Everyday Islam in Kumasi: Devout Lay Men and Women in Daily Life

by Gracia Clark

Hausa

Hausa has been spoken in Ghana for centuries, starting in towns to the north of Asante. Traders from the Hausa homeland in Northern Nigeria traveled into the north of present-day Ghana along the caravan routes that linked Asante to the international trading network that stretched across the Sahara to North Africa and east through the Sudan to Egypt. Hausa traders settled their families in major trading towns outside Asante to act as landlords and brokers for travelers. These influential "Ghana Hausa" made it easier for local Ghanaians to do business in major towns if they learned Hausa and converted to Islam. Only a few religious leaders lived inside Asante itself.

Soon after British conquest in 1896, members of the Hausa Constabulary came to occupy Kumasi. The new Muslim settlers were joined by traders from the Northern towns, formerly kept outside Asante borders by royal travel restrictions. While some of these spoke Hausa to each other, substantial numbers also spoke other languages from Northern Ghana, such as Dagomba and Konkomba.

Tailors
Imam Alhaji Rabiu Abubakr

Muslims Do Not Behave Like That (2006)

You are supposed to live in mutual respect and kindness with your neighbor, if you have one, whether that neighbor is a believer or a non-believer