Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Robert Gleave, Inevitable Doubt: Two 

Theories of Shi’i Jurisprudence (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2000); 

Mier Litvak, Shii Scholars of 19th-Century Iraq: The 

Ulama of Najaf and Karbala (Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press, 1998); Mojan Momen, An Introduc-

tion to Shi’i Islam (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University 

Press, 1985).

Usuli School

  

699  J

---

Usman Dan Fodio

 

(Uthman ibn 

Fudi)

 

(1754–1817)  religious reformer and founder 

of the Sokoto Caliphate in northeastern Nigeria

Born to a distinguished scholarly family during 

the late 18th century, Usman established himself 

as a respected scholar and teacher in the Hausa 

kingdom of Gobir. An adherent of the q

adiri

s

UFi

  o

rder

, Usman preached a radical message 

of reform that attracted a large following during 

the 1780s and 1790s. When the sultan of Gobir 

attacked his followers in 1804, Usman imitated 

the example of m

Uhammad

 by leaving Gobir on a 

h

iJra

, establishing an Islamic state and declaring 

holy war (

Jihad

) against his persecutors. In the 

ensuing years, Usman’s armies united much of 

Hausaland under his authority. At his death in 

1817, Usman’s son Muhammad Bello (d. 1837) 

succeeded him as 

caliph

 in the new capital city 

of Sokoto, which he had helped design. The 

Sokoto caliphs effectively organized their ter-

ritories into a coherent state that maintained 

its independence until the British colonized the 

region in 1903.

Although he founded the largest independent 

state in Africa during the 19th century, Usman 

was primarily a religious teacher and spiritual 

example. A prolific writer on religious topics, he 

was also an accomplished poet, composing poems 

in both Arabic and his native Fulfide. In his later 

years, Usman was regarded as a 

saint

, and people 

sought him out for spiritual power. After his 

death, Usman’s tomb became a pilgrimage site, 

and stories of his miraculous works added to the 

luster of his image as a holy man.

See also 

reneWal

 

and

 

reForm

 

movements

; 

s

okoto

 c

aliphate

; W

est

 a

Frica

.

Stephen Cory