Sunday 1 August 2021

SHAYKH MUHAMMADU SALGA (KANO): BIOGRAPHY

 THE LIFE AND CAREER OF MALAM MUHAMMADU SALGA (1869-1938)
[A Pioneer of the Most Extensive Tijani Network in Northern Nigeria]


By: Dr. Sani Yakubu Adam (Bayero University, Kano)

Published in: The Annual Review of Islam in Africa (ARIA), Issue No. 12/13, 2015-2016 {Pages 158 - 165}




INTRODUCTION

Malam Muhammadu Salga (
1869-1938) was a famous scholar of Kano who initiated a number of muqaddams (initiators) all over Hausaland into the Tijaniyya Sufi order, thus contributing a decisive input to the transformation of the Tijaniyya into the most populous Sufi order of present-day northern Nigeria.1


Most of the students he trained became accomplished scholars with large numbers of students and followers in different parts of the country. Among them were scholars such as Malam Tijani Usman Zangon Bare-Bari, Sani Kafanga, Abubakar Atiku and Shehu Maihula, who would later accept the spiritual authority of the Senegalese reviver of the order, Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (d. 
1975) and become the main representatives of the latter in Kano. Existing studies of Islam in Kano have already paid attention to the role of Salga’s disciples in championing the cause of Ibrahim Niasse and of his revivalist branch of the Tijaniyya. Few, however, have given sufficient emphasis to the contribution of Salga himself. This paper will provide an in-depth exploration of the life and career of Malam Salga and assess his personal role in the history of Sufism and Islamic scholarship in Kano and northern Nigeria at large.


The main reference to the life of Muhammadu Salga is a short Arabic biography written by his disciple, Malam Abubakar Atiku. This work, titled Tahsil al-watar fi tarjamat al-Shaykh Muhammad Salga b. al-Hajj ‘Umar (The attainment of a goal in [writing] the biography of Shaykh Muhammad Salga, son of al-Hajj ‘Umar), is written in the style of popular hagiography, the main goal of the author being to portray the exalted position of his teacher. Although they usually provide only limited information on the social and political context, such writings give interesting insights into the perceptions of Sufi disciples on their masters and can therefore be considered, as John Renard has pointed out, as important sources of information.2



EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

The son of Malam Umaru, the grandson of Muhammadu Jari and the great grandson of Malam Sa’idu, Muhammadu Salga was born in the year 1869 into a family of businessmen.3 Salga’s father, Malam Umaru, was a trader; he married Fatima, the daughter of Malam Jibril, who was an Islamic scholar in Katsina. Initially, Malam Jibril had prayed for God to give him a male child, so that the son could be prepared to become a scholar. However, his first born turned out to be a female child. Although at the time girls had less access to education than boys, Malam Jibril was able to train her in the major curriculum of Islamic studies of the time so that she would be fit to marry a Muslim scholar. Eventually, it was Malam Umaru who sought the hand of Fatima in marriage. Initially, the father objected to this request of Malam Umar, basing his argument on the fact that Malam Umaru was more of a businessman than a scholar.4 Finally, Fatima was betrothed to Malam Umaru on the condition that their children would be placed on the path of scholarship rather than trade. This agreement was reached in the presence of two witnesses, namely Malam Umaru and Malam Abubakar. It was out of this marriage that Muhammadu Salga was born.5 The following chart shows the genealogy of Malam Muhammadu Salga.




Chart: The Genealogy of Malam Muhammadu Salga (Source: Sani [2016])





Muhammadu Ashura, otherwise known as Muhammadu Salga, was born in Salga (a commercial town in present-day Ghana) while his father was on one of his business trips. Initially, his father Umaru had deviated from the pact he had agreed with his father-in-law by placing the young Muhammadu Ashura on the path of business. Malam Abubakar (one of the two witnesses during the agreement mentioned earlier) later reminded Umaru about his promise. Therefore, Umaru entrusted the young Muhammadu Salga to Malam Abubakar to look after his studies.6 Salga was soon able to commit the Quran to memory, largely through the help of his mother who used to monitor the progress of his studies. He also studied Islamic (Maliki) jurisprudence under Malam Abubakar and Malam Kisko in Katsina.7 Later in his life, Salga moved to Kano where he studied under a number of scholars. According to Abubakar Atiku, his teachers included the following names: Shaykh Alhaji Abubakar b. Musa, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman Suyuti of the Madabo quarters, Shaykh Salih of Madabo, Hassan Tagwai, Shaykh Hamza b. Jibril, and many others.8


Malam Salga died on Thursday, the 11th of the month of Dhul Hijjah, in the year 
1357/1938. At the time, he was 69 years of age.9 Many dignitaries, including the Emir of Kano at the time, Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953), attended his funerary prayer, which was led by his disciple and son-in-law, Mahmud Ibn al-Hassan na-Salga.10 Many elegies were written in his honour, including one composed by his student Malam Inuwa, in which he describes the funeral as follows:


His son-in-law and disciple came through,

Mahmud the patient and trustworthy one.

