Agades • lo Norlh Alrica

' and the Sahara

l
l
/
l
l
l
l
l
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unaRj*—v*-x f Tessawa

to and from
Borno
>/ l' iXT Yandolo^_ / \ /VC / üjmmi^^-^ ,' ~~^«Kan

to the
r,ong^ M--- • r—^e /~ • ] \K"llp Ragadawa /
Benue valley
°°T' )'l Y6n'd' V Sansanne Mango / l < \
\\ /»Uola
/ uuin l Kinianmo
* ~* ,'/
// - -^. _ _ i '—v
• R akka \
^—^--«Gbafa

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Bouake

Trade routes in Hausaland in pre-colonial times

Source: UNESCO General History o/Afhca; vol 6, p. 478

o. f
118
misfortune but is also conversant with the ways and means of coping, alone
or with relatives and friends, with such unfortunate accidents äs they occur.
As would be expected, there are remedies for minor ailments like the
common headache, indigestion, and skin rash that are part of everybody's
knowledge, and practically no household is without them. At the very early
stage of an attack of illness, home remedies are usually tried first. A
specialist's help is not sought, though relatives, acquaintances, some of whom
may be fairly knowledgeable in things medical, may give advice freely, even
though it is not requested specifically.1 Disease, though affecting only one
member of the family or group, often has ramifications in terms of lost
working days, expenses, and social tension that are the concern of the whole
group.
When sickness is considered serious either by the patient himself or
by those members of his family who are managing his illneess, the advice and
the treatment of medical specialists is actively sought and obtained. The
question is, who are the specialists whose help is invariably sought when
sickness becomes aggravated or prolonged, how do they practice medicine in
Hausa Society, and how and to what extent are they influenced by Islam and
Islamic medicine? These specialists are: the bokaye (herbalists), masu
magani (literally, the "ones with medicine"), wanzamai (barbers and
circumcision specialists), madorai (bone setters), ungozomai (midwives),
malamai (Islamic scholars), and yan bori or spirit mediums. The first five
groups usually treat minor ailments with herbal medicine or, in the case of
bone setters and barbers, practice limited surgery. For the purpose of this
discussion I have identified these groups äs the 'herbalists'. The second
category comprises those who treat minor äs well äs more complicated cases
of illnesses; the malamai and the fyan bori, whom I describe äs the '-
Intercessionists' because of their higher dependence on the intervention of the
supernatural for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.2 In this chapter I shall
discuss the first group, the 'Herbalists', and will Start with the most common
group among them, the bokaye.
The Boka
Bokaye is the plural from of boka (the herbalist) and herbalism, äs
Lewis Wall succinctly puts it, 'is the heart of Hausa medicine'3 The boka is
perhaps the only true successor of the Hausa medicine man of pre-Islamic
Interview with Malam Maysikaili (See Chapter 6), April 23,1979.
Ismail R Abdalla: Islamic Medicine...", p. 89.
I. Lewis Wall, Hausa Medicine: Illness and Well-Being in a West African Culture (Durham: Duke
University Press, 1988), p. 244.
119
times.4 He specializes in collecting and selling herbs and other medicinal
ingredients äs remedies for various illnesses. He may be a füll time practitio-
ner though often, he sells medicine äs a subsidiary activity to his main
occupation of farming.5 The boka collects roots. leaves, bark of trees, seeds,
or flowers of proven medicinal value, dries and grinds these into powder,
either separately or in combinations, and sells the final product to those whom
he can convince of their healing powers. Grinding these herbs, roots etc.
serves two purposes. First, the plants and roots are reduced in size, so the
boka can collect and stock äs many of them äs he can in a limited space,
thereby reducing the number of trips he has to make to the bush or market.6
Secondly, being in powder form, these ingredients are difficult to identify,
even by other herbalists. In this way each boka not only protects his own
business by guarding the secret of the identity of plants and trees he uses, but
also protects himself against possible public rebuke and ridicule if the
medications are not genuine or sufficiently potent.7
The boka is a hawker.8 He sells his merchandise while walking up
and down the streets of the Hausa town or village. Unlike the mal magani
whom I will consider next, the boka does not have a specific place in town or
in the market where he sells his medical items. This is perhaps one reason
why he is not always trusted by his customers, for they are not sure if they
will ever see him again. Like the wrestlers and the yan hoto or dancing
magicians, the boka praises himself äs a practitioner and his medicines in no
modest terms and at the top of his lungs, while walking up and down the
streets.9 He advertises his trade by calling aloud the names of all the diseases
his powerful remedies can eure in no time at all. Generally speaking,
however, the boka limits his practice to the treatment of sanyi or common
colds, ciwon kai - headaches, ciwon ciki - indigestion, kuwantaci - sleeping
pregnancy" and shawara, a very common complaint whose definition ranges
from general Indisposition to hepatitis.10 But he is most populär for his
reputation for curing sexual impotence in men. For this reasonj his aphrodisi-
acs ( Hausa: yaji) always find a ready market in the polygynous Hausa
Ismail R Abdalla, "Traditional Healers in the City of Kano", a discussion paper read at the weekly
seminar of the Department of Islamic Studies, Bayero University, Kano, 1972, p. 4.
