Unbelief in The Western Sudan 'Uthmān Dan Fodio's Ta'līm Al-Ikhwān

Unbelief in the Western Sudan: 'Uthmn dan Fodio's "Ta'lm al-ikhwn"
Author(s): B. G. Martin
Source: Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Oct., 1967), pp. 50-97
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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Unbelief in the Western Sudan:
'Uthman dan Fodio's "Ta'lim al-ikhwan"
B. G. Martin
Between 1811 and 1814, 'Uthman dan Fodio (c. 1754-
1817) wrote a series of short works which he addressed to
the members of his community.' Some of these are: Tanbih
al-ikhwdn and Siraj al-ikhwdn (1811), Najm al-ikhwan
(1812), Ta'lim al-ikhwdn and Shams al-ikhwdn (1813), and
Tahdhir al-ikhwdn (1814). These works deal with various
subjects of interest to the community, from Muslim doctrine
on music to points of Maliki law, and to polytheism and
syncretism. The immediate impetus for the writing of these
little treatises was the dispute with Bornu over the doctrinal
justification of the Fulani jihdd, a controversy which was as
disturbing to the Fodiawa as it was unexpected, and which
upset their efforts to create, or rather recreate, what they
believed to be an ideal Islamic state, based on the proper
observance of the revealed law of Islam. Hence the com-
position of these six works (and others), written to justify
the jihdd to their own following.
The fourth work in this series, Taelim al-ikhwdn bi'l-umuir
allati kaffarnd biha muluk al-Suddn alladhina kdnu min ahl
hadhihi'l-bulddn ('Instruction for the brethreninthose matters
in which we have designated the kings of the Sudan as
unbelievers, those of them who were from the men of these
lands'), was completed in December 1813, and is chiefly
concerned with the double question of unbelief (kufr),
and the practice of branding others as unbelievers (takfir).
In this matter, 'Uthman dan Fodio follows the doctrinal
lines laid down by an earlier Muslim reformer, preacher,
50
and politician, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Maghili,
from Tilimsan or Tlem?en in Western Algeria, in his two
books - Misbah al-arwdh fa usul al-falda - a manuscript
which has recently been found in Ribat - and the better
known As'ilat ajwibat al-Askfyd.2 The Shehu gives a full
account in the Ta'lim al-ikhwdn of the principal points of
his own theological political opinions, particularly about
polytheism and unbelief. He quotes widely from obscure
as well as famous Muslim writers in support of these views.
He then concludes the work by tracing to al-Maghll his
personal chain of affiliation, through the Qadiriya tariqa.
At present, only a single manuscript of this opus is known
to the translator, Ms. 403 of the Sokoto Town Council
Library in Northern Nigeria.3 It was brought to his at-
tention by Professor H. F. C. Smith of the History Depart-
ment of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Northern
Nigeria,4 and the Ms. was obtained for him through the
efforts of Dr. D. M. Last of the same department. The
manuscript is written in a clear jihddi hand in the local
brownish ink, with some rubrications here and there. It
reads fairly well, with a few minor lacunae in places, and
a number of auditional and scribal errors. It was probably
copied quite recently, although neither the date nor the
copyist's name appear anywhere in the manuscript. The
dimensions of the original are 18 x 23.5 cm., and there are
19 folios, each having 14-16 lines to the page, written on a
thick cream-coloured paper without watermarks. The fact
that this manuscript comes from Sokoto, 'Uthman's ca-
pital, suggests that other manuscripts of the Taelim al-ikkwdn
may eventually be found there.5
The literary origins of this little work, or more accurately,
pamphlet, are reasonably clear. In Muhammad Bello's
Infdq al-maysur fa ta'rikh bildd al- Takruir, a long letter from
'Uthman dan Fodio to Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanimi
of Bornu is quoted in full. This letter includes many passages
which are verbally so close to some of the statements made
in the Ta7lim al-ikhwdn, that it seems certain that this work
is a more mature version, an amplified restatement and
rewriting by 'Uthman dan Fodio, of the views and examples
which he had earlier expressed in his letter to al-Kanimi.
It is known that 'Uthman dan Fodio used to lecture his
51
followers on doctrinal points and the ideology of his jihad,
so it may be that this work represents the main points of an
oral original recorded by a secretary.
One of these passages, having to do with allegedly pagan
sacrifices performed by the inhabitants of Bornu, appearing
in the Whitting edition of Infdq al-maysur on p. 170 can be
compared with Taelim al-ikhwan, folio 1 lb, lines 10-15.
Another striking passage, in both cases involving a quotation
from the Kaldmzya qasida by Ahmad al-Jaza'irl can be seen
in Infdq al-maysur, p. 172, and also in Ta'lim al-ihwan,
folio 4b, lines 4-9. The last instance, the bad example of a
man who prostrates himself before an idol in order to obtain
money, appears both in Infdq al-maysur, p. 173, and this
work, folio 14b, lines 13-14. These are by no means the only
passages, similar both in their wording and in the expression
of ideas, between the letter of 'Uthman dan Fodio quoted in
the Infdq al-maysuir and the Taelim al-ikhwdn. Of course the
same subjects recur many times in the Shehu's composi-
tions, but a comparison of the passages quoted, verbally so
close, will show that the one served as model for the other.
As the war between Sokoto and Bornu is the immediate
background to the composition of this pamphlet, a short
account of events between 1808 and 1812, when hostilities
ceased, may be appropriate lhere.
Once the news of the Shehu'sjihdd against the Habe kings
reached the population of the region situated between Sokoto
and Bornu, various Fulani groups in the vicinity of Shira,
Auyo and Teshena attracted other Fulani from the territory
of Bornu. For some time, these Bornu Fulani had not had
very happy relations with the Mais of Bornu. The presence
of the Fulani leader, Ibn 'Abdulr (or Bi 'Abduir) also drew
them, and when these Fulani attempted to leave the confines
of Bornu, they came into conflict with Mai Ahmad. Think-
ing that the Fulani movement from Bornu was likely to
increase the numbers of a potentially hostile army, Ahmad
wrote to 'Uthman dan Fodio asking him to explain the
emigration of the Fulani from Bornu territory. Muhammad
Bello replied to this letter, but by the time his answer reached
the Mai, he was already fighting the Fulani in the Bornu-
Kano frontier region. A pro-Sokoto force under Ardo
Lerlima (see Ta lim al-ikhwan, folio 13b) now blocked the
52
path of the Galadima, the Bornu official or general in charge
of the Western Marches who was going to the aid of the
Hausa rulers of Daura, Kano, and Katsina. By then, these
princes were resisting the Sokoto Fulani.
Ardo Lerlima halted the Galadima's force, killed him,
and scattered his men. After this, war between Bornu and
the Fulani was inevitable. ('Uthman dan Fodio gives a
different version of these events in Taclam al-ikhwdn, folios
13b-14a). When the Fulani on the Bornu frontier wrote
to the Shehu, asking about the situation in Bornu, and
suggesting that Bornu was ripe for the jihdd, the Shehu
agreed, and authorized them to attack Bornu. The charges
mentioned in the Taelm al-ikhwdn and in the Infdq al-
maysuir, recorded by Muhammad Bello - that Bornu was
no true Islamic country, but a land of unbelief, and that
Bornu had attempted to send aid to the Habe kings - now
became the official justification for hostilities. Moreover,
in the course of the Galadima's expedition to the west,
he had attacked the pro-Sokoto Fulani communities on the
frontier, who had come out to defend themselves (see
Ta'lim al-ikhwdn, folio 13b).
Having declared the land of Bornu suitable for a jihad,
the Shehu sent two armies against the capital of Mai Ahmad,
Birnin 'Gazargamu, which was taken in August, 1808.
As the Mal seemed unable to make any suitable reply to
the Shehu on the ideological plane, Muhammad al-Amin
al-Kanimi now initiated the famous correspondence be-
tween Bornu and Sokoto, asking the Shehu and Mubammad
Bello to show precisely why they wished to attack a hitherto
friendly Muslim state, which could not reasonably be
claimed to be in a condition of 'unbelief'. At the same time,
the military power of Bornu revived: the Fulani were
expelled from the capital early in 1809 and the Fulani leader
at Birnin 'Gazargamu was killed. The Sokoto leaders now
began to realize that a full-scale conquest of Bornu was
beyond their abilities. They were ready to accept a truce
and to keep such gains as they had made, rather than
continue a military stalemate. Hence, fighting had ceased
by the end of 1812, but in 1813, when the Taelim al-ikhwdn
was written, the relations between Bornu and Sokoto were
still a live issue, and one which exercised the minds of the
Shehu's followers.
53
In an ideological war of this sort, correct beliefs are
essential. For this reason, the question of what was belief
and what unbelief could not be avoided. It had to be
precisely defined: this is the reason the Ta'lim al-ikhwdn
was written - to explain the twin question of kufr and
takfar. This was a matter about which 'Uthman dan Fodio
wrote more than once, to be sure: it formed part of the early
work Masd'il muhimma ('Important questions'), written
even before the jihdd. It was touched on again by 'Uthman
dan Fodio in the Wathzqat ahl al-Suddn, a second early work
which has been published by A. D. H. Bivar. In the Wathiqa,
two points are made by 'Uthman, namely, that the con-
sensus of the community (ijmd') forbids the designation of
Muslims as unbelievers, which is an innovation (bid' al-
tamdl), or an action amounting to disobedience (ma'isi).
Over these two important points, eUthman opens an attack
not only on the 'unbelievers' of Bornu, but also on a broader
group of opponents, those at home in Sokoto and in the
Hausa states whose theological views are faulty. These two
points are taken up again in an important work which is as
yet not published in full, although it has been partially
investigated by Mervyn Hiskett.8 This work, the Nasa'ih
al-ummat al-Muhammadzya, is divided into four sections, and
the ideas in it were later expanded in 'Uthman's major
works, 1hya' al-Sunna and Baydn wujiub al-hijra. As the dis-
cussions and definitions of certain theological groups ap-
pearing in the Nasd'ih al-ummat al-Muhammadzya run pa-
rallel and are relevant to many of those mentioned in the
Taelim al-ikhwdn, I should like to mention some of the
definitions discussed in this most important book.
In his preamble to the Nasa'ih al-ummat al-Muhammadaya,
the Shehu makes it clear that the book was written to give
an account of the principal theological factions within
the umma of the Western Sudan. Several of the same factions
are mentioned in the Ta'lim al-ikhwdn, but in less detail.
In the Nasd'ih, 'Uthman draws distinctions among four
'satanic parties' (al-firaq al-shay[anaya): (1) the 'party'
which disclaims the existence of any sort of unbelief in the
Western Sudan, (2) the 'party' which brands Muslims as
unbelievers for what it considers their improper beliefs,
(3) the 'party' which designates Muslims as unbelievers
54
because they are disobedient, and (4) the 'party' which
follows blameworthy traditional customs. Here the second
and third parties are of the greatest interest, as the Shehu
declares that they are the 'parties of takfir'. These are the
