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Book Cover
E-book
Author Pontzen, Benedikt, author

Title Islam in a zongo : Muslim lifeworlds in Asante, Ghana / Benedikt Pontzen
Published Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021
©2021

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Description 1 online resource
Series International African library ; 62
International African library ; 62.
Summary 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
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 17, 2021)
Subject Islam -- Ghana -- Ashanti Region
Muslims -- Ghana -- Ashanti Region -- Social conditions
Religious minorities -- Ghana -- Ashanti Region
Islam
Muslims -- Social conditions
Religious minorities
Ghana -- Ashanti Region
Genre/Form Electronic books
Form Electronic book
ISBN 110890212X
9781108900706
1108900704
9781108902120