Abstract
This essay explores the renaissance of Sufi poetry in the contemporary Nigerian literary landscape occasioned by Umar Abubakar Sidi’s The Poet of Dust. It also highlights the dilemma of interpretation and censorship by conservatives against the propagation of Sufi ideals drawing from the illuminating work of Andrea Brigaglia on the evolution of Sufi poetry in twentieth-century Nigeria. Through the use of interviews and textual analysis, the paper establishes that there is a resurgence of Sufi poetry in Nigeria with an appreciable following, there is a crisis of interpretation, and an attempt by some Islamic conservative writers to censor and limit the reach of Sufi poetry in northern Nigeria. The paper concludes by highlighting the imperative of fostering an inclusive literary ecosystem that allows for the exploration of different ideologies and freedom of creative expression.
Keywords: Sufism, Sufi Poetry, Censorship, Deviancy, Nigeria, Umar Abubakar Sidi
Introduction
Sufism remains a complicated concept whose true essence has been a critical subject of debate amongst critics and religious scholars for centuries. Rooted in Islamic mystical belief, proponents of the Sufi order have attempted to explain its true core with little success. In northern Nigeria, Sufism is viewed with moral condescension and indifference by non-Sufi Muslims who regard it as antithetical to Islam. However, there has been a renewed interest in the subject among literary enthusiasts, engineered chiefly by the emergence of Umar Abubakar Sidi’s poetic exploration of the concept in his 2019 collection, The Poet of Dust. Despite the surge of interest in Sufi poetics today, the question remains, what is Sufism and Sufi poetry? This question underscores the need for a holistic inquiry into Sufi aestheticism in the context of Nigeria’s literary and sociocultural milieu. While its meaning and mechanics have not been defined, this essay highlights Sidi’s influence in fostering discourses on Sufi poetry. Thus, through the employment of interviews via social media (WhatsApp), this writer sampled the opinions of some emerging northern Nigerian poets whose encounter with Sidi’s poetry served as the motherboard for the activation of their creative imagination and exploration of Sufi aesthetics. Through their candid takes, the phenomenology of Sufism as a force of enlightenment and artistic inspiration is deduced and better appreciated.
But, before we delve into the core of this exercise, it is important to provide a context to the crux of Sufism and Sufi poetry. Schimmel (2024) asserts that “Sufism is a mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through the direct personal experience of God. It consists of mystical paths designed to ascertain the nature of humanity and God and to facilitate the experience of divine love and wisdom in the world.” On the question of Sufi poetry, Schimmel explains, “Typical of Sufi poetry is the hymn in praise of God, expressed in chains of repetitions.” Therefore, the recurring decimals in the definitions of Sufism and Sufi poetry as provided by Schimmel are the quest for the divine love of God and the exaltation of God through the formulation of a personal connection with God. In other words, the foregrounding principle of Sufism is rooted in the search for the true knowledge of God and the expression of the same through his adoration. This assertion is corroborated by Rumi’s exhaustive exploration of the concept of Sufism in his abundant body of works which as a sample will be reproduced and analysed in the course of this exercise.
Farida Khanam (2006) in her work Sufism: an Introduction, asserts that “The Sufis strive for and attest to having the experience of seeing God, Whom they call their Beloved One, face to face. There are instances of Sufis falling senseless when possessed by the ecstasy of extreme love.” Khanam’s assertion premises the crux of Sufism on the expression of love for God, thus love becomes the most important variable in Sufi ethos which is akin to the submission by Schimmel. It also highlights the exigency of a personalised experience of God as a core of Sufism. Putting a historical context to the evolution of Sufi poetry in Nigeria, Brigaglia (2017) in his extensive article, Sufi Poetry in Twentieth-Century Nigeria A Khamriyya and a Ghazal by Shaykh Abū Bakr al-ʿAtīq (1909–1974), posits that the “The West African tradition of Arabic poetry dates back to at least the twelfth century”, implying a long tradition of the practice of Arabic poetry in West Africa which gave birth to the early practice of Sufi poetry in Nigeria. More specifically, Brigaglia opines that the early Sufi poets in West Africa expressed a preference for the “Sufi madh” genre because it elevated spiritual messaging centered on the “Prophet’s model of spiritual perfection” rather than the accentuation of the personalised experience of spirituality. Brigaglia asserts:
This is the main reason why, in the traditional scholarly circles that nurtured the literary tastes of West African authors, the madḥ was normally preferred to the Oriental ghazal of a Rumi and a Hafez and to the khamriyya of an Ibn al-Fāriḍ. Probably, West African Sufis, who were, for the most part, also scholars of Islamic jurisprudence and theology, judges (qāḍī-s) or Quranic teachers, felt that (at least part of) their public would not understand the use of the metaphors of love and wine. Moreover, the madḥ genre, which projects all spiritual perfection in the Prophetic model, was considered as more suitable to the spiritual etiquette (adab) of the religious scholars, according to which references to individual emotions have to be minimized, because subjectivity in itself is seen as inherently problematic from the point of view of spiritual realization (94).
Brigaglia’s submission contextualises the central contentions in the analysis and appreciation of contemporary Sufi poetry in Nigeria. Many readers of Sufi poetry, especially orthodox Muslims, view the expressiveness of Sufi poets as contrarian to the dictates of Islamic doctrines. This exposes the fact that the underlying considerations that gave rise to the preference for madh form are still relevant today and are backed by the sociocultural systems of the north as it was in the Twentieth century. Brigaglia once again explains the background to these considerations:
For authors like Shehi Atiƙu and many of his peers in Kano, who either belonged to the Fulani ethnic group or participated into a culture that was deeply imbued with a Fulani ethos, the etiquette required by the traditional Muslim scholarly culture also strongly resonated with their culturally inherited pulaako (“Fulani decorum”), which famously emphasizes dignified detachment rather than the expression of emotions. This is not to mean that claims of one’s own spiritual authority were not made by West African Sufi authors by alluding to their mystical experiences; quite the contrary. But the fact of encoding such allusions in the poetic genre of the Prophetic madḥ had a twofold raison d’être (p.195).
