The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is a good indicator of national development but its calculation is challenging. Estimation can be expensive, labour-intensive and time consuming. Incomplete vital registration of maternal deaths further compounds the difficulty. This scenario necessitates the exploration of other means of estimating maternal mortality, usually indirect techniques. This study estimated the MMR, the percentage of deaths due to maternal causes, and the lifetime risk of maternal death in three rural communities in Zaria emirate, using the indirect sisterhood method. Respondents were mostly Hausa Muslim individuals from 15-49 years of age with a Quranic education. Maternal causes accounted for 46.8% of all deaths, with a 1:13 lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes, and an MMR of 1400 per 100,000 live births. Achieving the fifth MDG will require accurate estimates of maternal deaths. Community-based and survey-based methods such as the sisterhood method are valuable tool in rural area that lack reliable data