(Wo)Manhood and Gender Ideologies in Islamic Nuptial Sermons among Yoruba Muslims in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Islamic nuptial sermons (khutbatu al-nikah) among Yorùbá Muslims in southwestern Nigeria represent a distinctive hybrid genre in which Qur'anic exegesis and Hadith are interwoven with indigenous proverbial wisdom. Despite the centrality of these sermons to marital socialisation, their role in constructing gender ideologies remains critically underexamined. The research examines ten wedding sermons, of which six excerpts were derived (khutbatu al-nikah), performed from 2020 to 2025, with the aid of Fairclough’s tripartite framework of Critical Discourse Analysis for analysing the construction and legitimisation of masculinities and femininities. Metaphor, modality, transitivity, and intertextuality are selected for analysis. The result shows that a discourse of negotiated patriarchy operates in which men's authority is presented as a holy amanah (trust) as opposed to dominance, while femininity is established through derivation, emotional labour, and obedience using the rhetoric of love and compassion. Although the occasional relativising of male privilege occurs, gender hierarchy persists since it is double legitimized.