Work · African & Africana Philosophy
Sufi Women
A poem of c. 1836/37, transmitted in Fulfulde and Hausa versions, that lists holy women from the time of the Prophet to the women of the Sokoto community, as models for the women she taught.
Introduction
Nana Asma’u composed “Sufi Women” in 1837 in Fulfulde, and the poem was later rendered into Hausa. It lists holy women from the time of the Prophet Muhammad – among them his wives and daughters – to famous Sufi women of later centuries and the women of the Sokoto community. The poem presents them as models of piety, learning and service and was meant to be learned and recited by the women whom Asma’u and her teachers taught. It is edited and translated in Jean Boyd and Beverly Mack’s collection of her works (1997).
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