(Biographical Accounts of African Scholars and Saints of the past and present)
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Saturday, 7 May 2022
CONVERSION STORY OF NWAGUI OF AFIKPO VILLAGE: THE IGBO CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO ACCEPTED ISLAM
AN ENCOUNTER WITH SHEIKH IBRAHIM NIASSE NWAGUI (FORMERLY KNOWN AS OKPANI EGWANI)
The following article is taken from the September 1985 AFRICA EVENTS magazine, and is concerning Al Hajj Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse.
via: http://home.earthlink.net/~halimcisse/id41.html
Sayyid Omar Abdalla’s Encounter with Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse Nwagui:
“I Heard This From The Catholic Father (Padre)’s Own Tongue”
The late Al Hajj Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse of Senegal, Renowned Sufi Shaykh, was a most extra-ordinary man, He commands a large following in the whole of West Africa and beyond, including France and the U.S. Sayyid Omar Abdalla describes his encounters with the man.
La ilaha illa-llah, Mashaa Allah, La Quwwata illa Billah. I first knew of Al Hajj al-Allama Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse through a magazine, Al Arab, which used to be published in Karachi under the able editorship of an Egyptian.
I had read in the magazine that a highly spiritual man in Kaolack, Senegal was the cause for a padre (father) from Eastern Nigeria to embrace Islam. Eastern Nigeria was purely Christian and mainly Catholic. Islam was not allowed to enter there. British administrators co-operating very closely with the missionaries put up barriers against Islam entering Eastern Nigeria. Then it transpired that a well-educated padre had a dream that was to change the fortunes of Islam in Eastern Nigeria.
This is what happened, and I heard this from the padre’s own tongue. I had met him in Makkah. He was a very impressive man, very huge and wearing a Turban. His English was fluent and good. I was so much impressed with him that I had to ask him, “Where are you from?” “I’m from Eastern Nigeria”, he said. And immediately I asked, “Are you Ibrahim Niasse, the priest who was converted by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse of Senegal and then took his name?” “Yes, indeed, I am”, came the reply. I met him again in 1965, at a conference of Muslim scholars from all over the Muslim World.
The former padre related to me his dream. In his dream, he saw very impressive people high up in the sky. With the padre there were two people, one white and the other one black. But he was surprised because the white person, whom he thought might be a European, was not in European attire but was in Islamic dress. He had never met any Arab before. The white gentleman told him, “If you want to join those people up there in the sky, the only person who can take you, who can lead you and guide you to get there is this black person”.But the black person was in Islamic dress. So the padre said to the white man, whom he later realized was the Prophet himself, “How can this man take me there? I’m a Christian, he is a Muslim”.And he was told, “That’s your business. If you want to get there, there’s no other way”. He woke up. As he was an artist he sketched the faces of the two gentlemen who were with him, and then he ignored the dream. But the dream kept on recurring until he thought it was necessary for him to go out of Eastern Nigeria to seek out the black man.
In Western Nigeria someone told him that his sketch of the black man resembled Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse of Senegal who lived in Kaolack. Having heard that, he decided there and then to go to Kaolack. He arrived at Shaykh Ibrahim’s house at 3 o’clock in the morning. He knocked at the door. The Shaykh’s children came out alarmed, thinking that he was a thief or an intruder. “I just want to see your father”, said the padre, “that’s all there is. I’m quite a peaceful person”. Incidentally, all of Shaykh Ibrahim’s children are illustrious. They all have memorized the Qur`an, they are very learned, and they combine both secular and religious education, of course in the Western sense of the dichotomy.
In Islam we don’t have the distinction between the religious and the secular. They are all one thing, all knowledge. And whatever helps you to approach God, to serve God, to develop your personality, is Islamic. Any knowledge which makes you do wrong, even if it is Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) or Tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism), is un-Islamic. And that is why you find in the Traditions of the Prophet, a prayer which says: “Allahumma a`udhubika min `ilmin la fanyaa”, O Lord, I take refuge in you against knowledge which is not useful.