A message was dispatched calling him,

So he came, with tears flowing from his eyes.

He was the one who led his (funerary) prayer

He pronounced the four takbir

And as soon as he said the taslim

People had to struggle to sustain him from falling.11



MUHAMMADU SALGA AS A TIJANI MUQADDAM


In terms of his silsila (initiatic chain), Salga was initiated into the Tijaniyya order by Sharif Muhammad b. al-Shaykh, a North African who had come to Kano city in the early years of the reign of Emir Abbas (
19031919) and who had settled in the area known as Unguwar Dandalin Turawa. Muhammad b. al-Shaykh had received his silsila from his father who had in turn received it directly from Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (d. 1815). As a consequence of this silsila, Salga had acquired a link to the founder Ahmad al-Tijani that was more direct than in the case of most other followers of the order in Kano at the time. Through his life, however, Malam Salga received a number of different salasil (pl. of silsila) from various scholars. For example, he received a silsila from another Moroccan scholar, known as Mawla ‘Abd al-Rahman, who had visited Kano in the early years of the reign of Emir Abbas, and in 1910, he received another one from Sharif Ujdud.12


Malam Salga met many prominent Tijani muqaddams who became very influential in his life, such as Muhammad al-Kabir al-Alawi, Shaykh Mukhtar al-Shinqiti, Shaykh Alfa Hashim and the Moroccan woman mystic Shaykha Khadija al-Qari‘a. In his turn, Salga was extremely active in appointing many muqaddams of the order, to the extent that it was speculated that most of the Tijani muqaddams in Hausaland during the first half of the twentieth century were his disciples. In other words, one could hardly see a Tijani leading a small group of students in any corner of Hausaland without the latter being directly or indirectly linked to Malam Salga.13


The most significant period in Salga’s career as a muqaddam of the Tijaniyya was the time of the advent and stay of Muhammad al-‘Alami in Kano. It was the latter, in fact, who appointed Salga as the imam of the newly-built Koki zawiya (centre of Sufi devotional practices) which became the main centre of the Tijanis in Kano in the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties. Muhammad al-‘Alami (d. 
1969 in Casablanca) was a visitor from Morocco who had come to Kano in 1923. It was after al-‘Alami’s initiative, that the Tijani zawiya of Koki was established in 1925. Prior to the arrival of al-‘Alami, most Hausa and Kanuri scholars of the Tijaniyya used to recite the daily Tijani litanies in Malam Salga’s house.14 The arrival and impact of al-‘Alami in Kano is described by Abubakar Atiku as follows:


The knower of God, the honest saint, the leader, my master, the noble Al-Hussainy, Muhammad b. ‘Uthman al-‘Alami, came to Kano during the reign of ‘Uthman b. ‘Abdallah, on the fifteenth of Ramadan. He ordered the building of a zawiya in Kano where scholars and muqaddams and others could meet, and preached to them in such a way that one would break into tears. He advised the scholars to write books, to meet regularly together and to stay united. He discouraged them from isolation and from harbouring jealousy of one another.15


Al-‘Alami had a powerful influence on the Tijaniyya in Kano. He infused the community with a sense of unity and of a collective venture. A factor that was to gain significance later was that al-‘Alami had received his spiritual authority in the order from Shaykh Ahmad Sukayraj,16 a prominent Moroccan scholar who would later have a great influence also on Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. The main motive behind the establishment of the Koki zawiya was to bring unity among the various networks of Tijanis in Kano. The fact that Malam Salga was emerging as a popular muqaddam when al-‘Alami arrived in Kano, brought the two closer. According to oral narratives, al-‘Alami asked Salga where the various Tijani muqaddams in Kano were located, and Salga told him that they were scattered in different parts of the town. It was at this point that al-‘Alami suggested the establishment of a zawiya that would become the centre of all Tijani activities in Kano.17 When al-‘Alami left Kano, Muhammad Salga remained as the imam of the zawiya and this position further enhanced his status as the most popular Tijani leader in Kano, giving him a chance to initiate many people into the order.


