(9): Hausa Film: Compatible or Incompatible with Islam and the Hausa Culture?
Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim
Bayero University, Kano
@muhsin234
INTRODUCTION
The world can no longer escape being
‘exposed’ through the media—print and non-print. It is no longer what it used
to be. Globalization, now at its peak, is tied with media like a computer to
its screen. Hence wars are fought through the media; election campaigns
conducted there; products advertised; and there is virtually no place uncovered
by the media. Films, as vital machinery used by the media, are accorded with
ample efficacy, for via this much propaganda—for good or bad—of the so-called
world superpowers were said to have, and are still being, sold to, and devoured
by, people. This is possible for, almost everybody can understand the language
of film and its universal appeal; film is endowed with the communicative power
that can mobilize people to frenzy or lull them with dreams and illusions. This
is very evident especially in Hausa-land where both its teeming youth and
elderly so much used to watch Indian films many years back when the technique
of subtitle was probably not known for a possible comprehensible English
translation, and yet identified with the characters, laugh at their antics and
feel sad for their agony. Indian film still enjoys patronage among the people,
though not as before.
Therefore, the impact of film is
overwhelming. But such as it is, filmmakers in Kano as well as other states in
the Muslim northern states of Nigeria are often in ideological clash with the
larger society, government and religious institutions. The filmmakers are
accused of misrepresenting and attacking socio-cultural and religious value
systems of Hausa people (hereinafter referred to as Hausawa), the major ethnic group in the region. Hausawa are strict
followers of Islam, the religion, which, in a greater proportion, conforms with
their culture; thus, both the culture and Islam frown at the film, especially
such as those produced for, many of them contain plenteous quasi-Euro-American and
non-Islamic ideas, practices and episodes, and so do not represent the
culture and the religion of the people. This article quests to discover whether
or not the film has a niche within the Hausa culture and Islam; it also offers
advice on how to possibly better things.
HOW DID IT ALL START: A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF FILM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
Records
have it that the colonial masters introduced the region to the world of film
through establishing a company called Colonial Film Unit (CFU) at the beginning
of the 20th century. The film unit of the Northern Region (present
day Kano and other states) took over its activities years after. Thus new films
were made to celebrate and, thereby, bond people to the Empire. Dan Arewa a London, for instance, is on
‘how the typical Northerner would conduct himself in London
The
famous American anthropologists, Brian Larkin (2008) traces that the production
of Hausa videos did not surface ex nihilo, but developed out of older forms of
popular culture in northern Nigeria. Wasan
Kwaikwayo, or drama, has a long tradition in Hausa society and continues to
be popular. Adamu (2007:77) also, asserts that: “The Hausa video film was
literally born in 1990 with the
first Hausa language film, Tirmin Danya
in Kano, northern Nigeria”. The
local film industry is called Kannywood (name-styled after Hollywood,
Bollywood, Nollywood of the U.S, India and Nigeria, respectively). It was
recorded that between 1990 and 1997, the Kano-Kaduna axis produced some fifty
video films; and from a list of forty of such home videos, “thirty five ... are
recordings (mostly on VHS) by drama clubs of their stage performances”. On
another development, Adamu (2007:77) reports that: “When the National Film and
Video Censorship Board, Abuja, started recording (and censoring) video films in
Nigeria from 1995, a total of 1600 Hausa video films were officially recorded
by the Board between 1998 and 2005”.
According to the recent National Film and Video Censor’s Board figures, Hausa
film industry makes up over 30% of the Nigerian film industry (McCain,
2011).
SALT IN A TEA: THE GENESIS OF THE
RIFT
It
started with thematic preoccupations which in many respects were appreciated
and upheld by both the populace and the government. The prime subject matters in
those nascent productions are virtually similar to the usual, olden days’
produced Indian films. These include: 1) instilling morals and values in the
audience through the presentation of such habits, and portraying the bad end of
anybody that deviates. By extension, this means to claw back the audience into
social/religious conformity.; 2) romantic relationships, for instance: a boy
meets a girl, falls in love…then encounters obstacles – mostly from their parents
– they avoid/overcome the obstructions, get married and live happily for ever
after; 3) some fantasies of varying subject matter such as love, comedy, even
tragedy, et cetera; among other themes.
