Islamic morality, youth culture, and expectations of social mobility among young Muslims in Northern Ghana
The article presents an understanding of why young Muslims of Northern Ghana increase their religious commitment, wishing to be part of the modern world. It is stated that they place a growing importance on mastering discourse on Islamic morals, and that discourse of this kind has increased in corre...
| Published in: | Journal of Muslim minority affairs |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2008
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| In: |
Journal of Muslim minority affairs
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| Further subjects: | B
Islam
B Teenagers B Youth culture B Religiosity B Muslim |
| Summary: | The article presents an understanding of why young Muslims of Northern Ghana increase their religious commitment, wishing to be part of the modern world. It is stated that they place a growing importance on mastering discourse on Islamic morals, and that discourse of this kind has increased in correlation with an increase in trans-national influences on the local Islamic community. The strengthened relationship between Muslims in West Africa and the Arab world has led to an understanding of Islam that is related to Wahhabi and the Muslim Brotherhood traditions. The young committed Muslims of Northern Ghana find that Islam carries "civilizing properties" as they encounter, through their religious engagement, new possibilities of taking part in the modernization process. Because the moral discourse of the religious authorities is emphasizing the authority of the religious texts, it has widened the general access to schooling. Moreover, by stating that engaging in education of almost any kind is to be acknowledged as a religious and moral act, it has legitimized young Muslims becoming engaged in further religious and secular studies. The result of this development has been that the young generation of Muslims is presently creating informal moral communities across established sectarian lines, and this engagement has led to an increase in their self-respect and their skills for taking part in the development of civil society. (J Muslim Minor Aff/GIGA) |
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| ISSN: | 1360-2004 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of Muslim minority affairs
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