1.
I'll tell you a story.
It was the year 2018 and the time of Ramadan, in Minna. I was volunteering with a community group called SISTERS CLOSET, run by Barr. Zahida and a host of other wonderful females.
We were called about a missing girl somewhere around Bosso.
If you ever get caught in a burning house, try to remember that smoke inhalation is the real killer.
So, try to get a wet blanket and cover your nose with it. Make your way to an exit all the while staying as close to the ground as possible. Crawl if you can. Air close for the..
Everyone always wondered why Grandma ran out of foodstuff.
Her kids would buy bags of rice, especially, thinking it'd cover for the year. It wouldn't.
She'd send for more. Even though she lived mostly with a maid, just them two.
We found out why after her death.
I had a carryover because I missed my CA.
I missed my CA because I traveled out of the country.
I traveled out of the country to represent my school.
My school sent me but to be safe, I wrote to the department to inform them.
But this lecturer said I didn't inform her personally
During our first year in the University, most of us thought all the senior students coming to write their carryovers with us to be very unseriousness.
As we advanced, we all come to understand various factors that could lead to carryovers in a Nigerian University.
I followed this case.
It really makes me mad how much media houses frame people's stories to garner clicks.
They know saying that she was 'his wife' will prompt people to start foaming from two sides of their mouths, as if death is the consequence for infidelity but I digress...
...to the ground is less harmful.
Also, before opening any doors, feel the handle and the door itself.
If its hot, please look for another exit, a fire might be behind the door.
Needless to say, try not to stay in any building with only 1 exit (eyeing Kano people)
With all my heart, and in unexpected places, I miss her.
May Allah bless you, Nana-Hauwa.
May Allah light up your grave, and bless you with His mercy and comfort.
You have left very big shoes to fill. I will not fail you, In Sha Allah.
A man brought his child to work the other day.
(Almost) everyone asked where his wife was and why she wasn't with the child.
He explained to them that his wife had to travel briefly and schools were closed.
Ladies and gentlemen, you will not believe what people said to him.
So he,
-abused this woman
-spyed on and stalked her
-killed her and killed the man she tried to start her life anew with.
Media houses need to do better, especially with women's stories.
Say it as it is, stop farming engagements that push the narrative that women deserve death
This is my Foundation.
This is the legacy that has been laid before me.
My namesake, my Grandma, she showed me the way.
She is the reason I love my name, she is the reason I am able to stand for things I believe in.
When I came back, I pressed to do a term paper or something but she didn't budge.
I thought I would at least get a D from the exams... I really thought I gave my all to it.
I failed sha. I cried. God!!!
I think it's our parents marriages that lasted.
The grandmothers I have seen and heard of had like 2 or 3 husbands in their lifetime.
My theory is that our parents (read as mothers) decided to not be like the generation before them and stick to one man.
For context, this was premeditated murder.
He was abusive, and she tried to leave.
They had been separated for about a year, also going through divorce. She started seeing someone.
This idiot set up spyware on his daughter's gadget so he could listen in on the house
But we only realised this when she died, when women came to cry and wonder how to go on after her death.
Some had flourishing businesses, some had sent their children to universities, some had houses, some had all three.
On the day he killed them, he heard them gisting in the living room.
They were cuddled up on the couch.
He walked in on them = He walked into a house he wasn't invited in, found them hugging on a couch and shot them dead. Dead.
This is a very valid reason.
Especially as Muslims, Islam teaches us that a man must have the means to sustain a family before he ventures into getting one.
Or he should fast till he has the means.
Sisters, don't make your life an experiment for anyone.
she almost always advised them to buy lands.
If they agreed to buy land, she would help them get plot(s) and then bully my uncles and aunts into sending her more money (they didn't know what for then) she'd help them build at least one bedroom on the plots.
A lot of things Muslims do now and claim as Islamic rule is actually a culture that Islam curtailed or tried to perfect.
Let's talk polygamy.
Islam didn't come and say, "oh men, marry four wives"
No.
Polygamy was in existence, long before the coming of Islam.
She observed and notices the women around her who were dependent on and being maltreated by their husbands, she noticed divorced women, single mothers, separates wives, widows... these were her targets.
She'd then approach them with a proposal.
She'd give them some rice at a discounted amount (way lower than they could have gotten)
They'd sell and return with both capital and profit.
She'd divide the profit into three, keep one part, insist they use one part to save up for school fees or childcare, then the last part..
...the last part, the women were instructed to spend on themselves (save up for gold, usually).
She collected the capital too. They usually didn't know why.
But this was to test their commitment, because she didn't squander the capital, she saved each woman's capital.