people whose acts and views are so roundly condemned in
the first twelve folios of the Ta'lim al-ikhwdn.
Nowhere in his analysis of the doings of the second party
does 'Uthman make it clear who they are, or what their
precise theological viewpoint is: the entire section is filled
with explanatory and condemnatory quotations from various
authorities, such as Qunawl's commentary on the 'Umda
of Nasafi, Khalil's Mukhtasar, Ghazzll's Iljam al-'awam
min 'ilm al-kalam, Bukharl, Muslim, Nawawl, Ibn Taymiya,
and many others, seeming to put the members of the 'second'
party in the wrong because of their practices. In general
these citations indicate that the practice of calling other
unbelievers for insufficient reasons can, under certain
circumstances, be itself considered as unbelief, and that such
practices are universally condemned. In summing up the
evil practices of the second party, the Shehu declares:
'As to the specious argument of this second party, which
leads it to brand common Muslims as unbelievers, but
without judging them for their faith, [these are things]
which they have found in their books on theology ]'ilm
al-kalam], namely that whoever believes this thing and that
is an unbeliever, whoever is ignorant of such and such a
thing is an unbeliever. [However], that a person [or
persons] have thought evil things about the beliefs of the
common Muslims and have stigmatized them as un-
believers before they had come to the point that they
themselves were convinced that they were [true] be-
lievers... They designated the common Muslims as un-
believers because they had not [yet] attained that stand-
ing, and they also designated as unbelievers those who
did not [similarly] designate them as unbelievers for their
views. [In fact, they say] that those who have not [so]
stigmatized thenm for unbelief are denying what is con-
tained in the books of those learned in orthodoxy. Do
these misguided and ignorant idiots not know that
branding persons as unbelievers is done only when such
persons manifest their unbelief outwardly by [their]
speech or actions ?'
55
As to the third party, the party which brands persons as
unbelievers because they are disobedient, the Taelim al-
ikhwdn would appear to contain echoes of the polemic in
Nasd'ih al-ummat al-Muhammadlya directed at them for their
Mu'tazilite and Kharijite tendencies:
'As for the third party, the party which designates persons
as unbelievers for [their] disobedience, they are the
persons who say that Muslims are unbelievers for the
commission of a mortal sin, such as women leaving off
their face-veils, their mixing with men, depriving or-
phans of their dues, and taking more than four women
as wives. The opinions (madhhab) of these people is
totally false. If these actions are forbidden by consensus,
it is because the consensus of [those adhering to] the
Sunna agree generally that no Muslim can be branded as
an unbeliever for disobedience. That is the method of the
Khawarij, and the Mu'tazila. In Nasafi's 'Umda [the
author declares]: "In the eyes of the Khawarij, whosoever
acts disobediently by the commission of a venial sin or a
mortal sin is an unbeliever eternally destined to Hellfire".
In the view of the Muetazila, if the sin were a mortal one
[the sinner] would depart from [his] faith, but would
not become an unbeliever. If it were a venial one, and if
if he avoided mortal ones, he would not be chastised for
them, yet is he committed mortal sins, he would not
obtain pardon for them...'
In the discussion of the third party, 'Uthman's former
teacher, Jibril b. 'Umar is expressly mentioned as being
the source of some of the improper beliefs mentioned in it.
As these views are compared by the Shehu (as in the passage
from Nasafi above) to those of the Khawarij and Mu'tazila,
it is clearly implied that Jibril b. 'Umar, who is said to have
shared them, might have held certain Kharijite or neo-Kha-
rijite views, or sympathized with them in some way. Nor
is the passage just quoted the only one in the Nasai'ih re-
ferring to the Kharijites - although the Khawarij and the
Mu'tazila are most often mentioned together. Since this
is so, and since they are evidently being considered by the
Shehu as religious sects, it is less likely that the word khakrzj
in this context simply means 'schismatic' or 'innovator'
as Hiskett has suggested.9
56
Recent work by Lewicki and others on the spread of
Kharijism, particularly the spread of the Ibadi sect to the
Western Sudan, makes it clear that the Islam of this region
has at least two strains, and orthodox Sunni one and a
heterodox Ibadi one.10 Indeed, the Ibadd traders who
penetrated the Sudan may well have done so before their
orthodox brethren. On the defeat and the collapse of the
Ibadi imamate of Tahert in 902 A.D. after an attack by the
Fatimids, it is certain that many Ibd1is fled south into the
Sahara for safety. One such group, the Banui Khattab of
Zawila in the Fazzan, were situated at the northern end of
an important trade route from Libya into the Lake Chad
Basin, and through them, many Ibadi ideas probably
percolated through the Sahara." There is a legend of the
conversion of a king of Mali by a kharUij, and the famous
'Man on the Donkey' who led such an effective Ibddi revolt
against the Fatimids during the tenth century, Abui Yazid
Makhlad b. Kaydad, was probably born in Tademekket and
grew up at Gao.12 Ibn Battilta mentions a town, Zaghari,
situated in Mali, through which he passed in 1352, populated
by Khawarij and Wangara.'3 The Khawarij there, Ibddis,
were known as the Saghanughu. These Saghanughu are
still an important Muslim group in Ghana and Upper
Volta.'4 According to a detailed manuscript account of the
Wangara diffusion into Kano (which supplements the Kano
Chronicle), there was certainly a Wangara group in Kano by
835/1431-32: it may well be that these Wangara from Mali
carried some Ibadi ideas with them into Hausaland.'5
But these bits of evidence can be no more than suggestions:
when more evidence is available, it may be possible to say
definitely that there was in the background of 'Uthman
dan Fodio a tangible Kharijite influence, perhaps in the
teaching of Jibril b. 'Umar.
The foliation of the present manuscript is subdivided into
the various subjects discussed as follows:
Folio lb, lines 1-9, preamble and title;
Folio lb, line 9- folio 2b, line 4, introduction, the ques-
tion of branding others
as unbelievers, (takfir);
Folio 2b, line 4- folio 12a, line 3, the five kinds of un-
belief (kufr);
57
Folio 12a, line 3- folio 13a, line 4, proper and improper
sacrifices;
Folio 14b, line 6- folio 16a, line 15, the muwdla problem;
Folio 16a, line 15- folio 18a, line 1, a biography of al-
Maghill, drawn from
two books by Ahmad
Baba;
Folio 18a, line 1- folio 18b, line 7, the author's silsila in
the Qadirlya tariqa;
Folio 18b, line 7- end of folio 19a conclusion, date of com-
position, and colophon.
Although the Taelim al-ikhwdn is much shorter than
many of the Shehu's other compositions, it touches on many
of his most important theological and political convictions.
In that lies its importance.
In preparing this introduction, I would like to acknowledge my debt to
Dr. D. M. Last of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria and to Mr. M.
A. Al-HaiJ of the same university, for the use of their joint paper, 'Attempts
at defining a Muslim in 19th-century Hausaland and Bornu', read at the
December 1964 conference of the Historical Society of Nigeria at Lagos.
2 A text and translation of this important work have been prepared by Mr. J.
0. Hunwick of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies of the Uni-
versity of Ibadan.
3 As this article was going to press, I received news of a second manuscript,
preserved in the Library of the Nizamiya School, Sokoto. Unfortunately,
I have not been able to use it.
4 I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the Director of the Town
Council Library for the use of this manuscript.
5 Mr. Smith has already discussed the concluding paragraphs of the Ta'lim
al-ikhwan in the J. Hist. Soc. Nigeria Bull. of News, VII, December 1962,
pp. 11-12, and I would like to thank him for reading this article in ma-
nuscript form. I should also like to thank Dr. S. B. Kamali and Thomas
Hodgkin for making many worthwhile suggestions about improving it and
also Mr. Mervyn Hiskett and Dr. A. D. H. Bivar for their suggestions.
6 Muhammad Bello, Infaq al-maysibr ft ta'rfkh bildd al- Takrilr, ed. C. M. Whit-
ting, London, 1951. A new edition of this text is now being prepared by
Mr. Muhammad al-HaiJ of Ahmadu Bello University, with full notes and
an English translation.
7 Bivar, A. D. H., Wathiqat ahl al-Suidan, J. Afr. Hist., ii, 2, 1961, pp. 235-
243.
8 Hiskett, M., 'An Islamic tradition of reform in the Western Sudan', Bull.
S.O.A.S., xxv, 3, 1962, pp. 577-596.
9 Ibid., pp. 595-596. Mr. Hiskett says, 'It is not however, to be assumed that
Wahhabi influence was absent from the Sudanese scene. The theology of
Sheikh Jibril was extreme, and this extremism appears to have gone beyond
the militancy of al-Maghili, whose careful reservations on the subject of
kufr dissociate him from the doctrine of sweeping anathema. Shehu 'Uthmin
58
uses the term khawarij to describe the opponents of this doctrine of anathema;
he hardly would have used the term had he not felt that they were supported
by the authority of al-Maghili. From whence then did these doctrines arise ?
There is certainly a tradition of Kharijism in the Western Sudan, and we
cannot exclude the possibility that Sheikh Jibril b. 'Umar represented a
survival of true Kharijism, which flourished in North Africa long after it had
disappeared elsewhere. I personally think this unlikely, for the term khdrUi
had, by the 17th century. come to mean simply 'schismatic' or 'innovator',
and I believe that it is in this sense that Shehu 'Uthman uses it. (Cf. al-Sa'di,
Ta'rikh al-Siiddn, ed. Houdas, text p. 72, translation, p. 118). But the doctrine
that religious disobedience involves unbelief, through certainly original to
the early Kharijites, is also characteristic of Wahhabism...).
This remark of Sa'di's, who was a member of the clerical party, opposed to
Sonni 'Ali's attempt to make some accomodation between the more extreme
Muslims of his dominions and the 'unbelievers', can be most simply ex-
plained by assuming that Sonni 'Ali did in fact have khdriji inclinations.
See Ta'rikh al-Suddn, p. 6 of text, or p. 12 of translation.
10 See Tadeusz Lewicki, 'Les Ibadites dans l'Arabie du sud au moyen age',
Folia Orientalia, Krakow, 1959, pp. 3-18; 'Quelques extraits inedits relatifs
aux voyages des commercants ibadites nord-africains au pays du Soudan
occidentale au moyen age, 'Folia Orientalia, 1961, pp. 1-27; 'La ville de
Tahert et ses connections commerciales au Soudan occidental au VIlle
et Ixe siecles,' Cahiers d'E9tudes africains, VIII, 1962. See alsoJ. Schacht, 'Sur
la diffusion des formes d'architecture religieuse a travers le Sahara',
Travaux de l'Institut des Recherches Sahariennes, XI, 1954, pp. 11-27, and E. A.
Salem, Political theory and institutions of the Khawdrij, John Hopkins Press,
Baltimore, 1956, pp. 31-46 for a discussion of takfir. There is more material
in R. Strothmann, 'Der religionspolitische u. dogmatische Ort der Ibadi-
ten,' Ephemerides Orientales, 31, Leipzig, 1927, and E. Sachau, 'tber die
religi8sen Anschauungen der ibaditischen Muhammadaner in Oman u.
Ostafrika, M.S.O.S.B., II, 2, 1898, pp. 47-82.
