Hisneki (Salvation)

Abstract

This collection contains recent copies which were originally composed in the mid-1840 by Nana Asma’u, daughter of Usman dan Fodio who founded the Ƴantaru movement in Northern Nigeria. The collection also contains poems from members of the Ƴantaru movement who celebrate the leaders of the Sokoto Jihad, Nana Asma’u, the various Modibbos (Female Education Supervisors), the Jajis (education extension workers), and all those who contributed to the expansion of the Ƴantaru movement and Islam in general. Many of the poems celebrate Prophet Muhammad. Although the leaders of Sokoto and their predecessors such as Nana Asma’u and others were Fulani themselves and have composed some of their poems in Fulfulde Ajami), these poems are extant and hard to find nowadays in Sokoto and other Hausa speaking communities, except perhaps in the Fulfulde speaking areas of Adamawa in Northeastern Nigeria and in the neighboring Republic of Cameroon. This collection titled Hisneki (Fulfulde: salvation) deals with the light that Islam has brought through the Prophet and the works of his companions that the Sokoto leaders and the Ƴantaru movement sought to perpetuate. They praise the Sokoto leaders and the founding women leaders of the Ƴantaru movement for enlightening the people by bringing to them the wisdom of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The poems celebrate the sacrifices that these women made to ensure that girls and women were educated and empowered. Some poems also recognized the efforts of the various Modibbos and the Jajis who visited towns and remote villages and hamlets to educate young girls and women. For the set of poems that were dedicated to the Prophet, they celebrate his uniqueness and unrivaled moral attributes. These include his trustworthiness, humility, generosity, and compassion.