There is no particular branch of knowledge that is not useful except knowledge that does not improve a person, or that does not make a person develop his personality and realize the existence of God and the unity of God and how to serve God, through serving fellow human beings. That is `Ilmin la Fanyaa (useless knowledge). No wonder Muslims in earlier times studied all sorts of knowledge, all branches of science, mathematics, they improved on them and put them on the right path, on the right way to become really scientific. But this is all digression.
Back to Kaolack. Shaykh Ibrahim came out of his house and the first thing he said to the padre was: “Join Islam, embrace Islam”.“That’s exactly what I’m here for”, responded the padre.
He then embraced Islam, stayed with Shaykh Ibrahim for sometime, learned the main principals of Islam, and the ritual practices required. After that he returned to Nigeria as a Muslim and with a new nam, Ibrahim Niasse, the name of his Shaykh, the man who helped him convert to Islam.
There were two churches in Eastern Nigeria that the padre was the responsible for looking after. But now he was a Muslim. He burned them down to make things easy. When he was taken to court for such a sacrilegious act, burning down places of worship, he told the English judge, “Mind you, I did not do that as a contempt of religion, of Christianity. I did that because I used to worship in those two churches, and I was in charge of those churches, which were built as a result of my efforts. Now I am a Muslim. I can’t pray in there. I have demolished the churches to build mosques instead so that I can go in and pray. If I were to go back to Christianity I shall burn down the mosques and build churches again”. The case was dismissed.
From what I read in Al Arab and what the man himself told me, within six months 6,000 people in Eastern Nigeria had embraced Islam. Shaykh Niasse of Eastern Nigeria was a tremendous person who made gigantic efforts with enormous enthusiasm to serve Islam, to spread Islam, and to explain Islam. And he did that very successfully.
When I read about this in Al Arab, I decided that whenever I was anywhere in Europe I would go to Senegal to see Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse of Kaolack, the man who possessed such spiritual powers. In 1961 or 1962 when I was up at Oxford, I received an invitation to go to Ghana to attend the conference on The World Without the Bomb organized by a committee in Yugoslavia and sponsored by Kwame Nkrumah.
I decided immediately, that it was an opportunity for me to go and see Ghana. It was not very easy because the Commonwealth scholarship I had did not allow people to be away from England for more than two weeks, during the teaching period and even during vacations. Anyway, I managed to get to Accra. The driver who was to take me around Accra decided that he would show me some of the buildings that the senior British administrators used to live in. He took me to one very imposing building, and outside the house I found people performing the zikr saying La ilaha illa-llah, La ilaha illa-llah, La ilaha illa-llah (There is no God but Allah).
I recalled that at one time, during the same period of Nkrumah, one of Zanzibar’s pre-independence politicians who was going to Ghana went to say good-bye to al-Imam al Habib `Umar bin Sumeyt, our Grand Shaykh. He was as Grand in East Africa as Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse was in West Africa, or probably more as Shaykh Ibrahim himself said. Sayyid `Umar said to the politician: “You’re going to Ghana. You’ll find people of our party there. When you have taken what you want to take for your party, then take for our party because you’ll find our people there”. When I saw the zikr I said to myself, “this is the party of Al Habib `Umar, the party of La ilaha illa-llah”.
The car stopped there. Someone approached and I asked him what was happening. He told me that there was a very great Shaykh inside the building. “A great Shaykh? Could I meet him?” “Let us go and inform him about it”, the man replied. Then he went inside and came out with a positive answer.
I went in and found a very impressive, highly dignified gentleman with a copy of the Qur`an in his hand. I was surprised because I thought he was a Ghanaian and I had not met any Ghanaian Muslim back in England. When I was there earlier between 1951 and 1953, I hardly met any Muslim Ghanaians, and I though that there were very few Muslims in Ghana. But of course this time I discovered that there were a lot of them. The reason why I did not see any of the educated Ghanaians who were Muslims in England was that education was left in the hands of Christian missionaries. One or two people whom risked sending their children there had them converted. Education was made a means of converting people to Christianity.