Ibid., p 6.
Interview with boka malam Isa Ibrahimu of Tudon Wada, Kano, March 16,1979.
Ismail H Abdalla," Traditional Healers in the City of Kano", p. 7.
According to Lewis Wall ( Hausa Medicine, p. 245), the bokaye he studied in Malum&shi to the south
of Katsina were essenüally settled fermers, and practiced medicine in their compounds. Only
on rare occasions did they visit patients in other villages, and only on the patients' expressed
wish.
Ismail R Abdalla, 'Traditional Practitioners in the City of Kano" p. 6.
Ismail R Abdalla, "Islamic medicine ....", p. 91.

120
society. It is safe to say that the demand for aphrodisiacs accounts for the fact
that there are still bokaye today hawking their medicine in the streets of Hausa
villages and towns."
Though the boka always prescribes purgatives äs remedies for a
number of bodily ailments, he does not consider these the ultimate medicine.
Inhalants and other preparations for rubbing into the skin are equally
important in the remedial repertoire of the boka. The boka's tendency not to
depend solely on purgatives distinguishes the non-Muslim Hausa medical
practice from that of the Muslim Hausa. 12 It is also consistent with the
Maguzawa or non-Muslim Hausa recognition of the inner and outer bodies in
the human being, each of which can be attacked by a disease independently,
and each therefore deserving separate treatment.13 The boka does not usually
treat chronic or spirit-caused diseases, nor is he expected to do so, not, at any
rate, in town.14 These serious illnesses involve long and close observations
which his temporary stay in a place does not allow. Perhaps a more tangible
reason is that these diseases are usually treated by the local specialists: the
malam (Muslim cleric) OT yan bori (spirit medium), who may not wish to
allow other practitioners to compete with him for the control of the limited
medical resources.15 The boka is normally a ba-maguje (Pl. Maguzawa) or
non-Muslim Hausa, though when in town he may not readily admit he is. The
Maguzawa now live in separate areas in Northern Nigeria and in southern
Niger. Their farmsteads are to be found in Malumfashi district to the south of
Katsina (where Murray Last and lately Lewis Wall did their research), in
Gwarzo in Kano State and in Ningi in Bauchi State. They are famous for their
'strong' medicine.16 Bokaye from these places regularly visit the main towns
of Kano, Katsina, Zaria, and Sokoto to seil their medicines and buy what they
need, mainly during the dry season ~ November to April — when there is no
farming.17
Ibid.
Ismail R Abdalla, "Islamic medicine...", p. 91.
Murray Last, 'The Presentation of Sickness...", P. 142.
All the bokaye I interviewed in Kano (May 1972) and Katsina (January 1979) admitted that they do not
treat leprosy, madness, "wasting," or epilepsy. However Baba of Karo menüons that a certain
ba-maguje (a non-Muslim medicine man) treated Chief Aliyu for madness, who, after taking
the medicine, recovered, but not for long. M. F. Smith, Baba ofKaro, p. 155. Again, Lewis
Wall is of the opinion that the boka in Malumfashi treated serious illnesses, including
mental illness. Hausa Mediane..., p. 245.
Ismail R Abdalla, "Islamic medicine..", p 92.
Testimony of several of my students at what was then Bayero College. Kano, Nigeria January, 1973.
Ismail H. Abdalla, "Islamic Medicine...", p. 92.
121
To become a boka one has to spend a long period of apprenticeship
with other successful bokaye in one's own area.18 Sacrifice to bush spirits
was and still is essential for the novice before the secrets of all medicinal
plants and other objects are revealed to him, or the spirits that cause particular
ailments are known.19 It is also necessary that the boka take strong medicine
himself for his own protection before he ventures into the mysterious and
potentially dangerous world of spirits and medicine, äs most effective
medicinal plants in the bush are owned and jealously guarded by un-
compromising spirits.20 In addition, to maintain the power of these protective
medicines intact, the boka must avoid having sex with any women, for fear
that she may sap all his power and render him defenseless and his medicine
worthless.21
The relationship between the boka and other practitioners like the
malam and the bori adept is usually one of mutual tolerance, especially in
large towns where the boka is, at any rate, just a visitor. He does not, äs
pointed out earlier, interfere much with the way the medical resources in the
Community are allocated among different claimants.22 However, there is an
easy relationship, even competition between him and the bori specialist when
both live in the same small locale and cater for the same clientele.23 Both claim
knowledge of herbal medicine communicated to them by spirits. When
differences of diagnosis or prescription occur, äs is bound to happen in a
medical System in which the sick person usually consults more than one
specialist, rivalry between the boka and the yan bori is inevitable.24 The
Muslim Hausa generally have mixed feelings toward the boka. While there are
some who still patronize him äs did their ancestors many generations before,25
others, äs we have explained earlier, are suspicious and skeptical, not so much
because the boka is a non-Muslim, but because of his extravagant Claims that
Tremeame, The Banof the Bori: Demons and Demon Dancing in West and North Afiica (London,
Cranton & Ousely, 1914), p. 150.