Dear women (especially Muslim women)
Be aggressively picky when it comes to who you will marry. In fact, let over picky worry you.
Be extremely sure before you sign that marriage contract. A husband can make or break you. A husband will affect every single aspect of your life
we get moved by what we hear. That man was being a responsible parent and partner, yet the society was trying to make him feel emasculated.
I haven't caught him alone, but I will, and I will reassure him that he is an awesome human being.
When Grandma (Awawu, as she liked to call herself) when she died, many women lined up to wail.
We wondered why.
She never really had a lot of friends, so why were they trooping in?
Turned out Grandma set up a rice business in her area.
Once there was enough money saved for each woman (accumulated capital and part profits) and she was sure they had good heads on their shoulders, she'd invite them to ask them what they thought they could do with a huge sum of money.
Some would want a bigger business, others gold
As a muslim woman, you best stop donating your money to building masjids that keep you out.
Instead, come together as one and build your own masjids where you do not have to be shoo-ed out like a pest.
Contributions are on going for an ex-colleague's wedding, somebody in the UK sent N3,000.00
Three Thousand Naira!
The WhatsApp group Admin had to ask if it was a mistake. The guy replied with, " IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT MATTERS".
It took a lot of restraint not to cuss out the guy
From those who "advised" him to marry another wife, to those who were "pitying" him for taking care of HIS OWN child, to those who felt his wife was wicked and not virtuous enough for him, cause how dare she leave him to take care of his own child o...
Every time this cooking issue comes up, I remember the man in Niger state who killed his wife cause she was too tired to make his pap.
He beat her to death.
Cause of pap.
Pap.
Eko.
Pap.
I was so mad!
I tried to swallow it but I swear I couldn't.
What broke the camel's back was when one young woman said she was going to tend to the child for the rest of the day because men shouldn't be burdened with child care and "matan bata kyauta ba ai"
Ah, even me I know I went ballistic!
I was so mad!!!
I feel guilty about it, but mehn I had to curse them out till they all kept shut and went about their different ways.
I still want to call that man aside and tell him to ignore what they said to him, because we are moved by..
@NafisaBakkar
This reminds me how so many women cannot recall the last time they got to spend Eid with their parents/relatives, because Eid becomes a time to work for the husband's family.
@Tekanomo_
Pre eclampsia & eclampsia.
Pre eclampsia is the baby brother of eclampsia
It is a dangerous pregnancy complication that results in extreme high blood pressure and protein in the urine.
It can manifest from as early as 20 weeks of pregnancy to also few hours/days after delivery
@jheedarh
Leave them na.
I refuse to raise a child as though I am a single parent, wallahi.
If we are going to have a child together, you will do the work too bi izinillah.
Polygamy isn't, has never been, and you people can NEVER turn it to a MUST in Islam.
It is a choice, an even less recommended choice.
Monogamy is a choice too.
And let everyone choose what they want, and may Allah make it easy.
I especially think that Muslim women should have very high standards and not settle for less.
So much rides on getting the right partner. So dont let anybody guilt trip you into marrying just anyone.
Take your time, choose with your head too.
I'm pretty sure I can write, "Nana is a girl" and the next thing will be my husband swearing that I have written the best sentence in the world and that I am the Achebe of my time. If care is not taken, he will print it out and paste it around the house.
Lmao
Before, you would only find out your man has a whole other family when he dies. Now, someone might post your man's bum bum on Obasanjo's Internet... the mess!
Also I think our grandparents were not really religious... so they didn't have to be like our mothers who for example...
And I dare say, that our grandparents were more... industrious (please don't drag me)
They were the ones who kept gold and expensive wrappers that they could sell when they had to go.
I have a lot of theories but that's enough twitter for today.
Also, there's nothing wrong with being choosy, especially for Muslim women... Be as choosy as possible so you don't end up with someone whose idea of loving you is using religion to manipulate you into servitude and shrinkage.
Getting married or not getting married is the will of God, whether a woman is choosy or not when the time comes she’ll marry who God has willed for her
All this indirect shaming you people do won’t take you anywhere
It’s just like death, you die when it’s your time.
For some weird reason, I am recalling one of those days my husband, then, fiancée came home to see me. When he left, an aunt asked who he was. I told her, "that's the man I want to marry"
She 'corrected' me, said women don't marry men, I should have said...
My personal essay 'Birthing the Mother' was a notable entry for the Abebi Award for AfroNonFiction organised by
@__mofiyinfoluwa
In it, I try not to hid the details about my 1st few moments post-partum.
