A Letter to Malam Ƙalarawi (Wasiƙa zuwa ga Malam Lawan Ƙalarawi)
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| Title | A letter to Malam Ƙalarawi (Wasiƙa zuwa ga Malam Lawan Ƙalarawi) |
| Author or Owner | Isa Kano (author), Umar Falke (owner) |
| Subject | Social Matters, Religion, Jurisprudence, Clerics, Ƙalarawi, Kano, Naming Ceremony, Prayer |
| Content | This one-page manuscript is an undated letter addressed to a prominent Islamic cleric in Kano, known as Malam Lawan Ƙalarawi, who died in December 1999. The letter concerns the naming ceremony of the author’s new-born baby boy and also whether it is allowed to pray behind someone who practices qabḍu (holding hands to the chest during prayers). The writer begins and ends with a prayer. The author asked about, among other things, how to perform the ritual naming ceremony for a child born during a war. This manuscript is an example of how Hausa people utilize Ajami for personal correspondence. It exemplifies how people shared knowledge and engaged in intellectual discussions in Muslim West Africa. |
| Genre | Prose |
| Language | Hausa |
| Script | Hausa Ajami |
| Manuscript condition | 1 leaf. 12 x 18 cm. // 2 pp. of text. Condition: Text vocalized. |
| Type | Handwritten |
| Publisher | Unpublished |
| Provenance | Kano, Nigeria |
| Source Reference | Isa Kano, “Wasiƙa zuwa ga Malam Lawan Qala al-Rawi” (nd). Courtesy of Northwestern University Libraries. Click here for the source link. |
| Access condition and copyright | These materials are subject to copyright and are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. For use, distribution or reproduction beyond these terms, contact Professor Fallou Ngom (fngom@bu.edu). |
| Contributors | Jennifer J Yanco, Mustapha Hashim Kurfi, Garba Zakari, Lori de Lucia, Babacar Dieng, Rebecca Shereikis, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Alison Parker, Mark Lewis, Shawn Provencal, Eric Schmidt. |
| Required citation information | Fallou Ngom (PI), Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Jennifer Yanco, Mustapha Hashim Kurfi, Garba Zakari, Babacar Dieng, and Rebecca Shereikis. 2022. “A Letter to Malam Ƙalarawi.” https://sites.bu.edu/nehajami/the-four-languages/hausa/hausa-manuscripts/falke-0718-wasika-zuwa-ga-malam-lawan-kalarawi/ |
Manuscript
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Transcription and Translations
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