J.Greenberg, The Influence of Islam on a Sudanese Religion (New York: 1941), p. 47. LewisWall,
Hausa Medicine.., p 245, mentions that one of the boka he has studied emphatically demed
that she would sacrifice to spirits. What is interesung and understandable in light of what we
will discuss in chapter iv, Ȋs the fact that she said she had been instmcted by the spirits
themselves not to practice any "pagan" ritual.
Interview with a boka from Ningi. Malam Dan Ladi Mai Zafi, Kano, April 25, 1979.
Ibid.
Ismail R Abdalla, "Islamic medicine...", p. 93
J. Monfouga-Nicholas, Ambnatence et culte depossession (Paris, 1972), p. 69.
Ibid.. p. 70.
M Bello wrote a special treatise eally in the nineteenth Century entitled Tibb al-nabi" or "the Medicine of
the Prophet" for the sole purpose of educating Muslims in Islamic medicine in Order to
discourage them from seeking medical help from the boka. 'Tibb al-Nabi" Ms. CDH, BD.,
fol 2.

122
he can eure almost any malady, and because of the mobile nature of his
practice.
As for the impact of Islam and Islamic medicine on the boka, it
appears that before the coming of Islam to Hausaland the boka enjoyed more
power and was associated more with spiritual healing than he is at present.26
Though the Kano Chronicle does not mention the boka by name, there is no
doubt that it refers to him when it describes practitioners of old. The
Chronicle teils us, for example, that prior to the coming of Bagauda (the
ancestral mythical father of the Hausa people who flourished around 1000
A.D.) Chief Hanburki "doctored every sickness",27 while the King of the Dala
people, Barbushi, gained power and ascendancy over them all because of "his
wonders and sorceries". There are several incidents reported by the Chronicle
and by the As\d earlier in which medicine men came to the help of
Kano chiefs and Rings who were in distress or fear.28
The Hausa adoption of Islam eventually compromised the powerful
Position of the boka. However, äs recently äs the early part of the nineteenth
Century, he was still powerful and important in medical practice, even among
Muslims. This is why Uthman Dan Fodio, and after him, his son Bello, feit
the necessity of attacking the boka in their writings, and discouraged Muslims
frorn patronizing him.29 These attacks which labelled the pre-Islamic medical
practice äs sihr or sorcery and hence haram or prohibited by Islamic Law
apparently forced the boka to gradually scale down his practice in order not
to offend orthodox Muslim rulers and to stay in business, especially äs his
practice became increasingly oriented, for obvious economic reasons, to an
urban Muslim clientele.30 As a result, the boka became less and less interested
in dealing with spirit-caused diseases, äs their treatment would invariably
require reconciliation with and supplication to "pagan1 deities. As it happened.
this area of the specialization of the boka eventually feil into the hands of the
malam / practitioner who appears to have all but eliminated the boka from an
evidently lucrative occupation.31 The elimination or the scaling down of the
involvement of the boka in the treatment of spirit-caused diseases among the
Muslim population seems to have affected his medical practice even among
the non-Muslim Hausa or the Maguzawa. In Maguzawa society today the
boka plays a secondary role to that of the yan bori or the spirit medium in
:6 Ismail R Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p.93.
" Palmer, The Sudanese Memoirs, viol 2, p. 99.
:! Ismail R Abdalla, "Islamic Medicine...", p. 94.
:9 Uthman Dan Fodio, Tanbih al-Ikhvran üansl . by H R. Palmer äs "An early Fulani Conceptof Islam"
Journal ofAfrican Society (1949), p. 59. M. Bello, Infaq al-Maysw, op. cit., p. 32.
