Addressing misconceptions on Bahaushe, Bamaguje and Islam in Hausa land

To the average Yoruba man, Chief Bola Tinubu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Professor Wole Soyinka, Chief Lateef Adegbite etc are/were all Yoruba regardless of whether they are/ were Muslims or Christians. Same applies to almost all Nigerian tribes and peoples with the exception of the Hausas.

However, to the average Hausa man, being Hausa alone does not qualify one to be recognized or accepted as Hausa; one has to be a Muslim. All non Muslim Hausa people belong to a separate “socially detested’ group known as Maguzawa (Sing: Bamaguje). Islam thus became the most distinguishing feature of the Hausa; the Hausaness of any Hausa person largely depends on his Islamness. It goes without saying therefore, that the Hausa is in a much better position to explain the meaning of Bamaguje, unless if you belong to the school of thought that feels a non Yoruba is in a better position to explain to native Yoruba the meaning of Kabiyesi!

To further drive this point home, especially for the Hausa literate reader, consider the following passage lifted verbatim from Abubakar Imam’s Magana Jari Ce Littafi Na Uku first published in 1939, some 80 years ago! The passage is the first in the story “Dan Hakin Da Ka Raina, Shi Ke Tsone Ma Ido” on page 50 of the book. The passage is presented in its original Hausa language with no accompanying translation in to the English language:

“Wata rana wani Bamaguje ya lafta wa takarkarinsa hatsi, ya kora zai kai kasuwa. Kasuwar da za shi kuwa ana dam mudu kwarai, don kullum in ya kai kayan takarkarin nan, daga ya sayar sule talatin sai ya sayar talatin da biyar. Yana cikin tafiya da takarkarin niki-niki, sai wani mahauci ya hango shi, sun kuwa taho taryen shanu ne, tun safe har azahar ba su ga ko kaho ba. Da hango shi sai mahaucin nan yace wa ‘yan’uwansa, “Shin wancan mai takarkarin Bahaushe ne, ko kuwa?” Suka hanga, guda yace, “Bahaushe ina? Kuna ganin Bamaguje, ku dubi irin kayan gogan mana, iya Magana yanzu nan ko d’an Kano!” Daga nan sai guda wanda a ke kira Anunu yace, “Haba, wane wayo kega Arne, daga dai an kyale su?”

The foregoing passage is an illustration of the fact that the term “Bamaguje” is a Hausa word originally used by the native Hausas to describe or identify their fellow Hausa that did not subscribe to the Islamic faith. It has been said that the term Bamaguje was derived from the Hausa word “guje wa” (ran away from) and used to qualify those Hausas that ran away from the Islamic religion when it was first introduced to Hausa land.

Misconception Number One: Bamaguje is the original Bahaushe. In other words, that Bahaushe originated from Bamaguje (in Hausa, asalin bahaushe bamaguje). This view is wrong, mischievous and wicked.

Originally, all Muslim peoples, communities, tribes and societies on earth, including the noble Quraish tribe to which the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAW) belongs are pagans or non believers. They became believers following the coming of Islam and their subsequent acceptance of it as religion and way of life. If predicated upon the foregoing one spuriously considers the Bamaguje as the pre-Islam Hausa, then one can fallaciously argue that the Bamaguje is the original Bahaushe; fortunately it was never so. Pre Islam Hausa land is populated by animist Hausas. As mentioned earlier, when Islam was first introduced to hausaland those that accepted it retain the name Hausawa and (they, the self-styled Hausawas then) refer to all those that rejected the religion as Maguzawa “wadan da suka guje wa addini”. Thus, the Bamaguje remains that Hausa that failed to jump on the Islam bandwagon. Even today, with the coming of Christianity, and the fact that a good number of Maguzawas are now practicing Christians, to the average Hausa man, the Hausa Christian is still a Bamaguje!

Misconception Number Two: Shehu Usmanu Danfodiyo brought Islam to Hausa land following the 1804 Jihad! Nothing can be further from the truth! Islam was introduced to Hausa land centuries before the Sokoto Jihad.

Islam, according to the “Kano Chronicle”, was introduced to Kano during the reign of Sarkin Kano Yaji (1349-1385). Some authors are of the opinion that Islam was introduced earlier. In 1493, during the reign of Sarkin Kano Muhammadu Rumfa, the Algerian scholar, Sheikh Muhammad ibn AbdulKarim Al-Maghili visited Kano, and during that period wrote a treatise on statecraft entitled “The Obligation of Princes” to guide the rulers of Kano on running state affairs in accordance with Islamic practices. Sheikh Al-Maghili also visited Katsina. The descendants of Al-Maghili are the principal occupants of Sharifai quarters in present day Kano.

Not only Islam, Islamic scholarship has also spread widely across Hausa land centuries before the Sokoto Jihad. In Katsina, the land of birth, for example, one can sight at least 2 prominent pre-Jihad scholars of great repute. First, Abu Muhammad bn Masani bn Ghumehu bn Muhammad bn Abdullahi bn Nuh al-Barnawi al-Kashinawi popularly known as Wali Dan Masani (1595-1667), and second, his student Sheikh Muhammad ibn Sabbaqh al-Kashinawi known as Wali Dan Marina (see Yusufu Bala Usman’s “The Transformation of Katsina 1400-1883” for further details). If one is to survey pre Jihad Hausa land, several of such eminent Islamic scholars could be identified.

Some of the scholarly works of Wali Dan Masani as mentioned by the late Professor Ibrahim Yaro Yahaya on page 38 of his book “Hausa a Rubuce: Tarihin Rubuce Rubuce Cikin Hausa” include the following: Commentary on the works of Alfazazi entitled “Nafhatul Ambariyya Fi Halli al-Fazi al-Ishiriniyya”; commentary on the text of Islamic Jurisprudence known as Ishmawi titled “Zaug alShamsiyya Ala Muqaddimatil al-Ishmawiyya”; Zaharatul Ruba Fi Akhbari Biladi Yoruba (This book was mentioned by Sheikh Danfodiyo in his book entitled Habarul Fadi Fi Zuhuri Imamul Mahdi); Fatahul Maram Li Misli Qasidati Ibn Hisham; Tazyinul Asah Fi Darbi Hamati man Asah; Aynul Ikhlasi Fi Tilawati Suratul Ikhlasi; Shia’ir Ruba etc

From the foregoing, it should be clear that Islam and Islamic scholarship in Hausa land predate the Sokoto Jihad. Shehu Usmanu Danfodiyo, as I wrote elsewhere “was an Islamic scholar who, dissatisfied with the way Islam was practiced in Hausa land struggled to cleanse Islam in Hausa land of animist practices, superstitions and innovations. He was a Mujaddid whose struggled was essentially to purify Islamic rituals and practices in Hausa land.”

This essay was aimed at debunking the mentioned misconceptions, if it succeeds only in stirring doubts in the mind of the reader on these age long misrepresentation of facts vis-à-vis Bahaushe, Bamaguje and the Coming of Islam to Hausa land, it will have achieve its objective.

Postscript: This essay is primarily targeted at the Hausa Speaking peoples in Nigeria and beyond. In writing the essay, I assumed the reader to possess some level of understanding of both written and spoken Hausa Language. This explains why I deliberately retain some Hausa words, and even a complete passage, not translated. However, I belief the average reader zero understanding of the Hausa language will still follow the argument presented. Ammani wrote from Kaduna. this piece