The foregoing highlights the historical context and debates surrounding the evolution of Sufi poetry in northern Nigeria and how the practice and perception of Sufi poetry have somewhat remained unchanged over the years. Suffice it to say that, Sufism is not a new concept in Nigeria’s religious or literary firmament, it has been a long tradition practiced by several generations of northern Nigerian Muslims of which Sidi is a proud descendant. However, it is right to note that the resurgence of Sufi poetry tradition in contemporary Nigerian literary discourse was occasioned by the publication of Umar Abubakar Sidi’s The Poet of Dust (2019) by Konya Shams Rumi, and was reissued by Masobe Books in 2023. The highly sought-after collection has become one of the most discussed poetry books of the current generation of Nigerian poets for its Sufi mystical appeal and radical deviation from the so-called conscious poetics and confessionalism associated with new Nigerian poetry.
Consequently, appreciating Sidi’s fascination with and exploration of Sufism as the major leitmotif of his poetry would require a brief but necessary recourse into his roots in Sufism. Through a WhatsApp interview, Sidi explains his background in Sufism thus:
I am from a Sufi background. Essentially, the Sufi ideas I encountered that influenced me a lot in Nigeria, are of course, the writings of Shehu Usman ɗan Fodio, Muhammadu Bello’s philosophy of governance and politics, and most particularly the writings of Mallam Abdullahi Gwandu, who was the younger brother to the Shehu and the intellectual powerhouse of the triumvirate. As for poetry, Nana Asma’u was a quintessential poet. Most importantly, I am drawn to classical Sufism, referring to the outpourings of Rumi, Mansur El Hallaj, and Ibn Arabi (Personal Communication, November 1, 2024).
Sidi’s explication affirms the already-stated position that Sufism has been a long-held tradition among northern Nigerian Muslims, particularly among the generations of Shehu Usman dan Fodio whose Jihadist conquest expanded the reach of Islam in northern Nigeria in the 19th century. Sidi also highlights the notable external Sufi influences that shaped his evolution as a Sufi poet, including Rumi, Mansur El Hallah, and Ibn Arabi, accentuating a mix of influences governing his poetic aesthetics.
Sidi’s Sufi poetry has brought about a shift in contemporary poetry discourse in Nigeria, with Sufi poetics becoming a concrete feature of the Nigerian poetry and literary ecosystem. In northern Nigeria, Sidi has become the epitome of Sufi poetry featuring in virtually all the literary conversations held at art and literary festivals and even in literature classrooms. Why is the evolution of Sufi poetry a subject of critical engagement today, you might ask. The poet and scholar, Ismail Bala, in response to a WhatsApp interview with this writer in 2023, contextualized the evolution of Sufi poetry, Sidi’s role in the emerging renaissance, and the enthusiasm of the younger generation, thus:
Sufi or the Sufi order is an old concept and praxis which has inspired a lot of spiritual or religious poetry in many languages and regions across the world. It is relatively new in English but is enjoying a renaissance across the Muslim world. Sidi is a beautiful distiller of the Sufi essence in his poetry. Part of why Sufi-inspired or inclined poetry is presently popular is because poetry readers are on the lookout for something that is not just new and fresh but also inventive, original, and beyond the run-of-the-mill that contemporary poetry is. Sidi’s Sufi poetics is known for its deep spiritual invocation and mysticism which often stretches discernment (personal Communication, November 15, 2023).
Sidi’s leading role in reactivating wide interest in Sufi philosophical ideation has garnered a critical following among literary and non-literary enquirers. Consequently, the positive reception that trailed Sidi’s magnum opus, The Poet of Dust, and his second collection of poetry, Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals, can better be described within the context of a new literary movement called Sidism. Sidism is an umbrella term encompassing the study, appreciation, and emulation of Umar Abubakar Sidi’s poetic ideation marked by artistic rascality and a heavy dependence on Sufi ethos. A Sidist is, therefore, one who expresses a staunch interest in and admiration for Sidi’s poetry. Consequently, The Poet of Dust serves as a literary manifesto for many emerging and aspiring poets whose poetic explorations are heavily influenced by Sidi’s poeticization of Sufism and Surrealism.
