BOKO HARAM: HISTORY, IDEAS AND REVOLT (1)

The Northern Nigeria (Hausaland)

The Northern Nigeria of today comprises 19 states, and to a very large extent,
Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Despite the heterogeneous ethnic
composition of the North, the Hausa-Fulani ethnic group still predominates,
with over 70 percent of its people belonging to the Hausa-Fulani ethnic stock.
By extension, the historical evolution of the Hausa group is closely linked with
other ethnic groups that can be found in the region.

The source of origin of Hausaland has been a subject of conjectures. There is a
tradition which states that hausaland was founded by a man named Abuyazigu
(Bayajida), Bayajida was said to have fled from his father in Baghdad, (the
present Iraq) after a quarrel. On his way, he arrived at Daura (Hausaland) now
in Katsina State and allegedly helped to kill a terror snake, which had menaced
the people for a long time. In appreciation of his gesture in killing the snake,
the Queen of Daura, was said to have married him and a son, Bawo became
the product of the union.

Bawo later got married, but still had a concubine. Legend had it that the wife
gave Bawo seven legitimate sons and the concubine also gave Bawo seven
other illegitimate sons. These sons proceeded to establish the 14 Hausa states.
This actually is the legend, but the true origin of the Hausa remains a subject of
historical conjectures. The 19
th
century tourist, Heinrich Barth, in trying to
establish the genealogy of the Hausa, links them with the Atlanter of
Herodotus, it is, however, certain that some of the people we now refer to as
Hausas had lived in a more interior part of the present northern states than
that which they now occupy. The Hilal invasion brought into these lands
Tuaregs, who were said to have been driven southward by the Barber tribes of
North Africa.

For sometime, the Tuaregs and Barbers lived in harmony and intermarried.
Their intermarriages produced half-castes. These half-castes were said to have
migrated southwards and founded various states, the most ancient of which
appears to be Biran. Biran is considered to be the ancestor of the Hausas. His
descendants, Daura, Gobir, Kano, Rano, Katsina and Zaria were the founders of
the kingdom which still bear these names. These descendants together with
Biran were called the seven legitimate Hausa states (Hausa Bakwai). The other
states whose population had been mixed through intermarriages with foreign
element (Nupe, Gwari, Yauri, Bauchi, Zamfara, Kebbi) were known as bastard
Hausas. (Hausa Banza, Bakwa). These resulting kingdoms varied in extent. The
oldest; Biran and Rano were not much larger than their capitals. However, the
others developed considerably. The rulers of the various Hausa states are
called Sarakai (Emir). Although they exhibited a slight variation in culture, they
had homogeneity of language.

ISLAM IN NORHTERN NIGERIAN
The first contact with Islam by the people of Kano and the entire Hausaland
and by extension northern Nigeria was in 1370. It was introduced by
merchants and scholars from Western Sudan (Mali) during the reign of Ali
Tsamia, between 1349 and 1385. Ali Tsamia was also called Sarkin Yaji because
of his hot temperament. He was at that time, the ruler of Hausaland. Apart
from Islam, which was newly introduced at that period, there were other
traditional religions, such as the boricult which was very influential, the rulers
at these times did not reject Islam completely nor did they adhere very strictly
to the principles and the teachings of the Holy Quran. Consequently, they
were called pagans by revivalist and fundamentalist Hausa-Fulani.

In Kano, at that time, the King had the power to decide what the state religion
should be, and with such power, Ali Tsamia made Islam the official religion. In
the process, he built a mosque and by his authority ordered the people of Kano
to pray five times a day. He equally appointed Islamic officials such as Imam,
Muezzin and Quadi. However, the fact that the King had accepted Islam did not
mean that everybody else accepted it.

Indeed, many people after the demise of Ali Tsamia, were said to have refused
to embrace the Islamic religion, and were deeply attached to their ancestral or
traditional religion. In fact, the six successive rulers after Ali Tsamia were said
to have equally refused to embrace Islam.

During the reign of Mohammed Rumfa (1463 1499), Islam had penetrated
Kano which was then inhabited by the Hausa people called Maguzawa. It was
after the conquest by Uthman Dan Fodio (1802 -1817) that Islam began to
spread among the Maguzawa people. By the time the British arrived the area,
it was estimated that about half of the Maguzawa had accepted Islam. Before
the arrival of Islam, the Maguzawa had a belief in Allah as the Supreme Being
who could be approached or invoked through other deities. They also had a
belief on the last day when Allah will judge everyone, punishing and rewarding
each person accordingly.

The Maguzawa people also believed in and worshipped spirit (Iskoki or Iskokai)
who inflicts or removes suffering from people when they are invoked. The
religion of Islam appealed to the Maguzawa people because the beliefs and
dictates of the religion were in synchronization with those of the Maguzawa.
However, as time passed, some of the spirits were believed to be good and
lived in the city where they were considered and compared to Muslims who
lived in the city. The black spirits were considered as Maguzawa who lived in
the bush.

Therefore, in many of the Hausa states, we saw how Islam existed side-by-side
with traditional religions. Severally, there were frequent wars of proselytizing
and supremacy between these Hausa states, yet, there were a number of
factors which encouraged the development of unity among the Hausa states.
One of them, and perhaps the most cogent, was the Byajida legend which
served as a unifying factor among the different Hausa sub-groups. The
importance of the legend was primarily the fact that it provided the belief that
all Hausa states had a common origin and derived from common ancestors.
Another potential rallying point for unity among the Hausa states was Islam.