Islam in Africa 
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| Title: | Variations in the Colonial Representation of Islam and Muslims in Northern Ghana, ca. 1900-1930 |
| Author: | Weiss, Holger |
| Year: | 2005 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |
| Volume: | 25 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Period: | April |
| Pages: | 73-95 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic terms: | Ghana Great Britain |
| Subjects: | images Islam colonialism history 1900-1949 History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft |
| Link: | https://doi.org/10.1080/13602000500114066 |
| Abstract: | The author investigates British perceptions of Islam and Muslims in the northern territories in Ghana from c. 1900 up to the early 1930s. His key objective is to study the various positions towards Muslims taken by the colonial officials in northern Ghana and how these perceptions changed during the period of observation. This change in the presentation and image of Islam in the eyes of colonial officials is exemplified through the qualitative use of the data from three early censuses conducted between 1911 and 1931. The author argues that, in the northern territories, British attitudes shifted from a 'pro-Muslim' perspective to an indifferent, if not pejorative one. On the other hand, there existed no clear-cut or systematic British 'Islamic' or Muslim policy during most of the colonial period. British colonial administrators did not take Islam into consideration as an independent category when they formulated their colonial policies in their four West African colonies. They only appropriated Muslim personnel and institutions - if and when they existed and were found suitable for the administration of the colonial dependencies. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |
