(En)gendering Gendered Knowledge in Northern Nigeria’s Qur’an Schools: Women and Girls, Present Yet ‘Invisibilised’

Northern Nigeria’s Qur’an schools (also known as ‘Almajiri Schools’) have existed for several centuries and remain a key source of education and socialisation for many young boys in rural northern Nigeria. The schools are the subject of often harmful and stigmatising representations and elitist discontent due to the students being seen as ‘out of school’ and ill-educated for the 21st century. The boys can sometimes be seen begging and at the mercy of the streets as the schools fall out of the purview of the state. Importantly, this system of schooling and education is largely understood as male-dominated, from the teachers to the students and the fathers who do the sending. This study therefore explores the historical and contemporary roles of women within northern Nigeria’s Qur’anic system of schooling and Islamic education more widely, paying close attention to the continuities and disruptions. By focusing on women and girls and making apparent their places in a practice regarded primarily as an avenue for educating boys, the exploration reveals ways that women have and still play an integral part especially as co-educators. From prominent women historical figures to the wives of the teachers; present-day scholars to women who act as mother figures within the local communities, women shape and influence Islamic education within northern Nigeria. Making these contributions, their roles, and agency apparent and visible is therefore a key goal, especially in a context where they have always been present yet disregarded (sometimes wilfully, sometimes inadvertently unseen), and subsequently ‘invisiblised’.