Read it on
@IseleMagazine
I was so sad n in distress about Ameerah. I was even crying... I am so disappointed.
But I would do everything I did all over again if another person goes missing. Ameerah n her likes will not deter me from thinking the best of others.
You do not want to be vulnerable with a man who does not have high standards for himself and holds himself to some level of discipline and code of conduct.
Be extremely, extremely picky with whom you share your time, your attention, your body and your life with.
I am currently fighting back tears because I not only met my mentor, my creative idol
@HelonHabila
at
@KabaFest
, he signed my books, dashed me his copy of 'Oil and Water' and finally, called me his No. 1 fan!!!
Guys, I am Helon Habila's No.1 fan!!!
But that's not all!!!
And then there's the role technology plays.
I don't think we became terrible humans all of a sudden. We didn't just start with the cheating and irresponsibility but technology makes it easier to find out... and sort of messier too.
I randomly remember that guy that packed his wives to the house and told them to "stand up" while he exhibited them.
The disrespect!!!!
Really can NEVER be me.
I will walk naked and have people throw things at me like Cersei first before I take that disrespect.
It is much more than just marrying two, three, four women.
It is having to constantly rein in your emotions so no one feels less loved than the other, constantly checking your actions, your words and remembering that you really could go to hell because you want more women.
I sha know someone that they brought out clothes for her to wash sha.
She laughed. And left.
She is now married to someone whose family did not bring clothes for her to wash .
He couldn't go more than 4, he couldn't also divorce them at ease, there were steps and procedures and rules (which we will one day discuss)
The Quran actually admonishes men to marry one wife, because it is better for them.
And if it must be polygamy, the 4 is the limit.
A husband will affect the way your kids are raised, their adab, their thought process, their perspective of life and their discipline.
In fact, all women should be very picky with whom they interact with. Especially when sex is going to be involved.
@Tekanomo_
Health providers can try to manage the blood pressure and keep mother on close observation till it is safe to birth the baby.
Sadly, symptoms of pre-eclampsia and pregnancy are almost the same... but what should sound an alarm is a high blood pressure, excessive weight gain...
Mutilating a woman by way of FGM should is criminal.
I don't care about the socio-religious fabrications these people claim as backings.
It is criminal and must be approached with the fiercest of penalties.
Think about siblings; most parents try, but we still know who they love most sometimes.
How can you in good conscience, think that you can do justice between very different, grown ass women?
And let's not forget that doing polygamy wrong attracts Allah's wrath.
deemed unfit for their men.
Then Islam came and established that women were humans and can't be owned and kept laying around like pets.
Polygamy was already a culture, Islam only aimed to regulate the practice.
So that instead of finding a man keeping 30 women, he was...
Guess who won't have time to be feeling left out?
The husband who partakes in actual parenting of his child.
When both of you spend your energy keeping the kids alive, whatever time you have left will be used for sleep.
I wonder why women shift their attention from their husbands to their kids only. I might be wrong because I don’t know anything about it and it’s not my experience to talk about but it just seems that way.
Started the year as a journalist. Closing the year as a part-time journalist and full-time communications baby.
Here are my highlights and small lessons here and there 😉
11.
I expect that every man and indeed woman in my life, respects women and doesn't make stupid jokes.
I expect that men around me know the power that they possess and, use that power to propel equal justice for all genders.
It's always so funny when the reply to women's complaint about having to make elaborate iftars and sahurs is that its also an ibadah.
Shebi you don't want to do Ibadah too? Cook na...
Became Christians and had to live the one man, one woman life. Or even Muslims who had to go through the rigors of a proper Islamic divorce.
They just packed their bags and left.
9.
What I am saying is this.
I am scared. Terrified of men. From the strangers we don't know, to the men that are in our lives.
From not knowing if this stranger will take advantage of us, to wondering if this uncle is waiting to have us alone in the house.
Men married and kept concubines as their whims dictated.
And that's why we have the famous harems of the middle east.
Women were sexual beings, kept in harems, some married, some Mistresses, reduced to sexual objects and commodities.
Sexually deprived, casted out when deemed...
10.
I am terrified of the power that men have. Very terrified.
These three cases, none of the men have been held accountable. Because families want to protect their 'honor' And because we can't 'ruin' the family name.
Relearning Islam is the best thing you can do as a Muslim woman.
You have rights, your voice matters, your feelings matter, you are very important, you deen is between you and Allah.
Rediscover Islam for yourself and know peace.
This is sad.
Come to think of it, Ebira parents may insist you marry ebira but eventually give in to whatever tribe you present except hausa men.
There's the opinion that hausa men do not know the value of marriage, that they divorce indiscriminately.