In the poem, Testaments of Sand (Genesis or Book of God), first published by Brittle Paper in 2014 and later featured in The Poet of Dust, Sidi foregrounds his emergence as the new khalif of Sufi poetry in Nigeria. Through the use of allusion and Sufi mysticism, Sidi reimagines the genesis of creation exemplified by the reference to “Genesis or Book of God” and, situating his exploration in the context of the poet (Sidi), recreates the concept of the creation with Al- Arshad, a mystical Sufi figure who stands in witnesses to the reimagined journey of creation. Addressing Al-Arshad in the opening part of the poem, the persona postulates:
Al- Arshad poet of sand
Al- Arshad poet of dust
Al -Arshad poet of the testaments
AL – AR – SHAD poet of mud
*
Al- ARSHAD poet of sand
poet of the ocean of sand
where sand particles are consumed
like fine grains of milk
Al- ARSHAD poet of dust
poet of the waterfalls of dust
poet of the expanding worlds which are swirling
over infinite space as floating quarks of dust
Al -ARSHAD poet of the testaments
the Tall tambourine of the family of drums
the accursed poet, the black sheep,
the accursed poet, the black sheep,
a tarantula, who testified against the tentacles of time
In the above stanzas, the persona alludes to the genesis of creation through the symbolic representation of Al-Arshad, reminding him of his source, which is reinforced through the use of repetition of dust and sand. The persona also foretells the fate of Al-Arshad by referring to him as “the accursed poet, the black sheep” implying that for taking the path of Sufism, he will be condemned and judged as the black sheep who strayed from the true path of illumination with which he was born. This portrayal also heralds the misgivings that will be associated with his endeavour as a poet in search of the truth of God as evidenced today by the mixed receptions that have trailed The Poet of Dust. In the middle of the poem, we encounter a more daring disclosure by the persona, situating Al-Arshad as a witness to the creation of man by God. This metaphorical representation accentuates the suppositions of rascality and deviancy associated with Sufism which is frowned upon by orthodox Muslims who regard such poetic expressiveness as bid’ah (innovation) in Islam. The following excerpt corroborates this assertion:
AL – ARSHAD poet of mud;
they said you were there when God moulded mud to make man in the image of Man
they said you were there when God breathed into Man the immortal Breath of God
they said it was you who scribbled the destiny of Man on the bare Soul of Life
they said it was you who implanted the Fall in the Scroll of Life, as metaphor for twist of fate
they said you are Eve, or the aromatic curves of Eve
Some said you are the vituperative fangs of the Serpent
Some said No! You are the bushy valley of life, the forbidden fruit tucked between the mighty thighs of Eve
they said it was You who created mythos to distract Man from deciphering the original face of God hidden behind palisades of clouds
they said it was You who carved out logos from the left ear of God
they said it was You who created the alphabet and encrypted it with metaphors
Although the representations in the poem evoke blasphemous tendencies, it is reminiscent of the Sufi mystical approach of interrogating the true nature and knowledge of God characterized by the juxtaposition of rhetoric and metaphysical metaphors. This explains the often-misconstrued interpretations given to Sufi poetry as such representations are viewed as contemptuous by conservative Muslims. This underscores Brigaglia’s explanation of the early Sufi poet’s preference for “the madḥ genre” as opposed to the “Oriental ghazal of a Rumi and a Hafez and to the Khamriyya of an Ibn al-Fāriḍ,” to which Sidi’s Sufi poetry falls under. Brigaglia espoused that the early Sufi preferred the madh genre of Sufism poetry because it “projects all spiritual perfection in the Prophetic model, which was considered as more suitable to the spiritual etiquette (adab) of the religious scholars”, which abhorred dependency on individual emotions as can be seen in Sidi’s poem, because as Bragaglia puts it, “subjectivity in itself is seen as inherently problematic from the point of view of spiritual realization.”
Rumi, regarded as one of the proponents of the “Oriental ghazal” genre of Sufism is one of the leading influences behind Sidi’s incursion into Sufi poetry as affirmed by his testimony cited in this essay. Thus, an analysis of Rumi’s works shows a parallelism between Brigaglia’s assertion and Sidi’s testimony of Rumi’s influence on his work. In one of Rumi’s famous poems, Where is God? We encounter an inquisition into the nature of God, Rumi’s ruminations presuppose that God lives not in the dogmatic teachings of the orthodox religions but in the heart of man, implying that human beings are the repository of the manifestation of God. Rumi, therefore, reinforces the imperative of establishing a personal relationship with God. The poem is reproduced below for emphasis:
I tried to find Him on the Christian cross,
but He was not there;
I went to the Temple of the Hindus and to the old pagoda,
but I could not find a trace of Him anywhere.
I searched the mountains and the valleys
but neither in the heights nor in the depths was I able to find Him.
I went to the Kaaba in Mecca,
but He was not there either.
I questioned the scholars and philosophers,
but He was beyond their understanding.
I then looked into my heart
and it was there where He dwelled that I saw him;
He was nowhere else to be found?
Rumi’s problematization of the quest for God and the conclusion that God is not found in religion, science, or scholarship but rather dwells in the heart of men is a symbolic representation of the complexity of life itself. Often, we search for meaning in places other than ourselves. In other words, our relationship and spiritual connection with God lie not in the church, mosque, or any organised religion but in our hearts. The poem is a deep philosophical reflection on the nature of God and the individual quest to ascertain spiritual enlightenment.
It is important to stress at this juncture that the essence of this incursion is to highlight how Sidi’s exploration of Sufism as the central trope of his poetic endeavour has inspired a new wave of Sufi poets who regard him as a source of influence. The import of this exploration is to showcase the alternative narrative within the Nigerian poetry traditions and cannons. Thus, this writer argues that the renaissance of Sufi poetry in Nigeria is attributed to the immersive exploits of Umar Abubakar Sidi whose works have displayed uncommon ability to persuade and attract a wide following from across the country and around the world. So, through a random sampling technique, this writer selected several writers who self-identified as mentees and students of Sidi’s poetry. The selected poets are emerging poets whose unique craft and voice are already gaining national recognition. Through a WhatsApp interview, the selected writers responded to questions, expressing their encounters with Sidi’s poetry and how it has shaped their understanding of Sufism and its aestheticization in poetry.
