Abdullahi dan Fodio

Abdullahi ɗan Fodio (; ca. 1766–1828), was a prominent Islamic scholar, jurist, poet, grammarian, and theologian, and the first Amir of Gwandu (r. 1812–1828) and first Wazirin Sokoto (Grand Vizier of Sokoto). His brother, Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Usman, being more of a scholar than politician, delegated the practical regency of the western part of his empire to Abdullahi and the eastern part to his son Muhammed Bello, who later became the Sultan of Sokoto after his father. accusing them of permitting such conduct. Although the criticism was mainly directed at Usman, he instructed Abdullahi, then 20 years old, to compose a reply. In it, Abdullahi agreed that the mixing of men and women at the Shehu's lectures was "an evil", but he argued that it was a lesser evil than leaving women uneducated. In his words:The evil of leaving women in ignorance, not knowing what is incumbent upon them, nay, not knowing Islam at all, is greater than the evil of their mixing with men, for the first evil relates back to religion, which is faith, Islam and good works, and the second evil relates back to genealogy.

One notable collection of Abdullahi's works is titled Diya, meaning 'an illuminating light'. Each work within this collection focuses on a specific juristic question, exploring different aspects of Islamic law. Examples include Diya' al Ummah, Diya' ahl-Ihtisub, Diya' al-Sultan, Diya' Al-faraid, Diya' al-Umara, Diya' al-hukkam, Diya' ul al-amr wa al-Mujahideen, and Diya' al-Ulum al-Deen. in 1806–7, following his departure from the ongoing jihad and his arrival in Kano while en route to Mecca. The full title of this work is Diya' al-hukkam fi-ma lahum wa-'alayhim min al-ahkam. This comprehensive work on Tafsir, consisting of two volumes and 747 folios, gained widespread popularity in West Africa, reaching as far as Mauritania. The first volume was completed on 2 September 1815 in Bodinga or Gwandu and the second on 10 July 1816 in Gwandu.