11 See Tahir Alimad al-Zawi, Taerikh al-fath al-'Arabifl Libyd, Cairo 1963,
p. 239. According to al-Zawi, the Banu Khattab remained inZawila from
381/991-992 to 568/1172-73.
12 For a full account of this episode, see Georges Marsais, La Berberie musulmane
et l'orient au moyen dge, Paris 1946, pp. 147-153.
3 C. Defremery & B. R. Sanguinetti, Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, IV, Paris 1922,
pp. 394-395. 'After ten days journeying from Iwalatin, we came to a village
called Zaghar;... a large village inhabited by Negro traders known as Wan-
garata.. There live with them a number of whites of the Ibadd sect of the
Khawarij, known as the Saghanughu... the Malikis among the whites are
known as Turi...'.
4 See Ivor Wilks, 'A note on the Saghanughu', Transactions of the Historical
Society of Ghana, IV, 1966.
15 See the anonymous Ms. of 1061/1650-61, belonging to al-Hajj Muhammad
Nasir Kabara of Kano. Al al-Wangariyn al-muntasibin bi-'Abd al-Rahmdn S.
Muhzammad b. Ibrdhim b. Muhammad Qithima al-Wanghari, copied during the
reign of Muhammad Kukuna b. Muhammad Zaki. Amir of Kano, folio2b.
(Photocopy in the University of Ibadan Library).
59
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78
TRANSLATION
In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful
May God bless our Lord Muhammad, his family and his com-
panions, and grant them salvation ! The poverty-stricken servant,
and one in need of the mercy of His Lord, 'Uthman b. Muhammad
b. 'Uthman, known as Ibn Fudi - May God cover them with
His Mercy,' amen - says, 'Praise to God, who has favoured us
with the blessing of faith and of Islam, and given us guidance
through our lord and master Muhammad, upon whom, from God
the Almighty the most excellent of blessings and the purest of
peace.'
NOW THEN, this is the book of THE INSTRUCTION OF
THE BRETHREN, IN THOSE MATTERS IN WHICH WE
DESIGNATE THE KINGS OF THE SUDANASUNBELIEVERS,
THOSE OF THEM WHO WERE FROM THE MEN OF THESE
LANDS,2 that is, the Hausa kings.
I say - and help comes from God - know, 0 brothers of mine,
that an individual Muslim is not called an unbeliever because of sin
(dhanb) according to the consensus of the Islamic Community
(ima). The designation of people as unbelievers (takfir), is a
question of tradition, whose roots are in the Revealed Law of Islam
(shar'): according to consensus there is no place in it for the free
play of the intellect, nor any way into it for analogy (qiyds). Truly,
the act of designating others as unbelievers is itself tainted with
unbelief when it has the effect of attributing error (tadlil) to the
Muslim Community [as a whole]. Similarly, a failure to designate
individuals as unbelievers is to be considered unbelief (2a) when the
fidelity [of those in question] is something about which the Book or
the continuously-authenticated tradition (al-sunna al-mutawdtira) is
mandatory and explicit, or when it is such that Muslims have, by
consensus, determined it to be an action which originates exclusively
from an unbeliever. Again, there is a consensus of opinion among
the Muslims that speech as well as action constitutes unbelief-
not from the standpoint of what the two things are in themselves,
but from the standpoint of what accompanies them - as will be
explained, if God Most High so wishes.
Nor is it believed, regarding any person, that he is an unbeliever
in respect of what is between him and His Lord, unless there is
conclusive evidence [of the severance of his relations with Him].
For belief [about a person's being an unbeliever] is based solely
79
on conclusive evidence. However, this is not so with a judgment
concerning the formal rules of the Revealed Law about a person's
fidelity. These require neither direct nor circumstantial evidence,
but only such things as signify unbelief of themselves, even if they
are conjectural. That is why the 'ulama' differ over this point in
some cases. In deference to those things which belong to the god-
head (haqq al-rubiubiya), or ensure respect for the Revealed Law,
some of them pass judgment on unbelief, and say, 'So-and-so is an
unbeliever - let him be killed'. Others make allowance for the
inviobility of Muslim blood, and relinquish judgment about a
person's unbelief, and say, 'This is a debatable point, which is
capable of [different] interpretations. But the sanctity of Muslim
blood is a point over which the Revealed Law is absolutely clear
and binding. Once (2b) these preliminaries have been made clear
to you, know that the questions over which we have branded the
aforementioned kings of the Sudan are fivefold: they all represent
things which Muslims have collectively agreed originate only from
an unbeliever.
The first [category of this kind] concerns the persecution of those
who repent (td'ibin). That such persecution is to be treated as
unbelief is one of those things which is known to Muslims by [ra-
tional] necessity; it is only a person ignorant of their circumstances
[of life], or a person motivated by malice towards them who would
deny [the viciousness of the offence]. Through this quality [of
malice], they (i.e. kings of the Sudan) obstructed many from repent-
ance. Such an act constitutes unbelief - not because of its nature,
but because it [indicates] one's inner satisfaction with people's
relapse into unbelief, and outwardly, is an [undisguised attempt] to
turn [them] away from the Path of God. Such [inner] satisfaction
and obstruction is unbelief according to the concensus of the Mus-
lims: since such obstruction and persecution are typical of the acts
of unbelievers, God Most High has said, 'To Pharaoh, the evil of
his doing was embellished, and he was barred from the Path.'3
The Exalted also said ' [As for] those who disbelieve, they have been
barred from the Path of God'4, and God has said, 'Is not the curse
of God on oppressors who obstruct the Path of the Almighty, wishing
to make it devious."' In his commentary on the words of the Most
High, 'And God gave an example to those who believed (3a)-
the wife of Pharaoh...'6 al-Maahalli says, 'She believed in M-usa, and
her name was Aslya. Pharaoh punished her by tying down her
hands on feet and putting an enormous millstone on her back, and
laid her in the sun. And when those in charge of her had departed
from her, the angels gave her shade.' And as to the words of the
Almighty, 'And the most god-fearing shall be removed from it
(i.e. hellfire), the one who gives his property to purge himself',7
Al-Malialli says that this [verse] was revealed concerning al-$iddiq8
80
-may God be pleased with him? -when he purchased Bilal
the Persecuted9 and manumitted him. In his Tafsir, al-Baylawl'
says, 'This verse was revealed about Abui Bakr - may God be
pleased with him ! -when he purchased Bilal among a group which
had been wronged by the polytheists, and manumitted them.'
Hence it is said that the reference to the 'most miserable one' (al-
ashqa)" is to Abiu Jahl or Umayya b. Khalaf.
In the Alfaya al-Sjydr,12 there is an explanation of what has been
said:
But they, as they held grudges and secret hatreds (daghd'in'a)
Which gave them power, so they began to persecute the Faithful
'Anundr the Good, his father, his mother,
The mother of Bilal. Bilal Umayya tortured, and a slave girl
among them
Among them [also] was Zanira the Byzantine woman, (3b)
Likewise Umm 'Anbas and her daughter
And Ibn Fuhayra. He (Abui Bakr) redeemed seven of them
Al-Siddiq bought them, then manumitted all of them,
For the sake of God, from duty, from sincerity.
There is also, in the Alfiva al-Siydr, an explanation of what has
been mentioned about the two hijras to the Najashi (Emperor of
Abyssinia):
When Islam was revealed, calamity was intensified
For those who accepted Islam,
They emigrated to Ashama in Rajab of that year
A year when five years of Muhammad's Prophethood had elapsed.
Then, after certain other verses, he says:
The Quraysh went out in pursuit, but could not overtake them
To wreak vengeance upon them.
So they lived in the most satisfactory way close to him (i.e. the
Najashi)
Then they returned to Makka in Shawwal of their year,
When it was said that the people of Makka had accepted Islam.
But this report was ill-founded. The Makkans greeted them with
Ill-favour and severity.
So they returned, to make a second hira.
The second [category]'3 is the adoration of trees and stones, by
a sacrifice (dhibh). There is a third [category] in addition to that,
their adoration (i.e. rocks and trees) with an offering (tasadduq)
to them, and a fourth [category] in worshipping them by having
recourse to them, to ask from them the fulfilment of one's needs.
These three [categories] cited, after the first one (4a) are what is
known among them as a [rational] necessity. Only a person who is
81
ignorant of their condition, or who is maliciously disposed towards
them, will deny it. [This category], qua worship of the kind ex-
plained above, definitely amounts to the worship of another than
God. Such worship is exclusively [meant] for God, as we shall
explain later if God so wishes.
Every person who worships by the rites of another than God is a
polytheist and an unbeliever by consensus of the Muslims. Describ-
ing all those persons whose unbelief has been established by consensus
of the Muslims, Qadi 'Iyad says in his Shifa'14 [that they are] 'those
who give partners to God by the worship of idols (awthdn), angels
or demons (shayatin), or the sun or the stars, or fire, or some other
than God. These people, among the pagan Arabs or Indians or
Chinese or Africans (al-Suzddn) or others who are not attached to a
book, or who give partners to God - all are to be considered un-
believers according to the consensus of the Muslims.' In another
passage in the Shifa', he says, 'In like manner we designate as un-
belief every act which the Muslims have decided can originate from
an unbeliever alone - even if the doer of it should explicitly profess
to be a Muslim whilst he does such a thing, like (4b) prostrating
himself before an idol or the sun, or the moon, the Cross, or fire, or
going to churches or synagogues with their congregations (ahlihd),
or assuming the appearance of those who tie on waist-belts (zandnir),
or shave the head. By consensus, the Muslims have decided that all
of this is found only among unbelievers, and that these acts are an
indication of unbelief even if the person who does them should
explicitly profess to be a Muslim. 15
I say, it is for this reason that Ahimad al-Jaza'iri says in his qasida,
the Kaldmiya :16
Every polytheist resembles them (wa mathalahum kull dhi shirk)
Even if they attach themselves to the religion [of Islam]
They are unbelievers - don't dispute this !
Now polytheism is of five types. Muhammad b. Yuisuf al-Sanfisil7
has explained this in his commentary on al-Jaza'iri's, qasida, where
the author says 'wa mathalahum kull dhi shirk' just mentioned:
'The polytheism of independence (shirk al-istiqll) is like the poly-
theism of the Magians (Majas),18 and the polytheism of subdivision
(shirk al-tahbW1)'9 is like the polytheism of the Christians, and the
polytheism of approximation (shirk al-taqrib)20 is like the polytheism
of the beginning of the age of ignorance (al-jdhiliya), and the poly-
theism of uncritical imitation (shirk al-taqlid) is like the polytheism
of the end of the age of ignorance, and the polytheism [which results]
from [dependence on] causes (5a) (shirk al-asbdb) consists in tracing
an action or causal influence to its habitual grounds on the as-
sumption that the two are in reality connected. There is no doubt
