What is it about?
Throughout much of West Africa, the Arabic script predates the use of the Latin script by centuries. This article focuses on the Hausa language and its use of this enhanced Arabic script, known as Ajami. The script itself is described in some detail and we present information on contemporary and historic materials in Hausa Ajami. These include poetry, personal letters, books and pamphlets, historical accounts, and religious documents. The article includes a detailed analysis of a poem written in Hausa Ajami.
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Why is it important?
Ajami literary production in Africa has been overlooked because so few Western scholars have the skills needed to access the materials. This has forced us to rely on accounts and literature produced in European languages, which rarely capture the genius of the language or perspective of its speakers. This article on Hausa Ajami is a step in correcting this.
Perspectives
This article grew out of an amazing interdisciplinary project entitled "Ajamī Literature and the Expansion of Literacy and Islam: The Case of West Africa" that features Ajami manuscripts in Hausa, Pular, Wolof, and Mandinka. It was so exciting for us to be part of this collaboration! Our interdisciplinary team included historians and linguists, Islamic scholars, poets and creative writers, archivists and librarians, photographers and videographers, translators, and even font designers, all working together across continents.
Jennifer Yanco
Boston University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Role of ʿAjamī in Hausa Literary Production, Islamic Africa, October 2023, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/21540993-20230004.
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