The career of Salga as a muqaddam, however, was not smooth. Soon after becoming the imam of the zawiya, he started to attract the enmity of other scholars in Kano, who were jealous of his position. These scholars seized the opportunity provided by the association of a foreign visitor such as al-‘Alami with Salga, to report to the British colonial authorities that the two were plotting a Jihad against the colonial rule. After these accusations, the colonial authorities started to believe that Salga had even written a book with the intention of instigating an anti-colonial uprising. This can be captured from a letter written by the office of the Lieutenant Governor to the Inspector-General of Police of the Northern Province:


With reference to the book written by Malam Salga, it is said now to be a holy book conducive to a jihad. When it was finished, it was taken to the Waziri so that a title should be chosen, which proved to be Sabili al-Muhtadi, in Hausa “Tafarkin Mai Shiriya” and in English “The Commencement of the Preparation.”18

 

If one looks critically at this allegation, it is easy to establish that the colonial authorities were wrong. In the first place, the title of the book was mistranslated as “The commencement of the preparation” and was wrongly interpreted as an incitement to prepare for an uprising. Instead it should have been translated as “The path of those who seek guidance.” Secondly, there was no record indicating that Malam Salga had collected weapons to launch an anti-colonial Jihad. It is interesting to note also that al-‘Alami was always presented in a poor light in the colonial reports. For example, the Secretary of the Northern Province wrote to the Resident of the Zaria Province, as follows:

 

I am directed by the Lieutenant Governor to forward for your secret information and investigation some notes on Sherif Alawi and Sharif Mukhtar. I am to add that it has become quite certain that the heads of Tijaniyya and Sunisiyya orders not only are concerned in but are hostile to the incendiary propaganda which was and perhaps may said to some extent propagated ostensibly under the auspices of these tariqas.19


In response to the above letter, the Resident of Zaria Province sent a note to the Lieutenant Governor which reads inter alia:


Sharif Alawi [sic] was not really a religious man because he frequently omitted to pray more than three times a day… He was always in the habit of drinking alcohol… Many wealthy traders came under the Sharif’s influence in Kano including Dantata, and they brought much money to him not less than £1,
500.81.20


From his own part, the Resident of Kano wrote a letter presenting Malam Salga and al-‘Alami in an even darker picture:


[…] He [i.e. Malam Salga] is frequently monitored in intelligent reports as the focus of possibly dangerous new ideas. I had recently also heard that strangers, mingling with cattle drovers, caravans and sundry roving “sharifai” were often getting into Kano unnoticed and visiting or staying with Malam Salga and were not reported to the Emir. Malam Salga is, of course, the Liman of the Tijaniyya Zawiya established in 
1925 under the auspices of the notorious Sharif Alawi (or Alamiya) of Casablanca.21


The above allegations seem to be baseless. In the case of al-‘Alami, the colonial authorities failed to establish that he was actually engaged in any subversive activities and the allegations levelled against him were not substantiated by any facts. The colonial administrators probably realised that this information on al-‘Alami was unfounded, and so they failed either to invite him for questioning or to arrest him, throughout his stay in Kano.22


As a follow-up to these allegations about Malam Salga, however, the Resident of Kano called a meeting of the various ward heads on 1July 
1929, and warned them strongly against the breach of the security in their wards. He then held another meeting with the scholars of Kano, in which he threatened Malam Salga on the basis of the information he had received from some informants.23 This was followed by a thorough search of the house of Malam Salga to determine whether he had concealed weapons. The colonial authorities had been told that Malam Salga had connections with the Mahdists24 and that the two groups were making preparations to wage a war against British rule. No weapon, however, was found in Malam Salga’s residence when it was searched.


Malam Salga was highly disappointed by the envy displayed by his enemies because of his position of imam of the Koki zawiya; therefore, Salga voluntarily relieved himself from that responsibility and delegated it to his disciple, Malam Inuwa.25 Afterwards, Salga relocated from Koki to Mabuga. Following Salga’s withdrawal, in the late nineteen-twenties, the communal participation in the group litanies recited at the Koki zawiya declined, as rightly captured by Abubakar Atiku:


Some jealous people began to cast suspicion upon the whole affair. Many discontinued coming to the mosque, and only a few remained. Previously, thousands of people congregated for the Friday zikr and hundreds for the daily wazifa. Afterward, people deserted the mosque, and only occasionally did people meet to do zikr.26


By that time, people in Kano were afraid of the repercussions of their association with Malam Salga since he was on the colonial watch-list. The decline in attendance at the zawiya, however, was only apparently a sign of decline in the career of Malam Salga. During his last years, Salga devoted most of his time to the close training of a selected number of disciples, who would later change the face of Islamic scholarship in Kano, emerging as a new generation of Tijani leaders.