30 Ismail R Abdalla, "Medicine in Nineteenth Centun1 Arabic Literature in Northern Nigeria", p. 97.
31 Ibid., p. 98.
123
diagnosing or treating spirit-caused maladies. Islam appears to have indirectly
brought about an important change in an ancient Hausa tradition.32 Apart from
this development, Islam and Islamic medicine seem to have little influence on
the practice of the boka. Neither in the manner the boka collects and prepares
his medicines nor in the application of these medicinal herbs to various
Ulnesses, nor, finally, in the ways recommended for taking these remedies, are
there any observable Islamic traits. One can safely say, therefore, that in its
materia medica and the therapy based on it, the boka's medical practice is one
area of pre-Islamic Hausa therapy that remains to the present largely
untouched by the otherwise dominant Islamic culture in Hausa society.33
Mai Magani or Mai Sayar da Magani
Less precise in meaning than the word boka is the term mal magani
or mai sayar da magani (pl. masu magani) whose literal translation is "owner
or seller of medicine". The difficulty is with the word magani itself. It means
'medicine' whether herbal, magical charms, European-made drugs, or the
potency of the of medicine itself. Tsamiya or the tamarind fruit is magani or
medicine; it cures because it has magani or medicinal power or potency.34
Magani is sometimes used in the Hausa language in such expressions äs to
convey two opposite meanings simultaneously. Maganin Zowo, for example,
means the medicine one takes to stop diarrhoea, but it also means
purgatives.35The word is also used frequently to in a metaphorical sense, äs
when it is said, "if death has magani, birth is that magani" (birth neutralizes
death). In its abstract meaning at any rate, magani comes nearest to the
meaning of the Hausa word kwari, or the strength certain amulets are
presumed to possess, or to the Arabic word baraka or blessing which some
renowned Hausa malams are reputed to have.36 Mai magani therefore can
fulfil different expectations in different settings. Generally speaking, however,
he is a dispenser of medicine; specifically herbal medicine, but the term is not
restricted to this type of practitioner exclusively. The boka is mai magani and
so is the malam, äs well äs the yan bori, äs will be explained shortly below.
The mai magani in Hausa Muslim society is more or less the equivalent of the
boka in the non-Muslim Hausa Community. There is more than one indication
that some of the masu magani (pl.) interviewed for this study in the city of
Kano in 1979 were not born Muslims, but were members of the Maguzawa
Ismail R Abdalla, 'IslamicMedicine,..", p. 95.
Ismail R Abdalla, "Tradra'onal Healers in the City of Kano", p. 9.
Ismail H. Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p.95.
R.C. Abraham, Dictionary ofthe Hausa Language (London, 1962), item magani.
Ismail R Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p. 96.
124
people. They had been practicing medicine äs bokaye before conversion to
Islam. It is therefore safe to conclude that the historical development of the
profession of the mai magani was not dissimilar to that of the boka discussed
above.
Masu magani come from different parts of Hausaland, though those
from the region of Ningi in Bauchi State seem to predominate. The richness
of the fauna and flora of the region and its comparatively recent adoption of
Islam might, perhaps, explain why herbalists coming from this area are highly
respected in Kano and other eitles in Northern Nigeria.37 Some of these
practitioners have already settled in Kano permanently. However, they
continue to maintain strong relations with the place of their origin, if only to
maintain a re-supply of herbs and medicines. Masu magani usually have a
fixed location in the town or market place where they display their merchan-
dise and charms. In such a place, äs many äs twenty little Stalls are arranged
in a single file. They are constructed of anything that comes to hand: guinea-
corn stalks, discarded kerosene tins, jute sacks, mats, and cartons.38 In each
of these Stalls a mai magani sits all day to seil his medicines: dried tree roots.
leaves, bark, seeds and fruits, animal skins, animal and bird parts and
secretions, dead lizards, chameleons, insects, and a few samplings of minerals
and spices some of which are imported from India and the Middle Hast.39
Several of the owners of these Stalls also live in them, and these are usually
the seasonal masu magani who frequent Kano and other cities during the dry
months of the year when there is no farming. Like the boka, the mai magani
may fetch his own herbs and other ingredients from the bush. However,
because the bush is now very far from where he sells his remedies he often
buys these from travelling masu magani, or eise sends for them from different
places.40 Like the boka, he does not diagnose illnesses äs much äs prescribe
for them. He is more of a pharmacist ~ the attaar or druggist of the Islamic
classical writings - whofillsprescriptions for predetermined illnesses. The
patient, or in complicated or prolonged sickness, his doctor - the malam
practitioner oryan bor i - may make the initial diagnosis. Occasionally mai
magani may offer a second opinion, often confirming his customer's diagnosis
of what is wrong with him, but only when such an opinion is solicited.
Though on the whole there is no bodily ailment for which the mai
magani cannot provide appropriate medication from among the many
apparently indistinguishable roots, leaves, bark etc. in front of him, he prefers
Personal communication by several of my Hausa students at Bayero College, Kano, September, 1979.
Ismail R Abdalla- Traditional Practitioners in the City of Kano", p. 7.
Ibid., p. 8.
Interview with malam Dan Ladi Mai Zafi, Kano, 1979.
