CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH

CLASSICAL MUSLIMAH: 14

Umariri Songhai, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Sunday 1st April, 2018.

The backyard of the house was heavily decorated with Fulani accessories by The_Haajarah. A platform was raised which was made specifically for the bride to sit on. It was covered with coffee material. Behind the platform were Fulani decorations consisting of fayfayi —a light plate-like woven item used for covering the top of calabashes—, gammo —a round hard item with a whole in the middle such that it resembles a doughnut covered with woven material used to balance a calabash on the head or on the floor to avoid falling —of small and large sizes, ludayi —a spatula like tool with a deep head and short handle usually made of wood specifically for serving cow milk— and small calabashes.

On the raised platform, there were traditional large round pillows known as timtim placed on either side. A little farther away, samira —deep silver plates usually coated in white paint and then designed with brown flowers painted on it— in numerous sizes were arranged together with some calabashes which had been designed with red and white.

Smaller timtim were placed on a carpet, surrounding the raised platform to serve as a place for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to sit. Then there were tables set at the left and right hand side of the raised platform, about seven of them on both sides, making a total of ten, each with five chairs surrounding it. Atop these tables were traditional snacks in calabashes ranging from goruba, magarya, kurna, taura, carbin malam among others.

The remaining space was kept empty and open save for the old women that were sitting on a large carpet getting set to perform the traditional kidan kwarya which was done by hitting calabashes that were placed upside down. Sometimes, the calabashes are immersed in water.

When Eesh stepped outside, her jaw dropped to the floor. The place looked better than she imagined. Even though The_Haajarah wasn't Fulani she still captured the Fulani theme required.

The event kicked off with the old women beating the calabashes and singing in Fulfulde while the bridesmaids danced the koroso. After some more dancing and singing, Nono was brought to Eesh so she could feed her husband as per tradition before anyone else got a taste of it.

The photography crew were set and ready to capture the moment. The camera was already rolling, taking videos of her every move. Some of the bridesmaids were also standing, taking videos and pictures of the moment.

Eesh got down from the raised platform she and Abulkhair were sitting on and bent down as low as her wrapper would let her. She took the calabash and opened it. Taking the ludayi, she scooped some of the Nono and carefully took it to Abulkhair's mouth. The latter opened his mouth and she fed him.

When Eesh dropped the calabash, she stood up and sat back on the platform. Turning to Abulkhair, she noticed some of the nono had stained his trimmed beard so she used her hand to clean it, smearing it in the process. She was about to stand up when someone passed her a serviette so she used it to dab on his beard and lips. They stayed in that position, each lost in the other's eyes. They weren't even noticing the camera men struggling to capture the moment from all angles.

And when Abulkhair leaned and whispered, "You look beautiful, just like a Fulani queen." in Eesh's ears, the crowd couldn't hold it in. Series of awws and coos flew into the air. They didn't know what Abulkhair had said but the slight smile on Eesh's face gave them away.