 

MUHAMMADU SALGA AS A SCHOLAR


In addition to being a popular Tijani muqaddam, Salga was also an Islamic scholar who contributed to the scholarly debates in Hausaland. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Salga had studied with Malam Suyuti, the Babban malami (senior scholar) of the Madabo school of Maliki law in Kano. To this day, the period of study of Malam Salga in Madabo is a topic that generates a heated debate between the two groups known in Kano as Madabawa (i.e. the followers of the Madabo School of law) and Salgawa (i.e., the followers of the school later established by Malam Salga. While the Madabawa emphasize the fact that Malam Salga was a student at Madabo and owes most of his knowledge to the Babban malami, the latter argue that Salga went to Madabo as an accomplished scholar, seeking the benefits of a period of a study in an established centre, rather than in search of new knowledge.27 At that time, Madabo was the main centre of learning acknowledged by the emirate authority in Kano. Therefore, for any scholar to be given recognition by the authority, it was customary to go spend a period of study there.28 Within a very short period of time, Suyuti29 realised the competence of Salga in scholarship and often encouraged him to formulate his opinion on certain issues of law during their reading sessions. In the following years, however, Salga gradually became very critical of the established practice of the Madabo scholars, especially regarding the ways in which they supported certain rituals associated with the funerary prayers, which he deemed unacceptable. After the death of Malam Suyuti in 
1911, this criticism led to a heated debate between Malam Salga and the community of scholars of Madabo.30


After the death of Malam Suyuti, Salga wanted to improve his mastery of the Mukhtasar, which was regarded by the scholars of Kano of the time as being the ultimate text in Maliki law. He therefore studied the text with some commentaries that were then unknown in Kano, under the guidance of one Shaykh Abd al-Salam, a Libyan who had come to Kano in the second decade of the twentieth century. It was only after Salga had improved his mastery of Maliki jurisprudence that he decided to establish his own school. The curriculum at Malam Salga’s school featured certain differences from the curriculum at the school of Madabo. While the school of Babban malami specialized almost exclusively in Maliki jurisprudence, Salga’s school taught a wide range of subjects ranging from jurisprudence to Sufism, from Arabic grammar to literature and Quranic exegesis. In terms of methodology, Salga introduced the tradition that any disciple of his school who specialized in a particular discipline would be requested to teach his fellow colleagues his area of specialization. It is through this process that the disciples of Malam Salga were exposed to different branches of Islamic knowledge, overcoming the excessive compartmentalization of knowledge that was the norm in Kano at the time. Among Salga’s students, Muhammad Ibn al-Hassan specialized in Arabic grammar. Malam Salga therefore decided to study the text Alfiyyat Ibn Malik under him, which was a very unusual decision at that time, as it was perceived as being a violation of the customary code of conduct between a student and his teachers.31 Salga would always ask his students to study Arabic grammar under Mahmud ibn al-Hassan as well as under his friend Abba of Madabo, who also specialized in the study of grammar.32 Another scholar, Malam Abubakar Mijinyawa was considered to be an expert on Sufism, and most of Salga’s students were sent to study Sufism and the Tijaniyya under him. A third scholar, Malam Sani Mai Tafsiri, became known for his specialization in Quranic exegesis, and he taught the subject to most of Salga’s students.


Another remarkable aspect of Malam Salga’s school was its capacity to attract students from all parts of Hausaland, as shown in the following table.33

 


NAME OF STUDENT   PLACE OF ORIGIN


Ahmad Na Barde            Gwandu

Muhammad Dangoggo       Sokoto

Hassan Kafanga             Kano

Muhammad Abba           Damagaran

Mahmud Hassan           Kontagora

Ibrahim Mai Riga Fata       Borno

Abba Na Dan Fanna        Damagaran

Sani                      Agades

Sa’id Banufe               Sabongari

Ahmad Gabari             Kano

Muhamad Rafa            Kano



CONCLUSION

Malam Muhammadu Salga (
1869-1938) was a prominent Tijani scholar who trained an outstanding number of muqaddams in different parts of Hausaland. Today, many Tijani muqaddams in northern Nigeria identify themselves with him by adopting the identity of Salgawa. This term, which was originally associated only with Salga’s disciples, gradually assumed a broader meaning as it refers to all the Tijanis in Nigeria who have a direct or indirect connection with Malam Salga and with his teachings. Salga is still remembered for his multifold legacy. Firstly, he radically challenged the traditional ritual practices adopted by the Madabo scholars, contributing to legal change in Kano city and in northern Nigeria at large. Secondly, he adopted a more open approach to Islamic knowledge, thereby stimulating a thorough renewal of religious scholarship. Thirdly, he emerged as the most influential Tijani leader in Kano and personally trained those who were later to become the leaders of the Fayda (“divine flood”) movement of Tijani revival in Nigeria. Today, most of the prominent Tijani scholars in northern Nigeria are counted among the students of his disciples. Among many others, some scholars who come to mind are Shaykh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, Shaykh Isma’il Ibrahim Khalifa, the late Shaykh Abul Fathi and Shaykh Ibrahim Salih of Maiduguri. Although Malam Salga died almost eighty years ago, his legacy is still visible in the vibrant arena of Muslim scholarship in Kano.


NOTES


1 For more on the origin and development of the Tijaniyya Sufi order, see Jamil Abun Nasr, The Tijjaniyya: A Sufi Order in the Modern World (London: Oxford University, Press, 1965) and Zachary Wright, On the Path of the Prophet: Sheikh Ahmad Tijani and the Tariqa Muhammadiyya (Atlanta: The African American Islamic Institute, 2005). 