whatsoever that the first four types are unbelief. As to the fifth
82
type, the polytheism of causes, it is quite evident that it is wrong-
doing and an innovation, but there is a difference of opinion as to
whether it is unbelief.' He (al-Saniisi) then says, 'the sixth (sic)
type of polytheism is the one [which arises] from [the pursuit]
of selfish aims (shirk al-aghrdl), known as dissimulation (riyd'),
or minor polytheism (al-shirk al-a.ghdr) and is the service of another
than God Most High. That is wrongdoing, but there is a consensus
of the Muslims that it does not amount to unbelief.' I say, that the
polytheism of the kings of these countries (i.e. the Western Sudan)
falls within the categories of polytheism enumerated here, and that
it is the polytheism of uncritical imitation (shirk al-taqlid).
Al-Maghili - may God be pleased with him ! - was asked
about a people who say, 'There is no God but God and Muhammad
is the Messenger of God,' but who nevertheless exalt certain trees
and sacrifice to them, and sanctify certain places so much that
they would not install a sultdn or take a decision about anything,
big or little, except by order (5b) of the custodians of the places
which are sacred to them. What are these [people] - have they
turned into infidels ? Is it lawful to kill them and seize their pro-
perty ? He answered, as [can be seen] from his book Ajwiba as'ilat
al-askDyd,21 where he states, 'As to the people whose circumstances
you have described, they are undoubtedly polytheists (mushrikun),
because in practice the necessary conditions for declaring a person
an unbeliever are fulfilled by something [less weighty] than this.
There is no doubt that the jihdd against them is better and more
worthy than the jihdd against those unbelievers who do not say,
"There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of
God", for those whom you have described mix up truth and untruth
to such an extent that many of the ignorant among the Muslims go
astray because of them. They are fitter persons [as objectives] for the
jihdd than those unbelievers about whom a Muslim has no illusions.'
He (al-Maghili) was asked for his opinion of Sonni 'Ali and his
collaborators (6a), and he was informed [by the Askiya] that 'they
made offerings to trees and stones and asked fulfillment of their
needs there. They did not raid until they had consulted them.
On their return from a journey, they went up to them and dis-
mounted there.' He answered, as is mentioned in the book previous-
ly cited, 'What you say about the condition of Sonni 'Ali is without
doubt a sign of unbelief. If the matter was as you have described it,
he was an unbeliever. Any person who acted as he did should be
designated an unbeliever, which is [normally done] for less than
that.' Here conclude the words of al-Maghill - may God be
pleased with him !- and his judgment about those who worship
trees and stones with offerings and sacrifices to them, and have
recourse to them to petition for their needs, thatthey are polytheists
without a shadow of doubt. [All this] is well known to the learned
83
men of Islam, for these acts amount to giving glory to that which is
reserved to God exclusively. [Indeed, giving such glory] is like
prostrating one's self before God [in prayer]. [No Islamic scholar
ever asserted that the two things (sujiid and ta'zim)] could ever be
distinguished from each other. In fact, Ibn al-'Arabi has pointed out
in the Futfi4t22 that such glorification has the significance of worship.
Whoever takes account of this meaning knows (6b) that they (i.e.
kings of the Sudan) have worshipped others than God. Whoever
worships another than God is a polytheist and an unbeliever, by the
consensus of the Muslims.
To be sure, the Believers give glory to God by prostrating them-
selves before him, by slaughtering animals by way of sacrifice and
[giving] alms and offerings [in the Way of God]. Thus, by showing
respect for the Holy Things of God and the manifestations of His
Religion, they attain goodness. The Almighty has said, 'If any
person shows respect for the things which God has forbidden, it is
good for him in His Lord's eyes. '23 And He has said, 'If any person
shows respect for the manifestations of God, that arises from the
piety of the heart.'24 [Further], the Almighty said, 'Prosperous is
the man who has purified it.'25
[In contrast to Believers], unbelievers who show respect to trees
and stones and other things which are the objects of polytheistic
worship, by prostration, sacrifice, and offerings, glorify the mani-
festations of unbelief, and in so doing, they follow the promptings
of the Evil One (Shaytdn). So, in glorifying the manifestations of
unbelief they go astray, and are undone and lost (7a). God Most
High has said, 'Among the people there is one who disputes about
God without knowledge, and follows every rebellious demon.
Against him, it is written that whosoever takes him as a friend, he
leads astray. '26 Moreover, God Most High has said, 'He who has
corrupted it has failed.'27 It is clear then, that the worship of trees
and stones by sacrifice and offerings to them is unbelief, as was
formally stated by al-Maghill in the book previously mentioned.
Hence, in the [Kitdb al-] Muh.ddarat, al-Hlasan al-Yiisi says,28
concerning the story of the Green Tree, which will be explained if
God Most High so wishes, '... And because of the people's respect
for it, their visiting it, and hanging bits of rag (khuykt) on it, throwing
coins at its base, and the excesses of the women in adoring it, and
their praise for its qualities, which went as far as naming it after
a pious woman, the Sayyida Fatima, the Ustadh 'Abd al-Rahman b.
Yuisuf al-Sharif ordered it to be cut down. He sent a group of
students (7b) who cut it down, for he saw that it had become a
'place to hang up things (dhdt anwdWt)'. I say, however, that the
worship of trees, even for swearing an oath, is unbelief, to say nothing
of making a sacrifice or an offering, for it is giving respect which is
due exclusively to God. For this reason, Khalil b. Ishaq says in the
84
Mukhtasar, 'If he intended, [by swearing], "By 'Uzza" [worship of
her], then he has committed unbelief.'29 I say, and similarly to what
has been mentioned about the varieties of polytheism, if a man gives
to trees and stones and suchlike a share of his possessions and wor-
ships them by putting by them, or taking to them, food, for a
blessing, [that] these are the characteristic acts of unbelievers. In
explanation of the first point, God the Almighty has said, 'They
assign to God, from the tilth and cattle He has produced, a por-
tion.'30 And in explanation of the second, in the story of Ibrhilm
and his folk, He has said, 'And he ran off to their gods, and said,
'Have you not eaten?'.31 Al-Mahalli says, in his commentary on
this passage, 'He slipped stealthily to their gods, which were idols,
and they had food by them. (8a) It is one of their characteristic
acts, moreover, and their worship, to splash them with scent and
honey.'
In his commentary on the word of the Most High, Baydawi says
about the passage, 'If a fly were to rob them of anything, they would
never try to rescue it from him' 32 'it is said that they were sprinkling
them (i.e. idols) with honey and scent.' I say, you will know by
this that the pouring of dough ('ajin) on stones is worship of them,
[and thus] unbelief, for it is one of their characteristic acts.
What is more, in the Ghdyat al-amdni ft tafsir al-kaldm al-rabbdni,33
(where the author) says, commenting on the words of God Al-
mighty, 'They said, 0 Miisa, make for us a god, as they have gods,'
- 'there is a party in India at the present day who worship the
cow.' The writer of the above mentioned commentary also declares,
'I have heard of a certain throng (jamman ghaftran) who say that
their kings sprinkle the noblest of their places with cow dung for the
sake of closeness to God Almighty.'
Similar to the other varieties of polytheism aforementioned is
another thing which is done by unbelievers and some ignorant
persons among the common Muslims: visits of respect to certain
trees (8b) and stones, and placing by them votive offerings of dzndrs,
dirhams, and small coins and other objects at the base of them. In
the Muihddardt, al-Hasan al-Yfisi says, 'At Sijilmasa, at the time of
our arrival there to study the Qur'dn in our youth, there [existed]
a tree known as the Green lTree. The excellent Ustadh 'Abd al-
Rahman b. Yulsuf al-Sharif sent a group of students to cut it down.
That was on a Thursday: I had just come from the neighbourhood
of Marakina (Miknasa ?). They decided to cut it down. I sat down
near them to look at [what they were going to do]. As the lower
class of people filed out of the market, it was the manner of all who
passed by, as they looked at it being cut down, to shout and showv
their grief, and to say: "What has the poor thing done to you ?"
Associating strange things with it, the people of Sijilmasa used to
come to the tree, chiefly the women, and indulged in hanging bits of
85
string on it and threw small coins at its base. Probably the (9a)
women were extreme in their adoration of it and their praise for its
qualities, to the point of calling it by the name of Sayyida Fatima
or something of the sort. That is why the aforementioned Ustadh
ordered it to be felled, for he saw that it had become a "place to hang
up things", as the Shaykh Abu'l-'Abbas al-Mursi - may God be
pleased with him - declared.34
'We have mentioned it, therefore, as a warning against that [sort
of activity]. Indeed, since we became aware of it, the vulgar kind of
people have flocked to it; they attribute to it the absurdities of false
rumour (turrahdt al-ardjif), such as the statement, "The Green Tree
has said, 'This is a time of silence. He who speaks the truth will die'."
So let the person who looks at it know that it is merely a tree, neither
helpful nor harmful. It does not see nor hear; it is most appropriate
that anything resembling it should be cut down. It was for this
reason that God Most High concealed the Tree of Satisfaction35
so that its distinguishing feature should not be fixed for his (i.e.
Muhammad's) Companions who were underneath it, apart from
other trees. That was from fear that it might be worshipped. (9b).
'I have heard the excellent and pious al-Bakri b. Ahmad b.
Abi'l-Qasim - may God grant him His Mercy ! say, discussing
his ancestors, that Shaykh al-Masha'ikh Abui'l-Qasim al-Ghazi -
may God be pleased with him, and through him, grant us benefit !
- had told them that the state of being a qutb36 descended upon
him [while he] was under a tree. They said, "O Master of ours,
why have you not shown us that tree ?" He replied, "I feared that
you would abandon the lion and take to worshipping his den"
[instead. In other words, he meant that] they would abandon him,
gain no benefit from him and would interest themselves in the tree.
'Near Thghiya, the home of Shaykh Abiu Ya'aza,37 there was
another tree of that sort which grew out of [some] rocks, known as
"The Cow". That [tree], too, ought to have been removed, but
[the Shaykh would not have been able to act in this matter; for]
a learned man's sword is his tongue. [He can only tell people what
they should do]; the action to which his words may lead rests with
persons in charge of practical matters, or with those who have the
power to place a person in such a position. Of course, there is
nothing wrong with [ a Muslim's] desire to seek blessings through
[his respect for] the relics of virtuous men - provided his beliefs
