ECONOMIC THOUGHTS OF THE SOKOTO JIHAD LEADERS

ABSTRACT

This study set out to search for, analyze and build a comprehensive picture of the Sokoto jihad leaders’ economic thoughts, so that they may take their rightful place in the history of economic thought and serve as input for economic policy especially in Nigeria.

Using a sample of three leading scholars, namely, usman Danfodio (who led the jihad), Abdullahi Danfodio (his younger brother), and Muhammad Bello (his son), the study identified the philosophical basis of the Sokoto jihad leaders’ economic thoughts as promotion of work, justice, charity, and moderation. On the other hand they seriously discouraged vices such as laziness, oppression, dishonesty, stinginess, and greed. We discussed the jihad leaders’ thoughts on production and exchange and observed that they emphasized industrials development, socio–economic welfare of man, quality products, absence of riba, and absence of uncertainty in commercial transactions. We studied the jihad leaders’ thoughts on public finance and found that they do not differ much from other Islamic scholars’ being derived directly from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. As for the incidence of tax, we found that it is on the rich mostly. The poor and the disabled are not taxed at all. We observed that taxing model is likely to encourage investment and distributional equity.

Land and labor policies of the jihad leaders encouraged primacy of man on the land, land development, dignity of labor, adequate labor compensation and generous income security provisions. They discouraged women’s labor outside their matrimonial homes.

We concluded that the Sokoto Jihad leaders’ economic thoughts were Islamic and relevant to contemporary societies. The jihad leaders’ thoughts converged with conventional economics in few areas such as the goals of production, efficiency and importance of defence expenditure, though they are remarkably different with respect to their legal basis and value judgment.

PhD Thesis submitted to the Department of Economics,
Faculty of Social Sciences, Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto
By Professor Bayero A. S.