Reconstructing the Intellectual Legacy of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio and Its Relevance to Contemporary Islamic Reform in Nigeria

This dissertation critically reconstructs the intellectual legacy of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio (1754 to 1817) and systematically evaluates its relevance to contemporary Islamic reform debates in Nigeria. Dan Fodio's multidimensional intellectual output, spanning Tafsir, Fiqh, Sufi theology, political philosophy, and social ethics, represents the most consequential contribution to the Nigerian Islamic intellectual tradition, yet scholarly engagement with his work in contemporary reform discourse is often polemical rather than analytically rigorous. The study employs a historical-hermeneutical research methodology, conducting critical analysis of Dan Fodio's Arabic and Fulfude primary texts including Ihya al-Sunnah, Bayan Wujub al-Hijra, and Nur al-Albab, alongside a critical review of 80 contemporary Nigerian Islamic scholarly works that cite or engage with his legacy. Original contributions include a systematic typology of Dan Fodio's reform methodology, an analysis of the hermeneutical contestations over his legacy between Salafi, Sufi, and Islamist movements in contemporary Nigeria, and a Danfodiyan Reform Applicability Model for Nigerian Islamic institutions. Findings reveal a significant hermeneutical bifurcation in the appropriation of Dan Fodio's legacy, with reformist and traditionalist movements selectively deploying different dimensions of his scholarship. The dissertation recommends a coordinated national Dan Fodio heritage scholarship programme in Nigerian Islamic universities. Keywords: Usman Dan Fodio, Islamic intellectual heritage, Nigerian Islamic reform, Sufi tradition, historical hermeneutics.