2018 CONFERENCE ON ISLAM IN NIGERIA

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    A Reconnoitre of British Colonial Modernism and Islamic Theocracy in Sokoto Caliphate, c.1903-1914 (Download)

    Author(s):
    Nafi’u Kabiru, nafiukabiru12@gmail.com, +2348061192541

    Abstract: The paper explore a chequered reconnoitre of British colonial modernism and Islamic theocracy in Sokoto Caliphate, c.1903-1914. Sokoto jihad was a major Islamic movement around the 19thcentury in West Africa. It was the revolution that influenced other ones that took place at Masina and Tukolor. The Sokoto jihad brought profound transformations in the social, political and economic spheres of Hausaland and beyond. Some of such changes include the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate, the resurgence of Islam, and the development of learning and scholarship. By 1899, modernism was introduced through the British colonial conquest of 1903to unseat Islamic theocracy. This subsequently posed lot of threats to continues existence of the Caliphate. Part of the British modernist ideas was reprisal and rejection of religion as well as denouncement of the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith as the only guiding precept and law. This was a paradigm shift that led to the dethronement of Sultan Attahiru I and the appointment of Attahiru II as the new Sultan of Sokoto in 1903. This marked the crestfallen and vilification of Islamic theocracy in Sokoto Caliphate toward the adoption of British law concomitantly with Islamic legal system as a binding law in 1903.By 1914, modernism percolated all sphere of governance and the Islamic theocracy was subdued to the lowest ebb through the adoption of indirect rule system. It was this landmark development and phenomenal change that converted the Amir-al Munmini (Commander of the faithful) and Emirs to mere camouflage rulers and tax collector. This paper adopts the synthesis of historical research approach data analysis and methodology