In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and may Allah send peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, the elevated Beloved one who’s pre-determined fate is immense, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace. May Allah the Exalted be pleased with the Taabieen, the Right Acting Scholars, and the Awliya (friends) of Allah, those perfected  Knowers (of Allah) and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

As for what follows: The poor servant who is in desperate need of the mercy of his Lord, the Praiseworthy and Glorious, Muhammad Shareef Bin Farid, may Allah forgive his wayward sins and cause him to die upon the words of the Kalima’t-Tawhid, Praise be to God who raised the science of Divine Oneness over every science and made knowing it an obligation for every accountable person. May peace and blessings be upon the Master of Messengers and the Seal of the Prophets. Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his companions,

This is my explanation, commentary and editing on the book “The Immense Sunlight of the Brotherhood that will Illuminate the Fundamentals of the Religion” by the Commander of the Faithful, my master Shaykh Uthman Ibn  Fodio Muhammad ibn Uthman, known as Ibn Fuduye’, may Allah engulf him with His mercy, Amen. I wrote it asking for the blessing of Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye and hoping to enter among those whose good deeds do not cease after death. And I named it the Diya al-Bayan from the Shams al-Ikhwan by the Nur al-Zaman, Shaykh Ibn Fuduye Uthman. We ask Allah the Compassionate and Generous to make it sincere for His Face, Allah the One who Assists, and to make it in the Hereafter a deed acceptable to the Most Merciful, for he is sufficient for me and in Him do I rely.

In my explanatory comments where I use the words: “The author, the Shaykh, may God have mercy on him,” I refer to Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye himself, and I say with high authority, on the authority of my Support and Authority , Shaykh Muhammad Al-Amin Ibn Adam Karianga Ibn Muhammad Tukar, on the authority of his father, Sheikh Adam Ibn Muhammad Tukar ibn Muhammad Sambo, on the authority of Shaykh Musa Al-Muhaajir On the authority of the knower, Shaykh Ali Dinbu ibn Abi Bakr, my teacher, on the authority of the author, Nur al-Zaman, Mujaddid’d-Deen Imam of the Awliya Saif’l-Haqq, Commander of the Faithful, Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye Muhammad ibn Uthman bin Saalih, may Allah Almighty have mercy on him.

Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye compiled this book on Thursday after the noon prayer on the 19th of Jumada al-Awwal in the year 1228 AH [corresponding to May 19, 1813 AD]. In this year, the sheikh was in Sifawa and this is the time in which Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye retired from active rule. So the shaykh divided the Sokoto state into two parts: he divided the east to his son, Muhammad Bello Ibn Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fuduye, and the west to his brother Abdullahi Ibn Fuduye.