23 children, including: Muhammad Bello Nana Asmau Abu Bakr Atiku
Hausa (Ajami)
عُثْمَانْ طَࢽْ ࢻُودِیُواْ
Hausa (Latin)
Usman Ɗan fodiyo
Dynasty
Sokoto Caliphate
Father
Mallam Muhammadu Fodio
Mother
Hauwa bnt Muhammad
Personal
Religion
Islam
Denomination
Sufism
Jurisprudence
Maliki
Creed
Ash'ari
Tariqa
Qadiri[2][3]
Shehu Usman ɗan Fodiopronunciationⓘ (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي, romanized: ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817)[4] was a Fulani scholar, Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary and a philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its first caliph.[5] After the successful revolution, the "Jama'a" gave him the title Amir al-Mu'minin (commander of the faithful). He rejected the throne and continued calling to Islam.
Born in Gobir, Usman was a descendant of the Torodbe clans of urbanized ethnic Fulani people living in the Hausa Kingdoms since the early 1400s.[6] In early life, Usman became well educated in Islamic studies and soon, he began to preach Sunni Islam throughout Nigeria and Cameroon. He wrote more than a hundred books concerning religion, government, culture and society. He developed a critique of existing African Muslim elites for what he saw as their greed, paganism, violation of the standards of the Sharia.[7]
Usman formed and began an Islamic religious and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon. This revolution influenced other rebellions across West Africa and beyond. In 1803, he founded the Sokoto Caliphate and his followers pledged allegiance to him as the Commander of the Faithful (Amīr al-Muʾminīn). Usman declared jihad against the tyrannical kings and defeated the kings. Under Usman's leadership, the caliphate expanded into present-day Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Southern Niger and most of Northern Nigeria. Ɗan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.[8]
He encouraged literacy and scholarship, for women as well as men, and several of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers.[9] His writings and sayings continue to be much quoted today, and are often affectionately referred to as Shehu in Nigeria. Some followers consider ɗan Fodio to have been a mujaddid, a divinely sent "reformer of Islam".[10]
Shehu ɗan Fodio's uprising was a major episode of a movement described as the jihad in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.[11] It followed the jihads successfully waged in Futa Bundu, Futa Tooro and Fouta Djallon between 1650 and 1750, which led to the creation of those three Islamic states. In his turn, the Shehu inspired a number of later West African jihads, including those of Seku Amadu, founder of the Massina Empire and Omar Saidou Tall, founder of the Toucouleur Empire, who married one of ɗan Fodio's granddaughters.
^OnlineNigeria.com. SOKOTO STATE, Background Information (2/10/2003).
^University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center: "An Interview on Uthman dan Fodio" by Shireen Ahmed 22 June 1995
^Loimeier, Roman (2011). Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria. Northwestern University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-8101-2810-1.
^Hunwick, John O. 1995. "Arabic Literature" in Africa: the Writings of Central Sudanic Africa, pp.
^I. Suleiman, The African Caliphate: The Life, Works and Teachings of Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio (1757–1817) (2009).
^T. A. Osae & S. N. Nwabara (1968). a Short history of WEST AFRICA A.D 1000–1800. Great Britain: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 80. ISBN 0-340-07771-9.
^"Karanta Cikakken Tarihin Shehu Usman Dan Fodio : Abubuwan da Yakamata Ku sani dangane da Rayuwar Mujaddadi Shehu Usman Dan Fodio". Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^"Usman Dan Fodio's Biography". Fulbe History and Heritage. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
^"Usman Dan Fodio, a great reformer". guardian.ng. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^John O. Hunwick. "African And Islamic Revival" in Sudanic Africa: A Journal of Historical Sources : #6 (1995).
^"Suret-Canale, Jean. "The Social and Historical Significance of the Fulɓe Hegemonies in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." In Essays on African History: From the Slave Trade to Neocolonialism. translated from the French by Christopher Hurst. C. Hurst & Co., London., pp. 25–55". Retrieved 8 October 2014.
Shehu UsmanɗanFodio pronunciation (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي, romanized: ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani scholar, Islamic...
The Jihad of UsmandanFodio was a religio-military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when UsmandanFodio, a prominent Islamic...
Grand Vizier of Sokoto. His brother, UsmandanFodio (1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Usman, being more of a scholar than politician...
history, poetry, and Islamic studies. He was the son and primary aide to UsmandanFodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate and the first Sultan. During his...
Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by UsmandanFodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms...
on character and learning. The university is named after the famous UsmandanFodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Udusok is a four, five and six-years...
carry much weight with Fulani and Hausa people from northern Nigeria. UsmandanFodio, the founder of the dynasty of Sokoto State and of the Fulani Empire...
scholarship but was later replaced by Sokoto stemming from the 19th century UsmanDanFodio Islamic reform. The Hausa are culturally and historically closest to...
Shaihu UsmandanFodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو) (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usmandan Fodio...
founded Gombe emirate, he was a follower of the Fulani jihad leader UsmandanFodio. Sudanica. "Buba Yero (Sarkin Gombe) | Sudanica". Archived from the...
with Islamic reformer Shaikh UsmandanFodio. Usman was a teacher to Yunfa before his ascent to the throne of Gobir. Usman also had a large following in...
Fulani Islamic reformer UsmandanFodio. Bawa, a ruler of Gobir, appears to have invited danFodio to the area in 1774; danFodio made his home in the small...
who was part of the community of UsmanDanFodio, founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, and his brother Abdullahi danFodio. After a long career as a teacher...
Fulani clan that historically featured prominently in the Jihad of UsmandanFodio which founded the Sokoto Caliphate. The ruling dynastic houses of Kano...
Fombina, also known as Adamawa. Modibbo Adama received a flag from Shehu UsmandanFodio to lead a jihad in Fombina ('southlands') during the Sokoto revolution...
the Central African Republic. Modibo Adama was a commander of Sheikh UsmandanFodio, the man who began the Fulani jihad in 1809. The capital was moved...
dynasty, succeeding Yero dan Musa, the last emir from the Dallazawa dynasty which was installed by the Jihad of UsmandanFodio. He came to power shortly...
jihad movement spread eastward to the Hausa states. The revolutionary UsmandanFodio, through a series of jihads begun in 1804, created the Sokoto Caliphate...
religion did the same between the jihad started by the Islamic reformer UsmandanFodio around 1800 and the middle of the 20th century, while a small minority...
Sokoto jihad, Gwandu emerged as a significant and permanent base for UsmandanFodio and his followers. Recognizing the strategic importance of the town...
until the emergence of UsmanDanFodio and his Jihad (strive). Around 1754-1817, the founder of the Sokoto caliphate UsmanDanFodio launched his Jihad (strive)...
in the Senegambian region became centers of Muslim teaching. Sheikh UsmandanFodio (1754-1817) from Gobir popularized the Qadiri teachings in Nigeria...
Tunisian Islamic Scholar and Shariah Judge Abdullahi danFodio (1766–1829), Sufi and brother of UsmandanFodio Islam portal Politics portal Outline of Islam...
festival, and are also followers of the religious teachings of Sheikh UsmandanFodio. The Igbo people, commonly and often referred to as Ibo people, are...