I was surprised to see that Shaykh. And I said, “Are you a Ghanaian?” He said he was not. “I am from Senegal”. I asked him if he knew Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. He said that he knew him well because he was he. He was one of those invited to join the conference. Nkrumah used to get on very well with him. He used to take his advice because Shaykh Ibrahim knew a lot about the world and its ways. He was well versed both in diplomacy and politics and was deeply mystical. Very well read in Islamic subjects - fiqh (jurisprudence), tawhid (unity of God) and tasawwuf (mysticism). In him all sorts of learning merged in one whole. He was an internationally respected figure.
He went to China as the Shaykh of Islam of West Africa. It was during the time of Mao-Tse-Tung and he was well received. He used to get on very well indeed with King Faisal and President Gamal Abd al-Nasir. He reconciled the two of them when they fell apart. I remember to have seen him in Makkah sitting besides King Faisal at the grand Party that the King throws for all the pilgrims. I can now call to mind a picture that was taken at al-Azhar which has Gamal Abd al-Nasir sitting next to Shaykh Ibrahim. They were attending Friday prayers.
Shaykh Ibrahim was a man whose prayers have been answered. His favorite prayer was “O our Lord give us of this world the good things of this world and give us the good things of the next world and protect us from the punishment of hell-fire”.
Immediately we became very close. If I can let my audacity run away with me, I will say that we became very good friends from that particular day. We used to meet while I was in Ghana and I used to cantilate to his some religious qasidas, especially those from the anthology of al-Imam al-Mujaddid Al-Habib Abdalla ibn Alawi al-Haddad and al-Imam al-Kabir al-Habib Ali ibn Muhammad al-Habshy. I remember that he was absolutely spiritually intoxicated and he lost his balance when I recited this, “Lidh li fil `ilmi inni bil fanaa atlaqtu qaidee.” “If you know the knowledge of the knower, with knowledge of annihilation your chains are unlocked.”
This is taken from the Diwan of al-Habib al-Murshid, al-Imam al-Kabir Ali ibn Muhammad al-Habshy. I also used to recite this from the anthology of al-Imam al-Mujaddid al Habib Abdalla ibn Alawi al-Haddad, “Anaa mashghoolun bilaylaa, `an jamee`al kauni jumlahu fa’idhaa qulta min dhaa, qul huwas sabbul maulahu.”
When I recited the first he was overwhelmed, and he said he did not know in which world he was. He absolutely was out of the material world - his essence. Shaykh Ibrahim expected to keep on repeating these qasidas from the anthologies of as-Sadat al-Alawiyyah.
I asked him all about the conversion of his namesake who was in Eastern Nigeria, and who in turn converted thousands of Muslims. Shaykh Ibrahim confirmed the truth of the whole story.
I was in Senegal again to attend a conference on the teaching of economics. I was then the Principal of Muslim Academy in Zanzibar. On arrival the very first thing I did was to go to Kaolack to see the Shaykh. I was told he had gone to a neighboring country to open a mosque but would be returning to lead Friday prayers. When the time for prayers came his Khalifa took me to the mosque and put me right in front of al-mihrab (the pulpit). I found the Shaykh delivering the Friday sermon. What a pleasure it was, when while coming down from the pulpit to lead prayers, he turned and faced me. He said, “Ahlan Wassahlan, how is Shaykh `Umar”, that was the first thing he asked me. By that he meant Sayyidina al-Imam al-Habib `Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Sumeyt.
In these countries, when someone is called a Shaykh, he is really a Shaykh in knowledge, in upbringing, in training people, in guiding people on the path to God.