remain unperverted. Such a thing can be traced back to the example
of (1 Oa) the Companions - may God's approbation be on them!
For istance Ibn 'Umar- may God be pleased with both of them
turned his riding camel (rdhila) where the Prophet had turned his
riding camel and eagerly frequented the places in which he had
prayed. That is mentioned in the 5akii [of Bukhdr!].'
I say, that the Green Tree and the tree which was near [the home
86
of] Shaykh Abui Ya'aza had a similarity to the stone of Jabal Tuiru
in our own time,38 which I sent my messenger to fetch for me at
the time of our return from the land of Faru39 to the territory of
Daghal (Degel),40 for the ignorant among the Muslims and the
heathen were journeying to it and putting by it many things. They
claimed that whoever did that would be granted his prayers. When
the messenger brought it to me in the land of Kakaki ,4 I ordered it
to be burned, so that the unbelievers and the ignorant would not
know where it was buried. Had they come to know where it was
buried, they would have gone to that place and worshipped it.
When the unbelievers heard what I had done to it (lOb), they said,
'This person ('Uthman dan Fodio) has done that out of envy for it.
For people journey to him so that he may intercede for them and
cause their prayers to be granted. But that is what the stone has
been doing - people journeyed to it and placed things by it,
whereupon their prayers were granted.' That was what they said,
but by now eveyrone has realized that it was merely a stone, neither
injurious nor helpful, neither able to see nor hear.
The fifth category over which we designate the kings of the Suldan,
of these countries and in these times, as unbelievers, is related to
their friendship with [other] unbelievers. They assist and support
the unbelievers, and even aid their forces against the Muslim armies
- not from [motives] which might be interpreted, indirectly at
least, to bring some advantage to the Muslims, but purely for the
sake of consolidating their own domains. That [a person who acts
in this manner is an unbeliever] is again one of those things which
are known to them as a rational necessity. It is only a person igno-
rant of their condition or maliciously disposed towards them who
will deny [such a thing]. Hardly two people could be found to
argue that (1 la) such friendship is anything but unbelief. The
Almighty has said, 'Let the Believers not take unbelievers as friends;
whoever does that does not belong to God in anything....' that is,
from God's religion, as is stated in the Takmila, a commentary by
'Abd al-Rahman al-SuyTti.43 And God the Exalted has said, 'You
may see some of them (i.e. Muslims) choosing unbelievers as their
friends; but what they are storing up for themselves is calamity.
God is angry at them and they will live in torment. If only they had
believed in God and the Prophet, they would not have taken them
as friends. '44
After quoting these two verses, al-Maghili says in the Misbdh
al-arwdh fi usil al-falad,45 'The Lord of Glory bears witness to the
fact that it is necessary [for us] to charge with unbelief any person
who takes them (i.e. unbelievers) as friends, whoever he may be, at
whatever time or place. To be friends with them is to support them,
for a friend is a supporter.' And if you (the reader) say, 'You have
explained to us the position (iukm) to be taken in relation to the
87
kings of the Suidan who were from (1 Ib) these countries, the Hausa
kings - what is your opinion about the rulers of the people of
Bornu ? Why did you fight against them?'
The answer is, that in former times they were Muslims. Hence
Shaykh Ahmad Baba expressed a favourable opinion of their Islam
in his book Al-Kashf wa'l-bayan li-asndf majliib al-Suiddn ('The appraise-
ment and explanation of the varieties of imported slaves from the
Sudan').46 His judgment is indisputable, because every learned man
gives judgment according to what is known in his own time. But it
does not follow that the matter should be so at all other periods,
because judgment varies with the variations in its subject-matter.
As far as our own times are concerned, the people in question are no
longer what they used to be. That which necessitates the designa-
tion [of them] as unbelievers is something that is realized by slow
degrees. [We can give an example] from what they do at a place
called Ghanbaru47 and another place called Kji48 and elsewhere
(12a) by way of sacrifices according to their custom.
Muslim learned men have explained that sacrifice may be of three
kinds. First there is the sacrifice which has been prescribed by the
Revealed Law, such as the sacrifice of animals or [presenting]
gifts. No one doubts that this is done for the sake of God. Secondly,
there is a kind of sacrifice [of animals] which is done according to
custom but is not prescribed by the Revealed Law. It may be
people's custom to slaughter [animals] on a particular occasion
which has not been prescribed by the Revealed Law for sacrifice.
Those who slaughter an animal on this occasion may nevertheless
claim that they are making an offering to God. But in so doing,
they do not relate the act to any given place, as against another.
This kind of sacrifice is an innovation (bid'a) but it is not unbelief.
The third kind of customary sacrifice [is related] by specification
[to a particular thing or things], like the [acts] of people who, in
order to show respect to certain places or trees or stones, slaughter
animals by them, but who nevertheless assert that, in so doing,
they are making an offering to God (12b). Yet this claim is not
acceptable, for if the sacrifice made by them were an offering to God,
they would not specifically relate it to one place, as against another.
Hence this kind of sacrifice is unbelief, because it is indistinguishable
from the characteristic actions of unbelievers which are [directed]
to their idols and the scenes of their festivities. This is the point of
the words of the Almighty, 'There is no sacrifice to a graven image',
and His Words, '...Forbidden to you... [is what] has been sacrificed
[on a stone altar] .49
In the Durar,50 examples of the foregoing [rule] are taken from a
person who sacrifices to idols, or [at] the festivals of unbelievers.
The sacrifices of the people mentioned, at the places aforesaid, falls
into the third category, which we have condemned as unbelief.
88
It was known among them (i.e. people of Bomu) before this time.
Moreover, they later supported the unbelievers against the Muslims
in our own day. If you have understood what we have been dis-
cussing, you will realize that all who enter with them into the acts of
sacrifice described here are genuine unbelievers, or those who do
not scrutinize [matters sufficiently]. (1 3a).
All the same, we did not fight with them over those things by
which they have gradually come to deserve designation as un-
believers - such as the sacrifices previously mentioned. We fought
them only because they began to attack us; they were the first to
commit aggression against us. What led them to commit such
aggression was their co-operation with the unbelievers. In co-
operation with the unbelievers they were giving expression to
their fanatical enthusiasm for them and their subservience to
them. This enthusiasm or subservience admits of no interpretation
- in terms of their aiming - however indirectly - at things of
advantage to Muslims. [On the contrary, they were enthusiastic
and subservient] merely because they wanted to consolidate their
domains. There is no doubt that this makes it necessary for us to say
that they have apostatized, even if sound [attachment] to Islam
was their condition in the past. And this judgment of ours con-
cerning their apostasy is based on the [matter] taken as a whole,
not on specific details of it. A judgment like this one is made only
when conditions such as we have mentioned are present: it is not
passed when they are absent. Those who do not enter into the sacri-
fices just mentioned along with them, and who do not aid the un-
believers against the Muslims, or those who, having done such a
thing, repent of it, are exempted from what we say here.
(13b) We have not fully explained until now the cause of our
conflict with them (people of Bornu). As for a detailed explanation
of it, the Ghaladima51 of Bornu equipped an army and sent it to
Hadejia.52 When it arrived there, one of our communities (jamd'a)
there came out to defend themselves, and God helped them to victory.
Then, after that, the Amir of Bornui, Mai Ahmad53 got busy and
equipped a [second] army, and went himself with it until it reached
W. t. kal.54 Despatching his force against the community of [Ardo]
Lerlima,55 he slaughtered men and women, young and old. While
he was at that place, he sent an army against our community, the
community of Ibn 'Abdfir,56 which was at Q.d.r.4' They came out
to defend themselves, and God gave them the victory. We had
despatched Muhammad b. 'Ali to their king, to ask him the reason
for their fighting against us (14a), for the attack on our community,
and the community of Ibn 'Abdfir and the Muslim communities
who were in their towns.
Therefore, he wrote us this answer in a wathiqa (despatch) saying,
'As to the departure of the Amir Ahmad on a raid to the westwards
89
(al-Gharb), [it was carried out] in the spirit of chivalry (4amiya)',
'by which he meant the [perverse] spirit of the Age of Ignorance
before Islam. And he declared, as to the cause of the fighting against
the Muslim communities who were in their towns, and the battles
which took place between us and our neighbours, 'its cause was
that his Ghalddlmd57 went to his Dayama58 and told him falsely
that the Amir had ordered him to kill the Fallatiya (Fulani), so he
had begun to slaughter them. That was why disorder had broken
out in our towns - this was all that could be said to explain the
origin of the disorder.'
[So] ended his words, and here ends the explanation of the fifth
category, which is friendship with the unbelievers, assistance and
support for them, and aiding their armies against the armies of the
Muslims, [not from motives] which might be interpreted [as being
for] the sake of Muslim advantage. Whoever considers the reasons
for what we have said (14b) will know that it is unbelief, according
to the consensus of the Muslims.
Now, if you (reader) say, 'You have explained to us the position
regarding the [matter of friendship for] unbelievers, which is assist-
ance and support for them, and aiding their armies against the
armies of the Muslims, [not for motives] which might be interpreted
[As being for] the advantage of the Muslims, as being unbelief, how
will you judge a personwho does things of this kind [from motives]
which lend themselves to a favourable interpretation?'
The answer is, as al-Maghili has explained in his book Misbdh
al-arwdh fi usil al-faldh, that the action of such a person, also, is
unbelief from the formal standpoint of the Revealed Law. Says he,
'Any person who protects a Jew or a Christian, or defends any
action of his which involves transgression of the limits set by the
Revealed Law of Islam has committed unbelief, in that his identi-
fication with him is unmistakably clear. It will be no excuse that
he might be seen to aim at some kind of gain for himself. For in-
stance, [let us consider the case of a man] who prostrates himself
before an idol [because he is likely, by so doing, to obtain] one
hundred thousand dirhams. [Let us assume] that he is told to repent
