![\"onewomansjihad\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/673\/2016\/05\/onewomansjihad-201x300.png\")
Nana Asamu was an African Islamic scholar who was born in 18th \u00a0century Sokoto (modern-day Nigeria).\u00a0She was a poet, social activist, intellectual and a politician who\u00a0was personally commissioned by the Caliph of this West<\/span> African spiritual community known as the Sokoto Caliphate to oversee an entire educational campaign including mass literacy for women. She formed sisterhoods for the purposes of spreading and exchanging knowledge.<\/p>\nWe can see the influence<\/span> of Aisha bint Abu Bakr (RA)on women\u2019s education in her community, for in a\u00a0poem Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u states, \u201cI bring all women to Aisha; Aisha, the Noble Daughter of Al-Siddiq\u2026 She was held in esteem by the Prophet. \u201c The purpose of such a poem in her education campaign was to call upon her community to study the life of Aisha bint Abu Bakr to foster an attitude of\u00a0 women\u2019s learning and scholarship.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u continues her poem, stating, \u201cShe had a mastery of learning and exceeded all women. She was the \u201cdid not spring forth full blown, but was nurtured over successive generations as an integral part of the aim of Islam:\u00a0the search for communion with God through the pursuit of Truth. Education and literacy have been hallmarks of Islam since its inception..o for the Qadiriyya\u00a0 community to which Asma\u2019u belonged, to deny women equal opportunity to develop their God-given talents was to challenge God\u2019s willOne Woman\u2019s Jihad: Nana Asma\u2019u, Scholar and Scribe)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u formed a team of Islamic scholars that would disseminate knowledge. In one poem she states, \u201cLet us In her work entitled\u00a0\u201cSufi Women,<\/em>\u201d Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u highlights several Islamic Scholars in her community and through history, stating, \u201cI speak of Aisha\u2026On account of her asceticism and determination. And Joda Kowuuri, a Qur\u2019anic Scholar. Who Used her scholarship everywhere.\u201d This reveals how women in this Islamic community were far from being restricted; they were able to publicly share knowledge. Nana Asmau\u2019s faith guided her in her efforts to secure mass education for women, she states, \u00a0\u201dI invoke blessings on the Prophet who brought the book, the Qur\u2019an: he brought the\u00a0hadith to complete the enlightenment. Muslim scholars have explained knowledge and used it, following in the footsteps of the Prophet.\u201dNana Asmau \u00a0is the perfect example of a Muslim inspired by the Prophet Muhammad ,pbuh, and his legacy of furthering women\u2019s \u00a0education.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nana Asamu was an African Islamic scholar who was born in 18th \u00a0century Sokoto (modern-day Nigeria).\u00a0She was a poet, social activist, intellectual and a politician who\u00a0was personally commissioned by the Caliph of this West African spiritual community known as the Sokoto Caliphate to oversee an entire educational campaign including mass literacy for women. She formed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2731,"featured_media":450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[96,45,9,68,78,97],"class_list":["post-407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","category-uncategorized","tag-ayaan-hirsi-ali","tag-black-muslim","tag-islam","tag-patriarchy","tag-religion","tag-safiya-bukhari"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/13325557_1725097961092326_3809907812632908450_n.jpg?oh=da1de0316914323864c16da7f9891002&oe=57D0C2CC\")
outstandingly pious\u00a0women person of her time.\u201d Aisha bint Abu Bakr is lauded by Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u for traits such as her learning and modesty; her ability to bring all the women of the Sokoto Caliphate to Aisha was intended to motivate the women of the then newly formed Sokoto Caliphate to pursue learning. The historian Jean Boyd notes that Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u was one of many woman\u00a0 scholars with a chain of sisterhoods existing throughout Africa<\/span> and the Middle East. The chain of sisterhoods of women scholars was linked between West<\/span> Africa<\/span> and the Middle East.\u00a0Jean Boyd writes that this society where women regularly pursued knowledge:<\/p>\n![\"malcolmxaisha\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/673\/2016\/05\/malcolmxaisha-300x300.jpg\")
study, and keep on learning. This gives mankind all he needs. Do not stay among ignorant people.\u201d Much of the knowledge that Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u spread was performed through spoken word, and she was very passionate about her duties, being fluent in four different languages. Building upon the scholasticism that emerged in Timbuktu, Nana\u00a0<\/span>Asma\u2019u would write a biography on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, which she then translated into various languages in order to make it accessible to a wider group of people.\u00a0Nana<\/span> Asma\u2019u\u00a0even\u00a0weighed in on scholarly debates and also issued Islamic legal rulings declaring the usage of tobacco to be haram or impermissible.<\/p>\n