 

2 John Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment and Servanthood (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008).


3 It is very difficult to ascertain the actual date of his birth, as there are many different reports. John Paden argues that Salga was born in 
1871 (John Paden, Religion and Political Culture in Kano, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973, p. 6., note 4). According to Abdur-Razaq Solagberu, he was born in 1867 (Abdur-Razaq Balogun Solagberu, A Study of the Sufi Works of Shaykh Abubakar Atiq, PhD Thesis, Ilorin: University of Ilorin, 2009, p. 105). According to his son Malam Abdullahi Salga, the correct date for his birth is 1868 (interview with author). Muhammadu Nalado is of the opinion that Salga was born in 1866 (Muhammadu Nalado, Kano State Jiya da Yau 1864-1968, Zaria: Gaskiya Corporation, n.d., p. 26). Based on my own calculations, however, he was born in 1869.


4 Malam Abdullahi Mahmud Salga, interview with the author, 13 June, 
2013.


5 Malam Abdullahi Mahmud Salga, interview with the author, 13 June, 
2013.


6 Malam Lawi Abubakar Atiku, interview with the author, 2 June, 
2013.


7 Nalado, Kano State Jiya da Yau, p. 26.


8 Atiq, Tahsil al-watar, pp. 
1-2.


9 Atiq, Tahsil al-watar, p. 4.


10 Muhammad Inuwa, Marthiyyat al-Shaykh Salga (Kano: Oluseyi Press, n.d.), pp. 
6-7.


11 Inuwa, Marthiyyat, p. 8.


12 Roman Loimeier, Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 
1997), pp. 27-28.


13 Abdur-Razaq Balogun Solagberu, A Study of the Sufi Works of Shaykh Abubakar Atiq, p. 
109


14 John Paden, Religion and Political Culture in Kano p. 87


15 Abubakar ‘Atiq, Al Fayd al-Hami (Cairo: al-Muniriyya, 
1958), p. 10.


16 Shaykh Ahmad Sukayraj (
1878-1944) was one of the most important leaders of the Tijaniyya in North Africa in the first half of the twentieth century. He was a prolific writer as he authored more than one hundred books. He was the main source of authority in the order for Ibrahim Niasse’s father, Abdullahi Niasse.


17 Malam Lawi Abubakar Atiku, Interview with the author, 2 June, 
2013.


18 Kano State History and Culture Bureau (KSHCB) Archival File, LGC 9/
1929, Confidential, Subject: Malam Salga (Kano).


19 NAK “ZARPROF” Tijani File. No. c. 
4013, 19 December 1934, quoted in Yasir Anjola Quadri, The Tijjaniyya in Nigeria: A Case Study (PhD Thesis, Ibadan: University of Ibadan, 1981), p. 86.


20 NAK “ZARPROF” Tijani File. No. c. 
4013, 19 December 1934, quoted in Yasir Anjola Quadri. The Tijjaniyya in Nigeria: A Case Study, p. 86. This letter was dated March, 1925.


21 KSHCB Archival File, LGC 9/
1929, Confidential, Subject: Malam Salga (Kano).


22 Yasir Anjola Quadri, The Tijjaniyya in Nigeria: A Case Study, p. 88


23 KSHCB Archival File, LGC 9/
1929, Confidential, Subject: Malam Salga (Kano).


24 The British colonial authorities had bad experiences in their encounters with the Mahdists of Sudan and northern Nigeria. That is why they were very serious and took proactive measures against Malam Salga when he was linked to Mahdist activism. For more information on the Mahdist movement, see Asma’u Garba Saeed, “Kano and the Mahdiyya: Leaders of the Mahdiyya Movement, the Emirs and the Ulama, 
1946-2000,” FAIS Journal of Humanities, 2, 1, (2002), 196-219; Muhammad Al-Hajj, Mahdist Tradition in Northern Nigeria (PhD Thesis, Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1973); John Ellis Lavers, “Jibril Gaini: A Preliminary Account of the Career of the Mahdist Leader in North Eastern Nigeria,” Research Bulletin Center for Arabic Documentation (RBCAD) 3, 1, (1967), 16-40; Muhammad Al-Hajj, “The 13th Century Muslim Eschatology: Mahdist Expectation in the Sokoto Caliphate,” RBCAD, 3, 2, (1967): 100-115.


25 Malam Abdullahi Mahmud Salga. Interview with the author, 13 June, 
2013.


26 Paden, Religion and Political Culture, pp. 
89-90.


27 The argument between the two groups is an issue that stirs much emotion, and this was evident to me during my field work.