125
to artend to those customers who come looking for a specific medicine -- a
root or bark of a particular tree, for instance. In his capacity äs a supplier of
herbs and other medicinal ingredients, the mai magani is nothing more than
a middle-man, a trader. He also sells all sorts of aphrodisiacs to desperate
patients. though more discretely than the boka. Because the mai magani does
not usually fetch medicines from the bush himself, he is normally less
concerned than the boka about spirits or the wearing of protective medicines
necessary for going into the bush. He is a Muslim, at least nominally so, and
feels therefore secure for being a participant in the dominant culture whose
ultimate protection comes not from spirits but from Allah.41 The mai maganfs
sense of securiry against the unseen forces simply because he is a Muslim
goes just so far, though. He recognizes that medicinal plants and objects are
always wrapped in mystery, and that there are spirit guardians for every
medicine. Where there are mystery and spirits there is also uncertainty and
fear.42 Under the circumstances, the mai magani reckons, it is advisable to
have more than one protective device, in case one of them jfails to work .
Almost all the masu magani l interviewed in Kano in 1979 for this work wore
amulets given to them by malam / practitioners side by side with other charms
which they themselves had prepared.43
The relationship of the mai magani with other practitioners is one of
respect and tolerance. In more than one way, his profession is complementary
to that of the malam / practitioner and even the yan bori. He provides the
medicines they often recommend to their patients while at the time supplying
the malam / practitioner himself with medicinal plants and other ingredients
necessary for the latter's own work, ingredients that the latter may not have
the time or the means to fetch himself from the bush.44
Compared to the boka, the mai magani seems to inspire more
confidence in his customers. So relaxed is the atmosphere in these Stalls that
mothers feel safe to send their children to obtain a prescription from him. The
fact that he has a fixed place in the market to which one can always return if
a prescription proves unsatisfactory, makes customers less uncertain, and the
practitioner more keen to recommend only remedies of proven value and
efficacy.45 His being a Muslim also makes a difference. In the eyes of Hausa
Muslims, the mai magani is held more accountable for his actions than the
non-Muslim boka, who is there only on a temporary basis. While being
Interview with Sabi'u Mai Sarki, Kano, 1979.
Ibid.
Ismail H. Abdalla, "Traditional practitioner in the City of Kano", p. 9.
Ibid.
Ismail R Abdalla, 'Islamic medicine...", p 99.
126
Muslim and having a fixed place in the market from which to operate help to
enhance the Status of the mai magani in comparison to that of the boka, he
remains, nevertheless, less knowledgeable about medicine than his counter-
part. The mai magani depends increasingly on itinerant herbalists or traders
for his medical supplies. These individuals may or may not share with him his
values or concerns, and the tack of close personal relationships that usually
develop between a malam / practitioner and his patients, hinder the effective-
ness of the mai magani äs a healer. He is usually not well educated enough to
read Arabic so the fact that he sells herbs, minerals and spices from far off
lands like India is more than being offset by his inability to benefit from the
numerous sources in Arabic dealing with materia medica.46 Being a Muslim
may be important for the mai magani socially, but Islam and Islamic medicine
have very little impact on him äs a healer.
Wanzami or the Barber
The wanzami (pl. wanzamai) is the barber, Like barbers in many
African societies, he administers medicine for minor ailments. His main
occupation in Hausa society, however, is to help its members conform to the
established norm by shaving their heads and beards, trimming their finger
nails, making tribal marks (when such were populär), removing the uvula or
hymeneal tags in infants, and above all, circumcising boys. He also bleeds
patients of 'excess' or 'bad' blood, and on occasion, he may also practice
cauterization to neutralize a swelling or abscess, or perform eye surgery to
remove cataracts.47
Wanzami and Islam
The wanzamfs trade, at least in so far äs his performance of
circumcision is concerned, is perhaps a recent occupation. The historical
sources we have, the Kano Chronicle and theAsl, make no mention of the
wanzami. Unlike the etymology of the word malam, which is derivative of the
Arabic word mu'allim or teacher, the etymology of the word wanzami is
purely Hausa. One would therefore assume that the wanzami existed before
the coming of Islam. But his performance has certainly become more
important in society with the establishment of Islam.48 Islam enjoins all
believers to cleanse themselves regularly, for cleansing, according to a populär
Ibid.
Interview with malam Maysikaili, see chapter six below.
Tremeame, in Hausa Superstilions and Customs (London, John Bale & Sons, 1913), p. 539, cites
wanzami among hon spirits, but it is not clear whether this spirit is a new development after
Islam or a refiection of how ancient the profession is in Hausa society.
127
Prophetic tradition, is part of faith. In traditional Muslim societies like that of
the Hausa, cleansing came to be identified with body washing, shaving one's
head or beard, and the trimming of fingernails. Islam also made the shaving
of the pilgrim's hair a religious rite performed after ihraam or the ten-day Hajj
ritual.49 Hausa Muslims extended this purification rite to include other
traditions and rituals of passage, such äs the naming ceremony performed on
the seventh day after birth. The ceremony transforms the newly born
unidentified creature into a human being by the act of shaving the infant's hair
and by giving it a Muslim name.50
There are other important reasons why the Hausa needed wanzamai.
