Shaykh 'Uthman Dan Fodio was a great scholar, mujahid and mujadid (reformer) of the place what is historically known as the Sokoto Khalifate of West Africa. Unlike other great scholars from the history of Islam Shaykh Uthmaan Dan Fodio is little known, though he was a scholar of great learning who waged jihad at his time and established what could be called a khilafah in central Africa. Like much of today's scholarship and work in South Asia can be traced back to Shah Waliullah, much of the work in Africa can be traced back to the influence and efforts of Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio, may Allah bless him and raise him to an honoured position on the Day of Judgement. The following is a brief insight into some of his work.
Official corruption, heavy taxation, confiscation of subject properties, oppression of the poor in general and slavery which instilled perpetual fear, was as much a source of discontent to the Muslim as to the non-Muslim subjects at the time of the Shaykh.
During the course of this state of affairs in Hausaland, the 'ulama' were becoming deeply influenced by Islamic ideology through the growth of Islamic literature. As their concern for Islam grew so did their disapproval of paganism or mixed Islam. Their passive attitude was slowly but perceptibly changing. It was in this period that Shaykh Jibreel ibn Umar, a revolutionary and severe critic of this society, (one of the most influential of Shaykh 'Uthman's teachers) attempted to wage a Jihad and reform his society. Such tension and frustration which led to mounting dissatisfaction in Gobir as much as in other Hausa city-states was to usher the emergence of 'Uthman Dan Fodio.
Uthman was born at Maratta, a town in the Hausa state of Gobir, on 29th Safar 1168 AH / Sunday 15th December 1754. His father Muhammad Fodio was a well known scholar of his time in Gobir, a descendant of the Torankawa Fulani and heir to a long Islamic tradition of learning. Coming , as he did, from a learned family, with a long tradition of leaning, Uthman had two advantages: access to one of the best instructions and a social status in a society full of respect for learning. He learnt the Qur’an at the feet of his father very early, as was the practice then and proceeded to study elementary fiqh and Arabic language. He then proceeded, this time under scholars renowned in their respective fields, many of whom turned out to be his uncles, to under take advanced studies, where the curriculum is heavy and the influence of the teachers great. Here he studied Tasfsir, Hadith, Sirah, Fiqh, Arabic Language, Tasawwuf, Mathematics and Astronomy. His childhood was totally given to learning, fitting like some of his contemporaries into an already institutionalised system of education in his society. 'Uthman studied quite a variety of subjects.
He received a thorough grounding in these fields and before he was twenty he had already written his first work in his mother tongue, reflecting not only the early intellectual maturity but also a propensity for literary out put. By the time he was twenty he had formerly finished the basic texts for advanced studies and free to pursue a career.
Shaykh 'Uthman's teachers not only imparted knowledge, but also as was usual in this system of education, influenced him profoundly. Of these influences, those of his uncle, 'Uthman Binduri, and Jibreel b. 'Umar were the most vivid. Of course, most influential on Shaykh 'Uthman was Shaykh Jibreel. This however did not prevent disagreement on certain issues. What is interesting is that this disagreement never affected in any way Shaykh' s respect for this 'teacher of his'. As Shaykh 'Uthman advanced his knowledge, and entered his early adulthood, his piety and extreme simplicity, exceptional intellectual ability and charismatic personality began to attract disciples from his immediate society.
As he was growing up one thing appeared to have taken Uthman’s attention, the level of ignorance of the wider society, especially among the women and the pervasion of innovations (bid’a) and widespread syncretic practices. He was deeply worried about the violations of the Sharia, the neglect of the Sunnah and the plight of his society as it came increasingly under the tyranny of ever unjust monarchs. The more he read the more he seemed to find this state of affairs unacceptable. The situation was not for want of teachers, indeed there were many, but the teachers had kept themselves in their ivory towers making their knowledge available only to the few who cared to come, to the neglect of even their own families. There were teachers who instead of correcting the ordinary people, were in fact making fortunes out of their ignorance, collecting their wealth under several pretexts and condoning violations of the Sharia and often conniving with rulers to perpetuate all manners of injustices. So by the time he was through with formal studies and became a man of his own he had already decided to devote his time to educating the public the basics of the religion. He was soon to be joined by his brother Abdullahi, twelve years his junior and much later his son Muhammad Bello
Convinced of his role in reforming his society, Shaykh 'Uthman devoted his full time right from the onset to teaching, preaching and writing. The content and method of his preaching were geared towards achieving the desired results - reforms. During the cause of his preaching a number of events occurred which influenced the Shaykh's thinking and ultimately directed his course of action.
