of ai-Hajj 'Umar

The Writings of ai-Hajj 'Umar The Shaykh's literary activity prefigured his declaration of jihad. Some twenty compositions are attributed to his total oeuvre, of which nineteen have come to light.44 The Madman years (I 828-183 I) appear to have been his most productive period, though in retrospect, this brief interlude gave rise to what proved to be only minor works. His abiding interest in ta!jawwufwas early transmuted into an expository treatise on Sura LXIII: 9-11. A short composition of nine folios (I 244/ 1828-9), the Tadhkirat al-mustarshidin wafalalJ al-alibin mirrors the Shaykh's concern for the canonical obligations of Islam, and the Sura (significantly termed, "al-Munafiqun", the "Hypocrites") sets its face against the entrance of personal preferment in the fulfillment of these duties. Indeed, the starting point for all the Shaykh's thought is the notion of sacrifice:

According to Shaykh 'Urnar's commentary, Muslims are exhorted to the "pillars of Islam "-Faith, prayer, fasting, alms-giving, pilgrimage--and jihad.46 In the Tadhkirat, no attempt is made to distinguish spiritual from temporal jihad, as the Shaykh is clearly making reference to the jihad al-lJarb--the "jihad of war". Subsequent work, such as the RimalJ, would lay great stress upon the jihad against carnal appetites, (a ~iifi concept) and virtually ignore the jihad al-lJarb, whose purpose and character in the Shaykh's view warranted little explanation. "The hypocrites", according to al-l:Iajj 'Umar's interpretation, were those "venal kings" and "venal scholars" who sought to divert the believer's attention from canonical duties, and habitually mixed truth with falsehood, corrupted religion, and perpetrated injustices upon the innocent. 47

The protracted period of civil conflict (fitna), which convulsed the Muslim communities of Sokoto and Bornu, provoked another of the Shaykh's compositions. The Tadhkirat al-ghajilin 'an qablJ ikhtilaf al-mu 'minin,48 belongs to the Madman period, but was completed during the second visit to Sokoto. In this work, the Shaykh finds himself cast as mediator between contending forces, and the Tadhkirat attempts to lift the two above their differences. The composed urgency of the style and the refusal to line up with the alternative prenotions of either side, contrast sharply with the fractured state of these two communities. Full blame was placed upon the amirs of Sokoto and Bornu, who, in the Shaykh's view, had allowed the conflict to rage beyond compromise-the differences between them to be sharpened by jealousies, which assumed the form of outright hatred of one Muslim for another. Out of stubbornness and pride each community had denounced the other as infidels, in such a way as to bring about bloodshed between them.49 Though neither side appears to have held back on account of the Shaykh's dissuasive pleas, the episode was to have its paradox. Little could he perceive this affliction echoed in a jitna of his own making (and of equal intensity) among Muslims of the Middle Niger.