Nana Asmaʼu

While Nana Asmaʾu became the most prominent, her sisters Maryam and Fatima, and the Caliph's wives Aisha and Hawwaʾu, played major literary and political roles in the new state.

[7] Nana Asmaʾu had a public reputation as a leading scholar in the most influential Muslim state in West Africa, which gave her the opportunity to correspond broadly.

[9] As the Sokoto Caliphate began as a cultural and religious revolutionary movement, the writings of its leaders held a special place by which later generations, both rulers and ruled, could measure their society.

[12] In turn, each of these jajis used the writings of Nana Asmaʾu and other Sufi scholars, usually through recited mnemonics and poetry, to train crops of learned women called the ƴan-taru, or "those who congregate together, the sisterhood.

"[13] To each jaji she bestowed a malfa, a hat and traditional ceremonial symbol of office of the Hausa animist priestesses in Gobir, tied with a red turban.

[15] Nana Asmaʾu's continued legacy rests not just on her literary work, but also on her role in defining the values of the Sokoto state.

She is the subject of several studies, including Jean Boyd's The Caliph's Sister: Nana Asma'u 1793–1865: Teacher, Poet and Islamic Leader (1989), described as an "important book" that "provides a good read for the nonspecialist willing to discard common stereotypes about women in Africa",[17] and One Woman's Jihad: Nana Asma'u, Scholar and Scribe by Beverly B. Mack and Jean Boyd (2000).

The Collected Works of Nana Asma'u, Daughter of Usman dan Fodiyo 1793–1864, edited by Boyd and Mack, was published in 1997.