Pre-colonial West African kingdoms had witnessed scores of visiting North African Muslim scholars whose presence therein greatly helped to expand the intellectual frontiers of Islam in various fields of endeavor. Among these prominent scholars, a jurist and reformer who had influenced Islamic rule and rulers in the kingdoms of Western Sudan was Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Maghili, commonly known as Imam al-Maghili. He was born in Tlemcen, (now in modern-day Algeria) in 1440, and died in the village of Bouali, district of Zawyet Shaykh in the State of Adrar in the south of Algeria. Al-Maghili was responsible for converting to Islam the ruling classes among Hausa, Fulani, Songhay and Tuareg peoples in West Africa. He had settled in Tuat upon a recommendation of his teacher and father-in-law Shaykh Abdulrahman al-Thaalibi before he left to Western Sudan. He had first settled in the Hausa kingdoms in Northern Nigeria for few years calling people to Islam and fighting against heresy. During his stay in Kano he wrote his famous treatise on Islamic governance titled “Ma yajibu ala al-Amir” (The Obligations of the Prince) for the king of Kano, Rumfa Muhammad. Then, he left to the kingdom of Songhay where he served as an adviser for King Askia Muhammad the Great. The latter appointed him his advisor in religious affairs and Islamic law. In the context, al-Maghili wrote a manuscript entitled As’ilat al-Askiya Muhamad wa Ajwibat al-Maghili (Askiyah's Questions and al-Maghili's Answers) where he answered a seven-question questionnaire on Islamic practice including regulations on good governance according to the Islamic law. The paper examines the two-above-mentioned works of al-Maghili and attempts to compare them to the principles of good governance advocated by a few leaders from western countries.
Keywords: al-Maghili, Muhamad Rumfa, Askiya Muhamad the Great, Emirate of Kano, Kingdom of Songhay, Good governance.