By teaching and preaching to the people, the Shaykh was not doing anything new as this tradition had been practised for centuries in Hausaland. It was in fact the content and the approach that was different. The Shaykh, who was committed to changing his society, studied its problems and worked out a strategy that was most fitting for the circumstances. What seemed to have taken the Shaykh' s immediate concern was the ignorance of the masses concerning Islam despite the presence of many scholars. True there were many scholars with knowledge but most of them preoccupied themselves in teaching their very few students in their ivory towers neglecting the masses of the people and even their families. Local customs and beliefs were so mixed with Islam that the issue of what is Islam and what is not, was the talk of the day.
At the early age of twenty (1774), Shaykh 'Uthman started his teaching and preaching in his hometown Degel. In the same year he started moving around Degel, accompanied by his brother, 'Abdullah, teaching and preaching. Later in the company of his disciples he began to travel out of Degel, to the east and west, Kabi (to the west) being his first station of call. With Degel as his base, Shaykh 'Uthmaan and his group travelled to other towns in Gobir teaching and preaching with remarkable success. As 'Abdullah himself reported in his Tazyin al-Waraqah:
"Then we rose up with the Shaykh helping him in his mission work for religion. He travelled for that purpose to the east and to the west, calling the people to the religion of Allah by his preaching and his qaseedas in other languages and destroying customs contrary to Muslim law. Some of the people from surrounding countries came to him and entered his community while we were in his country which had become famous through him."
The result, as 'Abdullah reported, was that people started to respond to the Shaykh's preaching in large numbers and some started coming to him in groups after his return to Degel, thus both the Shaykh and his town Degel were becoming prominent. This prominence was the result of the Shaykh's radical approach. Until then, the difference between the content and method of his da'wah and those of other 'ulama' was not vivid. Now that the difference and impact of Shaykh 'Uthman's method had begun to manifest itself, opposition started. Many 'ulamaa' began to oppose the Shaykh and accused him of such things as hypocrisy, sedition, hearsay and misleading the common people. Neither was the opposition unexpected nor was the Shaykh unaware of the problems his preachings would raise. The Shaykh simultaneously started writing, arguing his point with the 'ulama'-where he excelled them and always emerged victorious - and attacking the rigid 'ulamaa' who had created the problems the Shaykh was trying to solve. In this process alone, the Shaykh was reported by Muhammad Bello (his son) to have written over fifty works.
Foremost in the Shaykh's attack were those corrupt 'ulama' most of whom were associated with the ruler's court, who in their efforts to maintain the established order and protect their vested interest, justified political corruption, immorality and all sorts of evils on the grounds that these were customs ('adaa) and tradition. Making this point clear the Shaykh said:
"Among their misconceptions is that some of them (i.e. the ulama') tolerate unworthy customs on the grounds of the sayings which are widespread in the lands, that the custom of a land is Sunnah. But this is falsehood and confusion according to the consensus opinion, because a custom should not be tolerated if it contradicts the Sunnah (of the Prophet 
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Fodio's most important work is said to be his Ihya al Sunnah wa Ikhmad al Bida, in
which he reportedly said:
"Let the critic of this book know that my aim in it is the revival of
the sunnah of the holy Prophet Mohammed 
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Fodio, among other things, commanded his pupils to teach their wives and children. all the women of his household were educated. Foremost among them was Nana Asma’u - who is well known role model; a Muslimah scholar and poet. As well as as maintaining the household, she played an important part in reforming the society as well.
Shaykh 'Uthman also condemned that class of charlatans who posed as saints or sufi shaykhs. Such people were in most cases of very low learning who made their living by divination and prophecy. Many of these 'ulama' claimed the power of kashf (mystical experience of transcendental knowledge) and thus duped the common people. Not only did the Shaykh attack and condemn these people but he denied in clear and unequivocal terms, such supernatural claims attributed to him by many people.
By 1810 Uthman had created a vast empire, to be administered by emirs in accordance with Koranic law. High standards of public morality replaced the corruption of the Hausa states and widespread education was achieved.
In 1815 he retired, appointing his son Muhammed Bello his successor and suzerain over all the emirates. Bello had built the city of Sokoto, of which he became the sultan, and he considerably extended the empire, establishing control of west Bornu and pushing down into the Yoruba Empire of Oyo.
