Islam and the Dagaaba of the Upper West Region of Ghana, C. E. 1400 - 2008

Abstract

Dagaaba converted to Christianity in great numbers but resisted Islam when it came. The study seeks to investigate the factors that accounted for Dagaaba acceptance of and resistance to Islam. It also intends to collect and document the oral history of Islam in Dagaabaland in the Upper West Region of Ghana. A qualitative method of data collection and analysis was employed. Indepth interviews, focus group discussions guide (FGD) and participant observation were applied as research instruments for the data collection. The descriptive research design was also used to interpret the collected primary data. The author found out that Islam was established in Dagaabaland by nonindigenous and indigenous Muslims. The non-indigenous Muslims, mostly Mande-Yeri, entered Dagaabaland in the sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The indigenous Muslims consisted of Southern Ghana Dagaaba migrant converts, liberated ex-slaves and converts in Dagaabaland. These people were converted to Islam towards the end of the nineteenth century and in the twentieth century. The author discovered that the non-indigenous and indigenous Muslims established Islam through various means and succeeded in converting some Dagaaba to Islam. However, the author also found out that the greatest obstacle to the spread of Islam and the conversion of Dagaaba was the resilience of the Dagaaba traditional religion. The people and the traditional religious authorities remained committed to the ancestral veneration and refused to convert to Islam. Though Islam failed to create an impact on the Dagaaba, it influenced Dagaabe society culturally.