Dan Fodio

Uthman Dan Fodio was an itinerant preacher who belonged to a section of the Torodbe and who had settled in Gobir. In 1804 Hausaland jihad being led by Dan Fodio was filled with disgust at the way, clerics compromised with pagan practices, with hatred at the way Pulo clerics like himself were treated by pagan rulers and with zeal for the expansion of the regime of the divine law.

He began his career as a preacher in Kebbi around 1774-75 and formed a core group of disciples. Torodo clerics bringing news of the Islamic revolutions taking place in Futas Toro and Jalon fired his imagination to initiate a similar jihad in Hausaland. Dan Fodio began, by challenging the way of life in the Gobir royal court and indeed the whole nature of Gobir society. His sermons called upon the people to repent and come to god, or they would be subject to eternal damnation upon their death. He also assured them constantly that the time of the Mahdi’s coming was at hand. His religious zeal and a general sense of disenchantment with the Habe kings led many people to flock to Dan Fodio and in Gobir, Kebbi and Zamfara the restless commoners responded enthusiastically to his message. The Muslim Fulani’s also rallied to Dan Fodio’s side. The Fulani’s were strongly inclined towards societal reform as a result of their learning and a long association with the Toureg Inesleman.

For a time, Dan Fodio accepted the patronage of the Hausa state of Gobir. His position was like that of the Muslim scholars who for centuries had found in the Hausa courts attractive opportunities to establish their influence, but who chafed against the restrictions placed upon them. Frustrated with the failure of the rulers to put Islam into practice, Dan Fodio broke with the royal court and condemned the rulers.