Ba Sabouke is a promising poet whose poetry chronicles the realities of society. Sabouke is also known for his obsession with the Sufi order and in particular, the “fairah ideology.” He indulges in the exploration of love and feminine tropes in his poetry which often meets the conservative reproach of his Muslim audience. He is one of the most vocal self-proclaimed disciples of Sidism as evident by his celebration of Sidi’s poetry via his social media handles. According to Sabouke, meeting Sidi exposed him to the luminance of Sufi poetics; as he asserts, “Like the story of the renowned Persian poet and mystic, Rumi and his Shams Tabris, my meeting with Sidi’s poetry opened my eyes to what I could do with words. Sidi’s poetry is the catalyst that quickened my understanding of poetry and the power of words.” Sabouke goes further to say that “the influence of Sidi’s Sufi poetry on mine is so great that sometimes I imagine I was Sidi before working on a poem. Whenever I do this, the end product leaves me in wonder. In my study of Sufi poetry, I have come to realise that the best way to describe the Divine is through feminine images. Ibn Arabi has a popular saying; our love for women brings us closer to God.”
Sabouke’s poetry has been described as one that is characterised by the use of lascivious language and sexual metaphors which he explains as his way of getting closer to God and understanding His spiritual essence. In explaining his perception of Sufism and Sidi’s influence on his understanding of his conviction, Sabouke opines:
With Sidi’s poetry, I have come to realise the hidden skeleton of Sufi poetry— eromysticism. I define eromysticism as a style of writing where one uses the sensual to describe the Divine. Sidi’s impact on my poetry is evident in the images I create. I sometimes invoke the spirit of Sidi before writing a poem. I have loved several poets and poetry books, but what The Poet of Dust did to me is beyond my imagination. I become the book. I see myself in the book. I see the poet. I see myself in the poet. I used to say that Allen Ginsberg’s Howl was the greatest poetry book ever. But my contact with The Poet of Dust changed that. The Poet of Dust is Sidi’s magnum opus, yet. His new book Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals is a very powerful collection. It has explored surrealism beyond the normal, but The Poet of Dust is a convergence of Sufism and Surrealism. It’s like the point where two rivers meet (personal communication, November 1, 2022).
Sabouke’s explication of his understanding of the connection between Sufism and eroticism buttresses the fact that Sufism can be interpreted through various means including the expression of love or erotic emotions. However, this perception opposes Sidi’s conservative interpretation approach to Sufism which is focused mainly on the search for one’s spiritual essence without the erotic elements. While Sidi’s influence on Sabouke’s poetry can be understood within the context of shaping his perception of Sufism, the same cannot be said of the method of manifesting this belief given Sidi’s non-erotic focus. However, the underlying link as explicated by Sabouke in the quote above is the enabling influence that Sidi’s exploration of Sufism has on his expression.
Abdulrahim Hussani is another emerging poet and vocal proponent of Sufism. Hussaini’s poetry like Sabouke’s draws its inspiration from Sidism—a fact he has also admitted and celebrated on his social media handles over the years. For Hussaini, Sidi’s poetry serves as a source of inspiration and enlightenment into the general framework of Sufism and surrealist aesthetics. Responding to his encounter with Sidi’s poetry and how it has shaped his understanding of the form, Hussaini explains:
I never knew what surrealist poetry looked like until I came across his (Sidi’s) works on Facebook. I was quite young and trying to find my footing in the writing world. And there was Sidi with his unique style. It was an exciting discovery for me; that poetry could wear a cloak of its own, purely its own. I’ve followed his poetry ever since and have tried experimenting with his style. Sidi’s poetry provokes a kind of freedom that I don’t find in other people’s works. And it has helped me realise that poetry can be taken to heights only imagined. This way, I’ve learned to approach my writing in different ways I never thought was possible. What Sidi’s poetry has helped me achieve is flexibility in my writing. I can examine different ways of relating emotions, and of telling my innermost desires. There are so many ways of seeing the meanings attached to things. Sidi’s ‘Optical Illusion in the House of Paul Eluard’, was first published by Brittle Paper a few years ago. I keep going to this poem because I believe there is something mysterious, I’m yet to get a grasp of. It is my favourite.
(personal communication, November 1, 2022).
Hussaini’s perception of Sidi’s poetry highlights the pivotal role of Sidi’s exploration of the forms of Sufism and Surrealism in enabling an understanding of the limitless channels of reflecting on one’s inner emotions and how these amplify the perception of the world around him. He explains that Sidi’s poetry enabled him to achieve flexibility in expressing his feelings and emotions. This underscores the critical impact of Sidi’s poetry in fostering consciousness and enabling clarity in the minds of younger poets whose encounter with his poetry changes their perception of the creative expression process.
Usman Nasir Karofi is a quintessential poet known for his fine language and deep retrospection on the exigencies of life’s essence. For Karofi, Sidi’s poetry served as a template for reimagining his poetic forte and expanding his belief in the possibility of finding deeper expression for his emotions. He opined that Sidi’s poetry broadened his horizons and gave him the confidence to believe in his art and experiment without fear of limitations. He asserts:
I’ve been reading poems from Sufi poets even before I read Sidi. When I read his poems that were inspired by Sufism, they opened ways of possibility. And trashed my thoughts that something like that cannot happen in Northern Nigeria. Sidi’s poems affected the way I write. They’ve removed any element of fear within me. I now write whatever and however, I like. I can say his poems have ignited that madness side of me too. And “Testament of Sand” is my favourite of his poems from The Poet of Dust (personal communication, November 1, 2022).
Karofi’s testament enunciates the subliminal power of influence in enabling confidence and daringness in expressing one’s self against societal expectations of what can or cannot be done. Societal limitations can inhibit and stifle genuine expression, but finding evidence of existing contrarian art like Sidi’s can foster a sense of belonging and validity as affirmed by Karofi’s remarks which also underscores the limitations imposed by the absence of role models to emulate. Going against the status quo to achieve artistic freedom is a priceless gift that many young creatives aspire to attain, hence it is telling that Sidi’s poetry inspires younger northern poets to find their bearing amidst the deluge of conservative influences.