The rift was created when the focus
of the artists changed, and changed for the worse, as reckoned by the majority
of opinions. Adamu (2006a) mentions that: Two strands showed in some Hausa
video films produced in the mid-2000s led to the clash—[the] exploration of the
family conjugal space, and the re-enactment of the erotic elements of [the]
female in song and dance routines that are mandatory in commercial Hausa video
films. In this process, the storylines included specific scenes with
bedroom encounters, often including semi-nude actors in sexually suggestive
poses on the same bed. The first three films to explore this were Alhaki
Kwikwiyo, Saliha? and Malam Karkata. And this is a direct effect of
westernization, which to them means modernization. The local populace
especially with media penetration and accessibility (e.g. through satellite TV;
stations like Farin Wata), have no
power whatsoever to impose any strict code of values consumed by their
youngsters. They are always simply left with the debate on the correctness,
appropriateness or otherwise of a certain film released.
In contrast to the many
non-film-making peoples’ perception, the filmmakers, the actors and actresses
are said to have been influenced by the Western form of globalization. To many
of them, one scholar in cultural studies says they see that “westernization as
modernization”. It is historically factual that Hausawa did not know dancing
and singing, among other alien portrayals, by a girlfriend and her boyfriend as
that is not in their culture; but almost all Hausa films contrarily subscribe
that to Hausawa. This, eventually, (mis)leads them to a series of discord with
their mostly targeted audience at both authoritative and ordinary levels – more
at the authority level. Thus, both the culture and Islam censure and condemn
the films in some ground. Many researchers believe that film made in a
particular society should be the society’s cultural and, marginally, religious
reflector and influencer. This dispute kicked off the ideological confrontation
between the two parties. Ali Nuhu, an ace Hausa film actor, director and
producer, has this to say in an interview in relation to the above:
The political systems in Nigeria and Niger Republic
This
and more necessitated the government to establish a formal code of practice
called the Censorship Board to monitor the relationship between films, imported
or indigenous, and society in Kano
CENSORSHIP AND THE HAUSA HOME VIDEOS
The
Kano state censorship board was established to regulate, monitor and,
therefore, censor the activities of the people of/in the film industry and
beyond. Soon after its inception in the early 2000s, during the first tenure
(1999-2003) of Governor Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the board completely banned
the activity of the film industry in the state because, as Haynes (2007:7)
reports, “it offended Hausa culture and Islam”. The ban included “prohibition
of the sale, production and exhibition of films in Kano
An
eight-minute private mobile clip, which was then christened “The First Hausa
Blue Film,” went viral. Maryam Hiyana, an up-and-coming actress in the
industry, was at the centre of this scandalous and controversial clip. She was
shown involved in an explicit sexual act, considered by many, if not all, as
catastrophically devastating taboo in the society, “which cannot tolerate a
movie in which male and female actors have the barest of body contact, not even
a handshake” (Ammani, undated).
Following the incident, government under the leadership of Malam Ibrahim
Shekarau, restructured the board and appointed a powerful and stern Director
General (DG) in the person of Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem. The new DG
imposed drastic measures to more closely ‘sanitize’ the industry; the scope of
the board was further widened to monitor even writers, musicians, hawkers, et
cetera. This subsequently led to the incarceration of many people, including
some filmmakers, actors and actresses, creating a turbulent situation between
them and the censorship board.
One of the sensational cases was sentencing the
leading film producer and one of the earliest actors, and a former
gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Hamisu Lamido Iyantama, in December
2008, to 15 months imprisonment with a fine of N300, 000 for allegedly
refusing to register his company, Iyan-Tama Multimedia with the board.
However, after serving some period in the prison, he was granted bail; but he
consequently sued the Director to court… the drama ultimately died. (Sunday
Trust, 17th October, 2010). Other equally startling cases include
castigation and incarceration of the leading comedian, Rabilu Musa Dan Ibro; the
arrest, trial and imprisonment of the famed musician, director, producer and
actor, Adam A. Zango, among others.