Please, don't drag me.
6 marriages failed.
6 women from 6 different families and backgrounds could not live with you. But they are the problem, abi?
Dey there make pant dey wear you
Nagama Aure Bi’izinillahi Ta’ala-inji Adam zango
Yafadi abunda kefaruwa tsakaninsa da matarsa tayanzu
Akaran farko zango yafito yayi bayani akan yawan Aure da sakin Mata da mutane kecewa yanayi
@emtukur
Again, may Allah bless you for engaging with me respectfully and taking the time to do the thread.
May Allah increase in our knowledge and grant us the Jannah that we all seek.
Ameen.
Have a lovely evening.
Salam
Fibroid, Cysts are caused by hormonal imbalance. Hormonal Imbalance happens in women for no specific reason. What helps is a non inflammatory diet, exercise, stress management and ignoring idiots like this.
I really HATE naming ceremonies. Even more than weddings.
They said I would like it when it is my turn.
It WAS my turn.
Did not want the crowd for my wedding. Certainly didn't want a naming. Why should I be entertaining people with 3 hours of sleep and a tear in my vagina?
Ya Rabbi, please help my parents grow old without bringing shame upon themselves and me.
And help me grow old without bringing shame upon myself and them.
Ya Allah, please do not make us useless when we are aged. Ameen.
We must raise the next generation of women to understand that they are WHOLE on their own and that suffering and enduring disrespect and disregard is not synonymous to virtue.
No.
You CANNOT be a "good father" and a "bad husband"
Your kids are going to grow and if God helps them not turn out like you, they are going to have resentment and anger at how you treated their mum.
They will remember.
It WILL mess up your relationship with them.
I am looking for texts (articles, books) written by a northerner about the Biafran war.
Also interested in speaking to anyone born in Kano in the 1950s - 1960s who remembers anything at all about the happenings of 1967.
Thank you
@Assimalhakeem
If a man cheats on his wife, we advise HIM to repent and seek forgiveness from his spouse. It is her decision however, to forgive or to leave.
We advise HIM to continue seeking forgiveness from his Creator and avoid the path that led him to cheat.
@Tekanomo_
... reversible blindness, heart or liver injury.
It's a very scary experience. And usually, everything goes back to normal for the mother within days or months after baby is delivered.
A friend was blind for almost a week after an emergency cs.
So, watch out for preeclampsia
The north is burning.
But it's abaya that is our problem, Ya Salam.
Now that its time to really trend
#SecureNorth
it's abaya that is our problem.
Hmmmm
I often remember a story, not sure where I heard it.
A housewife demanded an increase in her monthly allowance from her husband. He replied by insisting she didn't need it because all she did at home was "sit and eat"
She didn't argue.
They’re all “housewives are very valuable” until compensation for the labor is demanded (& oh boy, it is expensive), then suddenly it’s, “but all you do is sit around at home all day.”
During Ramadan I prayed fervently for three things.
The first came through barely days after Ramadan.
The second came through last month.
I know the third is on it's way.
So have faith, Allah is with the faithful. He hears, and He will answer.
I never imagined that I could love anyone more than myself. But the love I have for this child, this flesh of my flesh, I will burn down nations for his smile. At the same time, I will give my life to keep him safe.
I will give anything, anything at all.
Ya Rabb, watch over him.
My husband is trying to get ready for work, and then as though he has remembered the most important thing in the world, he turns to ask me "What happened to Saratu?"
Me that I am trying to do round 2 of sleep. I ask, "who is Saratu?"
He shakes his head.
@Wardah_abbas
I wonder if it will help that I came first in my madarasa, even topped all the subjects except for recitation Sha.
One lady, Hameedah, she passed us all and still remains the most beautiful reciter I have ever had the privilege of listening to.
Or if he bought me rights to the Eiffel tower, or a library in Turkey.
See, dear sisters, go after money if you want. Go after it with your chest.
It isn't a sin.
Again, and for clarity, do NOT refer to me, for any reason as a BITCH.
I am not a bad bitch, I am not a queen bitch, I am not a bitch. Simple.
I appreciate the thought, I do badass stuff, I know.
But I am not a bitch.
Thanks.
Dearest Muslim woman,
Allah created you to worship him. To center you existence upon a marriage and or birth is to set yourself up for heartache.
You may never get married, you may never have children as all these are Allah's mercy and only bestowed upon whom he pleases.
What we often do not take from this teaching, is that the Prophet went to his wife.
He did not, fill himself with ego, think he was too manly to seek safety and comfort in the arms of his wife.
While we use this teaching to tell women how to be good wives, we must also teach...