Abdulbaki Ahmad is another promising poet inspired by Sidism. For Ahmad, his encounter with Sidi was a life-changing experience as it inspired him to develop new perspectives on life and poetry. Ahmad disclosed that Sidi’s poetry enabled him to discover himself and to find expression he didn’t realise he had, offering a sort of spiritual insight into his calling as a poet. Ahmad remarked on Sidi’s influence on his writing thus:
He served as the compass that showed me the qibla of my true self. Through his writings, and interviews I got to know more about who I am as a poet and where I exactly belong. Through one-on-one conversations with him, I got to know some of his influences, and it was surprising that I find their works inspiring. Without Sidi, I probably couldn’t have been the same poet today. Sidi, Adonis, and the Surrealists League were my way out. Through their works, I realised that I was on track. Sidi practically showed me that my works have a place in our immediate society; that they have their audience. He gave me the courage I needed to carry on and keep carrying on. To sum up, I regard myself as a protège of Sidi because I hate borders/boundaries and Sidi is the person who practically showed me that it is not only alright to hate them but hating them is in the best interest of creativity (personal communication, November 5, 2022).
For many, poetry is just an art without any form of social impact, but for Ahmad, Sidi’s poetry gave agency to his creativity and enhanced not only his perception but also his self-esteem. For it was the inspiration he needed to discover himself and to hone his creative talent without feeling out of place. As he asserts, Sidi’s poetry assured him that his writings too were valid and had a place in society. This is illustrative of the subliminal power of poetry to inspire, enlighten, and break social barriers that often obstruct the full realisation of one’s true potential.
Abduljalal Musa Aliyu is a poet and social activist better known as a controversial comrade for often expressing critical opinions on the deplorable state of affairs of society. Aliyu is a fine poet whose works speak to the social realities of the nation. For Aliyu, Sidi’s poetry reinforced in him a sense of renewed “madness” which fuels his passion as a poet and social commentator on national issues, especially X. On his perception of Sidi’s poetry and its influence on his writing, Aliyu asserts:
I read The Poet of Dust and my muse climbed to the sky of madness and refused to get down. I remember when I read “Instructions to a Poet” and I was like, man, this is the poetry my heart has been yearning to drown in. I regard myself as Umar Abubakar Sidi’s protégé because his poems resonate with mine a lot, they impacted my writing a lot. I am a Muslim, and you know, when, as a writer, you read a piece and it immediately hits home, you crave for more. So, having read a lot about Sufism, when I read Umar Abubakar Sidi’s work, I felt, wow! I need this kind of poetry in my life. So, as a poet, the number one influence I got from Sidi’s Sufism and Surrealism poetry was in the fact that as an existential poet, I still see bits of Sufism and Surrealism in my poems—and I love it. I understand it more. And as much as I like surrealism, I think I like Sufism more—as far as poetry is concerned, The Poet of Dust is a metaphor for Sufi poetry (personal communication, November 1, 2022).
Aliyu views Sidi’s poetry both from an existential perspective and as a metaphor for Sufi poetry. This assertion implies that it accentuates the earlier position that Sufism is perceived through multiple prisms, like in the case of Sabouke who dwells on the erotic as a means to realizing his spiritual essence. Aliyu regards Sufism as a means of reflecting on the existential realities of his society as can be deduced from his comment cited above. In other words, for Aliyu, Sidi’s Sufi poetics served as a motivation for his problematisation of the existential challenges confronting the polity. He draws a connection between Sufism and speaking for the marginalized and about those suffering the adequacies of misgovernance and social inequality.
Suffice it to say that the variegated perceptions and interpretations of the import of Sidi’s Sufi poetic influence on the aforementioned poets speak volumes of the multilayered meanings and complexities associated with the concept of Sufism. It is equally significant to note that the Sufi Order has been a subject of various interpretations over the years, with each interpretation ascribing to its essence a unique meaning that aligns with their state of consciousness.
Sufi Poetry and Censored Readership in Northern Nigeria
Sufi poetry demands more than just a sense of patronage, it requires faithfulness and trust. While Sidi’s poetic leitmotif appears to be focused on the spiritual essence of life, the same cannot be said of his followers who, even though inspired by his works, have their unique inclinations and interpretations. For example, in Nigeria, not many readers have come to terms with Sufism’s aesthetic nuances, and as such, the new Sufi poets of the north have been met with prejudiced reception. This is not unconnected to the conservative religious approach of many Northern Muslims who profess varying ideological beliefs. It is these preconceived ideological divides that influence to a great extent the perception of many and their responses to the emergence of contemporary Sufi poetics in the region. They are unable to disconnect their religious or sectorial preferences from their assessment of poetry and art in general as a nonaligned form of expression that is not necessarily bound by moral responsibility. This in turn provokes repressive tendencies towards those who attempt to promote an alternative reality that appears to oppose the dominant ideological appeal of conservatism. Thus, a poet daring to assert his or her artistic freedom is viewed as a recalcitrant who should be excommunicated.
The above assertion foregrounds the responses that trailed Sabouke erotic interpretation of Sufism leading to an imposition of censorship against him in a WhatsApp group in 2022. For context, Ba’ Sabouke’s poem entitled ‘God’s Book’ was banned from a WhatsApp group known as “All Poets Network” moderated by Khalid Imam, a conservative poet based in Kano. Sabouke’s traducers had accused him of promoting “Faira Ideology,” a subset of Sufism which some of the members of the group viewed as blasphemy. The poem was subsequently deleted from the group to appease the dominant conservatives in the group. This action generated critical responses from the group’s membership leading to many people’s exit from the group in opposition to Sabouke’s victimisation for holding and expressing an unpopular belief through his poems which he often shared in the group for appreciation, from other members of the group that was conceived a space for literary conversation and expression.
