A Comparison of Muslims as Minorities in the Volta Region, Ghana, the Côte d'Ivoire and Among the Yoruba of Nigeria in West Africa
- Title
- A Comparison of Muslims as Minorities in the Volta Region, Ghana, the Côte d'Ivoire and Among the Yoruba of Nigeria in West Africa
- list of authors
- Bruce M. Haight
- Abstract
- There are many ways one might approach the study of Muslims as minorities in a given region. One theme of this paper on Muslim minorities in West Africa is Muslim involvement in artistic traditions both on an individual and a group level. This is illustrated with the case of Lamidi Fakeye, a Muslim Yoruba carver living in Nigeria. Fakeye is adamant that maintaining and enriching the artistic traditions of his people need not be incompatible with life as a pious Muslim. A second theme of this paper is stability and transformation in communities where Muslims as minorities live either in orthopraxis (upright practice) or in a 'mixed' state. This theme is illustrated with the cases of the city of Bonduku, located in the Akan State of Gyaman which today lies in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, where Muslim minority communities moved towards orthopraxis, and Bole, located northeast of Bonduku in the Gonja State, which is today in northern Ghana. Bole is an example of a Muslim community which sought to establish orthopraxis in an independent community, but failed. Attention is paid to one other pattern of relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims which is known today in the area west of the Black Volta region, where Muslims are involved in masking cults ('gbain'), which are used as mechanisms for controlling antisocial behaviour.
- volume
- 12
- issue
- 2
- page start
- 449
- page end
- 463
- Date
- 1991
- Language
- Anglais
- Type
- Article de revue
