Karabiwa Mallams of Borno

The Shettima Bello manuscript in John Lavers, "Biography, the ulama and an example of protest in eighteenth century Borno,' in Northwestern University Program of African Studies (1984) Papers of the Conference on Islam in Africa: the Changing Role of the ’Ulama : March 28-31, 1984, Evanston, IL.

It is a tragedy that the essays and papers of John Lavers were not compiled and published posthumously. Some of his work touched upon areas of Borno history that are difficult to research outside the often inaccessible local Borno and Nigerian academic literature (especially unpublished theses by local and Nigerian historians). One such topic is the story of a Sufi community that developed in Borno during the 18th century. Called the Karabiwa Mallams by Lavers, who acknowledged that the name was an exonym derived from the distinct animal skin clothing or garments worn by members of the sect, they are a case in point. Lavers wrote extensively about the group in two papers for different conferences in the 1980s. The first, "Biography, the ulama and an example of protest in eighteenth century Borno' was in 1984. A subsequent essay on Sufi communities in the 17th and 18th centuries was "Two Sufi Communities in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Borno" for the Workshop on Sufism in Africa in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries at SOAS in 1987. Outside these two conference papers, we have not encountered any academic literature specifically on this Sufi community or sect.

The Karabiwa Mallams were observed by colonial-era officials as a small sect or group who limited their communication with the outside world. Eager for more knowledge on this group, H.R. Palmer requested a report on them that was partly translated by Butcher, another colonial official. In addition to a manuscript from Shettima Bello, who saw the Karabiwa Mallams as an unorthodox group, the son of the shaykh of the group also supplied information and a girgam. Unfortunately, Butcher did not provide a complete translation of the girgam, omitting what he thought were extracts from the Quran. Lavers suggested this could have been relevant information recorded in Arabic for prayers or the belief system of the Sufi group. Nonetheless, this local informant, named Mallam Sharif, claimed to have been the great-great-grandson of the Arab founder of the sect and offered information that contradicted Shettima Bello. Yet Lavers raised the question of the girgam for the sect actually being a silsila, particularly as it shares names with the silsila documented by Rinn, including the name Abd al-Qadir al-Jailani. Thus, the girgam may point to broader ties with North African Sufi traditions and the Qadiriyya. 

So, what can we say about the Karabiwa Mallams? According to these aforementioned sources, they were originally from the town or village of Bagara but followed a man Shettima Bello accused them of turning into a prophet. The sect arose during the days of Gazargamo in the reign of Ali b. al-Hajji, likely Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama (r. 1747-1792). If Mallam Sharif, the informant to Butcher, was the great-great-grandson of the founder, and born in the late 1800s or beginning of the 20th century, then one can see the group's origins likely beginning in the 1700s. Where things become complicated is the identity of the founder and his affiliations with the broader Sufi currents in Borno and the Central Sudan. According to Shettima Bello, the initial founder of the sect was a Kanuri named Mallam Wasirima, "who claimed to be a Prophet." But Lavers has pointed out that the name Wasirima may be linked to the Kanuri term for North Africans, wasiri. If so, then the founder, identified as Ahmad al-Mabruk by Mallam Sharif and in one document cited in Brenner's field notes, was likely of North African and of Arab origin. Indeed, Mallam Sharif reported that his ancestor was a "pure Arab" with white skin and a Qurayshite origin. He allegedly came to Borno from Kanem with followers. If Mallam Sharif was dependable, then the Karabiwa Mallams were an ascetic Sufi group founded by an Arab of North African origin who came to Borno from Kanem in the 1700s, perhaps as part of the broader currents of Kanembu and Shuwa Arab migration to Borno in the same century.

What is known of the group after establishing itself in Borno during the 1700s? Per Lavers, the group first settled in Bagara, in the territory of the Mobber along the Komadugu. They later moved to Karabiri in the Gazir (capital) district of Borno, probably with state permission from the Sayfawa. According to tradition, it was only in Karabiri where the group began to wear distinct dress, after a great famine in late Birni times. Here the reference to a great famine may be an allusion to a period of prolonged famine and drought in Borno from c. 1738-1753. The Diwan also referred to a great famine during the reign of Dunama Gana (c. 1744-1747) during this period. Alternatively, another famine may have been the one in question, one described by Ali Eisami and occurring in c. 1792. But if the group only came to Borno during the reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama, which began in c. 1747, the famine in question may have been the one in c. 1792, near the end of the reign of this particular mai. Also, as indicated by Lavers, the group likely received state permission or support for building its settlement at Karabiri near Gazargamo. This means the group's orthodoxy had been accepted after an earlier attack against it from the mai. Perhaps like the attack on the first Kalumbardo by Umar b. Idris in the 17th century, Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama was worried about the ascetic group's growth and influence on the surrounding population, so he launched an attack which scattered them before they regrouped. 