28 Malam Abdullahi Uwais, interview with the author, 2 July, 
2013. Malam Abdullahi is the son of Malam Uwais Madabo who was raised by Malam Salga.


29 Suyuti was born in Kano in 
1829. His father died when he was six years old and so he was raised by his elder brother, Abdullahi. After the latter’s death, he continued his studies under Malam Salihu, until he became an accomplished scholar in his own right. Suyuti attracted a number of students from all over Hausaland. Most of them became popular scholars of jurisprudence, while some distinguished themselves in other subjects. While many of his students were Hausa, several were Fulani. Some of his prominent students include Malam Muhammadu Salga, Malam Ibrahim Natsugune, Malam Sa’adu Yantando, Malam Abba Madabo and Malam Ahmad Yantoro.


30 For more information about the debate between Salga and the scholars of Madabo, see Muhammad Dahiru Fagge, Literary Life in the Intellectual Tradition of the Ulama in Kano since 
1804, (PhD Thesis, Kano: Bayero University Kano, 1997); Auwalu Anwar, Struggle for Influence and Identity: The Ulama in Kano 1937-1987 (M.A. Thesis, Maiduguri: University of Maiduguri, 1989); Muhammad Salga, Risalat al-su’al (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi Printing Press, 1956); A. Chindo, Hujaj al-Ulama al-Madabuwiyyin (n. p.); Muhammad Sani Kafinga, al-Adillat al-saniyya (Kano: Government Printing Press, 1381 AH); Ahmad al-Tijani b. ‘Uthman, Tuhfat al-atibba‘ (n.p. 1392 AH).


31 Malam Abdullahi Mahmud Salga, interview with the author, 13 June, 
2013.


32 The school in the house of Malam Abba still specializes in Arabic grammar. The present khalifa (successor) in the house now is Malam Abdullahi Uwais.


33 Source: Paden, Religion and Political Culture, p. 87.


By: Dr. Sani Yakubu Adam (Bayero University, Kano)


Published in: The Annual Review of Islam in Africa (ARIA), Issue No. 12/13, 2015-2016 {Pages 158 - 165}

 

 

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7. Practical Guide on the Wird(Litany) of the Tariqah Faydah Tijaniyyah (The Adherent Handbook)-(Compiled by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

8. In the Meadows of Tafsir for the Noble Quran (Fī Riyādh at-Tafsīr lil Qurān al-Karīm) by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (Compiled by Muhammad ibn Abdullah Jayjubi at-Tijānī) - English Translation[1 Volume]

9. Durratu Tāj (The Crown Jewel and Fundamental Needs of the Murid, Regarding the Essentials of the Rules & Requirements of the Tariqa Tijaniyyah Spiritual Path): A Concise Instructional Handbook/Pamphlet), by Abdul-Karīm ibn al-Arabī [Translated by Shaikh Hassan Cisse & Alhaji Lawal]

10. Facts about Sufism (by Sayyid Ismaheel Abdulrauf)

11. Jawāhir al-Maānī wa Bulūgh al-Amānī fī Fayd Sīdi Abī-l Abbās at-Tijānī (Jewels of Meanings and the Attainment of Aspirations in the Spiritual Flood of Abu l Abbas Tijānī) by Sīdī Aliyyu Harāzim Berrada -English Translation [Vol 1]

12. The Qualities and Uses of Zamzam Water (A Scientific & Islamic Exploration) by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye

13. Who is Shaykh Jamiu Bulala (by Ustaz Olanipekun Shittu Tunde)

14. Mukhtārāt min Mu'alafāt al-Fudiyāwiyūn [Selected Writings of the Fodios (Shaykh Usman, Abdullah & Muhammad Bello)] - 11 Vols (English)

15. Understanding the Concept of Will-Making in Islam (Fee Manzoori-l-Islam) by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye

16. Shaykh Ahmad Tijani and his Spiritual Path

17. Sayyida Fatima Zahara (The Rose)

 

SECTION B: ENGLISH TRANSLATION & ARABIC 

 

18. Majmūat ad-Dawāwīn (Collection of Eulogy Works) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse (Arabic text & English translation [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]

19. Al-Yaaqutatul Fareeda Fii Tariqatul Tijaniyyah (The Unique Ruby in the Tijaniya Spiritual Path), by Sheikh Muhammad Nazifi (R.A)...Translated by Sayyidi Jafaru Ibrahim

20. Vessel of Spiritual Flood, Translation of Goran Faydah by Shaykh Balarabe Haroon Jega (Hausa-Ajami text & English translation [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq] 

21. Katsina and Kaduna Conferences (Jadhbul ahbab ila hadrat Rabbil arbab) and Mecca Conference -(Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

22. Mawlud lectures of Shaikh Ibrahim Niass(Translated by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

23. Risalat at-Tawbah (Epistle of Repentance) of Shaykh Ibrahim Niyass al-Kawlakhi" - (Translation & Commentary by Dr. Razzaq Solagberu)