In response to the attacks on Sabouke and his eventual exit from the group, the renowned poet and scholar, Emmanuel Sule Egya (2022) in an essay entitled “In Defence of Poetry: The North, Religious Bigotry, and the Poetic Craft” in which he illustrated the antithetical dispositions of the conservative members of the group and how their attack on Sabouke was tantamount to repressing the freedom of expression and holding a contrarian belief. In the essay, Egya wrote:
On 4 December 2021, a debate raged on the platform. The subject of the debate was the work of the young and admirable poet, Sabouke. He had posted a poem titled ‘God’s Book’. Shortly after that, Imam reached him in a private chat, advising him to stop posting his ‘Faira ideology-based poems’ on APNET because some members of the platform were offended by his poetry. Sabouke asked to know what ‘Faira ideology’ meant and if he was being censored. Imam replied that he didn’t have to explain anything to Sabouke and if the latter felt he was being censored, so be it! Sabouke appeared on the platform to say he had been asked not to post his poems again. Consequently, he had to exit the platform. He did, and some members, including myself, confronted Imam for censoring Sabouke.
Sule’s intervention highlights the crisis of interpretation surrounding the reading of Sufi poetry and the manifest reservations often expressed by non-Sufi readers towards Sufism. It betrays a subtle yet deep-rooted resentment and censorship driven by extreme religious considerations against the adherents of the Sufi order. Khalid acted on behalf of some members in a WhatsApp group, whose religious views were at variance with Sabouke’s even though he too, like them, is a Muslim. Imam’s censorship of Sabouke’s poem was based on ideological conflict. Sule explains the disservice of censorship to the creative enterprise thus:
But Imam, like some I-care-for-young-writers mentors in northern Nigeria, has a taste bud for ideology. They first see the ideology of a poem, before its craft. They can smell the ideology of a poem even from the title. More importantly, they are empowered by their religion and ethnicity to decide which ideology to accept and which to reject. Khalid Imam made it clear that Sabouke’s (ideological) poem offended other members of APNET, without explaining the ideology in detail, without mentioning those offended by the ideology and why, without explaining why the ideology of the poem is inferior to that of the members he protected by asking Sabouke to stop posting poems. In other words, Khalid Imam, the founder-leader of APNET, took sides with those who abhor the ideology of Sabouke’s poem. The craft of Sabouke’s poem did not matter, was never discussed, and was perhaps unworthy of APNET members’ attention.
Egya’s response to the mistreatment of Sabouke’s poem for pursuing a contrarian ideological trope underscores the complexity of perception, especially with regards to the proponents of the Sufi poetry. It also highlights the resentment and unwillingness to accommodate divergence even among intellectual minds often controlled by their religious proclivities. In other words, some people consider Sufi Muslims as less Muslims than themselves for the simple reason that they hold differing ideological leanings. Thus, Imam’s representative action raised critical concerns and reignited the debate about the freedom of expression and creative free will. Should a poet be censored to write in a particular way to please a certain group of people or does he owe his allegiance to his truth and beliefs? Should the members of the intellectual class lead in the imposition of censorship against another member? The true intellectual, be it a poet, writer, or scholar, owes allegiance only to the truth and his beliefs and not a group of people. The moral burden of the writer is not the fear of offending a group of people but the fear of lying to himself and society to which he owes the greatest truth.
Sabouke’s poem is represented below for emphasis:
God’s Book
The human heart is the manuscript
Of a surrealist wizard – master
Of the Banana Republic of rascal poets.
The manuscript – a compendia
Of verses stitched together with no regard
For the sanctity of fonts and formats.
The heart is a sacred Samarkand nightclub
Where boose is the only liquid
That refreshes the gullets.
The heart needs music – (note: here,
music is a nightclubber who must smoke
A truckload of marijuana) – to stay alive.
Today, the heart is imploding,
Held hostage and filled with receding wind
Of silence. Today, the heart is the phallus
Of a mummified Buddhist monk
That has lost its veins to time. Who would
Show us the path to the city
That is yet to murder all her DJs?
Sabouke’s poem, far from projecting an offending religious ideology, examines hedonism and the dearth of humanity. It portrays a society characterised by a social malady that disenables the heart from expressing piety. The “heart” is the central character in the poem and by defiling the heart, society is incapable of upholding the ethical standards necessary for the realisation of a sane society. For example, in the opening line of the poem, the persona declares “The human heart is the manuscript of surrealist wizards/Banana Republic of Rascal Poets.” This implies that the human heart is the bedrock of morality, it also sets the tone for the surrealist inclination of the poem. Through the repetitive use of “heart,” the persona seems to suggest how the heart has become the motherboard of amoral vices as exemplified by the following lines in the poem:
“The heart is a sacred Samarkand nightclub/Where boose is the only liquid/That refreshes the gullets.”, “The heart needs music – (note: here, /music is a nightclubber who must smoke/A truckload of marijuana) – to stay alive.” “Today, the heart is imploding,/Held hostage and filled with receding wind/Of silence. Today, the heart is the phallus/Of a mummified Buddhist monk/That has lost its veins to time.”
While the above imagery suggests a celebration of hedonism, it implies the opposite, as seen in the last part of the poem when the persona posits that “Today, the heart is imploding/held hostage and filled with receding wind/Of silence.” He further asserts that “Today, the heart is the phallus/Of a mummified Buddhist monk/That has lost its veins to time.” This depiction presupposes that the heart has lost the agency to self-regulate and uphold society to the highest moral standard critical for the attainment of a spiritual essence. The metaphor of the “phallus” as a “mummified Buddhist monk” that has lost its veins to time all corroborate the assertion that the poem speaks about the heart losing its agency or virility to perform its statutory obligation of regulating the body and by implication the society because it has been defiled by hedonism.