We went home in the afternoon, and from a rather ornate cupboard he brought out the photo of al-Habib `Umar, the very one I gave him. Then he gave it to his Khalifa, who was equally bawled over. And then Shaykh Ibrahim took the picture reverently and put it back where it was. I mentioned the incident to al-Habib `Umar, and he said “Aha! We have known him now and we shall pour into his heart spiritual endowments”.
That is the testimony to al-Habib `Umar’s great stature. For after all, Shaykh Ibrahim was a great personality in many spheres, political, diplomatic, spiritual, widely respected by people in all walks of life, and highly regarded throughout the world including China, and yet there he was paying homage to al-Habib `Umar.
Once he was passing through Rome, when someone approached him and asked him to go and see the Pope. Shaykh Ibrahim said it was a wonderful idea, but “the Pope must come to me”, he said, “I represent Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings of Allah, and he represents Christ, upon whom be the peace and blessings of God, and Muhammad is greater than Christ. If he won’t come to me, then I won’t go to him.” *** Copyright Sayyid Omar Abdalla Africa Events September 1985.This article, The Eternal Islam, and The 17th Anniversary of the Disappearance of Shaykh Ibrahim were published in Newsletters of The African American Islamic Institute, in 1998, but the newsletters were not distributed. You may contact us by e:mail for copies. Insha-llah.
CONVERSION OF SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASSE NWAGUI: A MIRACULOUS EVENT THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY OF EXPANSION OF ISLAM IN THE IGBO~SPEAKING AREA OF NIGERIA
Pic and Write~Up are contained in the Book: “THE ICON OF MYSTICS: SHAYKH IBRAHIM NIASS AL~KAWLAKHY”
By: Khalifa Awwal Baba Taofiq
Abdur~Rahman Doi reports that; around 1960, a miraculous event changed the course of history of expansion of Islam in the Igbo~speaking are of Nigeria. Nwagui, an Igbo and a native of Afikpo who was well~grounded in the Christian doctrines saw some mysterious dreams in which an unknown turbaned and bearded African looking like a Muslim summoned him to come to him, leaving his present practice of religion. Being troubled by the repeated dreams, he consulted Muslim Mallams describing the man he saw in his dreams. Someone pointed out to him that the description seemed like that of Shaykh Ibrahim Niass of Kawlakh in Senegal, the spiritual head of the Tijaniyyah path in West~Africa. Nwagui prepared to visit Senegal where he saw and recognized him immediately. He spent several years in his presence after accepting Islam. He adopted the same Muslim name as that of his spiritual mentor.
Faydah Tijaniyyah spread to the Eastern part of Nigeria and Afikpo became the nerve centre of Faydah. Afikpo became reservoir of renowned Islamic scholars in the Eastern part of Nigeria. The pathfinder, Shaykh Ibrahim Niass Nwagui after his return from Kawlakh, began to tour round Igbo communities propagating the religion of Islam and spreading the Faydah. The Shaykh (Nwagui) built a large Islamic Center in his hometown Nnofia, the center included a large mosque, a Primary and Qur’anic school, a Library, a small Hospital and fairly close to the compound, his own personal residence from where he could supervise the activities of the center.----------{A.R.I Doi: Islam in Nigeria, 1984.p.171} cited in {“The Icon Of Mystics: Shaykh Ibrahim Niass Al~Kawlakhy” of Shaykh Awwal Baba Taofiq, 2008}.
He (Nwagui) was converted to Islam by Shaykh Ibrahim Niass who gave his name to the new convert and requested him to propagate Islam in the Eastern region of Nigeria. Shaykh Nwagui claimed to have carried out the assignment successfully by converting many people into Islam and destroying many idols. Giving report on his activities, Nwagui said:
“On October 28th 1958, the whole people of the village of Anofia, Afikpo, men and women numbering upto 2,000 embraced Islam and voluntarily handed over their individual and communal jujus, idols and shrine to me….to destroy”---------This is contained in the letter which Shaykh Nwagui wrote on 14th January, 1960 to Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Premier of the Northern Region.