24. Al-khususiyyah Fi Mujadid Tariqah Tijaniyyah (The Distinguished Miracles of Shaikh Ibrahim Niass), Compiled & Translated by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq

25. Epistle to the World [The Translation of Ayyuha-l-Walad (Dear Beloved Son)] by Imam Abu Hameed Al-Ghazaali....Translated by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye

26. Jawahir Rasail (A Collection of Priceless Expositions via Letters "Letters 1 to 10"): Diamond Sparkles - (Arabic text, English Translation and Commentary by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)

27. Softcopy of Numerous Sufi Literature (Arabic & English) - (To be sent via CD & email/googledrive)

28. Kano Conferences by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse

29. Shaykh Inyass’ Special Prayers

30. Rūh al-Adab (Spirit of Excellent Ethics) by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse [Translated by Abdul-Quadir Okeneye]

31. At-Taiseer (Simplification): The Means of Attaining Purification Through Poetry with Allaah's Most Beautiful Names, By Shaykh El-Hajj Malick Sy [same translator]

32. Qasida al-Hamziyya (Panegyric which contains the Biography & History of Prophet Muammad) by Shaykh Muhammad Būsayrī [Translation & Commentary by Ibrahim Jafaru] - Arabic & English

33. Sufism “The Orthodox Path” (At-Tasawwuf “Minhāj al-Qawīm) [Arabic text & English translations ], by Oseni Aliu Olalekan

 

 

SECTION C: ARABIC ONLY

34. Dalāilu l Khayrāt - Collection of prayers upon the Prophet

a) in Plain Arabic and Warsh script (by Shaikh Sulaiman Jazūlī) – Arabic

b) in Hafs Arabic (small size)

c) in Hafs Arabic (big size)

35. Kanzul Masūn - Collections of Prayers/Supplications (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

36. Dawāwīn as-Sitt (Six Anthologies) on Prophetic Eulogy (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

37. Ahzāb wa Awrād (Collection of Prayers/Liturgies and Litanies) of Shaikh Ahmad at-Tijani - Arabic

38. Jihāzu Sārih wa Sāihi wa Sābih wal Ākiful Fālihu fī Tawajuhāt bi-Salātul Fātih by Shaykh Muhammad Gibrima Ad-Dāghirī - *Arabic*

39. Al-Durra al-Kharida fī Sharh al-Yāqūtat al-Farīda (The Unpierced Pearl’ in the Commentary of ‘The Unique Ruby’) - [Arabic, 2 Vols] by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wāhid an-Nazīfī

40. Jawāhir al-Maānī wa Bulūgh al-Amānī fī Fayd Sīdi Abī-l Abbās at-Tijānī (Jewels of Meanings and the Attainment of Aspirations in the Spiritual Flood of Abu l Abbas Tijānī) by Sīdī Aliyyu Harāzim Berrada - Arabic [Single Vol 1/2]

41. Fī Riyādh at-Tafsīr lil Qurān al-Karīm (In the Meadows of Tafsir/Exegesis for the Noble Quran) - by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (Compiled by Muhammad ibn Abdullah Jayjubi at-Tijānī)
Arabic [6 Volumes]

42. Kāshif al-Ilbās (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse) - Arabic

43. Fatihu Rabānī fīmā yahtāju ilayhi l Murīd at-Tijānī, by Muhammad ibn Abdullah at-Tijānī

44. Al-Fuyūdāt ar-Rabāniyyah fī Maāthar wal Awrād al-Qādiriyyah, by Sayyid al-Hajj ibn Sayyid Muhammad Sa’eed al-Qādirī

45. Sa’ādat al-Anām bi Aqwāl Shaykh al-Islām

46. Al-Budūr as-Sutai: Sharh al-Murhafati-l qutai (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

47. Tabsirat al-Anām fī anna-l Ilma Huwa-l Imām (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

48. Kanzul Awliyā fī Tawassuli bi-Aazam al-Asmā (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

49. Raf’u-l Malāaman rafaa wa qabada iqtidā bi-Sayyid al-Anām (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

50. Nujūm al-Hudā fī kawni Nabiyyinā afdala man daā ilā llahi wa hadā (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

51. Ziyādat al-Jawāhir min yawāqīt al-fāzin durari hikamin fī funūulūm (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

52. Matrab as-Sāmieen an-Nāzireen: Fī Manāqib ash-Shaykh Al-Hajj Abdullah ibn Sayyid Muhammad (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

53. Al-Bayān wa-t Tabyīanni-t Tijāniyyati wa-t Tijāniyyīn (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

54. Tanbīhu-l adhkiyā fī kawn Ash-Shaykh At-Tijānī Khātim al-Awliyyā (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

