Islam in a Zongo
Muslim Lifeworlds in Asante, Ghana
Part of The International African Library
- Author: Benedikt Pontzen
- Date Published: January 2021
- availability: Not yet published - available from October 2024
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108830249
Hardback
Other available formats:
Paperback, eBook
Looking for an inspection copy?
This title is not currently available for inspection. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an inspection copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.
-
Zongos, wards in West Africa populated by traders and migrants from the northern savannahs and the Sahel, are a common sight in Ghana's Asante region where the people of these wards represent a dual-minority as both foreigners and Muslims in a largely Christian area, facing marginalisation as a result. Islam provides the people of the zongos with a common ground and shared values, becoming central to their identity and to their shared sense of community. This detailed account of Islamic lifeworlds highlights the irreducible diversity and complexity of 'everyday' lived religion among Muslims in a zongo community. Benedikt Pontzen traces the history of Muslim presence in the region and analyses three Islamic phenomena encountered in its zongos in detail: Islamic prayer practices, the authorisation of Islamic knowledge, and ardently contested divination and healing practices. Drawing on empirical and archival research, oral histories, and academic studies, he demonstrates how Islam is inextricably bound up with the diverse ways in which Muslims live it.
Read more- Explores the diversity and complexities of lived Islam by immersing the reader into everyday Islam and Muslim lifeworlds
- Focuses on three Islamic phenomena encountered in the zongos: Islamic prayer practices, the authorisation of Islamic knowledge, and ardently contested divination and healing practices
- Draws on empirical and archival research, oral histories, and academic studies to demonstrate the interconnectedness of Islam with the lives of people in this unique community
Reviews & endorsements
'The most important analysis of Islam in a Zongo in recent times. This is a fascinating anthropological account of how Islamic beliefs and practices permeate every facet of life for the people of Kokote Zongo in Offinso in southern Ghana. Pontzen offers a unique, nuanced and thorough ethnographic approach with theoretical insights by analysing the backgrounds of the various Muslim groups and their conceptualisations of Islamic beliefs and practices which highlight diversities, conceptions and imaginaries of Islam.' Yunus Dumbe, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumase, Ghana
See more reviews'This elegantly written, richly detailed and theoretically sophisticated book offers deeper insights into the complex history of Islam and the people of Zongo in southern Ghana. Remarkably bold and astutely nuanced, the book is poised to pave a new approach in the study of Muslim communities in Ghana that accounts for their multifaceted reality.' Ousman Murzik Kobo, Ohio State University
'Meticulously crafted and engagingly written, Islam in a Zongo draws readers into the world of ordinary Muslims who, rather than unquestioningly accept Islamic tradition, continuously engage in its re-actualization and its contestation. As such, the book makes a significant contribution to both the anthropology of zongos and the study of lived religion.' Adeline Masquelier, Tulane University
'… combines an enviable knowledge of Islamic theology and practice(s) with thoroughly good fieldwork in Kokote … capture[s] the messy workaday business of taking Islamic precepts and applying them to life lived on a daily basis.' Tom McCaskie, SOAS University of London
'… a valuable contribution to the anthropology of Islam, in Africa and in general … one of the best illustrations I have seen of the way Islam is effectively a 'discursive tradition'.' Robert Launay, Northwestern University
'The author considers the distinctive and sometimes convergent practices, knowledge, and faith of members of these different groups in three subsequent chapters, which include insightful interviews and participant-observation that underscore the multiplicity of the lived experiences of zongo everyday life ... Recommended.' E. P. Renne, Choice
'The book of Benedikt Pontzen adds a significant contribution in the study of the everyday life inside the complex and multifaceted environment that is the Zongo, by using Islam practices as the main analytical instrument.' Giulia Casentini, Politique africaine
Customer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: January 2021
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108830249
- length: 325 pages
- dimensions: 155 x 235 x 20 mm
- weight: 0.55kg
- availability: Not yet published - available from October 2024
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. A History of Muslim Presence in Asante
2. Muslim Presence and Zongos in Asante: The Current State
3. Those Who Pray Together
4. Speaking for Islam: ʿIlm and Religious Authority
5. 'Bōkā:' on Islamic Discourses, Imaginaries, and Incommensurability
Conclusion
Appendixes.-
Resources for
Islam in a Zongo
Benedikt Pontzen
General Resources
Find resources associated with this title
Type Name Unlocked * Format Size Showing of
This title is supported by one or more locked resources. Access to locked resources is granted exclusively by Cambridge University Press to lecturers whose faculty status has been verified. To gain access to locked resources, lecturers should sign in to or register for a Cambridge user account.
Please use locked resources responsibly and exercise your professional discretion when choosing how you share these materials with your students. Other lecturers may wish to use locked resources for assessment purposes and their usefulness is undermined when the source files (for example, solution manuals or test banks) are shared online or via social networks.
Supplementary resources are subject to copyright. Lecturers are permitted to view, print or download these resources for use in their teaching, but may not change them or use them for commercial gain.
If you are having problems accessing these resources please contact [email protected].
Related Books
related journals
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×