meticulous

accuracy

n the

ignsby

which

he Madhi

was

to

be

recognized.1

n the

general

excitement

here

were false alarms:

apart

from he Shaikh

t least two others

north f Sokoto

were claimed

o be the

Mahdi.2

Although

ello tried o ensure

through

is lieutenants

n Adamawa

thatthe

road to the

East was

kept open

for the eventual

migration,

oth

he and his

successorAtikuwereat

pains

to

prevent

mass

exodus before

he

right

ime.3

Popular

excitement

eems to

have been

greater

han

the

eaders

could

control:

Bello wrote book

against

the

pilgrimage

eing

performed

nder he

wrong

onditions,

ut the

Emirsof

thetime wereunable to dissuadea number f individual cholars,ometimes

with their students

nd

other

followers,

rom

starting

n the

pilgrimage.4

In

short,

while

the Shaikh

saw himself

s a

precursor

f

the

Mahdi with

special

divinely

anctioned

ole

n

renewing

he

faith

n

the western

udan,

his

supporters

levated

him to

a

miracle-working

aint: his

tomb,

ven n the

ife-

time f

Bello,

was

a

place

for

prayers

nd

meditation,

nd

in the

days

when he

pilgrimage

as almost

mpossible

t was

regarded

s an alternative

ct of

piety

to visit

t.5

The

miraculous lement

n

the

Shaikh's

ifehas tended

o

be

empha-

sized n

the

popular

memory,

nd

his

name,

and that

of

Bello,

are

sometimes

associatedwithpracticesnd texts hat heywould have condemneds magical

and

pagan.

The distinction

owever,

t least

in

intentions,

hat

separates

he

magical

from he

miraculous

s

still

bserved,

ven

f

opinions

bout

certain ndividuals

are dividedon

the

interpretation

o

be

put

on

their

ntentions.

oday

this s

not

simply

n academic

problem.

Although

he

basic

disapproval

f

the

occult

scienceshas been continued

ince the time

of

the

Shaikh,

nd

the activities

f

major

scholars n thisdirection

ave

been

curtailed,

strology,

umerology

nd

1

For

brief

ccountf

Mahdist

heory

nd he okoto

Mahdist

iterature,

eeM.A.

Al-Hajj

"The hirteenthenturynMuslimschatology",tesearc/ulletinCentrefArabicocu-mentationIbadan), 967,II, 1.

2

Hamma

Magunga

s referredo as

a Mahdistlaimant

n

cUthmn

.

Fd,

ahdhir

l-

ikhwn

and

n

cAbd

l-Qdir

.

al-Musaf: auct

l-afkr.

e was

ater

xecuted.

cUmar

.

CA1I,

Kunta

f

Kidal,

n

his

book,

ashf

l-ghumma

says

hatMuhammad

Jailanilaimed

o

be

he

Mahdi:

f

Jailanirhis ollowers

ver

id

o,

hemust ave

enied

it

ater,

hen

e

becamellied

o

Sokoto.

3

Letters

, 5,8,

n

cAbd

l-Qdir

.

Gidado,

Majmc

l-rasil;

rom idado . Laima o

M.

Adama,

nd notherrom b

Bakr

tikuo

Adama

both

ncatalogued

in

A.

B.

U.,

Zaria).

4

Muhammad

ello

Tanblh

l-rqid.

arge

umbers

f

pilgrims

ho

ound

he oad othe

East

blocked,inally

ettled

n

Adamawa.

migration

ontinued

hroughout

he

entury,

culminating

nthe

eriod

f

he

udanese

ahdiyya

nd

he

efeat

y

he

ritishf

the

SarkinMusulmi

ttahiru

.

Ahmad

t

Burmiin903. f.S.

Biobaku

M.A.

al-Hajj:

"The

Sudanese

ahdiyya

nd

the

Niger-Chadegion"

n

. M.

Lewis

ed.):

Islam n

Tropical fricaI. A. I. /Oxford,966, .455T.5Bello isitedhe haikh'somb efore isdeath

Gidado

.

Laima,

ashfl-hijb

.

The

tomb

s still

isited,speciallyygroups

f

women ho ome

ong

istances

n

foot,

though

he

haikh

xpressed,

n orthodox

rounds,nly

ery

imited

pproval

f the

building

nd

isiting

f

ombs

Ihy

l-sunna

p.

1

8fT.).

ore

adical

movements

ike

he

Tijniyya

r

Wahhbiyya

orbidheirmembers

isiting

ombs.

12


8/10/2019 41971197.pdf

12/12

the other

magical

or

semi-magical

ractices

lourish

mong

the less

learned.

Similarly,

iracles re

still

recognized

the ate Sardauna of Sokoto

n

popular

belief

had before

his

death

already

performed

number f

karmt

and his

powersas a saint wereregarded y some as formidable; r again,there s a

prominent

ndustrialist

n theNorth

oday

who

s

believed o be

able to

appear

and

disappear

t

will.Pure

magic

lso

continues,

ince he

aw,

whetherecular

or

Muslim,

takes no

cognisance

of

magicians:

they

are restrained

nly by

popular

ounter-measures.or

instance,

few

years go

a well-known

olitician

was unconscious

or everalhours

fter

eing

truck

own

by

a

magician,

who

was

only

forcibly

nd with

great

difficulty

ersuaded

to release

his

soul. I

suggest

ow that he

supernatural

an

pose problems

orthe

political

cientist

as well as forthe historian:

n

analysis

f the

recent

isturbances

n

Northern

Nigeria,

or

xample,

hould nclude

t least an

awareness

f the

supernatural

elementnvolved.

To omitthe

supernatural

s

a convention

f

history.

he

supernatural

s

put

on

a

par

with hance:

t

is not

predictable,

nd

for

general nderstanding

f

the trends f

history,

ot

significant.

suggest,

owever,

hatwe

should

record

reports

f

supernatural

ntervention

ot

so much

as events

ua

events,

ut as

influences

ffecting

en's decisions.That

men

are

influenced

s

clear;

visions

have

altered r confirmed

lans,

fear of an

opponent's

magic

has

changed

man's

life,

udden

sickness

r some mischancehas been

attributed

o

magic

and thushas

ruined

riendships

r even

precipitated

ar.

Whether

t is consi-

dered s the

cause

of

an attitude r

merely

s

evidence

or n

already xisting

attitude,

tudents n thefieldmust

mpartially

ecord he nterventionsfthe

supernatural

s

believed

n

by

the

people

whose

history

e

study

and

whose

accounts f

their

history

we

in

other

respects ccept.

The

significance

ay

ie

not n the details

of the

event,

ut n its

context:

ow

t

happened,

r

even

f

t

happened,may

be less

mportant

han he

belief

n

its

having

happened

nd the

consequences

f that belief.

13

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