Maalam Shaihu
Maalam Shaihu (active in the early twentieth century) was one of the learned Hausas known as maalamai, who were the most respected and honoured members of the Hausa community in the Gold Coast and Nigeria. The use of Arabic corresponded at that time to the use of Latin in mediaeval Europe, the knowledge of Arabic was necessary for conducting any research about the Hausa culture. A maalam of the best class possessed all the language and literary skills and understanding of the Hausas. Thus, Shaihu cooperated with R. S. Rattray to gather Hausa stories and manuscripts and make the Hausa culture better known. Much of the work contained in Hausa Folk-Lore involved his translation from Arabic into Hausa, and Rattray’s translation into English from the Hausa. In 1907-1911 during Rattray’s journeys in West Africa and in England, Maalam Shaihu accumulated many hundreds of sheets of manuscripts. Thanks to his work the traditional lore lost nothing of its authenticity. It is worth mentioning that, by the grant of the government of the Gold Coast, Maalam Shaihu’s Arabic penmanship was preserved by facsimile reproduction of his Arabic text printed in the 1913 edition.
Source:
R. R. Marett, Preface; R. Sutherland Rattray, Author’s Note in R. S. Rattray, Hausa Folk-Lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913.
Bio prepared by Marta Pszczolińska, University of Warsaw, m.pszczolinska@al.uw.edu.pl
Records in database:
- A Story about a Giant, and the Cause of Thunder
- A Story about a Maiden and the Pumpkin
- A Story about an Orphan Which Was the Origin of the Saying “The Orphan with a Coat of Skin is Hated, but When It Is a Metal One He Is Honoured”
- A Story about Three Youths All Skilled in Certain Things, and How They Used That Skill to Circumvent a Difficulty
- How the Whip and the “Maara” Spoon (a Broken Bit of Calabash) Came to the Haunts of Men
- The Gaawoo-tree and the Maiden, and the First Person Who Ever Went Mad
