The Shehu's daughter Imama Nana Asma'u Dear Little Readers This is the story of Nana Asma’u and her famous poem, “The Qur’an.”
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rincess Nana Asma’u was born in the religious community of Degel, in northwestern Nigeria, established by her father, Shehu Usman Dan Fodio. The Shehu, meaning “Shaykh” or Elder, and the son of “Fodio”, the Fulfulde term for “learned.” The entire family including women were exceptional scholars. When the family moved from place to place due to the dangers of the war, they would always load their books onto camels first! Their most precious inheritance, knowledge. Princess Asma and her brother Muhammad Bello, and the rest of the family would do much to contribute to expanding their knowledge and passing it onto others. Especially other young girls and women. Out of this concern, she developed the Yan Taru “The Associates” teaching model which solved the problem of female education. Older women were trained by Princess Nana Asma’u herself; they would then travel to homebound young women in rural areas and educate them in their homes. Her concern for other girls developed even when she was a young girl. When her brother laughed at other girls as they fell behind growing up, she would stand up for them. She would discourage her brother from laughing, leave her brother, and would run back to the other girls and help them up. At the same time, she would encourage other girls until they became filled with the same fierce energy to keep going and get ahead. Nana Asma’u’s family had for centuries revered scholarship as a means of deepening spirituality and
16 | THE MUSLIM VOICE PETITE EDITION | FEBRUARY 2021