This is an ingenious pontification of the social decadence in society without sounding didactic or prosaic. It is therefore clear that those who accused Sabouke of promoting faira ideology did so in error without carefully analysing the true import of the poem. The art of appreciating poetry requires depth and learning without which sanctimonies become the order of the day and consequently lead to sanctions and excommunication as in the case of Sabouke. A poet exercises the liberty to choose words or metaphors to buttress the message or idea in his poem without the fear of being accused of expressing contrarian opinions. It is the responsibility of the reader to look beyond the superficial implications of the poem to achieve a more informed perception.
The missing link in the estimation of those who long for piety in a poem forgets that the role of the poet and indeed the creative in general is to deconstruct society and provoke engagement outside the status quo. Said (1993) in the Representations of the Intellectual, reminds us of the responsibilities of the intellectual to society thus:
The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, and articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy, or opinion to, as well as for, a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place it is publicly to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma (rather than to produce them), to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by governments or corporations, and whose raison d’etre is to represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or swept under the rug.
Said’s counsel to the intellectual holds for Sabouke and those who desire to subvert the free will of the writer as a public interlocutor from “raising embarrassing questions, to confronting orthodoxy and dogma…” Thus, the responsibility of the writer, poet, or polemist is not to individuals but to the larger society to which the writer belongs. In other words, the writer must provoke consciousness by raising critical questions to re-engineer a re-evaluation of the status quo. Sidi remarking on the conservative reproach of Sufi poetics and order opines thus:
Sufism is not a deviant sect. But I do not deny the fact that among the orthodox, some ultra-orthodox, there are people who view Sufis as not deviant but as people who have strayed away from the …they are not considered as part of the orthodox. Some people consider them a subject of scorn, particularly during the classical era (personal communications, November 1, 2024)
Sidi’s assertion underscores the conservative perception of Sufism by non-Sufi adherents who consider Sufism as abhorrent and hence are quick to project their prejudice on the poem without recourse to its original intent or import. But Sidi is not just a Sufi poet by accident, he was born a Sufi having hailed from a lineage of known Sufi descendants. Sidi affirms this claim when he asserts that “traditionally, my family, the Sidis are practitioners of Sufism, so it is a long line of family tradition. It is in the genes.”
Sufism as a Deviant Form
Sufism within the larger Islamic orthodoxy is considered a form of bid’ah (innovation) which is generally frowned upon by purists. Al-Iloori (2018) in his article entitled Why the Sufis Don’t Condemn Bid’ah, asserts; “Sufi itself is a form of bid’ah in Islaam.” Al-Illoori’s assertion corroborates the main argument of this essay that Sufism and Sufi poetry is perceived as contrarian to the true teachings of Islam as laid down by the Prophet which the early Sufi poet in Brigaglia followed through the practice of madh genre of Sufi poetry.
The art of writing by nature is considered an act of deviance because of its potency to subvert dogma and indoctrination propagated by religious moralists or state powers as a means of controlling the thoughts and behaviour of the masses. Historically, writing has always been associated with deviancy and writers have faced various forms of victimisation for exposing through writing secrets that ordinarily would not be known to the public. Writing is one of the most formidable instruments for subverting dogma and indoctrination. Through writing, we gain insights into the world, exploring the beliefs and cultures of other people. For example, Sidi’s second collection of poetry, Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals (2022) explores the subject of art as a form of rascality. Sidi’s conceptualisation of art as a form of rascality is not unconnected to the societal misconception of the artist as a misfit, especially in conservative societies where art is viewed as an occupation for the less fortunate in society. In African societies, artists were regarded as less ambitious and failures even when the art that they produced humanised society. The character of Unoka in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a telling example of how artists were perceived in society. Unoka, although a gifted flutist, was considered a failure because he did not own large farms or yam barns like his son, Okonwko. He became a wealthy farmer and respected community member because of his material wealth and physical strength. Yet, creatives are regarded as outcasts. This assertion is evident in northern Nigeria where religious clerics and conservatives view Kannywood actors with religious condescension.
Thus, artists are generally subjected to moral judgment and reproach. The pursuit of expression through art poses a subjective discourse in many quarters. Writers throughout the history of human evolution have faced various forms of repression from state and non-state actors alike for various reasons. In Nigeria, for example, the military regimes were synonymous with the persecution of writers who expressed dissent against military rule and the suppression of freedom of speech. However, deviancy is not only associated with confrontation between state actors and writers but also within the practice of art and other spheres of life in general. For example, Sidi’s The Poet of Dust enabled the accentuation of alternative consciousness through the propagation of Sufi and Surrealist poetics which was hitherto not a prominent feature of Nigerian poetry. Nigerian poetry had been concerned largely with the problematisation of socio-political issues culminating in what has been described by literary scholars as the “poetics of rage”, “protest poetics” or “poetics of national consciousness” characterised by lamentations about the deploring socioeconomic conditions of the country.