on pain of death. If he dies or is killed before he repents, he dies an
unbeliever. [His body] is not ritually washed (15a), nor prayed over,
nor is it buried in a Muslim cemetery,unless the dead man had, in
his lifetime, pronounced the two professions of faith, fasted, prayed,
gone on the pilgrimage, or carried out all sorts of righteousness.'
'I say that people should proceed in this way with every person
who aids any unbeliever but a Jew or a Christian, or protects him
against anything which goes beyond the limits of the Revealed Law,
whoever he may be, at all times and places, the more so, as there is
no proponent of a differing standpoint.' Al-Maghili then says, after
the words which have just been quoted, 'The reason why this could
90
not have been otherwise is that the learned have found sufficient
grounds for designating persons as unbelievers in an unlimited number
of ways', which he (Maghill) enumerates by referring to many
things. He then adds, 'The learned agree that some of those qualities
are unbelief, but they disagree on others.' Here end the words of al-
Maghill from the Misbdh al-arwdh ft usiul al-falah.
I say that these words of his (15b) are apologetic in character,
for he must have supposed that an opponent would say to him,
'Why do you consider [Muslims] as unbelievers because they have
friendly relations with unbelievers - if there are indications that by
such iriendship they intend to do something of advantage to their
[fellow-] Muslims ? [In reply to an objection of that kind,] he has
said, 'If you say that, [then you must recognize] that the learned
have done the same thing; indeed, they have designated persons as
unbelievers for much less significant things than this, in matters
pertaining to the formal provisions of the Revealed Law.' [In the
same way, he has concluded by saying], 'Whether this is or is not
unbelief is something about which some of the learned agree, while
others disagree.' Again this is apologetic, as though an opponent
had [previously] said to Maghill, 'Why do you designate people as
unbelievers for something that is not unequivocally like [the act of]
an unbeliever ?' [It is with such an objection in mind that he says]
'the learned agree on the designation of persons as unbelievers for
something which is unambiguously [an] unbelieving [action], but
they disagree about other things which are not evidently so. Thus
some of them look to the sanctity of Muslim blood, and they refrain
from stigmatizing [anyone] as an unbeliever. Others, however,
have regard for that which belongs to the godhead (rubiTbhya), and
whatever is (1 6a) likely to strengthen the Revealed Law or maintain
it,' as has been mentioned before in this book. [Speaking of the
latter group of the learned, al-Maghill says,] 'These people say that
although the matter [in question] is not unequivocally of the nature
of unbelief, unbelief is presupposed from it, if it is spoken, or im-
plied in it, if it is an action. Hence it must be condemned as unbelief.
Have you not seen the statement of Khalil b. Ishaq in the Mukhtasar
that 'Apostasy (ridda) consists in a Muslim's acting in an unbelieving
way, unambiguously, or through an expression which presupposes
it or an action which implies it. '59 Have you not seen that sorcery
(sihr) is unbelief according to the rite of Malik and Aba lianifa and
Ahmad ibn Hanbal ? There is no unbelief in the rite of Shafi'l,
except for the sorcery of the people of Babil. As "Abd al-Wahhab
al-Sha'rani says in the Mizdn,60 'Do you not see that the learned
differ over the question of designating people as unbelievers over
many things which are aimost innumerable?' Such are the words
of al-Maghill in the Misbdh al-arwdh ft usu7l al-faldh - may God be
pleased with him !
91
Here we wish to introduce the biography of him (16b) which
has been provided by Sidi Ahmad Baba [al-Tinbukti] in his two
books, Nayl al-ibtihaj [bi-tatriz al-dibaj]6Ja nd Kifdyat al-muhtaj [li-ma-
'rifat man laysa bi'l-dibdj62, so that you may know that he was an
able Sunni learned man. In his biography, from the two books
previously cited, [Ahmad Baba] says, '[He was] Mulammad b.
'Abd al-Karim al-Maghill al-Tilimsani, the seal of inquirers, the
learned and erudite imdm, quick of comprehension, the exemplary,
the pious Sunni, one of the truly intelligent, which lent him an
abundance of energy and insight, potent of prestige in arms (silla),
a hater of the enemies of God, intrepid in affairs of daring, constant,
eloquent of tongue, a lover of the Sunna, a dialectician, a debater,
and an investigator.' In the two books previously mentioned, it is
said that he studied under the Imam 'Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi
and others, and that a number of people studied under him, (17a)
Al-'Aqib al-Ansamuni among others.
'He wrote the Misbdh ft usal al-fald4, in two signatures (kurrasayn),83
for which al-Suyiiti praised him, likewise Ibn Ghazi,M and the
Mug/ni al-nabil ft sharh Mukhtasar al-Khalil65 in very brief fashion;
he went as far as the section [called] bayn al-zawjdt, and he stopped
at some point in [the section] on buyfi' (sales) and other things.
Altogether, it is said that he commented on three-quarters of it.
[He also composed] the Iklil mughni al-nabil as notes. He did not
finish his commentary on Buyiu al-ajal by Ibn H -ajib, [yet] he dis-
cussed it with Ibn 'Abd al-Salam and Khalil. [He wrote, moreover],
a Ta'lif fi'l-mansiydt, and an abridgement of the Talkhis al-miftdh,
and a commentary on it, and the MiftdA al-nazar fi 'ilm al-hadith,
including discussions he had had with Nawawi about his Taqrib,
a commentary on the Jumal of al-Khawnaji, a Muqaddimafi'l-mantiq
anda poemin rajaz metre about it, and three commentaries, [one]
for each of these, and a small pamphlet (kurrdsa) (17b) which he
called Tanbih al-ghdfilin 'ala makr al-mulabbisin bi-da'wa maqdmdt
al-'drifin, a Muqaddima fi'l-'arabiya, the Kitdb al-fati al-mubin, a
commentary on the khutba of Khalil's Mukhtasar, likewise Al-Badr
al-munir fi 'ulfim al-tafsir, and a number of qasidas, including a
mzmiya in the metre of the Burda,66 which he composed in his (i.e.
Muhammad's) praise - May God bless him and give him peace!
[There is] a list of traditions reported by him, and he had many a
word with Jalal al-Din al-Suyfiti about logic, both in prose and in
verse. '
I say, that we have called attention, with praise to God Most
High, to some of his compositions, for we have benefitted from them,
among them the book of questions wbich he wrote for the Askiya,
likewise the Misbah as-arwah fi uluil al-faldh, and the Riscila which
he wrote for Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Yaquib, Sultan of Kano,
and other things. May God requite him with goodness on our
92
behalf, and place us with him in the highest gardens of Paradise,
amen ! (18a).
We should like, however, to terminate this book by mentioning
our uninterrupted chainofconnection (al-sanad al-muttasil) to him -
May God be pleased with him ! - which comes to us from Sidi
Muhammad al-Mukhtar b. Ahmad b. Abi Bakr al-Kunti al-Um-
mawi, 7 [which is] the link of the Qadirl wird. The learned Shaykh
Niih authorised our entry into it. He received it from his shaykh,
Sidi Ahmad al-Mukhtar, who has just been mentioned, who had it
from his shaykh, Sidi al-Sharif 'Ali b. Ahmad, who received it
from his shaykh Sidi Abu l-Niqqab ('The Veiled'), so called because
he used to wear a facemuffler (litham), who had it from his shaykh,
his brother Sidi Ahmad, and he from his father, Shaykh Sidi Ahmad.
He received it from his shaykh, Sidi al-Raqqad, and he from his
shaykh, Sidi Ahmad al-Firam, and he from (18b) his shaykh, Sidi
'Umar b. Sidi Ahmad al-Bakkd'i, who had it from his shaykh Sidi
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Maghili - May God Most High
be satisfied with himn! [God] has decreed that we might have sen-
sible relations (al-ittisdl al-hissi) with him in the Intermediate State
(barzakh), and in the Hereafter, as it has been decreed that we should
have spiritual relations with him in this world, which are [symbolised]
by this chain of transmission.
Here ends the book Taclim al-ikhwdn bi'l-umur illati kafarnd biha
mulik al-Suiddn alladhina kdnii min hadhihi l-bulddn. God made possible
its completion on Wednesday, the 14th of Dhfl'l-Hiijja in the year
Shin Ra', HaI Kaf68 of his (Muhammad's) Hijra - blessings and
peace upon him, and praise to God who granted us the blessing of
faith and of Islam, and guided us by our lord and master Muham-
mad - may God the Almighty grant him (19a) the best of blessings
and the purest of peace ! 0 God, take pity upon the Community of
Muharammad, through Your all-Encompassing Mercy!
Colophon:
Copying finished with praise to God for His Good Assis-
tance. Blessings and peace upon the best of His Cre-
atures, his family and his companions.
1 I. e.' Uthman, his father and grandfather.
2 Reading verbal form I: kafarnd bihd mulilk al-Suddn. Otherwise, reading verbal
form II: kaffarnd biha mulfdk al-Suddn, and alternative translation meaning
'IN MATTERS THROUGH WHICH THE KINGS OF THE SUDAN MADE US INTO
UNBELIEVERS.' This seems less likely to be correct.
Qur'dn, xxxx, 33.
4 Ibid., xiii, 33.
5 Ibid., xi, 18-19.
6 Ibid., xxxxiv, 11. The commentary by Mahalli referred to here is the well-
known Tafsir al-Jaldlayn, begun by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (791/1389-
93
864/1459) and completed by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuiti (849/1445-911/1505).
See GAL II, p. 138. The section written by Suyfiti is also known as the
Takmila.
7 Qur'an, xcii, 17-18.
8 Abu Bakr, the first caliph.
9 Bilal, an Abyssinian slave, the first mu'adhdhin in Islam, was famous for his
excellent voice.
10 Abul Sa'id al-Baydaw;, author of the commentary Anwdr al-tanzil wa asrdr
al-ta'wil, died in 68511286, see GAL I, p. 417. Al-Baydawi came from al-
Bayda in S. Persia.
1 This reference to 'al-ashqa' is to the verse xcii, 15, contrasted with the
reference to 'al-atqa' in verses 17-18.
12 This may be a reference to the book by 'Abd al-Ra'uif al-Haddadi al-Muna-
wi, an Egyptian author who lived from 952/1545 to 1031/1621. See GAL.
Supplement II, p. 417 and II, p. 393-396.
13 In order to retain the original sequence of numbering, as mentioned by the
author on folio 2b, I have altered the numbering slightly here for the sake of
clarity, making category two, three, and three, four.
14 Al-faqih al-qadi al-imam... Abuj'l-Fadl'Iyad b. Muisa b. 'Iyaid al-Yahsubbi,
author of the Kitab al-shifa' bi-ta'rff huquiq al-mustafa ('The Elixir for in-
struction in the justice of the Chosen Prophet') lived in Andalusia, 476/
1083-544/1149. The Shifd' is still very popular book in Maliki West Africa,
and can easily be found in the little Muslim bookshops in Accra and else-
where. This citation is found in the edition published by Muhammad 'Ali
$abih and Sons, Cairo, 1376/1956, p. 268.
5 Ibid., p. 272.
16 Almad b. 'Ali al-Jaza'iri, who died in 898/1497 composed a work entitled
Al-Manziumat al-Ja;d'irzya ft'l-tawhid. This is not accessible to me, but this
qasida is no doubt a part of it. See GAL, ii, p. 356.
17Abui 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Yuisuf al-Saniisi al-Hasan, who died at
Tilimsan in W. Algeria about 892/1486, was the author of three works on
tawhid (see GAL II, 250, and Supplement b and ii, p. 352). Sanuisi's com-
mentary on the Man;iinat al-jazd'irDva is entitled Al-'iqd al-farid ft hall
mushkilat al-tawhid. Mu1Rammad b. Muhammad Makhlfif, Shajarat al-niur
