Hypocrisy: How Ɗan Fodio and the Fulani Declared Hausa Kings Disbelievers Over Hereditary Succession, by Hausa Activist

[Afis Deinde]

How Ɗan Fodio and the Fulani Declared Hausa Kings Disbelievers Over Hereditary Succession, Yet Adopted the Same System After Their Victory

Hereditary Succession

Hereditary succession was one of the key arguments used by the Fulani Jihadist leaders to criticize the Hausa kings of Hausaland. It was also the very tool they used to rally support from many of the common people against Hausa rulers, as well as from some discontented members of the Hausa aristocracy who were in opposition to the ruling Hausa dynasties at the time. This was because Shehu Usman Ɗan Fodio and his brother Abdullahi Fodio [may Allah have mercy on them] heavily condemned the hereditary system of succession.

In his book Kitab al-Farq, Shehu Usman wrote:

> “One of the systems of the Hausa kings is that they take rulership through inheritance or by force, without consultation.”

According to him, when it comes to Islamic leadership, it cannot be inherited like traditional chieftaincy. For that reason, the selection of a new ruler must not be based on power or bloodline.

On page 567 of Kitab al-Farq, Ɗan Fodio outlined the reasons why the Hausa rulers were deposed and replaced by the Fulani, as well as the principles of establishing an Islamic rulership.

Among the reasons he gave for overthrowing Hausa kings was the claim that:

> “Whenever a new king is appointed, they do not look for the most qualified; instead, they follow hereditary succession, saying, ‘I am the son of the king, therefore I must inherit the throne when my father dies.’ This is wrong. Rather, it should be investigated who is most qualified, even if not from the royal family.”

He further accused the Hausa rulers of building their states upon three unjust foundations:

1. Enslaving people by force.

2. Suppressing the rights of the populace.

3. Seizing people’s wealth and property.

Thus, according to Ɗan Fodio, when appointing a new ruler, there should be no arrogance, no boasting of lineage as “the son or grandson of a king,” but rather the one most qualified should be selected, regardless of family.

In the same vein, Abdullahi ibn Fodio (popularly known as Abdullahi of Gwandu) criticized hereditary succession in his book Diya al-Umara, comparing it to pagan rulership. He further stated in Diya al-Hukkam:

> “An Imam or Caliph should not assume power by force, enslavement, or inheritance.”

In Sabīl al-Salāma, Abdullahi also cited al-Mawardi, saying that when a ruler dies, the Muslim community must appoint a committee to select the most qualified person. The deceased ruler may nominate someone, but such a nominee cannot simply be his son or father—because rulership is not a family possession.

From these statements, it is clear that both Usman Ɗan Fodio and Abdullahi Fodio rejected hereditary succession and declared it equivalent to paganism. They emphasized that rulership was a trust for the whole Muslim community, not the exclusive right of one lineage.

Therefore, based on their own principles, anyone within a town or community—so long as he was Muslim—should have the right to contest for leadership, whether for local rulership or for the position of Sarkin Musulmi (the Sultan).

But this raises a very serious question:

After the overthrow of the Hausa kings during the Jihad, did the Fulani rulers truly return to this principle they preached? Or did they themselves revert to hereditary succession just like the Hausa rulers they condemned?

To answer this, let us look at the actual pattern of succession after the Fulani conquest in major cities of the Sokoto Caliphate such as Sokoto, Gwandu, Kano, Katsina, and Zaria.

Sokoto:

After the death of Shehu Usman Ɗan Fodio, his son Muhammadu Bello succeeded him. Then Bello’s brother Abubakar Atiku succeeded him. After that, Aliyu Babba, the grandson of Bello, took the throne. Afterwards, Bello’s descendants continued to succeed one another until the British killed Sultan Attahiru in 1903.

Gwandu (Kebbi):

After Abdullahi Fodio, his son Muhammadu Wani succeeded him. Then Wani’s brother Ibrahim Halilu. Then another brother, Aliyu, followed by another family member Abdulqadir, and so on. Succession continued within Abdullahi Fodio’s lineage until the fall of the Caliphate.

Kano:

After Ibrahim Dabo (Basullubee), his son Usman succeeded him, followed by his brother Abdullahi, then another brother, Muhammadu Bello, then Bello’s son Tukur, followed by Aliyu Mai Sango (another brother of Abdullahi). In short, rulership rotated among the descendants of Dabo.

