Nana asma u biography of george michael

Nigerian princess and poet

Nana Asmaʾu (pronunciation^ⓘ; full name: Asmaʾu bint Shehu Usman dan Fodiyopronunciation^ⓘ, Arabic: نانا أسماء بنت عثمان فودي; 1793–1864) was a Fula princess, poet, teacher, and a daughter of the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Usman dan Fodio.^[1] She remains a revered figure in northern Nigeria.

She is held up by some as an example of education and independence of women possible under Islam, and by others as a precursor to modern feminism in Africa.

Biography

Nana Asmaʾu was born in 1793 and named after Asmāʾ bint Abi Bakr, a Companion of Muhammad.^[2] In her childhood she lived through the Fulani War (1804–08), a campaign of jihad which established the powerful Sokoto Caliphate, an Islamic empire.^[3] The daughter of the Caliphate's founder Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817) and half-sister of its second Sultan, Muhammed Bello (died 1837), she outlived most of the founding generation of the Caliphate and