Shaikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi

“And another time – you shall see something wondrous.”
“And I thank my Lord that my secret is not sterile or barren.”
– Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse

By Umar Sheikh Tahir

Harvard University is renowned for its academic excellence and intellectual vibrancy. Visitors often expect encounters with great minds and engaging discussions with professors, students, and highly enlightened individuals. However, my recent visit transcended mere intellectual exchange; it was a holistic experience that seamlessly intertwined intellectual discourse with spiritual enrichment, specifically with my fellow Tijjāniyah Faydah community, where I shared my day with them, which was superb and was a Friday full of activities. 

On March 29, 2024, the day commenced with an eagerly anticipated lecture under the Islam in Africa initiative Lecture Series, co-organized by Prince Bin Al-Waleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Harvard Divinity School, and also the program convened by Professor Ousmane Kane al-Waleed Bin Talal, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society.

My friend and interlocutor, a fellow Tijjānī disciple Amadu Kunateh, is a PhD candidate who works on Islamic Intellectual Traditions in Sub-Saharan Africa and their philosophical currents. He presented a lecture on the reception of theology (Kalam) and philosophy (Falsafa) in Modern Sub-saharan Africa. He utilised Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse as a case study of African ulemas’ engagement with the subjects. In keeping with the form of the subject matter, Amadu summarised his work in syllogistic form: 

Premise 1: In Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kalam and Falsafa were present but held limited valorisation.

Premise 2: Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse denounced Kalam and Falsafa as ‘evil innovations’.

Premise 3: Kalam’s aim of providing certain knowledge was refuted by Niasse, who argued that it cannot offer certainty.

Premise 4: Ma’rifa and tarbiya, offering certain knowledge, negate the necessity of Kalam.

Premise 5: Critics suggest that Ma’rifa is exclusive, leaving Kalam and speculative reasoning as alternatives for the populace.

Premise 6: In the Islamic context of West Africa, under Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse’s guidance, Ma’rifa is universally attainable.

Conclusion: Thus, in this milieu of the `Ārifeen in Subsaharan Africa, Kalam and Falsafa become redundant. 

Notwithstanding, Amadu suggested that despite the privileging of ma’rifa and tarbiya as alternative cognitive modes, he showcased the continued presence of profound intellectual contributions to the issues pertinent questions of Kalam and Philosophy found in Sheikh Ibrahim’s Fi Riyād al-Tafseer.

The Q&A session allowed for more in-depth engagement with particular issues ranging from questions on Sheikh Ibrahim’s conception of Time, God’s Attributes (Sifat) & Dhat (Essence), the limits of the Intellect (‘aql), and more. The lecture ended with a hot meal, which was enjoyed by non-Muslims who are not observing Ramadan fasting, and takeaway containers for Muslim fasters.

Since it was Friday, we went to the Masjid for Friday prayer, where I found myself spiritually immersed, complementing the intellectual discourse seamlessly. Serendipitously, the Friday sermon (khutbah) was delivered by Dr. Ousmane Kane, who reminded congregants of the importance of God-consciousness (taqwa) and how taqwa results in God teaching you knowledge directly. This was a poignant reminder for an audience of academics and students in the pursuit of knowledge. 

The sermon echoed Amadu’s earlier presentation on the alternative epistemologies and limits of the intellect. How remarkable to have heard a presentation on Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse only to follow it up with a khutbah at Harvard by his grandson, Dr. Kane, the son of his daughter Seyda Maryam Niasse. It was evident that the Flood (Fayda) had indeed travelled westward, and its wonders reverberated through the Harvard walls. 

Following the Juma’ah prayer, the day continued to unfold its tapestry of spiritual and philosophical threads, culminating in two extraordinary meetings: one a private meeting with Dr. Kane in his office. During my meeting, I updated him on my project and the progress I am making at Columbia University. He gave me some valuable academic tips and then prayed for us with my friends.

My doctoral dissertation is about the tradition of Arabic Islamic logic in Subsaharan and North Africa. As such, it was suggested that I meet Āqil, an undergraduate student at Harvard College majoring in Math and philosophy, with a particular focus on modern logic. He is well-versed in Islamic tradition, having had madrasa training in Malaysia before arriving at Harvard. 

Our conversation explored the relationship between Modal Logic, Classical Logic, and Arabic logic. The discussion focused on the metaphysical assumptions that ground modern logic and go unnoticed by modern logicians like Frege, Russel, and Wittgenstein. However, precise and comprehensive due to its extensive utilisation of symbols, it can be used for contemporary Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence) as classical Arabic logic was traditionally espoused as an ‘instrumental’ tool for Usul and Theology. We were not convinced of the utility of modern logic for the Islamic sciences, but this issue requires further exploration. 

Since it was Friday, and as Tijjānī adherents, we headed out to the Zawiyah located at Shaykh Ousmane Kane’s home to engage in more remembrance (dhikr), Qur’an recitation, poetry recitals community before the Maghrib prayer. In the midst of rigorous intellectual engagement, moments of spiritual reflection provided a refreshing pause. A moment of tranquillity presented itself during the Haylala at the Zawiyah. The evening culminated with the Quranic khatm, which is done every week following a complete recital of the Quran by members of this community. 

We broke our fast together, which fostered a sense of community and companionship. It was amazing to experience a day of intellectual fasting at Harvard – with each conversation serving as a reminder of Allah. 

As we partook in the communal meal, it became evident that such gatherings not only nourish the body but also nurture the soul, and the healing food is exclusively cooked with the heart before the hand. Thanks to Kane’s family.

By the way, not surprisingly again, Shaykh Ousmane Kane presented the annual Ramadan Lecture (Durūs al-Hasaniyah)hosted by His Majesty the King of Morocco in front of Muslim global ‘ulema on Western Academia and Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Sub-saharan Africa and his efforts at Harvard to unravel that history. It’s astonishing and unprecedented that Shaykh, who lectured in front of the world’s Islamic scholars in Morocco, was a Harvard professor, khatib, and spiritual leader (muqaddam). It is a testament to Dr Kane (complex of two oceans of mind and spirit, as I named him in lines of my poetry last year,) the grandson of Shaykh al-Islam and Harvard professor.  Indeed, the Fayda has flooded over from Africa to Harvard and its nurturing hearts and minds. 

Reflecting on the day’s experiences, it’s evident that intellectual and spiritual pursuits need not exist in isolation; rather, they can complement and enrich one another, as is currently occurring at Harvard. Within Harvard’s diverse intellectual community, there exists a small group of people championing a holistic approach to learning. 

Umar Sheikh Tahir, PhD Candidate at Columbia University. He can be contacted via ust2102@columbia.edu.

Barrister Lawal Ishaq is a resident of the area where Irigwe militias massacred scores of Muslim travellers. The Daily Reality (TDR) newspaper had an interview with him, thus:

TDR: Nigerian newspapers, blogs and so on have reported different figures as numbers of Muslim travellers massacre while passing through Jos, Plateau State. Can you tell us how many people were actually killed?

Barrister:  So far, the actual number is 26, and security operatives and good Samaritans rescued about 34 people.

TDR: Jos is known as a volatile state where religious crises have become a norm. Was this a sort of reprisal attack or what?

Barrister: Recently, there had been some misunderstanding and skirmishes between Fulani and Miyango tribe in Bassa Local Government. There have been attacks and counter-attacks between them for ages.  Recently, it was said that four people were killed, and their corpses were deposited at Plateau Special Hospital. They planned their funerals on Saturday. After they picked the bodies from the hospital, instead of conveying their corpses in the vehicle, they opted to come in large numbers and carried them on foot and were heard chanting war songs in their language. They were over two thousand. They trekked from Plateau hospital, passing “Operation Safe Haven” headquarter, but nobody said anything to them. Their large number was a warning signal, but fortunately, nobody cares.

As they were passing through Rukba Road, unfortunately, their victims were coming back from their annual Zikr event in Bauchi under the leadership of Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi. The event takes place on the first Friday of every new year of the Islamic calendar. So, most of the people killed came from Ondo State. Most of them are Fulani, but they speak Yoruba more than even Fulfulde, and they were followers of the Tijjaniyya sect. They spent a night in Bauchi and left Bauchi early morning. The typical road for them to follow through Jos. They were in five buses, each containing eighteen passengers. So imagine the number.

TDR: You mean they attacked all those five buses?

Yes. All buses were attacked, killing 25 people instantly. One died later in the hospital.

TDR: How did they identify them?

Barrister: Unfortunately, their buses were all carrying the pictures of Sheikh Ibrahim Inyas to indicate that they were on a religious trip. And some of them were chanting Zikr. But there was nothing suspicious about them. It was apparent that they were only passing through Jos. And according to what they have told us, ordinarily, they would have passed Inuwa Nsunde (name of the street) peacefully. But because of the traffic gridlock caused by those people, that was how they met their death.

TDR How long did the attack last?

Barrister: It didn’t last long because already there was tension in that area. So the security operatives are always on high alert. And in this social media era, before you know it, some people were able to record and share images and videos on Facebook and WhatsApp groups.

TDR: Was there any gunshot in their bodies?

Barrister: No! No, any gunshot at all. They used machetes, knives and anything that can kill.

TDR: Any action from the state government?

Barrister:  The State Government had reacted promptly. The secretary to the state government came to the place immediately. The police commissioner was there, the director department of security service was there, and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was also there. So we were together when they dispatched the security personnel team to the area. They retrieved the dead bodies and the injured, who were soon conveyed to the general hospital.

TDR: Was there any arrest?

Barrister: We stayed at the hospital until we were told to go and bury the bodies at 04:30 pm or thereabout. The burial took us more than an hour because we had to put them into a mass grave. We, later on, received information from the police command that about seven people were arrested. But the most important thing is that the resident of that area did not carry out the killing. Those people from Miyango village did this massacre.

TDR: What is the name of their tribe?

Barrister: Irigwe Tribe. They are predominantly Christians. That gives the whole thing a religious colouration because their victims were all Muslims. It took us a great deal to control the situation because some people were so agitated. That is why instead of burying them at the central burial ground, we took them to Dadin Kowa cemetery. That is about fifty kilometres from Jos.

TDR: Thank you, sir.

Barrister: You are welcome.

By Misbahu El-Hamza

When I was listening to the Annual Muhammadu Sanusi II Colloquium online at around noon on Saturday, a call from a Jos-based friend interrupted my network. His heart was panting as he told me about an attack on travellers in Jos. However, he said he had no additional information; he only added that corpses, drenched in blood, had been brought to the Jos Central Mosque.

I immediately began to make calls, hoping I could speak directly with some survivors if there were any. But, unfortunately, I could not get any until the early hours of Sunday when I received an SMS from my source in Jos with the phone number of one survivor named Haruna Muhammad.

Haruna, 36, was the only man from Ogun state who joined other 53 Ondo and Kogi states based Muslims to travel to Shaikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, a renowned Islamic scholar of the Tijjaniya Sufi Order in his home in Bauchi state. The 54 Muslim faithful travelled in a convoy of 5 hummer busses from Ondo state through Jos and arrived at Bauchi in the early hours of Friday “for a Friday litany with the Shaikh,” said Haruna.

“We left Bauchi for Ondo at around 7 am through Jos.” The journey was peaceful until around 10 am when “we arrived at a place blocked by some youths searching every car passing by. And when it came to our turn, we were asked to all step down of the cars.”

The youths began asking the drivers questions about where the convoy was coming from and where they were heading. “It was obvious they didn’t trust us,” Haruna said, but above all, the youths were angry. Before Haruna or any of his brothers speaks, the youth began shouting, hitting them with sticks, and suddenly, all the convoy dispersed into the nooks of Rukuba for their lives. “None of us has any idea where he’s running to, but we had to try and save our lives,” Haruna recounted.

While in hiding, Haruna watched in dread how the youth used sticks and stones to massacre some of his co-travellers. A viral video shared online by an unknown perpetrator shows how they used to smash and shatter the victims’ heads on the road. Haruna also heard a gunshot but could not identify who was shot at the moment. Twenty-five people were butchered at the spot before the military came to rescue those in hiding, like Haruna and 25 others. One other sustained severe injuries and died later at Plateau Hospital, according to Haruna.

The State Director, Fityanul Islam of Nigeria, Mallam Adam Hamza, who supervised the preparation and burial of the deceased, confirmed that they buried 26 bodies at Dadin Kowa Cemetery of Jos South. The graveyard is a 19-minute drive from the Jos North Central Mosque. The other injured victims are still at the hospital receiving treatment.

I asked Haruna why they chose to follow Rukuba Road since that wasn’t the road they followed to Bauchi. “One of us proposed that Rukuba Road would be better,” he said, “and then one of the drivers said he too knows the road. So, he led the convoy.” None of the five drivers, however, sustained an injury. All 5 were non-Muslim Yorubas from Ondo state. Before the military arrived at the scene, Haruna confirmed that one of the cars was set on fire, and another driver luckily drove off his car to safety. As of this morning, that driver set off for Ondo. Haruna and other survivors are still in Plateau State, kept at a hotel under the protection of the state government. He assured me they are well taken care of under the supervision of Fityanul Islam of Nigeria.

All this appeared to come to the authorities with shock, according to Mallam Adam. Some government officials who attended the burial include Secretary to the state government, who was said to have represented the state governor, Simon Bako Lalong. Others include the state police commissioner, CP Edward Egbuka, and General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Jos 3-Division, General Ibrahim Ali. The CP and GOC also visited the scene of the massacre on Saturday.

All efforts to speak with one of the government officials were not successful. However, in a press statement, the Plateau State Government, in response to the massacre and avoidance of counter-reprisal, imposed dusk-to-dawn (6 pm – 6 am) curfew in Bassa, Jos South and Jos North local governments at 3 am on Sunday. But unconfirmed reports coming from Jos North this morning indicate that the atmosphere is intense.

It’s no wonder that through its Director of Press, Dr Makut Simon Machan, the state government released another statement at exactly 11:02 am today that imposing a 24-hour curfew in Jos North “to contain further security threats”.

It could be recalled that on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, an attack on travellers was recorded where a truck full of animals was set ablaze at Gada Biyu, a trekking distance from Rukuba Road. That attack was said to be a reprisal as Fulanis were said to have attacked Irigwe houses and destroyed farms in other state villages.

Yesterday’s attack could also be a continuation of the previous reprisal. Survivors and locals call on the Plateau state government to look into the root cause of these killings as a matter of urgency and ensure justice is served. Any delay could return Jos North to its dark days when people get killed sporadically if they (mistakenly) entered territory belonging to another ethnicity or religion other than theirs.

Haruna Muhammad further urged the Federal and State government to ensure the arrest of all who were responsible for the merciless killings of his innocent brothers on August 14 2021. He said whatever misunderstanding is going on between the tribes in Plateau state, his brothers know nothing about it, and their killings shouldn’t be unchecked. The massacre yesterday left 26 people dead and 33 survivors, including the drivers.