55. Dīwān Sayr al-Qalb bi-Madh al-Mustafā al-hibb ilā Hadrat Ar-Rabb (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

56. Majmū Rihlāt Ash-Shaykh Ibrāhīm [Ar-Rihlat al-Hijaziyya al-ūlā, Nayl al-Mafāz al-awd ilā-l Hijāz, Ar-Rihlat al-Kanāriyya wal Kumāshiyya, Ar-Rihlat al-Kunākriyya] (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

57. Jawāhir ar-Rasāil al-hāwī baad al-ulūm wasīlat al-wasāil (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

58. Tafsīr al-Jalālayni [by Jalāludeen al-Mahālī & Jalāludeen as-Suyūtī]

59. Tafsīr Ibn Abbās (Tanwīr al-Miqbās) [by Abī Tāhir ibn Yaaqūb Fairūzābādī]

60. Shams al-Ma’arif al-Kubrā wa Latāif al-Awārif [by Imām Ahmad ibn ‘Aliyyu Al-Būnī]

61. Al-‘Ishrīniyya (Dīwān al-Wasāil al-Mutaqabala fī madhi-n Nabiyyi) [by Wazīr Abdur-Rahmān al-Fāzāzī & Imām AbūBakr al-Muhīb]

62. Mukāshafat al-Qulūb [by Imām Abū-Hamīd al-Ghazzālī]

63. Ghāyatul Amānī fī Sīrat Sīdī Ahmad At-Tijānī [Compiled by Muhammad ibn Al-Hassan al-Mada’ū Thānī]

64. Ifādatul Ahmadiyyah: Li-Mureed As-Saādat al-Abadiyyah [by Sīdī Muhammad At-Tayyib As-Sufyānī]

65. Majmu’ Qasāid al-Mawlid an-Nabawī (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

66. al-Irshādāt al-Rabbāniyyah bi al-Futūḥāt al-Ilāhiyyah li-Sīdī Abī-l Abbās Ahmad al-Tijānī alā Matn al-Hamziyyah li-Abī Abdullah al-Būsayrī (The Lordly Guidance by way of Divine Illumination of Sīdī Abī-l Abbās Ahmad al-Tijānī: Commentary to Text of Hamziyyah by Abu Abdullah al-Busayri) [Published by Sīdī Alī Ḥarāzim Barrādah] – Arabic

67. Sirrul Asraar (by Shaikh AbdulQadir Jaylani)

68. Abu Ma’shar al Falaki (by Shaikh Abu Hayyillahi al-Marzuqi)

69. Ismu-llahi al-a’azam (by Shaikh AbdulFatai Tūkhī)

70. Tansheet as Sufiyya fi’l Ahzaab al-Qaadiriyya (Shaikh Nasiru Kabara & Alfa Nda Salati)

71. Urjuzat Ruh ul Adab (Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)

72. Al-Burdat al-madeehi(Shaikh Būsayri)

73. Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-'Azīm "lil-Imāmayn Al-Jalālayni" - Warsh & Hafs - 2 Vols (Arabic)

74. Mukhtārāt min Mu'alafāt al-Fudiyāwiyūn [Selected Writings of the Fodios (Shaykh Usman, Abdullah & Muhammad Bello)] - 11 Vols (Arabic)

75. Natā'ij al-Asfār fī-s Salāt 'alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār (by Shaykh Ahmad Abū-l Fat'h al-Yarwāwī)

76.Teebul Fā'ihi Wal Wirdu-s Sā'ihi fī Salātul Fātih (by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Wāhid an-Nazeefī)

77. Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-'Azīm "lil-Imāmayn Al-Jalālayni" (by Imām Jalālu-Deen Al-Muhalī & Imām Jalālu-Deen As-Suyūtī) [Warsh & Hafs Scripts - 2 Vols]

78. Rūh ul-Bayān fī Tafsīr ul-Qur'ān (10 Volumes Sūfī Tafsīr/Quranic Exegesis) [by Shaikh Ismā'īl al-Haqqī al-Barūsī]


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SUFI LITANIES & SALAT ALA NABIYY  (PRAYER UPON PROPHET) COLLECTION

 

• Ahzāb wa Awrād (Collection of Prayers/Liturgies and Litanies) of Shaykh Ahmad at-Tijani

• Kanzul Masūn [Guarded Treasure] - Collections of Prayers/Supplications (by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse)

• Jihāzu Sārih wa Sāihi wa Sābih wal Ākiful Fālihu fī Tawajuhāt bi-Salātul Fātih (by Shaykh Muhammad Gibrima)

• Natā'ij al-Asfār fī-s Salāt 'alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār (by Shaykh Ahmad Abū-l Fat'h al-Yarwāwī)

• Teebul Fā'ihi Wal Wirdu-s Sā'ihi fī Salātul Fātih (by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Wāhid an-Nazeefī)

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