The record of freedom of expression of women in Sub-Saharan Islamic cultures has been mixed and historically conditioned – that is, if we take freedom of expression broadly to include the space of free articulation of ideas, feelings, opinions, and identities in verbal, non-verbal, and symbolic forms.

Freedom of expression presumes unfettered access to the tools and means for the exercise of that freedom. Foremost among these are intellectual, linguistic, and literary skills imparted in specific educational settings. In the majority of Muslim societies in…