In 1964, Shaykh Nwagui made another significant conversion exercise which is duely recorded in a newspaper. The paper slated thus:
“Hajj Sayyid Ibrahim Nwagui, a Muslim leader of Eastern Nigeria….Who is on a religious tour of some parts of Eastern Nigeria arrived at Abriba Ikomoru town with his Secretary~General, Muhammad Uchendu and thirty followers……..after five hours of preaching Islam to them, the chief juju priest including one hundred and thirty-three pagans and twenty-four Christians surrendered themselves to him and embraced Islam in his hand that same day”----Nigeria Citizen, Saturday 26th Sept, 1964.
Shukran jazeelan (Many Thanks) to Shaykh Awwal Baba Taofiq for his book, which has enlightened us so much. May Allah more fruitful years to propagate Islam and Faydah, Ameen!!!
THE GREATEST JIHADIST THAT HAS LEFT UNBEATABLE LANDMARK IN IGBOLAND WAS SHAIKH IBRAHIM NIASSE NWAGUI OF AFIKPO
Written by Badmus N.O. Abdul Azeez
via: Perspective in the Advent, Spread and Consolidation of Islam in Igboland: The role of Jihad and the Jihadists: {http://www.egodiuchendu.com/}
The Jihad and the Jihadists
The discussion of Jihad in its macro perspective revealed that the most effective Jihad took place in Igboland was executed by the Igbo Muslim themselves.
The greatest Jihadist that has left unbeatable landmark in Igboland was Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse Nwagui of Afikpo. Ibrahim started his Jihad after his historical journey to Senegal where he embraced Islam.
He used his Nnofia near Afikpo as center for his Islamic activities. Before his death he was able to convert most of the people of the area into Islam.
He also toured round Igboland preaching his faith in native language. He was able to win strong people like Musa Udaemba Eme from Aberiba, Alhaji Tijani Akabuo of Orlu, Umar Isa from Ndibe, Alhaji Okpaloko of Oweri, Ibrahim Chukwu Idam including others into the fold of Islam.
At Nnofia, his home town, he built a large Islamic center equipped with a large Mosque, library, primary school, hospital and residential apartment.
He was reported to have burnt down all the houses of traditional worship in Nnofia on his return from pilgrimage to Mecca in 1966.
If jihad means propagation of Islam, only few people could match Nwagui in the contemporary history of Nigeria.
Nwagui also established the Muslim Jama’ah in Igboland and issued identity card to member prolytes.
His center at Nnofia was latter chose as operational office of the World Muslim League headed by Shaykh Amanatullah from India who served at the place for several years and upgraded it to the level of the best Islamic center in Nigeria.
The center has produced many young scholars of repute in Arabic and Islamic Studies who are at present propagators of Islam through Arabic, English and their various mother tongues.
