Rudolf Pell Gaudio - Allah Made Us

New Directions in Ethnography is a series of contemporary, original works. Each title has been selected and developed to meet the needs of readers seeking finely grained ethnographies that treat key areas of anthropological study. What sets these books apart from other ethnographies is their form and style. They have been written with care to allow both specialists and nonspecialists to delve into theoretically sophisticated work. This objective is achieved by structuring each book so that one portion of the text is ethnographic narrative while another portion unpacks the theoretical arguments and offers some basic intellectual genealogy for the theories underpinning the work.

Each volume in New Directions in Ethnography aims to immerse readers in fundamental anthropological ideas, as well as to illuminate and engage more advanced concepts. Inasmuch, these volumes are designed to serve not only as scholarly texts, but also as teaching tools and as vibrant, innovative ethnographies that showcase some of the best that contemporary anthropology has to offer.

Published volumes

1. Turf Wars: Discourse, Diversity, and the Politics of Place Gabriella Gahlia Modan

2. Homegirls: Language and Cultural Practice among Latina Youth Gangs Norma Mendoza-Denton

3. Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City Rudolf Gaudio

This edition first published 2009

2009 Rudolf Pell Gaudio

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gaudio, Rudolf Pell.

Allah made us: sexual outlaws in an Islamic African city / Rudolf Pell Gaudio.

p. cm. (New directions in ethnography; 3)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-5251-8 (hardcover: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4051-5252-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Sexual minoritiesNigeriaKano. 2. ProstitutionNigeriaKano. 3. Sex roleNigeriaKano. 4. Sex customsNigeriaKano. 5. Islamic lawSocial aspectsNigeriaKano. 6. MuslimsNigeriaKano RegionSocial life and customs. 7. Hausa (African people)NigeriaKanoSocial life and customs. 8. Kano (Nigeria) Social life and customs. 9. Kano (Nigeria)Religious life and customs. 10. Kano (Nigeria)Biography. I. Title.

HQ73.3.N62K364 2009

306.760882970966978dc22

2008051206

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

For my parents, Christina and Alexander Gaudio, and my oga, Phil Shea.

LIST OF FIGURES

Approximate extent of Hausa city-states since 1810

Nigeria

City of Kano just after Nigerias independence

A mother, her daughters, and their friends in Sabon Gari, 1997

The author (a.k.a. Sani) in Rijiyar Kuka, 1994

Packaging for the video cassette for the film IbroDaudu

Alhaji Damina outside his own restaurant in Rijiyar Kuka, 2002

Invitation to a biki hosted by Hajiya Asabe in Sabon Gari, 1996

Dancing at a biki in Zakawa, 1993

Invitation to Madhuri Mairawas biki, 1994

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ma sha Allah. This project took shape over great stretches of space and time thanks to numerous people who (like myself) often had only a vague sense of the form it would ultimately take. Their contributions are especially remarkable given the many delays, miscommunications and cultural breaches that I committed on both sides of the Atlantic. Whatever positive value lies in these pages is due largely to their efforts; the faults are all mine.

Because of the stigma and ambiguity attached to gender-nonconformity, homosexuality and prostitution (not to mention laws against such practices), making these acknowledgments raises some of the same rhetorical problems discussed elsewhere in this book. One associate in Kano confided that, despite my intentions, some audiences might even view this text as an act of ingratitude towards the people who helped me and towards Hausa Muslim culture itself. Thus, while I am anxious to thank the individuals and agencies that supported me while I was carrying out this research, I must emphasize that they have not necessarily endorsed the course it has taken. Many of those who were most helpful to me placed a premium on discretion and must remain anonymous. These individuals, known as yan daudu, independent women, and masu harka, welcomed me into their social worlds, offered me food, drink and fellowship, and tolerated my social and linguistic missteps, as well as unusual and inconvenient requests for assistance. In my attempts to describe their words, deeds and lives, I have tried to respect my friends values and reputations, and I ask for forgiveness where I have fallen short.

I extend sincere thanks to the faculty and staff of the Department of Nigerian Languages at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), especially Professor Abdullahi Bature; the Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages at BUK; the Kano State History and Culture Bureau, especially its former research director, Malam Auwalu Hamza; and Arewa House Centre for Historical Documentation and Research. I am indebted to Dr. Salisu A. Abdullahi, Professor Abdalla U. Adamu, Alhaji Muhammad Munzali Muhammad (CEO of Yoko Films), Professor Tijjani Ismail and Hajiya Binta Tijjani, Alhaji Aminu Sharif Bappa, Alhaji Malam Saidu, Professor M.S. Abdulkadir, Professor Thomas K. Adeyanju, Hajiya Aisha Rufai, Mr. David Jowitt, Sani Bello Mai Tafari, and the staff at the former U.S. Consulate in Kaduna. Special thanks to Usman Aliyu Abdulmalik, who helped me with transcribing and countless other things; to Professor Fatimah M. Palmer, for the cultural and culinary lessons; and to Sunusi Ibrahim, Bashir Umar, Haruna Abubakar, and Sunusi Shuaibu.