Sidi’s The Poet of Dust, Ahmed Maiwada’s We’re Fish, Tade Ipadeola’s Sahara Testaments, and Ikeogu Oke’s Heresiad presented refreshing narratives that were not burdened by the overbeaten question of the national consciousness. They offered readers new perspectives and stretched the limits of poetic imagination thereby thrusting upon the literary space a vista hope robed in iconoclastic imageries and metaphors. In particular, Sidi’s The Poet of Dust (2019) introduced younger Nigerian poets and readers to the Sufi and Surrealist aesthetics thereby influencing a new crop of Sufi poets in the country. For Sidi, the accentuation of the art of poetry supersedes the moral responsibility of speaking truth to power or drooling in the social ills bedevilling the polity. Therefore, by promoting and inspiring a new wave of Sufi enthusiasts, Sidi’s works are viewed as contrarian to the existing status quo, they are seen as different and enabling dissidence.
Writers have faced various forms of persecution by state and non-state actors alike because of their criticism of various governments. Salman Rushdie has suffered alienation and death threats including a recent knife attack in New York that almost left him dead because of his writings and in particular because of his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, which had earned him a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. The Syrian poet, Adonis has equally at different times of his life been equally confronted with extreme rejection in opposition to his writings and philosophy. These examples attest to the fact that writers have for a very long time been victims of the aggression of both state and non-state actors like religious bodies and individuals who perceive themselves as upholders of the moral status quo of society just as in the case of Sabouke.
The foregoing premise buttresses the fact that writers will always face victimisation even among their kind and for the slightest excuse like a difference in religious ideology even within the same religion. Therefore, a society that seeks to silence the poet or writer is a society poised for self-destruction, because to stifle the poet is to stifle truth and justice. As Yevgeny Yevtushenko reminds us, “When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.” Advocates of censorship, especially of the writer, have never hidden their disdain for truth which they find disturbing for various reasons best known to them. Such individuals prefer to live in ignorance, for the bliss of not knowing takes away the burden of acting right and upholding the ideals of fairness and freedom of expression. But the writer’s calling is to prick the conscience of society and impose on the people the responsibility of self-evaluation to rethink their roles in either aiding or abating the entrenchment of an egalitarian society that upholds the values of inclusivity and difference as the bedrock of human advancement. As Henry Louis Gates Jr informs us, “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice”, just as Salman Rushdie reminds us “What is freedom of expression without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” For a writer, freedom of expression is a fundamental human right without which the essence of writing is lost and society suffers the consequences of silence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Umar Abubakar Sidi’s Sufi poetry has significantly changed how poetry is perceived and appreciated, particularly in northern Nigeria. It advances an alternative thinking on the art of poetry. While this essay focused on highlighting Sidi’s influence in expanding the conversation around Sufi poetry and limited itself to northern Nigeria, it also touched on other aspects of literature and the issue of censorship. Suffice it to say that the testaments shared in this essay are a mere fraction of the impact of Sidi’s influence on contemporary poetry emerging from northern Nigeria.
Works Cited
- Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart, William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1958.
- Al-Iloori, Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy. “Why the Sufis Don’t Condemn Bid’ah”. Assudaisiy, 2018. (https://www.assudaisiy.com/2018/12/why-sufis-dont-condemn-bidah.html?m=1)
- Brigaglia, Andrea. “Sufi Poetry in Twentieth-Century Nigeria A Khamriyya and a Ghazal by Shaykh Abū Bakr al-ʿAtīq (1909–1974). Journal of Sufi Studies 6 (2017) 190–232”.
- Gates Jr, Henry Louis. “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/745726-censorship-is-to-art-as-lynching-is-to-justice. Accessed 8, 2024.
- Ipadeola, Tade. Sahara Testaments. Independently published, 2013.
- Khanam, Farida. “Sufism AN Introduction”, Goodword Books, First published in 2006, Reprinted 2007, First revised edition 2009, https://www.goodwordbooks.com/.
- Maiwada, Ahmed. We’re Fish. Image Books, Lagos, 2027.
- Oke, Ikeogu. Heresiad. Kraftgriots (BookCraft Limited), Ibadan, 2017
- Rumi. “Where is God?”. https://www.wisdom2be.com/gems-poetry-wisdomstories/where-is-god-by-rumi), Accessed December 8, 2024
- Rushdie, Salman. “What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/17828-what-is-freedom-of-expression-without-the-freedom-to-offend. Accessed 8, 2024.
- Rushdie, Salman. Satanic Verses. Viking in London, 1988.
- Sabouke, Ba. “God’s Book”. APNET WhatsApp Group, 2021.
- Said, Edward. “The Reith Lectures: Representations of the intellectual”. Independent, Wednesday 23 June 1993. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-reith-lectures-representations-of-the-intellectual-1493404.html. Accessed 8 December 2024
- Schimmel, Annemarie. “Sufism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sufism. Accessed 8 December 2024.
- Sidi, Umar Abubakar Sidi. “Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals”. Masobe Books, 2022, Lagos, Nigeria.
- Sidi, Umar Abubakar. “The Poet of Dust” — Testaments of Sand”. Brittle Paper, 06, January, 2014
- Sidi, Umar Abubakar. The Poet of Dust. First Published (2019) by KonyaShamsRumi, Reprinted by Mosobe Books, 2023.
- Sule, Emmanuel Egya. “In Defence of Poetry: The North, Religious Bigotry, and the Poetic Craft”. 2022, https://shamsrumi.org/in-defence-of-poetry-sabouke-versus-dangerous-ideologists-e-e-sule/. Accessed 8, 2024
- Yevtushenko, Yevgeny. “When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/101004-when-truth-is-replaced-by-silence-the-silence-is-a-lie. Accessed 8 December 2024.
Write Backs:
Paul Liam is a Nigerian poet, literary critic, and author of two poetry collections, Indefinite Cravings (2012) and Saint Sha’ade and Other Poems (2014). He is currently a postgraduate student at the Institute of Strategic and Development Communication, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. He has published over a dozen critical essays and book reviews on contemporary Nigerian literature.