(Nazarin cigaba da aka samu a kasar Falisdinu ta mahangar fikirar Gwagwarmayar Sheikh Usmanu Dan Fodio (ra) ) By I. H. Mshelgaru 1. Gr...
(Nazarin cigaba da aka samu a kasar Falisdinu ta mahangar fikirar Gwagwarmayar Sheikh Usmanu Dan Fodio (ra) )
By I. H. Mshelgaru
1. Greetings and salutation
2. First of all I would like
to congratulate the youths of the Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement, the
organizers of this event as well as the Dairah of Sokoto ; and for inviting me
to speak at this special session of the event.
3. I would like to draw our
attentions to the significance of the Dan Fodio Week we have been. commemorating
for some years now, where the life of Sheikh Usmanu Dan Fodio (ra) and his
revolutionary are brought to light and memorized. Observing these would be
beneficial to us as individuals, the society and the nation as a whole.
4. Some of benefits we can derive
from this include but not limited to;
(i) Knowing the reality of
Sheikh in a crystal clear form, without ambiguity and misrepresentation
(ii) Understanding the
nitty-gritty of the conditions under which Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio (ra) and his
followers lived and surrendered their lives to Allah (swt)
(iii) Knowing the details of the
process and fruits of his revolutionary
(iv) Knowing his hidden secrets,
ambitions and achievements
(v) Finding out where his
mission terminated so that we can continue from there
(vi) Understanding how he
established Islamic society obedient to Allah (swt) so that we can copy
(vii) Understanding meanings of
his philosophy, principles and practices and how he guided his ummah
(viii) Discovering his legacies he
bequeathed for our generation
(ix) Adopting and applying the
bequeathed legacies to help us reform our society for better and greatness
(x) Immortalizing him in our society
(xi) Restating our enmity to his
enemies
(xii) Getting clear perspectives
of how sheikh would have been viewing the present world
5. In
line with the last item, perhaps, I was asked to speak on the topic: “Discourse on the Recent Developments in
Palestine in Light of Sheikh Usmanu Dan Fodio’s Revolutionary Philosophical
Thoughts” and I am going to critically analyze the recent occurrences of
the changing dynamic in Palestine in light of what we are going to understand
to be the revolutionary philosophical thoughts of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio (ra)
6. By his revolutionary
philosophical thoughts (fikira) I mean in
(i) line with his thinking,
(ii) the perspectives at which
he viewed the world
(iii) the ways he might have interpreted
such developments and passed judgments.
7. I understand Developments to
mean “new stage or isolated event or occurrence
in the changing situations in Palestine” which can be subjected to analysis
and interpretation through different perspectives such as economic, political,
military, religious etc perspectives.
8. Who was Sheikh Usmanu Dan
Fodio (ra)? A briefly; His full name
was:
a. Usman bn Muhammad Fodio
b. Born on 15 December 1754 at Maratta, Gobir
c. His parents were Muhammad Fodio and Hauwa
bnt Muhammad.
d. He was a scholar, teacher, Islamic scientist, thinker,
and theologian, mystic, philosopher, revolutionary, reformer and religious
renewer (mujaddid)
e. He was a religious and political leader
f. He stimulated the growth of Islam throughout
the region
g. He established an efficient Islamic system of
governance grounded in Islamic law and revolutionarily reformed the society
which spread from Gobir throughout northern Nigeria and Cameroon and had
influence across West Africa and beyond.
h. He produced a large body of literacy and
scholarship which continue to enjoy wide circulation and influence for
centuries.
i. He died 207 years ago on 20 April 1817 in this
town, Sokoto,
9. The philosophical thoughts
(fikira) of Sheikh Usmanu Dan Fodio’s (ra) through which he viewed the world
can be ascertained through;
A. Historical documents.
(i) He wrote hundreds of books
concerning religion (particularly
creed, jurisprudence, spirituality, theology
and poetry), government, culture and society in which his views
manifested
(ii) Several of his followers, including his daughters were scholars and writers and have transmitted much of Dan Fodio’s ideology and view points.
