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Lecture by Dr. Auwalu Hassan (Department of History, Sa'adatu Rimi University of Education in Kano, Nigeria)
WOMEN SCRIBES AND ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN KANO CITY, NIGERIA
3rd, February, 2025 4-6 pm
Location: S 135, NW 3
Hybrid Event! For online participation, kindly register at britta.frede@uni-bayreuth.de!
This lecture sets out to explore the role of women in the art of writing manuscripts in Nigeria. Research on scribes and calligraphers has historically been dominated by malecentred narratives, and this paper aims to redress this imbalance by providing a more comprehensive account of the contributions of women to the art of writing and Islamic education in Nigeria. In doing so, it raises important questions related to the aesthetics, social aspects and economic factors that influenced the scribes' work. In addressing these questions, the paper explores how a set of historical and cultural factors shaped the lives of these women and their careers. It employs both raw data and secondary sources to reconstruct the life histories of these women and their careers. The paper will demonstrate the significant and often overlooked contributions and participation of women to the production of Islamic manuscripts and Islamic education in contemporary Nigeria.