The trend has not yet changed despite the leaving of
office of that government and coming of a new, which many, including the film
practitioners, consider pro-Kannywood. Engr. Kwankwaso was re-elected in the
April, 2011 election as the governor of the state. But not long in office, on the
13th November, 2012, the “Kano state films and Censorship Board
tribunal sentenced the famous Kannywood star, Sani Danja, a film producer,
Rabiu Al-Rahus and one Bilkisu Bashir, to a one-year imprisonment each or a
fine of N30,000, respectively” (Blueprint,
13th November, 2012 ). The star, Danja, was convicted for releasing
his film titled Y’ar Gudille without
the Board’s approval. Yet again, just a few weeks back, on Saturday, 21 September 2013 the board had to
ban another film Kara’in Ibro and trialed
its makers. This latest court case, despite all its precedence and full knowledge of
the consequence of going ‘against’ the board by the accused people, left many
people asking: when will this ever end – if it ever will? What could they do
not to ‘offend’ the Board? What culture and religion are Hausa and Islam as the
board always claims to safeguard these two phenomena?
ISLAM, CULTURE AND THE HAUSA FILM: A FORCED FUSION?
One can hardly – if one ever can –
talk of Hausawa without binding them to their major religion, Islam. This is
inescapable, for the religion deals with both the spiritual and the material
life of the Muslim. As far as Islam is concerned, there is no stone left
unturned in the life of the Muslim. Hence, the inextricable attachment – and
more, the culture of Hausa in many respects conforms to the religion. For
instance, covering one’s body; both Islam and the culture of Hausa enjoin that.
Records have it that even before the coming of Islam into Hausaland, the people
did weave and used the products to wrap their nudity. The earliest Hausa films
were, one could argue, in line with this before they metamorphosed to a more daring
a la global themes due, among other reasons, to the massive inflow of many
people from diverse culture into the occupation.
On
this note, some scholars and public commentators question the identity of those
filmmakers, the actors and the actresses, and, generally, the entire people of
the film-making industry. They believe that the kind of behaviour portrayed in
those ‘malicious’ films is not Hausa. According to the April 2000 edition of
the Kano-based film magazine, Tauraruwa:
Whenever you mention Hausa home
video, it is assumed these are videos made by the ethnic Hausa...The
ethnic tribes that overrun the Hausa home video industry include Kanuri, Igbos
and most significant of all, the Yoruba ... About 42% of the Hausa home video
producers and artistes are of Yoruba extraction, 10% are Kanuri, 8% are Igbos
... Only about 40% are true
ethnic Hausa. (quoted by Adamu 2005:13
in Ekwuazu [2007])
The issue, nonetheless, is not whether
these films are made by the ‘true ethnic Hausa’ or by the “acculturated
Hausanized Muslim and non-Muslim non-ethnic Hausa,” as far as the nomenclature
of the films is Hausa. The issues rather are to find out what led to the said
dissonance. Do these films represent or misrepresent the people and the culture
they are an offshoot of? Are the grievances shown by those collective bodies
towards the Hausa films well-founded? For instance, Adamu (2006a: 59)
quotes well-expressed grievance of one viewer:
We the fans of Hausa
video films have come to realize that it is the producers and the directors
that are responsible for the corruption of culture and religion in these films.
You know very well that every section of a woman is private. For instance, they
are fond of allowing actresses without head covering, and straightening their
hair; also making them wear skimpy Western dresses which reveal their body
shapes, etc. In our awareness and education, we know these behaviors are
immensely contrary to Islam. Don’t such actresses ever think of the Day of Judgment?
Don’t forget their claims that they are educating or delivering vital social
message. Is this how you educate—by corrupting Islamic injunctions? Please look
into this and take remediate measures immediately. Aisha D. Muhammad Gamawa,
Bauchi, Fim, Letter Page, March 2004, p. 6.
THE ISLAMIC VIEW ON FILM
Basically
watching films, drama and the like is permissible as long as they do not
present what is contrary to Islamic teachings like immorality, irreligiosity, licentiousness,
etc. But, going by its origin
in this context, some people perhaps hate the art of drama and, later, of
films, because it was largely brought and promoted by the Christian, western
colonial masters in Nigeria. Ideal Hausawa consider Islam not only relevant in
their lives but a necessary panacea for the multi-dimensional problems of the
modern world. Hence, for the film to function ‘effectively,’ its umbilical cord
has to be severed from its originator’s—the West; or, the second option is to
push the status of Islam to a lower ebb, which is what is collaboratively
chosen by the majority Hausa video film-makers and their artists. Some filmmakers
give all avenues for all sorts of religiously-generated criticism. For
instance, they excessively copiously copy from Indian films, and subtly from
other foreign films. They cleverly and without any copyright permission
re-enact an Indian film that captures the attention of the audience.
