Reconsidering the Intellectual Relationship between Muḥammad al-Maghīlī and ʿUthmān b. Fūdī: A Comparative Examination of Ajwiba and Sirāj al-Ikhwān

Abstract

It has been frequently stated that ʿUthmān b. Fūdī (d. 1817), founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, was influenced by the works of Muḥammad al-Maghīlī (d.c. 1505), a Maliki jurist from Maghrib, in the formation of his religious and juristic views. However, their intellectual relationship has not been fully scrutinized based on a concrete and detailed comparison of their works. By closely comparing two of their well-known works (Ajwiba by al-Maghīlī and Sirāj al-ikhwān by ʿUthmān), I demonstrate that ʿUthmān did not blindly accept al-Maghīlī’s views but actively reorganized his predecessor’s words using selective quotations and strategic interpretations to justify his own thoughts and actions.