B. Instances of his stance:
(iii) He condemned enslavement,
worshiping idols, sacrificial rituals, overtaxation, arbitrary rule and
violations of rights of ordinary people
(iv) He also criticized Muslim
elites for being corrupt, greed, paganism, violation of the standards of the
sharia
(v) He was a solace to the
peasants and the oppressed
(vi) He preached purification of
Islamic practices
(vii) He
appealed to justice, morality and Islamic inheritance practices
(viii) He fought and defeated
tyrannical kings of his time on several fronts
(ix) He
tackled the kings for forbidding Islamic practices like wearing hijab,
preaching, conversion to Islam, using turban etc
C. Opinions of current elites
of the elites (daga zantukar Arufai). According to Sayed Hassan Nasarullah the
sec general of Hizbullah, the mazhab of all reformers is Quran, ie their words
and actions are Quran: That means the words and actions of Usman Dan Fodio like
others were Quran:
(i) (a) La, ilahaillah, (b) Ba
sarki sai Allah, (c) La garbiyya wa la sharkiyya, (d) Ba hukuma sai ta Allah.
(ii) They all have these and
more beliefs and attributes: Tawassil; Trust and dependence on Allah; Independence
and freedom; Yaqini; Tawakul; Tasleem; Ubodiyyah; Justice; Resistance to
excessive demand; Amr bil maarufi wa nahyi annil munkari etc
D. By
implication, the current view points of similar mujaddidun on current
developments would all be same given that all other factors are same. That is, all
mujaddidun would take same stance on same issue if faced with the same issue in
their eras
Hence, the View expressed and judgment taken by current mujaddidun on current developments in Palestine are similar with what Dan Fodio would have taken if they occurred in his time.
10. With these facts at hand, with clear understanding of the developments in Palestine, we would be able to come up with fair analyses and judgments
11. What is Palestinian development? It refer any new occurrence in the changing situations in the struggle for the realization of free and independent Palestine from river to the sea. The developments are within the scope of a journey which started with the manifestations of major political and resistance forms of struggle and counter struggle that resulted in major reform in Palestine to date.
Invariably, however, the recency of development means those developments that just happened within a year, 2023 or the ones which occurred comparatively close to the present day, 2024. the recent development may include but can go beyond those listed inTable 1.
12. Critical
analysis of recent developments in Palestine
With the developments on the leftmost column and the
factors of analysis, this time shrouded in the philosophical thought; each
development is subjected to series of critical
questions, analysis, evaluation, interpretation and judgment are taken to summarize it
Table 1: Analysis of development
|
Category
of development |
Recent
Developments in Palestine |
Resistance Factor of critical analysis and judgment |
|||||
|
Description: account of dev |
Question: Interrogate to gain info |
Analysis: Detailed examination of complexity |
Evaluation: idea of significance, condition, worth |
Interpretation: Explained meaning of dev |
Judgment: Likely conclusive stance |
||
|
Types
of Occupation imposed on Palestine |
Slavery |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Colonization |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hegemony |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apartheid |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Israeli-Arab
alliance |
Normalizations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arab Betrayals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Battles:
Major, mega, super and hyper |
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operation True Promise |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Resistance
alliance |
Iran, Hizbullah, Ansarullah,
Iraqi PMU |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Genocides:
killing and starvation |
Gaza |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
West Bank |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
expansionism |
Territorial expansions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Negotiations |
Cease fire Negotiations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
13. Summary
It is said history repeats itself. The social, economic, demographic behavoural and so on developments Dan Fodio witnessed during his time are very much similar to what we are seeing happening in the present day Palestine. Having widely deliberated and arriving at conclusive point on each development, the resultant of the of sum of the final judgments of what Dan Fodio might do seem to tally with the general stance of the resistance axis. Maybe because he dealt with similar issues, engaged with Nafata’s excessive demands, resolved similar problems and defeat similar evil forces.
14. Conclusion
A critical analysis of the development taking place in Palestine using Sheikh Usmanu bn Fodio’s philosophical thought revealed that if he were to be present the views he would have expressed wouldn’t have different from those of the present mujddiduns. This proves unity and uniformity of decisions taken by individual mujaddidun in different time frame, whether they are contemporaries or not. It is true their mazhabah is Quran and so they ever remain relevant
Mshelgaru Sokoto 28/4/24
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