Allah Made Us

A rich and engrossing account of 'sexual outlaws' in the Hausa-speaking region of northern Nigeria, where Islamic law requires strict separation of the sexes and different rules of behavior for women and men in virtually every facet of life.

This is the first ethnographic study of sexual minorities in Africa, and one of very few works on sexual minorities in the Islamic world. It is engagingly written, combining innovative, ethnographic narrative with analyses of sociolinguistic transcripts, historical texts, and popular media, including video, film, newspapers, and song-poetry. This book analyzes the social experiences and expressive culture of ‘yan daudu (feminine men in Nigerian Hausaland) in relation to local, national, and global debates over gender and sexuality at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Winner of the 2009 Ruth Benedict Prize in the category of "Outstanding Monograph".