al-zakDya fi tabaqdt al-Mdlikzya, Cairo, 1349, p. 266, mentions a commentary
by Sanuisi on the Lam ya of Jaza'iri. Makhlfuf gives Sanusi's date of birth as
'after 830/1426'.
18 Here Sanfisi may have in mind the'independent' principle of a dualistic
religion, such as the evil principle embodied in Persian dualistic religions by
Ahriman in opposition to goodness and light.
19 Subdivision or fragmentation of the godhead?
20 See Qur'dn, xxxix, 4, where there is mention of the use of intermediaries in
serving God.
21 This is undoubtedly the correct title for this work; it is listed in Bivar, A. D.
H., and Hiskett, M., 'The Arabic literature of Nigeria to 1804; a provisional
account,' Bull. SOAS, xxv, 1, 1962, pp. 107-108, where the title is given as
Ta'lif ajdbuhu fihi 'an masd'il, as Ahlmad Baba puts it. Mr. J. 0. Hunwick
has prepared a text of this extremely important work, and a translation,
which is to be published shortly.
22 Muhyi al-Din ibn al-'Arabi, al-Shaykh al-Akbar, Al-Fut.hadt al-MakkDya ft
ma'rifat al-asr&r al-malakiya. See GAL, I, p. 571 ff.
23 Qur'dn, xxii, 30.
24 Ibid., xxii, 32.
25 Ibid., xci, 9.
26 Ibid., xxii, 3.
27 Ibid., xcI, 10.
28 The North African literary man Abfi 'Ali al-Hasan b. Mas'ild al-Yiisi
94
al-Marrakishi is famous in the Western Sudan chiefly for his ddliya (qasida
ending in dal) in praise of his masterAbfi 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Nasir al-
Dara'i, who died in 1082/1671-72. Al-Yiisi himself died in 1102/1690, see
GAL, Supplement ii, p. 675, but his poem is still popular, as well as its
commentary, the Nayl al-Amani fi sharh al- Tihani. The ddlzya was read by,
and influenced, 'Abdallah dan Fodio. In his edition of 'Abdallah's Tazyin
al-Waraqdt M. Hiskett has shown the close parallels between the imagery of
the ddliya and a qa ida by 'AbdallTh in praise of his shaykh, Jibril b. 'Umar.
(See Tazyin al-Waraqdt, Ibadan University Press, 1963, pp. 10-12). The
Kitab al-Muhadardt, or the Rihlat al-Yasi, was lithographed at Fas in 1317/
1897. It is a description of al-Yiisi's travels and a partial autobiography.
For more details, see E. L&vi-Provencal, Les Historiens des Chorfa, Paris, 1922,
p. 272. Further, see Jacques Berque, Al- Yousi, problimes de la culture marocaine
au XVIIe siicle, The Hague, 1957. The story cited by 'Uthman dan Fodio
comes from pp. 36-37 of the Fas edition of the Muh.d ardt; the original makes
it clear that the tree in question was an olive of strange shape growing near
the walls of Sijilmasa.
29 See Khalil b. Ishaq al-Malik!, Mukhta$ar Khalfl, ed. Tahir Ahmad al-Zawi,
Cairo, n.d. p. 102. This reference in the section on the oath (al-yamin) refers
to the pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, al-'Uzza. In ancient times, al-'Uzza
was worshipped at Nakhla, east of Makka, where her sanctuary consisted of
three trees. Part of the worship involved hanging garments and rags on the
branches. The best reference for these practices is Ibn al-Kalbi, Kitab al-
Afnam, 2nd ed., Cairo 1924, p. 17 ff.
&OQur'an, vi, 137.
31 Ibid., XXXVII) 91.
32 Ibid., xxiI, 72.
33 Ahmad b. Isma'il al-Kurani, the author of the Ghdyat al-amani, was born in
813/1416 and died in Istanbul in 893/1488. As the time of his death, Kurani
was mufti of Istanbul. Evidently he was highly regarded by his contemporaries,
because Bayazid ii paid his debts on his death; see GAL, ii, p. 229. As far as
I can make out, this work has never been printed, yet it circulated in ma-
nuscript as far as the Western Sudan. For more information about Kurani,
see Abfi'l-Khayr... Tashk6prizade, Al-Shaqd'iq al-nu'mdnDya ft 'ulamd' al-
dawlat al-'uthmaniya, on the margin of Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-a'yaln,
Bulaq ed., 1299/1881-82, I, pp. 143-151.
34 Abu'l-'Abbas al-Mursi was a well-known North African Siifi who died in
686/1287. He was a pupil of Aba'l-Hasan al-Shadhili. In the Allouche
and Regragui catalogue of Arabic mss. at Ribat (vol. II, p. 182, no. 2217)
there is listed a hagiographical work about him by one Abfi'l-Fadl Ahmad
al-Iskandari entitled Lata'if al-minan fi manaqib al-Shaykh Abi'i-'Abbas al-
Mursi wa shaykhihi Abi'l-Hasan.
35 Qur'dn, XLVIII, 18, 'Indeed, God was satisfied with the Believers when they
swore allegiance to you under the Tree. He realized what was in their hearts
and gave them peace of mind and requited them with victory...'.
36 Literally, 'Qutt': an advanced stage of .Sft mystical experience.
37 Shaykh Abui Ya'aza (Mawla'i Bia 'Azza or 'Izza) was a famous suft of the
Maghrib. Taghiya is about halfway between Casablanca and Qa-aba
Tadla. Allouche and Regragui, II, 1958, p. 198, nos. 2255-57. list aworkon
his life and miracles by Ahmad b. Abi'l-Qasim b. Muhammad b. Salim b.
'Abd al-'Aziz al-Harawi al-Tadili, who died in 1013/1604, entitled Kitab
al-Ma'aza fi manaqib al-Shaykh Abi'l-Ya'aza. Abua Ya'aza died at Taghiya
in 572 /1177. This same Abui Ya'aza is mentioned as the immediate successor
of the great mystic and founder of the Qadiriya order, 'Abd al-Qadir al-
Jaylani in a silsila of 'Uthman dan Fodio, listed in his Al-Silasil al-Qadiriya
(Ibadan University ms. 82/110, folio 2, fa$l 3). See also Smith, H., F.-C.,
'The Islamic revolutions of the 19th century', J. Hist. Soc. Nigeria, ii, 1,
95
1961, p. 177 In his important article, Smith makes it clear that Uthman
could claim many sildsil, not only the one to Maghili mentioned at the end
of this work.
38 Is this a reference to the 'mountain' of Futa Toro ?
39 Faru is about 35 miles SE of Sokoto. See the map facing p. 1 7 in Muffett,
D. J. M., Concerning Brave Captains, London, 1964.
40 Degel is about 40 miles north of Sokoto, not far from the present frontier
between Nigeria and Niger Republic.
41 I have not been able to identify this place.
42 Qur'dn, in, 28.
43 I.e., that part of the Tafsfr al-Jaldlayn composed by Suyuiti. See note 6 above
44 Qur'dn, v, 80-81.
45 The recovery of this text - as shown by the excerpts cited here by 'Uthman
- is an essential one for the analysis of al-Maghili's ideas. Although there is
a ms. bearing this title at the National Archives at Kaduna, Northern Ni-
geria, the text is identical with Maghill's Risdla fi umur al-saltana, translated
by Baldwin under the title Tdj al-Dfn and published with an English trans-
lation in Beirut, 1931. A ms. of it has now turned up at the Public Library
at Ribat.
46 Dr. A. D. H. Bivar has prepared a translation of this short work of Ahmad
Baba, to which he has given the title, 'The ethnographic inquiry of Ahmad
Baba of Timbuktu.' This is to be published shortly. The original was
composed in reply to a letter from the people of Tuwat, who had enquired
of Ahmad Baba the status of various western Sudanic peoples, with regard
to their legal enslavement under Muslim law. It was probably written about
102411615-16. See also Hunwick, J. O., 'A new source for the biography of
Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti (1556-1627)', Bull. SOAS, xxvii, 3, 1964.
47 This is probably the place west of Kukawa, not far from the frontier of Ni-
geria and Niger Republic mentioned by Bivar, A. D. H. and Shinnie, P.
in their joint article, 'Old Kanuri capitals', J. Afr. Hist., iII, 1, 1962, pp.,
3-4.
48 Kui or Kaw may be a variation of the name Kukuwa (Hausa: 'the baobabs'),
formerly the capital of Bornu, sacked by Rabih b. Fadlallah in 1893, al-
though the town may not have been founded at the time that the Ta'limal-
ikwan was written. There are many villages in this region built among or
under baoba, called 'ku' or 'kuka.'
49 Qur'dn, v, 3.
50 From various passages in Muhammad Bello's Infdq al-Maysuir, it is clear
that the first phrase in the title of this work is Durar al-qald'id, but Brockel-
mann lists in the index to his GAL only one work whose title begins in this
way, a history of al-Andalus by Turtushi. This is unlikely to be the work in
question.
51 This word is of Kanuri origin and means 'warden of the Western Marches'.
At this time, the Ghaladima had his headquarters at Nguru, 110 miles NE
of Kano.
52 Reading Hadejia for the H. g. j. i of the ms. This place is situated ab.ut
80 miles NE of Kano.
53 Reading M. i for the m.n of the ms.
54 There is a place called Wazagal about 10 mils SE of Nguru.
55 Ardo (chief) Lerlima was a Fulani leader of some prominence.
56 Ibn 'Abdfir was a well-known Fulani leader.
57 Reading Ghaladima for Gh.l.n.m. of the ms.
58 The ruler of Daya, South West Bornu.
59 Khalil b. Ishaq al-Maliki, Mukhta;ar, p. 322. This is the opening sentence
of the section on ridda.
60 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha'rani, Al-Mfzdn al-Sha'rdnDya. See GAL.
61 Abui'l-'Abbas Sid! Ahmad b. Ahmad b. Ahmad b. 'Umar b. Muhammad
96
Aqit, known as Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti, Nayl al-ibtihaj bi-tatrfz al-dibdj,
on the margin of Ibn Farbfin al-Ya'mir., Kitdb al-diba-j al-mudhdhahab ft
ma'rifat-a'ydn al-madhhab, Cairo 1329. For Ahmad Baba see the two articles
of Hunwick, J. O., 'Ahmad Baba and the Moroccan invasion of the Sudan',
J. Hist. Soc. Nigeria, ii, 3, 1963, and 'A new source for the biography of
Alhmad Baba al-Tinbukti (1556-1627),' Bull. SOAS, XXVII, 3,1964. See the
biography of Maghili on pp. 330-332 in Nayl, and in the Fas edition, pp.
353 ff. The same biography of Maghili appears, with slight alterations,
in Ibn Maryam al-Maliti al-Madyani, Al-Bustdn fz dhikr al-awliyd' wa'l-
'ulamd' bi-Tilimsan, ed. Bencheneb, M., Algiers, 132611908,pp. 253-257, and
an abbreviated version of it in Makhluif, op. cit., with many misprints, p. 274.
62 This book of Ahmad Baba's has never been printed as far as I know. The
Ibadan University Library has a photocopy of a ms., no. 765, of the Arab
League Collection in Cairo, which is no. 499 of some other collection,
perhaps from a library in Madina or Istanbul. Unfortunately whole pages
of this copy are badly stained with hypo and are illegible, or cannot be
read because of bad focussing in the original microfilm.
63 According to Redhouse, J. W., A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople,
1884, p. 1553, a kurrasa is 'a lift of five sheets of paper, the unit of Eastern
book-binding,' a signature. By folding and doubling, two kurrasas might
amount to a work some 20 pages in length.
64 For al-Suyfiti, see note 6 above. There is a short biography of Ibn Ghazi
in Nayl al-Ibtihaj, pp. 333-334. Muhammad b. Ahmad b. 'Ali ibn Ghazi al-
'Uthmani al-Miknas; al-Fasi was in his day one of the most famous of the
'ulamd', of Fas. Among his students was the famous al-Wansharisi. Ibn
Ghazi wrote many books, including a history of his native town, Miknasa,
called the Rawd al-Hattun ft- akhbdr Mikndsat al-Zaytfin. Ibn Ghazi died in Fas
in 919/1513. According to Makhluif in Shajarat al-Nz7r, p. 276, Ibn Ghazi
was born in 841/1437.
65 This account of the literary production of al-Maghili from the Nayl al-
ibtihdj has been analysed in detail by Bivar and Hiskett in their 'The Arabic
literature of Nigeria to 1804...', Bull. SOAS, xxv, 1, 1962, p. 107 ff.
66 A mim(ya is a qa ida ending in mfm. Al-Busiri's poem about the Burda (The
Prophet's Mantle) is one of the most famous in Arabic literature.
67 This chain of transmission has already been commented on by Smith, H. F.
C., in a note in the Bulletin of News of the Historical Society of Nigeria, vII, 3,
1963, pp. 11-12. All the persons mentioned are well known; there is a brief
account of the Qadiriya tarfqa and the part played in spreading it by the
Kunta tribe in Marty, P., L'Islam et les tribus de Soudan, Paris 1926, 1, pp.
15-17.
68 14 Dhfi'1-Hijja 1228 = 7 December 1813.
97

