Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar ( ar, محمد سعد أبو بكر), CFR (born 24 August 1956) is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto. As Sultan of Sokoto, he is considered the spiritual leader of

Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British No ...

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

, the majority of the nation's population.CFR, mni--sultan-sokoto The Muslim 500: "Amirul Mu’minin Sheikh as Sultan Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar"
retrieved May 15, 2014 Abubakar is the heir to the two century-old throne founded by his ancestor, Sheikh

Usman Dan Fodio Usman Ɗan Fodio ( ar, عثمان بن فودي, translit=ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani scholar, Sunni Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and rul ...

(1754–1817), leader of the Maliki school of Islam and the Qadiri branch of

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

. The

Sokoto Sokoto is a major city located in extreme northwestern Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously th ...

Caliphate leaders are partly Arabs and partly

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

as stated by Abdullahi dan Fodio, brother of

Usman dan Fodio Usman Ɗan Fodio ( ar, عثمان بن فودي, translit=ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani scholar, Sunni Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and rul ...

, who claimed that their family are partly Fulani, and partly Arabs. They claimed to descend from the Arabs through

Uqba ibn Nafi ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī al-Qurashī ( ar, عقبة بن نافع بن عبد القيس الفهري القرشي, ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī), also simply known as Uqba ibn Nafi, was an Arab general ser ...

, who was an Arab Muslim of the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

branch of the

Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Q ...

, ooand hence, a member of the family of the Prophet, Uqba ibn Nafi allegedly married a Fulani woman called Bajjumangbu through whom the

Torodbe The Torodbe; singular Torodo (also called Turudiyya, Banu Toro, Takrur, Toronkawa) were Muslim clerics and theocratic monarchs who reigned in Futa Toro, a region located in the north of present-day Senegal, from the seventeenth to the early twent ...

family of

descended. Caliph

Muhammed Bello Muhammadu Bello ( ar, محمد بلو) was the second Sultan of Sokoto and reigned from 1817 until 1837. He was also an active writer of history, poetry, and Islamic studies. He was the son and primary aide to Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the ...

, writing in his book--Infaq al-Mansur, claimed descent from

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

through his paternal grandmother's lineage called Hawwa (mother of Usman dan Fodio). Alhaji

Muhammadu Junaidu Muhammadu Junaidu (1906 – 9 January 1997) was a Nigerian historian, writer and one of the foremost scholars on Fulani history and the Sokoto Caliphate. He held the title of the Waziri of Sokoto. Life He was born into an aristocratic family, the ...

, Wazirin Sokoto, a scholar of Fulani history, restated the claims of Shaykh Abdullahi bin Fodio in respect of the Dan Fodio family been partly Arabs and partly Fulani, while

Ahmadu Bello Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto (12 June 1910–15 January 1966), knighted as Sir Ahmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its firs ...

in his autobiography, written after independence, replicated Caliph Muhammadu Bello's claim of descent from the Arabs through Usman Dan Fodio’s mother. The historical account indicates that the family of Shehu dan Fodio are partly Arabs and partly Fulanis, who were

culturally assimilated Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...

with the Hausas and can be described as Hausa-Fulani Arabs. Prior to the beginning of the 1804 Jihad , the category of Fulani was not important for the Torankawa (Torodbe), their literature reveals the ambivalence they had, defining Torodbe-Fulani relationships. They adopted the language of the

Fulbe The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

and much ethos while maintaining a separate identity. The Toronkawa clan at first, recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people. Toronkawa clerics included people, whose origin was Fula, Wolof,

Mande Mande may refer to: * Mandé peoples of western Africa * Mande languages * Manding, a term covering a subgroup of Mande peoples, and sometimes used for one of them, Mandinka * Garo people of northeastern India and northern Bangladesh * Mande River ...

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

and Berber. However, they spoke the Fula language, married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste.

Early life

Family

Sa'adu Abubakar was born on August 24, 1956, in Sokoto. He is the youngest son of the 17th Sultan, Sir

Siddiq Abubakar III Sir Siddiq Abubakar III, (15 March 1903 – 1 November 1988) was a Nigerian Muslim leader (Sarkin Musulmi). He served as the 17th Sultan of Sokoto between 17 June 1938 and 1 November 1988, making him the longest-reigning Sultan. Life and car ...

, who held the Sultanate for over fifty years.

Education

Sa'adu Abubakar attended

Barewa College Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British List of Governors-General of Nigeria, Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna Coll ...

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

and proceeded to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1975, where he was a member of the 18th Regular Course.

Military career

Abubakar was commissioned a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in 1977 and served in the elite Armoured Corps. He headed a presidential security unit of the Armoured Corps that guarded then military ruler, General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

in the late 1980s. Abubakar also commanded a battalion of African peacekeepers in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

during the early 1980s, as part of the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

's force and was military

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

for the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) in the mid 1990s. He was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

241 Recce Battalion, Kaduna in 1993. From 1995 to 1999, he was ECOWAS military liaison officer and commanding officer, 231 Tank Battalion ( ECOMOG Operations) in Sierra Leone, from 1999 to 2000. From 2003 to 2006, he served as

Defence Attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

to Pakistan (also accredited for Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan) and retired as a

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Sultan of Sokoto

On 2 November 2006, Abubakar ascended the throne, following the death of his brother, Muhammadu Maccido, who died on

ADC Airlines Flight 53 ADC Airlines Flight 053 (ADK053) was a scheduled passenger flight operated by ADC Airlines from Nigeria's capital of Abuja to Sokoto. On 29 October 2006, the Boeing 737-2B7 crashed onto a corn field shortly after take-off from Nnamdi Azikiwe I ...

Titles and honours

As the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar is the leader of the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri t ...

sufi order, which is the most important Muslim position in Nigeria and senior to the Emir of Kano, the leader of the most populous

Tijaniyya The Tijāniyyah ( ar, الطريقة التجانية, Al-Ṭarīqah al-Tijāniyyah, The Tijānī Path) is a Sufi tariqa (order, path), originating in the Maghreb but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, ...

sufi order.All Africa: "Nigeria: Updated – Kano Blasts Claim Over 60" By Ismail Mudashir
November 28, 2014 He is also the head of Jama'atu Nasril Islam (Society for the Support of Islam – JNI), and president-general of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). In 2015, Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar IV was listed among the 10 recipients of the maiden edition of the Global Seal of Integrity (GSOI), an annual list, which is compiled and authored by two young Nigerians, Emmanuel Josh Omeiza and Godspower Oshodin, under the Global Youth Coalition for Integrity, for promoting integrity among the people and consequently, promoting the well-being of the universe. On 22 August 2019, he was appointed as Co-Moderator of the Council of Religion for Peace (CRP).

References

External links

Profile: Muhammed Sa'adu Abubakar
BBC News, Thursday, November 2, 2006, 10:30 GMT {{DEFAULTSORT:Abubakar, Saadu 1956 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the Federal Republic 21st-century caliphs Nigerian Muslims Sultans of Sokoto Nigerian Sufi religious leaders Nigerian expatriates in Pakistan Nigerian generals Nigerian Army officers Nigerian Defence Academy alumni Barewa College alumni