“The impact of Islam was felt towards the end of 19th century due to little effort of Hausa and Nupe traders who settle in Igboland. Thus, the Muslim faithful was limited to emigrants until 1960’s when Nwagui dreamt and became a Muslim. He started open-air preaching and built Islamic school, mosques and went to Mecca. His effort was to be complemented by Prof. Babs Fafunwa and other Yoruba scholars in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, also, the role of the military formation in Igboland.”---- National Open Unversity of Nigeria Lecture Note on “Islam In Nigeria”. Course Developer/Writer: Dr. Salau Sule Omotoso
LITERARY WRITINGS OF SŪFĪ SCHOLARS: ENGLISH COLLECTION (39 ITEMS)
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1. Who is this Shaikh “Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kaolacky” [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
2. Handbook for every Tijaniyyat [by Shaikh Ahmad Bello As-Suufi Harazimi]
3. Practical Guide on the Wird(Litany) of the Tariqah Faydah Tijaniyyah (The Adherent Handbook)-(Compiled by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo)
4. 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]
5. The Qualities and Uses of Zamzam Water (A Scientific & Islamic Exploration) by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye
6. Who is Shaykh Jamiu Bulala (by Ustaz Olanipekun Shittu Tunde)
7. Understanding the Concept of Will-Making in Islam (Fee Manzoori-l-Islam) by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye
8. Majmū’at ad-Dawāwīn (Collection of Eulogy Works) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse’ (Arabic text & English translation [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
9. Vessel of Spiritual Flood, Translation of Goran Faydah by Shaykh Balarabe Haroon Jega
(Hausa-Ajami text & English translation [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
10. Dalā’il al-khairāt wa Shuwāriq al-Anwār fī Dhikr as-Salāt ‘alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār (The Indices of Virtues/The Waymarks of Benefits and the Brilliant Burst of Sunshine in the Invocation of Allah’s Blessing on the Chosen Prophet) by Imām Sulaiman Jazūlī [Re-Arranged into Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji]
11. Risalat at-Tawbah (Epistle of Repentance) of Shaykh Ibrahim Niyass al-Kawlakhi" - (Translation & Commentary by Dr. Razzaq Solagberu)
12. At-Taiseer (Simplification): The Means of Attaining Purification Through Poetry with Allaah's Most Beautiful Names, By Shaykh El-Hajj Malick Sy
13. Qasida al-Hamziyya (Panegyric which contains the Biography & History of Prophet Muḥammad) by Shaykh Muhammad Būsayrī [Translation & Commentary by Ibrahim Jafaru] - Arabic & English
14. Sufism “The Orthodox Path” (At-Tasawwuf “Minhāj al-Qawīm”) [Arabic text & English translations ], by Oseni Aliu Olalekan
15. Facts about Sufism (by Sayyid Ismaheel Abdulrauf)
16. Hizbul Bahr (Arabic, Translation & Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji)
17. Hizbu Sayfi (Arabic, Translation & Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji)
18. 37 Praises in Qur'an (Arabic, Translation & Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji)
19. Understanding Sufism: Transcripts of Lectures on Tasawwuf (by Olanipekun Shittu Tunde)
20. Kashif al-ilbas 'an Fayda al-khatm Abi'l Abbas (The Removal of Confusion Concerning the Flood of the Saintly Seal Ahmad al-Tijani), by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse
21. The Icon of Mystics: Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kawlakhy [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
22. Shariah and Haqeeqah: In the Light of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
23. Spiritual Flood (Alūfu-l Khalqi Ma'lūf), by Shaykh 'Abdul-Quadr ibn 'Ali Al-Nupewy [Annotated Translation from Arabic info English by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq
24. Tahniat (Congratulatory Ode) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niass - *Arabic, English Translation & Transliteration* of Majmuu' Qasaid al-Mawlid of Baye) - (Translated by Al-Hajj Abdul-Quadir Okeneye)
25. Jawahir Rasail (A Collection of Priceless Expositions “of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse” through Letters "Letters 1 to 10") *[English Translation* by Sayyidah Bilqis Grillo]
26. Epistle to the World [The Translation of Ayyuha-l-Walad (Dear Beloved Son)] by Imam Abu Hameed Al-Ghazaali *[English Translation* by Abdul-Quadir Adeniyi Okeneye
27. *Softcopy* of Numerous Sufi Literature (Arabic & English) - (To be sent via CD & email/googledrive)
28. *PDF* Selected Letters of Shaykh Ahmad al-Tijani (25 Letters) & Selected Letters of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (30 Letters) - " *Softcopies* (PDF)" [Translated by Ustadh Talut Dawud (Translator of Jawāhir Al Ma'ānī, Kanzul Masūn and other important Books of the Tarīqa)] - NEW!!!
