Hausa Manuscripts

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  • Item
    Littaafin Ƙasa
    (2014-08-28) Salihu, Husaini Bukar
    The material, entitled Littaafin Ƙasa (The Book of Geomancy), was found in a Hausa Ajami handbook on geomancy by Husaini Bukar Salihu, also known by his moniker Husaibakar. The material features instruction on using elements, such as the days of the week, celestial positions, and mystical numbers, as components in formulae for soothsaying, prophesizing, and guiding supernatural powers that “force” or “influence destiny. The material also provides instruction on using incantations and wirds (specialized litanies) to uncover secrets, including treatments of unfathomable medical mysteries or ailments. The material was originally written in Arabic and was later translated into Hausa Ajami for “easy comprehensive understanding.” The date of publication is not indicated, nor is the publishers. The author’s heir, Malam Abubakar Mada, inherited the materials and offered them for digitization. The collection contains 122 pages in total.
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    Littaafin Farawa
    (2014-06-19) The United Bible Society, Niamey, Niger Republic
    The material, entitled Littaafin Farawa, is a Hausa Ajami transliteration of the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. The original Hausa language version of the Book of Genesis (written in the Latin script) was published in 1932 by the United Bible Society. Many years later, this Hausa Ajami version was transliterated to the Hausa Ajami script in 2004 in Niamey, Niger. Although Niger holds French as its official language, the use of Hausa Ajami, particularly within Christian communities, transcends dialectal and nation-state borders. The owner of this material, Reverend Ɗantine Garba Malumfashi, noted that he and his congregants have used the Hausa Ajami version of the Holy Bible alongside the Hausa Latin version in his church since 2006. Three important implications that come from an analysis of this material include: 1. The need to acknowledge the role of Christian missionaries in the development of African languages, which further helps in uncovering the historical, cultural, and epistemological continuities; 2. The persistent use of Ajami materials, despite colonial and post-colonial efforts to neglect this important aspect of cultural heritage. These sources allow us to access and communicate with millions of Ajami users. They also enable us to problematize how best to improve on non-governmental efforts in the fight against illiteracy; and 3. The Holy Bible written in Hausa Ajami refutes many widespread assumptions about the Ajami script. The first is that the Ajami script is exclusively Islamic. The second is that Africans do not have written histories or writings in local languages. The third is that that they have no scientific value and are indecipherable. The collection contains 50 chapters and 175 pages in total.
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    Kundin Musa Mai Almajirai
    (2014-08-23) Unknown
    The material, entitled Kundin Malam Musa Mai Almajirai (The Diary of Malam Musa Mai Almajirai), is a collection of Hausa Ajami Islamic medicine manuscripts that belongs to the family of Malam Musa Mai Almajirai (born in 1932). Many of the materials are khatims (magical squares) that serve to identify client's ailments and appropriate treatments. These cover many aspects of the human endeavor, ranging from love and relationships, winning court cases, healing unidentified ailments, treatments for body pains and aches, and recipes for braveness and popularity. Certain materials in this collection are hard to comprehend, except by the authors and trained practitioners, as many of the recipes are deliberately not included. This omission is similar to modern day password, thus, a built-in security measure that denies unauthorized access. The collection contains 201 pages in total.
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    Koren Littaafi
    (2014-06-21) Ghadafi, Moammar
    The material is a Hausa Ajami transliteration of former Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi's The Green Book. The title in Hausa is Koren Littaafi. Ghadafi's goals for writing The Green Book were to express his political and social philosophy, which rejects capitalism and modern liberal democracy based on electing representatives. The book's prose, with its simple quotations, appears to be inspired from Mao Zedong's The Little Red Book. For wider audience and readership, Ghadafi sponsored lectures and seminars purposed to propagate the book's ideas at various universities and colleges in France, Eastern Europe, Colombia, and Venezuela up until 1993. The book was also translated into several languages and scripts, including Hausa and Hausa Ajami. Although the date, town, and publisher of the Hausa Ajami version of this book were not indicated, an interview with the owner of this manuscript, Alhaji Idris Isah, (age 81 years old), a grassroots politician, suggested that it was published in the late 1980s. He also noted that he has owned his copy since the early 1990s, since one of Ghadafi's visits to Nigeria. The collection contains three chapters and 187 pages in total.
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    Imfiraaji
    (2014-08-20) Namangi, Aliyu
    The material contains a collection of nine Hausa Ajami poems written by Dr. Alhaji Aliyu Namangi (1894-1990), entitled Imfiraaji (in Arabic, Imfiraaji is a concept that means 'salvation'). Each poem discusses a particular subject, including eulogies for the prophet Mohammed and oppositions to "un-Islamic and pre-Islamic cultures, superstitions, fetish practices, and frivolous songs. As with many Hausa poems, Imfiraaji has insertions of Arabic words, phrases, and prayers, including doxology: an opening and closing with invocations and praises for the prophet, Mohammed. Namangi was a blind poet, preacher, and scholar, who hailed from Zaria, Kaduna State. He was greatly influenced by his readings on asceticism, Sufism, eulogy, and general exhortation and he felt he had a duty to impart the knowledge he had acquired to others. He composed many poems, including Kanzil A'azam (The Greatest Treasure) and Tanbihul Anami; but Imfiraaji is certainly his magnum opus. Dr. Namangi's Imfiraji was originally written in Hausa Ajami, but later the Gaskiya Corporation of Zaria transliterated it into a nine-volume book written in Hausa Latin script. The collection contains 232 pages in total.
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    Asirai
    (2014-08-26) Unknown
    The material, called Asirai ('Secrets' in Hausa), contains a collection of manuscripts on local Hausa traditional alternative medicine inherited by Sayyida Raliya Muhammed, the daughter of famous local diviners. Muhammed, the owner, calls the materials Asirai because of the high-esteem and respect that she has for them. They were entrusted to her because of her hard work and rectitude. The materials are not dated. The collection contains materials on talismanic resources, religious resources, medical treatments, and techniques for diagnosing ailments and illnesses. These techniques include istikhaara (Islamic divination), assisting people seeking wealth, good health, protection from evil spirits, reconciling disputing couples, cures for women's and children's illnesses, and means to enhance men and women's potency and sexual performance. Hausa divination in Ajami writings continues to be widely practiced by men and women in northern Nigeria and there is specialization among practitioners. The collection contains 136 pages in total.