Islamic talismanic tradition in nineteenth-century Asante

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Book

Title:	Islamic talismanic tradition in nineteenth-century Asante
Author:	Owusu-Ansah, David
Year:	1991
Volume:	21
Pages:	253
Language:	English
Series:	African studies
City of publisher:	Lewiston, NY
Publisher:	Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN:	0773497269
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	Islam Ashanti polity ritual objects
Abstract:	This study on Asante-Muslim relations in nineteenth-century Kumase (Ghana) pays particular attention to the role of the Muslim cleric as a producer of charms and amulets. The Asante placed a high value on Muslim prayer and charms, and this was without doubt the basis of the influence which the Muslims came to exercise in the affairs of a court otherwise dominated by the cult of the ancestors. The author's aim is twofold: to translate and examine aspects of a corpus of Arabic manuscripts from the Guinea Coast held in the collection of the Royal Library, Copenhagen, and classified as Cod. Arab. CCCII, specifically the many magical formulae or prescriptions for the making of amulets which these manuscripts contain, and to analyse the relationship that developed between Muslim leaders and Asante 'ahenfo' (chiefs) in Kumase during the first half of the nineteenth century.