Brokers of Modernity Berliner Beiträge Zur Ethnologie Band 30 Tina Heinze

Tina Heinze • Brokers of Modernity Berliner Beiträge zur Ethnologie Band 30 Tina Heinze

Brokers of Modernity

Life Stories of Educated Muslims in Ghana, 1935–2005

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Als Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Akademischen Grades eines Dr. Phil., vorgelegt dem Fachbereich 07 Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz von Tina Heinze aus Berlin, Mainz 2010 Referent: Prof. Dr. Thomas Bierschenk Korreferentin: Prof. Dr. Carola Lentz

Gedruckt auf holz- und säurefreiem Papier, 100 % chlorfrei gebleicht.

©Weißensee Verlag, Berlin 2013 www.weissensee-verlag.de

ISSN 1610-6768 ISBN 978-3-89998-207-7 Contents

Map of Ghana...... 7

Introduction...... 9

Muslims in Ghana...... 13

Chapter One: Methodological and Theoretical Reflections...... 17

Change of Discipline: From History to Anthropology...... 17

Modification of Topic: From Institution to Generation ...... 21 Adjustment of Method: From Participant Observation to Biographical Interview...... 22

Chapter Two: Historical Overview on Muslims and Education in West Africa...... 27

Colonial Period...... 27

Post-Colonial Times...... 34

After Democratic Transitions...... 39

Chapter Three:

Facing Colonialism, Control and Conversion...... 45

Muslims and Education in the Gold Coast...... 46

‘The Pioneers’...... 56

Portrait of the First Generation...... 65

Chapter Four: ‘Imagining’ Islamic and National Communities...... 83

Muslims and Education after Ghana’s Independence...... 85

‘We are still a few’...... 92

Portrait of the Second Generation...... 99

Chapter Five: Dealing with ‘Dual Citizenship’...... 115

Muslims and Education in Ghana Today...... 117

‘Ambassadors to our Communities’...... 124

Portrait of the Third Generation...... 132

Conclusion...... 151

5 CONTENTS

List of Plates...... 156

List of Interviews...... 157

Abbreviations...... 158

Glossary...... 159

References...... 161

6 Map of Ghana

Source: Raymond B. Bening, Ghana, Accra, 1999

Introduction

Min Ghana ila Afghanistan … This is the beginning of an old Arabic poem, which originated in the medieval period.1 It states that during this time Islam had spread from Ghana in Africa to Afghanistan in Asia. Ghana was a famous empire in West Africa that existed between the 9th and 12th century. It was situated in the vast territory between the Senegal and Niger rivers. Then, a millennium later in 1957, the British Colony Gold Coast (situated further to the South than medieval Ghana) gained independence. The new government under Kwame Nkrumah named the young republic after the old empire, Ghana.

For several centuries Muslims have played important roles on the African continent. They acted in higher positions such as political advisors to kings. Beyond spreading a new religion, Muslims became brokers in the eco- nomic, political and educational fields. Many of them exchanged goods as traders, served as soldiers, and transmitted knowledge as scholars. In West Africa Muslims set up a two-stage educational system with basic and advanced education. Arabic was the main written language in these pre- dominantly oral societies. Muslim schools combined religious with secular education and offered subjects such as mathematics, medicine, geography and philosophy (Reichmuth 2000).

However, Muslims lost their status as brokers during the colonial period in West Africa, although to various degrees. Since the 15th century, different European rulers had taken over power and established new administra- tions on the coast in West Africa. As one result of this, the trans-Saharan trade road was replaced with newly built railroads to the coastal areas. Europeans introduced their own system of education in order to control the colonies efficiently. Christian Missions often ran these schools with French or English as the medium of instruction. Depending on the political

1 An Egyptian Imam in Berlin quoted this poem first to me in 2003. Despite intensive in- vestigation, I could not find the author and the date of this Arabic poem.

9 INTRODUCTION and numerical weight of the local Muslim population, the existing Islamic schools were integrated, reformed or ignored by the colonial administration.

In the Gold Coast as well, Muslims lost their status as brokers. Before and at the beginning of British colonisation, Muslims worked as accountants and advisors of kings and chiefs. But the British officials overlooked the Islamic schools. At the same time, Muslim communities were reluctant to send their children to schools that were managed by Christians and re sponded with a retreat into the religious field of education. Consequently, the majority of Muslim men were educated in a makaranta (Quran school). They studied religious subjects such as prayers or reciting the Quran. Most Muslim women had no access to education. These conditions did not change notably after the independence of Ghana. Thus, many Muslims were not adequately educated to work in the modern sector. To this day they often do menial work. This contributed to a situation whereby many Muslims feel marginalized in Ghanaian society; they feel like second-class citizens.

However, a small number of Muslims in Ghana regained their status as brokers.2 They had access to secular education and a few of them held higher positions in public service. By chance, by force or by personal interest these Muslims enrolled in governmental or mission schools.3 This group is literate in English, which is the official language in Ghana. Thus, Muslim brokers became not only translators for their fellow believers; they mediated between Muslims and non-Muslims as well.

This study, which is mainly based on 30 life stories, seeks to tell the story of these secular educated Muslims. I investigate how they Islamize Ghanaian society and at the same time modernize Muslim communities. In short, I show how they became brokers of modernity.

2 In this study a broker is a mediator, who negotiates between minority and majority groups. 3 The term secular education means education, which is approved by the government. See also Charles Taylor’s concept on secularity (2007). In his important book A Secular Age, secularity guarantees the freedom of religious, non-religious and areligious convictions.

