Engaging Modernity: Muslim Women and the Politics of Agency in Postcolonial Niger

Notes

Introduction 1. The text of Abdoul Salam’s song entitled “Tigyedimma,” which celebrates the common ancestry of the Tuareg and Adarawa, is in appendix A. 2. For a more detailed discussion on European colonial reconfiguration of the African marriage structure and its implications for inheritance, see Quayson (2000, 119 –31) and Oppong (1981). Even though Quayson and Oppong describe this colonial experience in the Anglophone region—Ghana and Nigeria—their observations are equally valid for the francophone region of West Africa under French colonialism. 3. Madarasa is the term for the modernized Islamic schools, whereas makaranta refers to the more traditional Qur’anic schools. However, the two are often employed interchangeably. 207 Notes Chapter 1. When Kuble (Seclusion) Literacy Invades the Electronic Space 1. Of course, the kuble (kulle in Nigeria) or purdha tradition of seclusion of women in Islamic societies was not practiced during the life of the prophet Muhammad , nor of the four caliphs who succeeded him. And we know that writing in Arabic predated Islam. But within much of Islamic Africa, these two practices came with the spread of Islam in the region. 2. The works of Aliyu na Mangi and his famous poem “Imfiraji”are discussed in detail by Graham Furniss (1996, 208 –9). 3. Ilimi: “knowledge/education/science/intelligence,” recited by Malama A’ishatu ’s students (recording I collected from the Niger National Radio Broadcasting System, summer 1996). 4. Finally, Callaway and Creevey (1994) cite scholars who provide a definition of what Islamic learning is in comparison to Western understanding of learning, but do not include other researchers whose definitions of the same subject matter offer alternative understandings. These include scholars such as Brian V. Street (1993), Stefan Reichmuth (1993), or Fatima Mernissi (1987a, 1987b). 5. The Qur’an is divided into sixty equal-length sections to ease memorization and reading process. Chapter 2. Women and the Political Economy of Education 1. See Masquelier (2001, 264) for an illustration of Bori leaders in Muslim attire in Mauri land of Dogondoutchi, Niger. And Echard (1991, 215) for a discussion of Halima, a female spirit with a Muslim name. 2. See S. Muhammad Umar (2001); for a discussion of similar Islamic education in Northern Nigeria, see pp. 129 –30. 3. See Federici, Caffentzis, and Alidou (2000) and Olivier Meunier (2000) for a detailed analysis of the impacts of World Bank and International Monetary Funds’ Structural Adjustment of education in Africa in general and in Niger more particularly. 4. The first medersa Franco-Arab in Say (near Niamey) was initiated by President Djibo Bakary in 1957 with the hope to rally electoral votes from the religious communities (Meunier 2000, 71). 5. See Robert Glew (1996) for a detailed description of Islamic associations in Niger. Chapter 5. Islamisms, the Media, and Women’s Public Discursive Practices 1. The 1998 U.S. Embassy census indicated that there are 80 percent Muslims, 15 percent Christians, and 5 percent traditionalists in Niger. Of course, most data about religious demographics must be read with a little caution, given the political undertone of the issue in most counties of the world and also given the political orientation of the census career. 208 Notes to pages 33–150 2. Tijaniyya is one and the predominant mystical order of Sufi Islam in Niger. The order is the Gadiyya. For a more detailed discussion of Sufi orders in Niger, see Grégoire (1993, 106 –15). 3. “Fundamentalism” when linked to Islam has conjured up so much negativity without offering any adequate explanatory account of its forms and substance in all its diversity. When used in this essay, it refers to the militant extremist expression of the Islamic revivalist movement experienced in the Muslim world. 4. This decree was first applied to any potential political opponent of the government. This included virtually all the key politicians from the Hamani Diori regime who were released from prison. It was later extended to Malams and their young disciples, potential opponents within the ranks in the military, and was reinforced by the State engineered xenophobia that created suspicion among and between social groups in the nation. 5. The Izala movement has been studied more extensively in Nigeria, and the range of works on it include, for example Umar (1993, 167–78), Kane (2003), Watts (1996), to cite a few. 6. Elowe Arlene MacLeod’s (2001, 396) concept of “accommodating protest” as she applies it to...