Singing between What Culture (DIS) Allows: The Expression of Emotion by Muslim Women Singers in Nigeria

Abstract

Women in the Northern Nigeria who are predominantly Muslims are not allowed to sing in the public places; whereas singing and dancing performance is not meant for hall/auditorium in Africa. The paper explores and investigates how the Muslim women in Ilorin within the Islamic restriction perform music to enhance the process of empowerment and an avenue to express their emotions. Ilorin is a typical city where music performance at a communal level does not arise. This study therefore relies on individual music ensemble performances to generate its data. A total of 20 ensembles were observed and 20 husbands/men involved in the performance were interviewed. The bands were not exclusively women as the instrumentalists were men.

The paper while investigating the process of empowerment rather than the outcome discovered that in a subtle way these female Musicians negotiate their stand and express their feelings through music performances where they shared marital agony, societal discomfort, agitations about public opinion and what Islam demands of them. The paper concludes that while an outcome of women empowerment is in focus, the process of resistance remains a source of momentum for women's Muslim in Ilorin, Nigeria to relieve themselves of some psychological tensions.