*29—39* . Mukhtārāt min Mu'alafāt al-Fudiyāwiyūn [Selected Writings of the Fūdīs] {Shehu Usman, Shehu Abdullah & Shehu Muhammad Bello} — English *(11Vols)*
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• Al-Majmū'u min Da'awatayn (Ad-Da'awat al-Mustajābāt & Sidrat al-Muntahā ad-Dā'een) [Shaykh Muhammad Gibrīma]
• Tadhyeel wa Ta'aqeeb an-Natā'ij wa As'alat al-Hawā'ij fī-s Salāt 'alā-s Sayyid al-Wujūd wa 'alami-sh Shuhūd, [Shaykh Muhammad Gibrīma]
• Natā'ij al-Asfār fī-s Salāt alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār [Shaykh Ahmad ibn Aliyyu al-Yarwāwī (Abu-l Fat'h)]
• Diwan Fat'hu-r Rahmān fi Mad'hi Sayyid al-Akwān [Shaykh Ahmad ibn Aliyyu al-Yarwāwī (Abu-l Fat'h)]
• Teebu-l Fā'ihi wa-l Wirdu-s Sā'ihi fī Salātu-l Fatih (Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wāhid an-Nazeefī)
• Dalā’il al-khairāt wa Shuwāriq al-Anwār fī Dhikr as-Salāt ‘alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār (The Indices of Virtues/The Waymarks of Benefits and the Brilliant Burst of Sunshine in the Invocation of Allah’s Blessing on the Chosen Prophet) by Imām Sulaiman Jazūlī [Re-Arranged into Arabic text, Translation, Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji]
• Qasida al-Hamziyya (Panegyric which contains the Biography & History of Prophet Muḥammad) by Shaykh Muhammad Būsayrī [Translation & Commentary by Ibrahim Jafaru] - Arabic & English
• Dalā’ilu l Khayrāt - Collection of prayers upon the Prophet (by Shaikh Sulaiman Jazūlī) - Arabic: in Hafs Arabic (big size)
• Sa'ādat ad-darayni fī Salāt alā Sayyid al-Kaunayn by Shaykh Yūsuf an-Nabahānī
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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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• Fī Riyādh at-Tafsīr lil Qur’ān al-Karīm (In the Meadows of Tafsir/Exegesis for the Noble Quran) - by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse — Arabic [6 Volumes]
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• Lubbu-l Lubbi Fī Shar'h Manzūmat Rūhu-l Adab Limā Hawā Min Hikam Wa Adab [The Essential Core: A Commentary On The Poem Entitled "Ruh Al-Adab (The Spirit Of Good Morals)" — Arabic [5 Volumes]. Poet (Author): Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse. Commentator: Sīdī Mūsā Dutse
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• Fī Riyādh at-Tafsīr lil Qur’ān al-Karīm (In the Meadows of Tafsir/Exegesis for the Noble Quran) - by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse — Arabic [6 Volumes]
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SHAYKH ABUBAKR JUBILLEE JALLOR
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 (1903–1919) 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}
Picture Credit: Umar Muhammad 'Atiku at-Tijani
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• Majmū’at ad-Dawāwīn (Collection of Eulogy Works) of Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse [Content (8 Diwans): Dawāwīn as-Sitt (Six Anthologies), Dīwān Sayr al-Qalb & Nūr al-Haq] (Arabic text & English translation [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
• Qasida al-Hamziyya (Panegyric which contains the Biography & History of Prophet Muḥammad) by Shaykh Muhammad Būsayrī [Translation & Commentary by Ibrahim Jafaru] - Arabic & English
• Dalā’il al-khairāt wa Shuwāriq al-Anwār fī Dhikr as-Salāt ‘alā-n Nabiyy al-Mukhtār (The Indices of Virtues and the Brilliant Burst of Sunshine in the Invocation of Allah’s Blessing on the Chosen Prophet) by Imām Sulaiman Jazūlī [Arabic text, English Translation, Transliteration by Alhaji Marooph Raji]
...and many more Sūfī Texts and Handbooks. 👇🏼👇🏼
• Section A: English Only [1 to 17]
• Section B: English & Arabic [18 to 33]
• Section C: Arabic Only [34 to 78]
SECTION A: ENGLISH ONLY
1. Who is this Shaikh “Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kaolacky” [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