Katsina:

After Umarun Dallaje, his son Abu Bakr succeeded him, followed by his brother Muhammadu Bello, then another brother Ahmadu Rufa’i, then Rufa’i’s nephew Ibrahim, then Ibrahim’s son Abubakar, and so on.

From this record, it is crystal clear that after overthrowing Hausa rulers on the grounds that hereditary succession was “paganism,” the Fulani Jihad leaders and their descendants immediately reverted to the very same hereditary system themselves.

So the question arises:

If hereditary succession among Hausa rulers was considered disbelief and paganism—so much so that their blood was made lawful and they were fought against—then what name should we give to this exact same hereditary succession practiced by the Fulani in Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, and Gwandu after the Jihad?

— Abu Bakr As-Siddiq

#hausaactivist

@@@

Afis

Who’s promising you all things, heaven on earth?

Lemme guess, a naked man with his hands in his pockets!

Sent from my iPhone

[Maxima1757 maxima1757]

"If hereditary succession among Hausa rulers was considered disbelief and paganism—so much so that their blood was made lawful and they were fought against—then what name should we give to this exact same hereditary succession practiced by the Fulani in Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, and Gwandu after the Jihad?"

The purpose of their use of heredity as a scapegoat for overthrowing the Hausa was to take over the land. For the Hausa have had Islam practiced among them for centuries and were recognized globally at that time for their sufism.

The problem that the Hausa had at that time that made people "support" that fulani supposition is the list of 3 issues:

1. Enslaving people by force.

2. Suppressing the rights of the populace.

3. Seizing people’s wealth and property.

Any subgroup of a people who do this as a "tradition" of their "aristocracy" is already creating a robespierre reaction among their people.

The question therefore is when and how that reaction gets implemented.

At the rate they were going, over time, the hausa aristocracy would have ended with a Toussaint L'Ouverture, a robespierre or a Rawlings eventually. Tyranny fosters insecurity by encouraging disloyalty to a system that does not serve its people. The people can only be expected to be loyal to any system that serves their defined (and sometimes undefined) needs for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Just as the british used these problems to subvert the systems of government in Yoruba land that existed before colonial interruption, the fulani capitalized on the already simmering discontent that absolute power (tyranny) produces, to subvert and overthrow the Hausa monarchs. The Yoruba were actually at war (based solely on the tyranny of the aristocracy) with one another, despite their common cosmic view and identity.

It is notable though, that in this epoch (18th, 19th and 20th centuries), these dynamics actually dictated the trend of government/governance globally. The same thing that led to marx and the "revolutions" and the same thing that led to watersheds in governance and the rise of "communism" and "capitalism", adam smith, e.t.c. was what humans were grappling with in most of Africa. It is what created and continues to generate a Mugabe, Rawlings, Sankara, Traore, etc. 

Unfortunately, external interests muddied their waters and made them vulnerable to foreign interference and subversion. Because of their already strained relationships with their people, these tyrants could not muster the popular or united support they needed to put off the neanderthals or those who will have any hegemonic designs on their lands.

In Asia, the systems of governance were also changing fundamentally, and the neaderthals capitalized on those divisions too. However, the leaders of the changes were able to galvanize popular support for both changing the systems of governance and throwing out the neanderthals. Throwing out the neanderthals was what followed their changing the tyrannical regimes (aka monarchies) or restructuring.

This was done with clear ethnic identity, not the false "nations" claimed by the frankenstein monsters and towers of babel deliberately spawned in berlin 1884-85. Not that they didn't try the same thing in Asia though. That is why there is a north and south Korea today and a China and Taiwan. They're are still struggling with that as we speak.

Compared to what happened in Africa, the key difference was the success of the berlin conference of predators, 1884-1885. 

Humans need to use the truth and reconciliation model that they have used in Rwanda successfully (with appropriate modifications that fit their specific contexts), to address the serious, pernicious, disabling and devastating gerrymandering of nations into these false geographical entities, spawning frankenstein mosters. That is the root cause of the rejection process going on in Africa. It disables loyalties and nations rendering them vulnerable to hegemonic thrusts. Like a tower of babel, all visions, intelligence, skills, dreams and prayers, etc cannot the tower build, when communication, cultural and language differences militate against understanding, and undermine working together.

Human,  know thyself ... 

Those who have ears ...

O.E.

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