Unbelief in The Western Sudan 'Uthmān Dan Fodio's Ta'līm Al-Ikhwān

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Unbelief in The Western Sudan 'Uthmān Dan Fodio's Ta'līm Al-Ikhwān

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Unbelief in the Western Sudan: 'Uthmn dan Fodio's "Ta'lm al-ikhwn"

'Uthman dan Fodio's "Ta'lim al-ikhwan"

Between 1811 and 1814, 'Uthman dan Fodio (c. 1754-

1817) wrote a series of short works which he addressed to

the members of his community.' Some of these are: Tanbih

al-ikhwdn and Siraj al-ikhwdn (1811), Najm al-ikhwan

(1812), Ta'lim al-ikhwdn and Shams al-ikhwdn (1813), and

Tahdhir al-ikhwdn (1814). These works deal with various

subjects of interest to the community, from Muslim doctrine

on music to points of Maliki law, and to polytheism and

syncretism. The immediate impetus for the writing of these

justification of the Fulani jihdd, a controversy which was as

disturbing to the Fodiawa as it was unexpected, and which

upset their efforts to create, or rather recreate, what they

believed to be an ideal Islamic state, based on the proper

observance of the revealed law of Islam. Hence the com-

position of these six works (and others), written to justify

the jihdd to their own following.

The fourth work in this series, Taelim al-ikhwdn bi'l-umuir

allati kaffarnd biha muluk al-Suddn alladhina kdnu min ahl

hadhihi'l-bulddn ('Instruction for the brethreninthose matters

in which we have designated the kings of the Sudan as

unbelievers, those of them who were from the men of these

lands'), was completed in December 1813, and is chiefly

concerned with the double question of unbelief (kufr),

and the practice of branding others as unbelievers (takfir).

In this matter, 'Uthman dan Fodio follows the doctrinal

lines laid down by an earlier Muslim reformer, preacher,

from Tilimsan or Tlem?en in Western Algeria, in his two

books - Misbah al-arwdh fa usul al-falda - a manuscript

which has recently been found in Ribat - and the better

known As'ilat ajwibat al-Askfyd.2 The Shehu gives a full

account in the Ta'lim al-ikhwdn of the principal points of

his own theological political opinions, particularly about

polytheism and unbelief. He quotes widely from obscure

as well as famous Muslim writers in support of these views.

He then concludes the work by tracing to al-Maghll his

personal chain of affiliation, through the Qadiriya tariqa.

At present, only a single manuscript of this opus is known

to the translator, Ms. 403 of the Sokoto Town Council

Library in Northern Nigeria.3 It was brought to his at-

tention by Professor H. F. C. Smith of the History Depart-

ment of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Northern

efforts of Dr. D. M. Last of the same department. The

manuscript is written in a clear jihddi hand in the local

brownish ink, with some rubrications here and there. It

reads fairly well, with a few minor lacunae in places, and

a number of auditional and scribal errors. It was probably

copied quite recently, although neither the date nor the

copyist's name appear anywhere in the manuscript. The

dimensions of the original are 18 x 23.5 cm., and there are

19 folios, each having 14-16 lines to the page, written on a

thick cream-coloured paper without watermarks. The fact

that this manuscript comes from Sokoto, 'Uthman's ca-

pital, suggests that other manuscripts of the Taelim al-ikkwdn

may eventually be found there.5

The literary origins of this little work, or more accurately,

pamphlet, are reasonably clear. In Muhammad Bello's

Infdq al-maysur fa ta'rikh bildd al- Takruir, a long letter from

'Uthman dan Fodio to Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanimi

of Bornu is quoted in full. This letter includes many passages

which are verbally so close to some of the statements made

in the Ta7lim al-ikhwdn, that it seems certain that this work