Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi

Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
Reign	October–November 1809 – 8 June 1837
Predecessor	Dunama IX Lefiami, Sayfawa
Successor	Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin
Born	1776 Murzuq
Died	8 June 1837 Borno
Burial	Kukawa
Issue	Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin
Dynasty	Kanemi
Religion	Muslim

Shehu al-Hajj Muhammad al-Amîn ibn Muhammad al-Kânemî (Arabic: محمد لرشيد ابن محمد الكامانی‎‎) (1776–1837) was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. In 1846, Al-Kanemi's son Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin became the sole ruler of Borno, an event which marked the end of the Sayfawa dynasty's eight hundred year rule. The current Shehu of Bornu, a traditional ruler whose seat remains in modern Borno State, Nigeria, is descended from Al-Kanemi.

Born to a Kanembu father and an Arab mother near Murzuk in what is today Libya, Al-Kanemi rose to prominence as a member of a rural religious community in the western provinces of what was then a much atrophied Borno Empire. The Fulani jihadists, under Usman dan Fodio's banner tried to conquer Borno in 1808. They partly succeeded. They burnt the capital, N’Gazagarmo and defeated the main army of the mai of Borno. The latter called for the help of Al-Kanemi to repel his Fulani opponents. By planning, inspiration, and prayer, he attracted a following, especially from Shuwa Arab networks and Kanembu communities extending far outside Borno's borders. The mai (monarch), Dunama IX Lefiami rewarded the leader with control over a Bornu province on the Western march. Taking only the title "Shehu" ("Sheikh"), and eschewing the traditional offices, al-Kanemi gathered a powerful following, becoming both the voice of Bornu in negotiations with Sokoto, as well as a semi independent ruler of a trade rich area with a powerful military. Dunama was deposed by his uncle in 1809, but the support of al-Kanemi brought him back to power in 1813.

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