Great men appear now and again to help shape the course of human history. Although the story of their lives does not of itself amount to the totality of the History of Man, it nevertheless, serves to illuminate that history and unravel the course of human events. The story of Shehu Othman dan Fodio, his life and works, undoubtedly belongs to this category of the determinant of the trends of human affairs and for us in Nigeria (and indeed in West Africa) it is crucial to the understanding of the Hausa-Fulani as the founders of the 19th century empire of the Sokoto caliphate … This book, The Life and Works of Uthman dan Fodio … has shown convincingly that Shehu Othman was essentially a mujaddid, a reformer … It is his piety, his learning and his concern for Islam which marked him as a truly great man both in the eyes of his contemporaries and in the judgement of discerning posterity. We are indebted to Dr. Ismail A.B. Balogun for retelling for us the story of this great Islamic scholar, reformer and empire builder and placing due emphasis on the spiritual aspects of Othman dan Fodio's greatness. Dr. Balogun, a Senior Lecturer in Arabic Studies at the University of lbadan, is well qualified for this task to which he has brought his immense knowledge of Arabic literature and his deep insight into the essence of Islam … The book has added greatly to our understanding of a most powerful movement in the course of our history and laid bare the true sectet of the success of the Fulani Jihad of the 19th century which is the piety, the reforming zeal and the prolific scholarship of its founder rather than the incidental political accumen of Othman dan Fodio and his flag bearers understanding of a most powerful movement in the course of our history and laid bare the true secret of the success of the Fulani Jihad of the 19th century which is the piety, the reforming zeal and the prolific scholarship of its founder rather than the incidental political accumen of Othman dan Fodio and his flag-bearers.
I commend this book to all readers as a work of scholarship and a precursor of other works which will go even deeper in enlightening us about the true history of Nigeria and its peoples. This is a duty that Nigerian scholars in our universities owe to the nation, to press their scholarship into the service of recapturing our past, presenting it in its true form and preserving it for posterity in its essence and true perspective. This is precisely what Dr. Balogun has attempted in this little book and has done with commendable success.
Lagos, February, 1975.
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