By Hamisu Gumel
The first time I set my foot in Digawar Danzomo, a village under Sule Tankarkar Local Government Area of Jigawa State, I got the impression that some kind of festival or religious ceremony was going on in the area at the time; because every person I saw in the village (adult or young) was dressed in white clothes.
Probably due to their peculiar and strange lifestyle and religious practices and, above all, their isolation nature and reluctance in accepting and intermingling with outsiders, very little is known about this religious sect despite their being in existence for generations.
The Digawa got their name from their founder, Mallam Isa Bunu, alias Malam Diga – nicknamed so due to his constant seclusion in a “Diga” or underground room. Digawar Danzomo is like their headquarters from where they dispersed to neighbouring Local Government Areas like Gumel, Taura and Ringim.
Many mainstream muslims regard Digawa’s religious practices as heretical. But, what strikes me much about this close-nit group, is their tolerance and mystique nature. Their main religious observance is the recitation of the holy Qur’an in the morning before going out for their daily activities and in the evening between the maghrib and Isha prayers. They don’t perform their prayers in congregation because they see that as a “riyah” (showing off or playing to the gallery), that’s why you will never see a single mosque in their villages and settlements.
They are very strict in preventing their females (from the age of 5) from coming outdoors during the day, as doing that can cause a person to enter hell fire. They are always clad in whites which they claim is a sign of purity and bury their dead inside their houses.
Neglected by the society and abandoned by governments, the Digawa, who are mostly farmers and artisans and live a self-help communal life, are known for their resistance to western education.
