With the gradual conversion to Islam, Sahelian societies have been influenced by Islamic organization systems, reinforcing the patrilineality that already existed in these societies. However, within this organization matrilineal elements guarantee women room for negotiation and flexibility in gender relations.

In the West and Central Sahel, Islamization is a continuing process. The first contacts with Islam stem from more than a thousand years ago, when trade routes and traveling Muslims were the avenues for Islam and were closely rel…