2. Shariah and Haqeeqah: In the Light of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
3. The Icon of Mystics: Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse Al-Kawlakhy [by Dr. Awwal Baba Taofiq]
4. New Life Through Sufism (An Introductory Approach to Sufism) [by Shaikh Zikrullah Okukayode Yekeen]
5. Pure Hearted (Al Qalb as-Salīm) [by Balogun Babatunde (Ubaidullah Alli)]
6. Handbook for every Tijaniyyat [by Shaikh Ahmad Bello As-Suufi Harazimi]
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 Qur’ān 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-Ma’ānī 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. Majmū’at 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 Muḥammad) 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. Dalā’ilu 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 Sā’ihi wa Sābih wal ‘Ākiful Fālihu fī Tawajuhāt bi-Salātul Fātih by Shaykh Muhammad Gibrima Ad-Dāghirī - *Arabic*
39. Al-Durra al-Kharida fī Shar’h 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-Ma’ānī 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 Qur’ān 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 Ma’āthar 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-Suta’i: Shar’h al-Mur’hafati-l quta’i (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-A’azam al-Asmā’ (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)
49. Raf’u-l Malām ‘aman rafa’a wa qabada iqtidā bi-Sayyid al-Anām (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)
50. Nujūm al-Hudā fī kawni Nabiyyinā afdala man da’ā ilā llahi wa hadā (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)
51. Ziyādat al-Jawāhir min yawāqīt al-fāzin durari hikamin fī funūn ‘ulūm (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)
52. Matrab as-Sāmi’een an-Nāzireen: Fī Manāqib ash-Shaykh Al-Hajj ‘Abdullah ibn Sayyid Muhammad (by Shaikh Ibrahim Niasse)
53. Al-Bayān wa-t Tabyīn ‘anni-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-Mad’h 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-Rasā’il al-hāwī ba’ad al-‘ulūm wasīlat al-wasā’il (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 Ya’aqūb Fairūzābādī]
60. Shams al-Ma’arif al-Kubrā wa Latā’if al-‘Awārif [by Imām Ahmad ibn ‘Aliyyu Al-Būnī]
61. Al-‘Ishrīniyya (Dīwān al-Wasā’il al-Mutaqabala fī mad’hi-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-Sa’ādat al-Abadiyyah [by Sīdī Muhammad At-Tayyib As-Sufyānī]
65. Majmu’ Qasā’id 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]
For enquiries & order, visit our WhatsApp Catalogue👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
wa.me/2349078376281
WhatsApp: +2349078376281
Call: +2348074393996
Email: smilebak2004@gmail.com OR smilebakglobalemporium@gmail.com
Facebook: @SmilebakGlobalEmporium
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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 Sā’ihi 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)
[WhatsApp +2349078376281 or click http://wa.me/2349078376281]
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SHAYKH SAʿADU-DĪN (ALFA KORO)
Compiled and Documented by: Sa'ad Abdullahi Abubakar Al-Mūthāqqaf 1. Lineage and Early Settlement Shaykh Saʿadu-Dīn ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ibr...
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SHEIKH SHARIF UMAR HAIDARA: GRANDSON OF SHAIKH TIJANI & BAYE NIASS - He is Sheikh Umar ibn Sidi Muhammad al-Habib ibn Sidi Mahm...
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A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SHAYKH ABUBAKAR ATIKU (ATEEQ) SANKA KANO Written by: Sheikh Dr. Sunusi Sheikh Abubakar Atiku He was born in K...
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SHAIKH HAMAHULLAH: THE GREAT QUTB (SPIRITUAL POLE) Culled from: “Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar”, by Ahmado...

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