2,030 Abibisika (Black Gold) Points

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Nana Asma’u bint Shehu Usman dan Fodio, the daughter of Usman dan Fodio lived between 1793 and 1864, and was overshadowed by the large personality and persona of her father. Yet she was certainly a figure in her own right as a teacher, poet and princess, and is highly regarded by Hausa – Fulani people in Northern Nigeria as well as Afrikan scholars.

There are reasons for the growing reputation of Nana Asma’u as an individualist among Afrikan historians. In the first place, as her father was establishing the Sokoto Caliphate, his daughter sought to awaken the women to education and independence, thus becoming one of the first Muslim women in Northern Nigeria to express definite opinions about the role of women. Secondly, Nana Asma’u is seen as a precursor to an Afrikan womanism that is different from European feminism because she articulated a line of thinking that taught the complementary role of women in the family.

Thirdly, Asma’u outlived most of the leaders of the Caliphate and became one of the principal interpreters and information sources of period elevating the place of women and insisting on education of women. In the book written by Mack and Boyd, they highlighted the fact that this woman had achieved a vision of education relatively under reported in the literature; their book was aptly named “One Woman’s Jihad: Nana Asma’u Scholar and Scribe” and is a standard for those interested in the role of women in Islam.

Nana had been educated in Quranic studies but placed a high value on universal education. She was given an Islamic education but found her way toward the exemplars of the Qadiriyyah Sufi tradition, which is to learn and teach. Learning without teaching is anathema to this tradition and given her interest in teaching, she felt that she had to teach, but to teach one must have something to teach.

She became an author in the same vein as her father. She spoke four languages, Fula, Hausa, Tamachek and Arabic and this gave her access to many other intellectuals. Her prose narrative is called “Wakar Gewaye” (” The Journey”) and represents her witness to the battles of the Fulani wars. She had a refined carriage and impressed leaders of foreign governments with her vast knowledge.

She was a counselor to Muhammad Bello when he took over the Sokoto Caliphate and held a special place among members of her family. Nana wrote more than 60 surviving manuscripts in Fula and Hausa written in the Arabic script. Thus, during the 19th century, few women in the world exceeded the creative production of Nana whose poetry included lamentations, elegies, eulogies, histories, and admonitions.

For Afrikan historians what makes her work so important in Afrikan history is that she concentrated on women leaders and womens rights within a community of value based on Islamic law. Regardless of the traditions out of which people develop their values, it is said to be remarkable that this fearless Afrikan woman emerged as a strong voice for what she believed in. In 1830 she organised a group of women teachers called “Jajis” who travelled around the Caliphate educating women in their homes.

These jajis used the writings of Nana and other Sufi scholars to train women in perfecting sisterhood. She ritualised the achievement of those women by bestowing on them a hat called a “Malfa” and traditional symbol of office, a red headwrap which she copied from the Bori priestesses of Gobir. Soon the Islamic women wearing the red turban headwraps of the Bori priestesses became a common symbol of the teacher.