Who is usman ibn fodio

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More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW. COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. Africa Usman dan Fodio: Founder of the Sokoto Caliphate He was a religious teacher who became the leader of a revolution: Usman dan Fodio, respectfully referred to as Sheikh, criticized the elites and changed the political system in present-day northern Nigeria. Usman dan Fodio: Founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. What was Usman dan Fodio's background?

How come Usman dan Fodio opposed the ruling system? How did Usman dan Fodio establish the Sokoto Caliphate? Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Search within You do not currently have access to this article Login Please login to access the full content.

Subscribe Access to the full content requires a subscription. During these years Uthman wandered throughout Hausaland, gaining adherents and preaching reform in the practice of Islam. His followers, who were later to form the vanguard of his fighting forces, came from all parts of the central Sudan. During the last quarter of the 18th century Uthman's ideas and asceticism became famous.

He represented the ideal life of the Islamic mystic, dedicated to the teaching of the Koran and undefiled by the material desires that corrupted the world around him. But Uthman was more than a preacher. He was also a social reformer who objected to the non-Islamic practices of the Hausa leaders and continually criticized their rule and questioned the legitimacy of the taxes they imposed on his Fulani Fulbe brethren.

His teaching and the ever-increasing number of his followers throughout Hausaland caused growing alarm among the Hausa chiefs, especially the Sultan of Gobir, who sought to undermine his influence. In Uthman and his followers were forced to flee for safety from Gobir, in a manner reminiscent of Mohammed's flight from Mecca, known as the hijra, and proclaimed the jihad, or holy war, against the Sultan and eventually against all the Hausa chiefs.

Uthman's principal role during the years of war that followed was that of a spiritual leader, mediator, and chief source of inspiration for his followers. He was neither a warrior nor a politician but the Commander of the Faithful Sarkin Musulmi , and he left the practical affairs of the jihad to his brother Abdullahi and his son Muhammadu Bello, who commanded Uthman's army.