THE WAQF OF HAJIYA ZAINAB ASSIBI, KANTI KAZAURE, JIGAWA STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ENDOWING PROPERTIES BY CHILDLESS HAUSA WOMEN INNORTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Secular feminism seeks to liberate women by taking them away from religious values so that women with religious beliefs are often stereotyped. Hausa Muslim women in northern Nigeria are often described as marginalized, oppressed and resistant to change. This may suggest that embracing feminist thinking could get them emancipation and permit them to assert their right to own and dispose property as they think fit. This paper argues, on the basis of Hajiya Zainab Assibi’s life story that Hausa Muslim women need not succumb to feminist persuasions to be able to affirm their proprietary rights despite domineering attempts by male extended family members. On the contrary, exposure to religious experiences, such as gained through the pilgrimage (hajj), could give women a moral endowment from which they get the courage to assert their rights without let or hindrance.