Most women in Islamic Sub-Saharan Africa gain access to land in the customary sphere. Women's rights to land are generally use rights that allow them to use land or the products that they collect from land. These rights to land are often categorized as secondary rights because they come through relationships with men, as wives, daughters, sisters, or mothers. Because their rights come through others, they are generally not well defined and depend on maintaining good relationships. This makes them vulnerable to changing circumstances and changing relationships.

One of the most typi…