Maguzawa Hausa people

Maguzawa are Hausa people who still adhere to some of the tenets of the pre-Islamic traditional religions of Kano and Katsina, cities in northern Nigeria. Most of the citizens are found in the rural areas close to Kano and Katsina. They are known to have facial scarification similar to early rulers of Kano and Katsina under the Kutumbawa lineage. In terms of culture, there are only two major differences between Muslim Hausas and the Maguzawa: religion and social organization.

Society

Farming was the leading occupation of Maguzawas, while cattle herding was left to the Fulani. During the dry season, when farming activity is low, the men engage in dyeing, iron working and basketry. The female Maguzawa were known to show an independent streak in economic activity in contrast to an imported harem culture in many other households. Many wives and female slaves engaged in trading and use their profit to buy clothes for themselves and their offsprings. In terms of a socio-political organization, most Maguzawa communities are made up of scattered compounds and like their Hausa counterparts are led by a Sarki. However, predominant Maguzawa communities have three patrilineal cultural leaders. The Sarki'n Noma, who is the head of farming, the Sarki'n Arna, known as the head of the pagans and the Sarki'n Dawa, the headman of the bush. The latter two heads or Sarkis share equal power. The Sarki'n Arna is usually given to the best beer drinker in the community while the defunct Sarki'n Dawa is the best hunter in the community.

Religion

Maguzawa religion revolves around an infinite number of spirits or iskoki (singular - iska) in Hausa. This literally translates into 'WINDS' There are about 3,000 iskoki in the religion. However, the dominance of Islam in the region has diluted the original meaning of the spirits with the an imposed Islamic canon, and they are also referred to today as Al-Jannu (singular Jinn) also known as the westernised 'Genie'.

Six Major Spirits

References

• Greenberg, Joseph Harold. 1946. The influence of Islam on a Sudanese religion. New York: J. J. Augustin. Monographs of the American Ethnological Society, vol. 10.