What was the fate of the group, after its initial persecution by Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama and later acceptance or state recognition? The group left after the jihad which assaulted Birni Gazargamo in c. 1808, regrouping at Yale Garuwa in Konduga. Then, in c. 1816, the group was perceived as a political threat by al-Kanemi. Consequently, they moved to Gobo in the Sokoto Caliphate, residing there for about ten years. They then returned to Borno in 1826, settling at Yaleri Kurnawa until 1840. They subsequently moved to a new settlement named after their shaykh, Shehu Tari. From there, the group spread to Mandara, settling in Madaway. Some later returned to Karabiwa and other past villages, too. Their shaykh, however, remained at Madawaya and expected his followers to visit him at least once per year there. 

One recurring pattern in the history of the Karabiwa Mallams is the perception of the group as a political threat to established authority. In Sayfawa times, the group's asceticism, popular following, and possible accusations of unorthodox practices made them a target for state violence. Indeed, Shettima Bello described the group as becoming known and large, so Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama raided their community. This suggests that the group's leader, or shaykh, was charismatic, attracted followers and chose not to integrate within the state apparatus as a court-aligned member of the ulama, all issues of concern to the Sayfawa ruler. After all, the Sayfawa maiwa considered themselves as proponents of Islam, religious orthodoxy and supporters of Islamic scholarship and piety as part of their political legitimacy. That Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama actually attacked the community, thereby leading to their dispersion, proves that he perceived them as a political threat to the established order. 

But, to what extent was the group or sect unorthodox and distinct from the rest of Bornoan society? Lavers pointed out that the group's desire to cut itself from the mainstream of society was part of a challenge to the status quo of the era, what we like to refer to as the Late Sayfawa Period. In this period, when the systems in place were under pressure and a drought, famine, population displacements, and the eventual jihad of Uthman dan Fodio changed the political landscape of the Central Sudan, the Sayfawa struggled to successfully meet the challenges of their changing times. In terms of their actual practices and beliefs, the Karabiwa Mallams do not appear quite so distinctive or unique. The group did accept outsiders who agreed to undergo ceremonial purification and promised not to divulge the secrets of the group. On the other hand, they were largely endogamous and restricted their communication with outsiders. The group also practiced an extreme form of khalwa in which members prayed in tunnels or holes dug in the ground for 40 days, subsisting on flour and water. Their supposedly singular way of dressing, with cotton for the upper garment and animal skins for the lower garments, was also reminiscent of the way al-Barnawi's followers dressed at the second Kalumbardo in the 17th century. Presumably, the group's penchant for secrecy and decision to broadly isolate themselves from the rest of society made them seem more extreme. By not allowing members to marry outsiders, for instance, they were clearly attempting to build a separate community. Moreover, members were prohibited from consumption of meat prepared in the standard Islamic way, suggestive of yet another distinctive practice through different dietary practices or interpretations of Islamic law.

Of course, the acceptance of the group through likely state permission to settle at Karabiri in Sayfawa times, the group's presence in the Sokoto Caliphate for about a decade, and their eventual return to Borno suggest they were in alignment with the central tenets of Islam. Thus, their unique practices of khalwa, secrecy, endogamy, and choice to limit communication with the rest of society were ultimately seen as acceptable by the rulers of Borno. And in some respects, their apparently unique practices were actually similar to that of other ascetic Sufi groups in Borno. For instance, the second Kalumbardo settlement of al-Barnawi practiced a severe form of khalwa. Comparisons with the followers of Sidi Mahmud al-Baghdadi in Aïr may also be illustrative of broader patterns of Sufi networks within the Central Sudan. That the group was initially targeted by state violence speaks to the broader political climate of Borno during the lengthy reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama and the turbulent 18th century. Integrating this episode within that broader context of political, ideological, and social change or conflict generates many questions about the era of decline in the Sayfawa dynasty and Sufism in Borno.