Tribal marks, cut neatly on the face, arm or stomach, were, until recently, an
essential means of identification in the multi-ethnic society of Northern
Nigeria. There is reason to believe that these tribal marks were especially
important during the nineteenth Century when identification by these
scarifications often saved individuals from being taken slave in a raid, though
being Hausa or even Muslim was never a guarantee against enslavement.51
More important than the tribal identity was the Islamic one, especially in
urban communities. Boys have to be circumcised. In a slave raid, the fact that
an individual was circumcised might be the only determining factor between
freedom and enslavement. Indeed, Islam has transformed the profession of the
wanzamai or barbers and has sustained it ever since.52 Because of this, Islamic
influence is much more in evidence in the profession of the wanzami than in
that of the boka or the mai magani. In the first place, the wanzami is a fully
integrated member of the urban Community and an essential one, for that
matter. Like the mai magani, the wanzami also has an assigned place in the
market place, but certain operations like circumcision are always performed
at home. Unlike the boka or the mai magani, the wanzami tends to develop
a longstanding relationship with the families he serves which is sometimes
handed down from generation to generation.53
Compared to the boka or even the mai magani, the wanzami takes his
Islam seriously. He is obliged to do so, if he is to be called in to perform
religious rites like circumcision or the first shaving of the newly born. The
way circumcision must be performed is sanctioned by Hausa traditions,
traditions which are believed to be based on Islamic religious sources. The
wanzami must follow these instructions äs closely äs possible. But where
Ismail H Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p. 100.
Ibrahim Madauci, Hausa Customs (Zaria, 1968), p. 8
M. F. Smith, Baba ofKaro, p 70
Ismail H. Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p. 101.
Allen Dorrah and John Fraude, Hausa Mediane for the Western Doclor, (Zaria, 1973), p. 3.
128
there are no specific regulations, the ingenuity of the Hausa wanzami takes
over.54 This is particularly so in the development of several devices connected
with circumcision. To keep the newly cut skin of the boy's penis from contact
with the rest of his body, the wanzami suspends the penis in a triangular-
shaped device made of corn stalks which then is tied to the boy's waist.55 The
wanzami also demands that the circumcised boy be secluded during the period
of his recovery. This custom, which is wide-spread among Muslim Hausa,
must have arisen from a fusion of Islamic and pre-Islamic practices. The
practical need to immobilize the circumcised boy is mixed with perhaps a
forgotten Hausa custom that secluded boys during the ritual of circumcision
or similar rites of passage. By another device the wanzami guard against the
eventuality that the circumcised boy may injure himself accidentally while
asleep. It is called karkiya. It is made of corn stalks and tied between the knees
to prevent them from coming into contact when the boy turns to sleep on his
side instead of his back, which is the required position. The boy will very
shortly return to sleep on his back because the cornstalks Start pressing into
his flesh if he does not.56
Other customs connected with circumcision like food taboos or diets
recommended for speedy recovery are certainly Hausa. There is no evidence
that they originated in dar al-Islam; besides, they have no significance in
Islam or Islamic medicine. One such dietary tradition among the Hausa has to
do with feeding the newly circumcised boy. He has to be well fed and his
meals must always include roasted chicken. No other foods except porridge
are allowed. The recommended meal of porridge must be well laced with
plenty of potash (kunun kanwa).sl The wanzami prescribes medications and
recommends a special diet for the circumcised or for the infant whose uvula
he removes. He also bleeds patients of 'bad' or 'excess' blood. Next to
circumcision, bleeding the sick is the most important part of the wanzamfs
practice.58 Bleeding äs a therapy is certainly a post-Islamic phenomenon.
Though the Maguzawa recognized the importance of blood in the body, they
did not share with the Muslim Hausa the notion that there was 'bad' or 'excess'
blood that could cause sickness.59 A Bamaguje (pl. Maguzawa) might
characterize his general Indisposition äs caused by regonjini, weakness of
blood, or rashinjini, lack of blood. But he would not diagnose his sickness
Ismail H. Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p. 102.
Ibrahim Madauci, Hausa Customs. p. 11.
Ibid., p. 12.
Ibid., p. 12.
Ismail H. Abdalla, 'IslamicMedicine...", p. 103.
M. Last, 'The Präsentation of Sickness . . .", p. 143.
129
as being caused by the badness or the excessiveness of blood. Following the
received populär Islamic tradition that emphasizes 'bad1 or 'excess' blood as
causes of illness, Muslim Hausa now bleed themselves regularly for all sorts
of maladies. Small incisions are made on the patient's back or neck then
sucked by a cow hörn to let out the "excess blood" causing headache, colds,
and general Indisposition.60 Localized pain, on the other hand, is bled directly,
by cupping the incisions in the skin over the swelling.