This issue is actually an intricate
one. This I say, for there are many self-called and pseudo-religious scholars
who have taken it up with passion and as fashion to go on the media and crucify
all actors and actresses as transgressors and promoters of unrighteousness.
They largely and almost always ground their accusation on some sayings of the
Prophet and Qur’anic verses, like:
“And I have not created the Jinns and Mankind
except that they should worship me” 51:56
“We have left
out nothing in this book…” 6:38
The two verses, as far as those
people believe, leave no room for the films. Muslims were created to worship
God, not to be ‘misinformed’ and ‘misled’ by mere mimetic representation
captured on camera. No one would tell them that I can ‘teach’ or ‘enlighten’
you through film, or the like. However, Islam, I dare to say, is not an
unsophisticated religion; it rather moves with the trend. This is why in many
Muslim dominated countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and
others, their governments in conjunction with the film-making industries
produce animated cartoon and normal dramas (usually as series and serials) and
even full-length film for their citizenry. Unfortunately not so is done here.
TOWARDS THE POSSIBLE WAY OUT AND WAY FORWARD
- Film is a double-edged weapon, where it could be used for good or bad. It thus remains a great challenge upon all film-makers and the Muslim intelligentsia, and the government too, to utilize the art for good and produce ‘Islamic’ films. The religious establishment, which Adamu (2006a:57) dubbed “the main litmus test of the acceptability of a popular culture in the Islamic polity,” plays a greater role in the said mission. Scholars of various sects condemn what are seen as sexual excesses, cultural misrepresentation and adulteration, and the like in any Hausa home video. But with coming and, if possible doing it, together, such would be threaded.
·
Film
is a transmitter of cultural value and mores of people, hence, the need for it
to reflect and not to refract the peoples’ ethos. The Hausa filmmaking and
producing personnel, on the one hand, should be aware of this. For their
products to be approved and well accepted, they ought to base and act it out in
conformity with the larger societal expectation, desire, want and need, and as
enshrined by the state cinematography law. The film is done not for
self-consumption alone, it is rather meant to be consumed and appreciated by
others. And, on the other hand, the government should outline categorically the
mode as validation of films’ moral rectitude and therefore as fit for public
consumption.
·
Films
are believed to play an important role in forming ideas about, and attitude to,
the world, in setting agendas, and enabling (or not) other ways of envisaging the [society] and
doing many other “amazing” things (Perkins, 2000). This calls for the
film-makers to be more careful. They should know more about what is called Entertainment-Education.
To borrow some scholars’ words, “the message is NOT the story”. I am not
advocating for didactic films as that may lead to running the risk of being
boring. Get an approvable story, create actions, other dilemmas, other
conflicts and blend all of these with your message. It could be, though
silently, but very effectively achieved this way.
- Why
even at the level of the community, the filmmakers and the artists are, on
many grounds, regarded with negative attitude, stereotype, disdain and
contempt; though they are hailed by others in some instances. To amend
this, I believe they should interact more with their audience, for neither
can exist without either. Even in their ‘senior woods’—Hollywood and
Bollywood—many stars are self-sacrificed humanitarian workers. For
instance, Angelina Jolie has reportedly adopted children from around the
globe, and she and others like Shah Rukh Khan have been making various and vast donations to the needy.
Kannywood film-makers and artists should follow suit with however little
they could offer. This will certainly get them the faith of the audience.
- And
many more other ways.
CONCLUSION
As it might have been deduced from
the foregoing, the three—Islam, culture and the Hausa Home Video—could be
harmonized, and thus will be of great benefit to the populace. The government,
as the number one warring party, and the film-makers have to find a common
ground for peace and progress. The case of Sani Danja and that of Kara’in Ibro talked about, happened, and
will very much likely and possibly continue to happen in the future until and
unless a kind of mutual understanding is built between the filmmakers and their
warring forces. However, the agreement to be reached may not be a win-win one
for both parties; one or both has/have to relinquish some ‘claims’ and let
things be.
NB:
Large portion of this article was
culled from a paper of related content but different title I presented at the 7th
Conference on Literature in Northern Nigeria Organized by the Department of
English and French, Bayero University, Kano, 3rd to 6th
December, 2012
Reference
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