Shaykh Ibróhôm Niass: His Revival of the Tijóniyya Sufi Order and Response to Colonialism

SHAYKH IBRÓHÔM NIASS: HIS REVIVAL OF THE TIJÓNIYYA SUFI ORDER AND RESPONSE TO COLONIALISM BY ABDUL GANIY MUHAMMAD RAJI ABIODUN A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic and Other Civilizations IRKHS International Islamic University Malaysia MAY 2016 ABSTRACT This research focuses on the revival efforts of Shaykh IbrÉhÊm Niass and his response to colonialism in Western Sudan (West Africa) in the 20th century. The research also concentrates on the status of Islam and Muslims under the French colonial system in the last four decades of the nineteenth century through the 1960s of the 20thcentury. This is the period in which most of the West African countries came under European colonialism. This research documents how the Muslim scholars of the area under discussion resisted the colonial encroachment and penetration with all available mechanisms in their capacity. In order for the colonial authorities to have full control of the situation, they responded by exercising some policies against those ÑUlamÉ’such as military force, by which they assassinated some of them such as ShaykhÑUmar al-FËti and exiled others like Shaykh Amadou Bamba, Shaykh Abdallah Niass and Shaykh ×amaullah. Similarly, theÑUlamÉ’s free movement was restricted. The murÊd’s actions of visiting their Shaykhs and offering them gifts were also forbidden. Above all, many madrasa were closed down and replaced by French secular schools. The study closely examines how Shaykh IbrÉhÊm Niass responded to colonial hegemony and Christian evangelism. His response came when colonialism was at its peak in the late 1930s of the 20thcentury. His response was intellectual and educational rather than militant since the colonial authorities were advanced in military power more than the colonized. The research documents various peaceful approaches by which Shaykh IbrÉhÊm Niass encountered the colonial policies in different aspects of life. His efforts to initiate a pan-African cum pan-Islamist front to encounter French colonialism are also investigated. Most notable among his efforts was his drive to expand and rejuvenate the TijÉniyya Order in West Africa and eventually in all parts of the globe. ii خﻻصة البحث يناقش هذا البحث جهاد شيخ اﻹسﻻم إبراهيم إنياس و مقاومته لﻻستعمار الفرنسي يف منطقة الصحراء الغربية-غرب أفريقيا – يف القرن العشرين. ركز البحث على الظروف اليت مّر هبا اﻹسﻻم واملسلمني يف هذه املنطقة، حتديداً يف اﻷربعة عقود اﻷخرية من القرن التاسع عشر و حيت ستينات القرن العشرين، هيو الفرتة اليت دخلت فيها معظم الدول اﻷفريقية حتت وطأة استعمار الدول الغربية. يتضح من خﻻل هذا البحث أب ّن العلماء املسلمني يف هذه املنطقة الذين عايشوا مرحلة اﻻستعمار مل يستسلموا لتغلغل اﻻستعمار بل قاوموه بكل وسيلة ممكنة. ونتيجةً لذلك مل جيد املستعمر سبيﻻً لفرض سيطرته علي سكان املنطقة اﻻ ّ مبواجهة عسكرية عنيفة مما أّدى إىل القتال لفرتة طويلة بني الطرفني. تعرض هذا البحث لسياسات املستعمر اخلانقة جتاه العلماء املسلمني مثل اﻹعدام كما حدث للشيخ عمر الفويت، أو النفي إىل بلد غريب كما حدث للشيخ العامل أمحد ابمبا انبكي والشيخ عبد هللا إنياس )والد الشيخ إبراهيم(، والشيخ محاه هللا ، كما فرض عليهم عدم التنقل من قرية ﻷخرى خوف ًا من توحد املسلمني ضدهم: كما ُحظرت شيوخ الصوفية من استﻻم اهلدااي والصدقات من مريديهم، وإغﻻق املدارس القرآنية وإبداهلا ابملدارس الفرنسية. انقش البحث الدور الذي أداه الشيخ إبراهيم إنياس بداية من العقود الثﻻثة من القرن العشرين. رأى الشيخ إبراهيم أبن جناح اﻷساليب اليت اختذها اجليل اﻷول - الذين شهدوا جميئ اﻻستعماروعايشوه – للمقاومة قصري املدى، وهذا ﻷ ّن مكائد اﻻستعمار ما زالت قائمة من التبشري املسيحي و الغزو الفكري و احلاق التخلّف ابﻹسﻻم و تعاليمه. جلأ الشيخ إ براهيم إيل ما رآه أنسب للمقاومة إذ املقاومة القتالية ﻻ نفع هلا أمام جيش املستعمرين يف تلك احلقبة، أﻻ وهو تعريف املسلمني بدينهم، و غرس حب اﻹسﻻم يف قلوهبم و حفظ القرآن و تعليم اللغة العربىة والعلوم اﻹسﻻمية ودعوة غري املسلمني إىل اﻹسﻻم. عﻻوةو علي ذلك، رفضه التام إبدخل أبناء املسلمني يف املدارس الفرنسية من الصغر ، بل يرى يف إدخاهلم تلك املدارس إضاعة ملستقبلهم. بدأ الشيخ إبراهيم إنياس هذه اجلهود بنفسه إبنشاء املدارس حيث عمل على بث أفكاره ضد الغزو الفكري للمستعمر وترسيخ م العلواﻹسﻻمية يف قلوب الشباب، مث إرساهلم إىل الدول العربية ملواصلة دراستهم. يرى الشيخ إبراهيم جناة املسلمني من مكائد اﻻستعمار تكمن يف الفهم الصحيح لدينهم. وختتتم هذه الدراسة بتوثيق مسامهة الشيخ العامل إبراهيم إنياس يف جمالني هامني، مها: حتديث الطريقة التجانية، مث نشرها يف كل بقاع العامل. iii APPROVAL PAGE The thesis of Abdul Ganiy Muhammad Raji Abiodun has been approved by the following: _____________________________ Hassan A. El-Nagar Supervisor _____________________________ Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim Internal Examiner _____________________________ Afis Ayinde Oladosu External Examiner _____________________________ Yusuf Fdal Hasan External Examiner _____________________________ Saadeldin Mansour Gasmelsid Chairman iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions. Abdul Ganiy Muhammad Raji Abiodun Signature........................................................... Date......................................... v COPYRIGHT PAGE INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH SHAYKH IBRÓHÔM NIASS: HIS REVIVAL OF THE TIJÓNIYYA SUFI ORDER AND RESPONSE TO COLONIALISM I declare that the copyright holders of this thesis are jointly owned by the student and IIUM. Copyright © 2016 Abdul Ganiy Muhammad Raji Abiodun and International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights reserved. No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below 1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement. 2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes. 3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries. By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy. Affirmed by Abdul Ganiy Muhammad Raji Abiodun. ……..…………………….. ……………………….. Signature Date vi Dedicated to my most respected Murshids, I benefited from the ocean of their knowledge and experiences, namely: Shaykh Uthman Akanbi Olanase, Shaykh Imam Abdul MajÊd AÍmad (Baba Oke Eleta), and The Gnostic Shaykh Nuru Hakeem; and to my parents Alfa Muhammad Raji MuÍammad SÉdiku Opeloyeru and my mother. May Allah be pleased with them all. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My gratitude –in the first place – goes to Allah the Most Gracious, Who spares my life and eases all the pleasant circumstances to make this study possible, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon His prophet, prophet MuÍammad. Then, I wish to record my thanks and sincere appreciation to my advisor, Prof. Dr. Hassan A. El Nagar, for his patience throughout the six years under his supervision, his support and genuine inputs, guidance and advise, and for treating me as a member of his family, to him and his family. To him and his family I say, thank you and may Almighty Allah reward you abundantly. My sincere appreciation also goes to Prof. Dr. Sayyid Mohamed Ajmal A. Al-Aidrus for his tremendous support, morally and financially, and for his continuous generosity to me and my family. For all of that, I will remain forever indebted to him. I wish to convey my special thanks to my Shaykh Nuru ×akeem (1931-2012) may his soul rest in peace- and to his family, for hosting me during my trips to Nigeria for this research, and for the lengthy, fruitful discussions, and for, his highly motivating willingness to respond to my questions, needs and enquires, and more importantly his duÑÉ (prayer) for my success. To him and his family I remain forever indebted. My appreciation also goes to Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Seesemann (now at University of Bayreuth, Germany), for his critical comments and inputs, and for his generosity in providing me with important original French documents and archives that made this study possible. The same go to his colleague Dr. Andrea Brigaglia (University of Cape Town, South Africa) for sharing with me valuable materials. My heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Sulaiman Boayo (UITM, Malaysia) who sacrificed his time to render translation of the French archive materials in to English version, and to his wife who type-set the whole translations, and br. Abubakr Syla, who also helped in the translation. None of this would have happened without the help of Lawyer Lateef Wale Adeyẹmọ, who really devoted his valuable time in connecting me with Tijaniyya communities both in Kano and Lagos for getting TijÉniyya primary sources which were already out of print, and Al-Hajj IbrÉhÊm (Surulere, Lagos), who opened his library for me to choose any suitable materials for the research. To all of the above I say Jazaumullahu Khaeran. I must express my gratitude to my Ph.D. viva committee: Prof. Dr. Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim (internal), Prof. Dr. Yusuf Fdal Hassan, Prof. Dr. Afis Ayinde Oladosu (externals), and Dr. Saadeldin M. Gasmelsid (the chairman of the committee). Crucial support also came from Imam Qasim A. AÍmad, Imam MuÍammad Nuru Hakeem, Ustadh Uthman Nuru Hakeem, Prof. Dr. Y.A. Quadri, Dr. Abdu Razag Sholagheru, Harun Niass (France), and Ustadh Taofeeq Baba, all provided me with wealthy materials and information. Shaykh AÍmad b. MuÍammad al-×afiz in MugarbilÊn, Cairo also provided me with important information and materials, and the people around him like Sidi al-AnÎÉri, Khalid (his secretary), and to all I extend my appreciation. Most of the funding for this research, and for my trips to Nigeria and Cairo, came from Dr.

Load more