In contrast to the practice of the Muslim Hausa, the Maguzawa did
not develop the technique of blood letting, partially for reasons I have already
mentioned, but another explanation of this fact also suggests itself. Blood
letting invariably involves close contact and touch between the practitioner
and his patient, and touch is anathematized in the Maguzawa society.61 For
this reason blood letting among the Maguzawa is done by the Muslim
wanzami, who also performs uvulectomy and makes tribal marks on the
Maguzawa children. The fact that the Maguzawa are now bled demonstrates
one thing: they have tacitly accepted the Islamic idea of the causation and
remedy of some diseases. By letting out blood, they now seem to acknowledge
that after all there can be 'excess' or 'bad' blood.
The wanzami's different surgical operations have different origins.
Wet cupping appears to Islamic, while tribal marks, uvulectomy and
hymenectomy are indigenous. They are also extremely delicate operations,
especially if done on a seven-day old child. References to bleeding (Arabic
hijama) are found in all the works on the Prophetic traditions62 which spell
out in much detail not only the week or day but even the part of the day most
recommended for this Operation, cardinal in Prophetic medicine.63 But there
is no reference in Islamic sources to uvulectomy or tribal marks. The Hausa
people must have developed the technique of uvulectomy on their own, and
have since then spread it to other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.64 Among the
Hausa themselves, it is the remedy of choice for many diseases that afflict
children. As only the wanzami performs the Operation, uvulectomy is now
inseparable from Hausa Islamic medicine and culture, and there are no
Ismail H Abdalla, Islamic Medicine...". p. 103.
M. Last 'The Präsentation of Sickness..", p. 123.
Malik Ihn Anas, 'l~he Muwaaä, transl. by M. Rahimucddin (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1981), p. 414.
The Prophet is reported to have said, "If there is a remedy that will reach a disease, it is
having oneself cupped". Ibid.
Ihn Qaym al-Gawziya, Al-Tibb Al-Nabav/t compiled and edited by M. K Ragih, (Beirut: Dar al-Hilal,
1983), pp. 45-46.
When I was sick from whooping cough as a child in the westem part of the Republic of the Sudan,
uvulectomy was recommended as a remedy However, my father, who is rairly well-read in
Islamic medicine, decided against it Uvulectomy in the Sudan might well be a remedy
borrowed from Hausa settlers or pilgrims. But it is dying rapidly.
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130
practice. There is no evidence of any Islamic influence on the trade, either in
indications that it is going to vanish soon. Tribal marks, on the other hand.
diagnostic or prognostic procedures. For one thing, all the madorai (pl.) l
have lost their importance, by and large, especially in the de-tribalized urban
came to know in Kano and in Katsina, two major Hausa eitles, were illiterate.
communities. Islam now provides the supra-ethnic bond, and slavery is a
Islamic medical treatises on bone-setting, even if available, would be
thing of the past.65
inaccessible to them. But no Arabic literature on the subject of surgery found
Hausa wanzamai are at present found wherever there is a Hausa
its way to Hausaland, with the exception of a few documents on eye surgery
settlement, and sometimes in areas where there is no Hausa Community. They
and circumcision.69 As it is clear frorn the discussion of the wanzami, surgery
are gradually monopolizing the barber's trade all the way frorn Kumasi in
among the Muslim Hausa seemed to have developed independently of Islamic
Ghana to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. But there is a significant difference between
sources, even if at times Hausa practitioners made use of Islamic notions
the Hausa wanzamai working in Hausaland and those in the diaspora. The
connected with human physiology. As explained earlier, blood letting, for
latter restrict themselves for practical reasons to performing only the
example, is associated with the notion of'excess1 blood in the body of the sick
Islamically sanctioned rites; shaving heads and beards and circumcising
person.
boys.66 Tribal marks, and even uvulectomy have fallen into disuse, even,
In spite of its absence in the literature, one must assume that bone-
interestingly, among Hausa emigrants, at least among those who have settled
setting is old, and was, perhaps, more important in the past when accidents
in the Sudan or Saudi Arabia. All the same, if there is one trade or a
involving broken bones due to hunting, horse riding or fighting were more
profession of Hausaland that helped diffuse Muslim Hausa culture to areas
common than at present. This is not to say that the madora \^ not important
and among peoples far removed frorn Nigeria, it is the trade of the Hausa
in contemporary Hausa society. On the contrary, the Hausa demand for the
wanzami. With his wom-out brief case filled with razors, small mirrors.
expertise of the madora is just äs great, if not greater, than before, thanks to
scissors, perfumes, soap, herbs, kola nuts, and of course medicine, the neatly-
the alarming rate of increase in recent years of car accidents on Nigeria's
dressed constantly scented and kola-chewing Hausa wanzami is a feature
highways resulting in a great number of the surviving victims suffering frorn
without which no market in the savanna is complete.67 But the wanzami's
fractures or bone dislocation. The madora is very populär indeed among the
more important role is that of diffusing Hausa Islamic culture among the
Hausa. Seven out often patients with fractures interviewed for this study in
Maguzawa irij Nigeria itself. With the itinerant malam / practitioner, they,
Kano in 1979 preferred his simple treatment to that of the hospital.70If this is
perhaps more than any other agents, have accelerated the process of
what the Hausa patients think of the practice of the madora at present, when
acculturation among the Maguzawa. They certainly have contributed their
there is a more developed competing medical system — the Western System —
share, consciously or not, toward transforming Northern Nigeria into a single
one can be certain that this specialist was even more populär and played a
cultural mould.
much more important role in therapy in the past, when his was the only
The Madora or Bone-setter available remedy.71
The last two specialists discussed here are the madora and the
ungozoma. The madora (Pl. madorai) or bone-setter is more of a craftsman Ungozoma or Mid-wife
The ungozoma (Pl. ungozomai} or mid-wife is of course an
than a practitioner. He is included here because the Hausa think of him äs a
indigenous Hausa practitioner. Midwifery is äs old äs the Hausa themselves.
medical specialist, though not of the same rank äs the boka or mal magani.
It is also a very difficult subject for a man to investigate in a conservative
He may combine administering herbal medicine with bone-setting, though
Muslim society like that of the Hausa. Hausa men are only vaguely aware of
often he is just a bone specialist, a craft he usually inherits frorn his parents.
the procedure of child delivery and are not interested in knowing. As such,
or close relatives.68 Men and women practice bone-setting but men tend to
predominate here. The craft of bone-setting is undoubtedly an ancient Hausa
Ibid
Ismail H. Abdalla, "Islamic Medicine...", p. 105. Interview on differem occasions »ith patients in the house of malam Haruna Mai Karfi, the bone
Ibid specialist, Katsina. between September 11, and 21,1979. Ibrahim Madauci, Hausa
Custotns, p 24.
Ibid.
Ismail H Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine...", p. 108.
Ibid.
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132
in Hausa society is among the medical practices least affected by Islam and
only general remarks can be made here with regard to the nature of the
Islamic medicine.77
practice of ungozoma äs a medical specialist. Like the madora and most other
In conclusion, we can say that there are many Hausa herbalists and
herbalists the ungozoma is generally illiterate, hence she is unlikely to be
surgeons who are but lirtle influenced by Islam and Islamic medicine.
acquainted with materials on child delivery and or maternity in Arabic medical
However, there are others, like the wanzami or barber who come closest to
sources. For this reason, her techniques for assisting in child birth, for child
being a new phenomenon in the Hausa medical care system. These practitio-
care, the customs and traditions she observes during delivery, and more
ners were transformed by or grew in importance after the establishment of
importantly, the medicine she administers to the newly born or to its mother
Islam in Hausaland. This trend toward more dependence on Islamic medicine
are all purely Hausa.72 In one such custom and taboo, for example, the
becomes ever clearer when we consider the malam - practitioner and the yan
newborn is not breast-fed until after the third day if it is a boy, or after the
bori next.
fourth, if it is a girl.73 The child and its mother are then kept in seclusion for
forty days in a house heated well beyond normal temperature to prevent
attacks of cold on the infant or its mother.74 As in the case of circumcised boys
mentioned earlier, the mother is well fed with hot and spicy food. The
ungozoma prepares the medicine which is always added äs a Supplement to
the food, but more especially to the near-boiling water for bathing the child
and the mother morning and evening. The mother also has to wash her vagina
with this boiling water twice a day for forty days under the supervision of the
ungozoma.^
The ungozoma is usually the oldest woman in the homestead or
compound whose experience through the years with disease and eure makes
her indispensable for the well-being of the members of the extended family.
She is the first medical specialist to whom a sick mother, or the mother of a
sick child will turn.76 Her medicines are considered first-aid, and are often äs
effective äs any other medication procured from a boka or mai magani. In the
case of the newly born or its mother, the medicine the ungozoma usually gives
is primarily a protective rather than a remedial procedure. When serious
complications with the child or the mother develop, a not uncommon
occurrence in a society in which young girls may get pregnant before their
first menstrual flow appears, the assistance of the malam / practitioner or even
the yan bori is sought. If there is anything Islamic about the practice of
ungozoma among the Muslim Hausa, it is the custom of secluding the mother
and the child for forty days after birth, a practice common among many
peoples in different parts of dar al-Islam. The therapeutic importance of this
seclusion is, however, minimal. Other than this, the profession ofungozoma

Ibid.
M. F. Smith, Baba of Karo, p. 189
Ibid., Lews Wall, Hausa Mediane, pp. 230-31
Ibrahim Madauci. Hausa Customs, p. 4.
Ibid.
Ismail H Abdalla, 'Islamic Medicine.-.", p. 109.