10 INTRODUCTION

There are different notions of modernity. The dictionary of sociology offers one definition. It describes modernity as a ‘unique peculiarity of the oc- cidental culture area’ (Hillmann 1994: 569). This view is obviously rather Eurocentric as it considers modernity only in a singular form as if it belongs exclusively to western culture. Modernity, the definition continues, is grounded on rationality and secularity, scientific and technical progress, democratisation and individualisation (1994: 571).

Dale Eickelman and Georg Stauth criticize this concept. Eickelman points to the ‘secular bias’ of such modernization theory (2000: 119). He doubts whether modern societies are mainly secular and that religious activities only take place in the private sphere. Likewise, Georg Stauth argues (1998: 172):

While the West shows its secular face to the world, the religious nature of Occidentalism remains disguised, and only reappears in the intellec- tualized and instrumentalist form of a ‘higher’ cultural commitment.

Therefore, Stauth makes clear that modernity in Europe has a hidden reli gious side as well. It seems paradoxical, Stauth continues, that religious fundamentalist movements with a Calvinist and Puritan ethic initiated modernization in Europe. Up to today most modern European societies refer to Christian values and virtues. I agree with Stauth that there are different forms of modernity and that Islamic modernity is one of them.

The modernization of Muslim societies in Asia, Africa and the Middle East does not only consist in the secularisation of institutions. In this process Islamic religious concepts, individualization, autonomy and education play an important role as well. Modernities in non-western societies emerge through ‘very complex negotiations’ (Stauth 1998: 170). These negotiations also take place in Ghana and are carried out by Muslim brokers. Thus, the first main question of this study is: In which way did Muslim brokers in Ghana negotiate Islam in the public space?4

4 In The Human Condition Hannah Arendt (1973) distinguishes between public and private space as well as social sphere. According to Arendt, public space emerges whenever people act together.

11 INTRODUCTION

Muslims constitute, according to official figures, 16 % of Ghana’s 19 mil- lion people. Muslims themselves estimate a higher number. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam states that every third Ghanaian is an adherent of Islam (Esposito 2003).

When I talk about Muslims, I refer to the definition of Robert Launay (1992). First and foremost, he regards a Muslim as anybody who claims to be a Muslim. A different definition says that a Muslim is a person who fulfils the so-called five pillars of Islam.5 Of those, the central identity marker dif- ferentiating Muslims and non-Muslims constitutes the five daily prayers.

Ghana is considered a secular state although the word ‘secular’ does not appear in the national constitution. The constitution grants the rights of freedom of religion and prohibits political parties that are based on religion (Ministry of Information and National Orientation 2007). Since the 1990s, religious organisations have mushroomed and religious symbols have increasingly entered the public space. In 1996 two major Islamic holidays have been added as public holidays in Ghana. Eid al-fitr (the ending of Ramadan) and eid al-adha (the festival of sacrifice) are today recognized holidays like the Christian Easter and Christmas.

At the same time the Ghanaian state has steadily withdrawn as the main provider of education. In place of governmental institutions, private religious and non-religious Non-Governmental Organisations have been step- ping in. For example, in the last decade years eleven private universities were established. Ten of them are Christian and one is an Islamic University.

In the course of this study, the term ‘education’ draws on a sociological concept. Hence, education is a mode of socialising people into societies. The main institution within which education takes place outside the family is the school. Many studies of schools regard pupils and students as ‘products’ of a certain educational system. For example, Michel Foucault (1991) and Eugen Weber (1977) describe schools in France as places to produce

5 The five pillars are: shahada (to witness); salat (the five daily prayers); zakat (the almsgiv- ing); sawm (a month long fast) and hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) (Esposito 2003).

12 INTRODUCTION docile bodies and as instruments to build a nation, respectively. Aurolyn Luykx (1999) regards a school in Bolivia as a ‘citizen factory’. In the African context, Thomas Bierschenk describes a school as an instrument of social change (2007: 253). In part, I agree with them. A school can be an instrument of social change, but in two directions. On the one hand, individuals are influenced by the curriculum and pedagogy. On the other hand, pupils and students respond to education by adjusting or subtly resisting. Thus, pupils are not only products, but also makers of education. Pupils can use acquired knowledge and skills not only to become socialized into a society but also to change it. Moreover, people can use education to mediate between different social groups.

My study will show how the Muslims I interviewed reacted individually to education. It will tackle the following questions: Which strategies did Muslims in Ghana use to enrol in a secular school? How did Muslims respond individually to this education? And, how did they negotiate being a Muslim in governmental and Christian mission schools?

The questions above deal with the relations between Muslims and non- Muslims in schools. However, the actual discourse about being a modern Muslim or Muslima occurs in Muslim families and groups. Primarily, the discussion about Islamic modernity takes place within Muslim communities. Therefore, the second main question of this study is: How did Muslim brokers in Ghana negotiate modernity in their local communities?

Muslims in Ghana

The Islamic field in Ghana is not homogenous, but diverges along regional, doctrinal and ethnic lines. Although Muslims are a minority on the national level, they constitute a majority in the Northern Region. Its largest ethnic groups are Dagomba and Gonja and most of its members are Muslims. Tamale is the regional capital of the Northern Region. It has around 400,000 inhabitants, 84 % of which are Muslims (Ghana Statistical Service 2002).

13 INTRODUCTION

The Northern Region together with the Upper East and the Upper West Region form the so-called North of Ghana. ‘The North’ is distinct from most areas of the South in terms of colonial history, its relative lack of eco- nomic development and its ethnic diversity. In particular, the educational facilities of the North lag far behind the South. For that reason, Muslims in the North have fewer opportunities to enter a school than people from the South. In the capital, Accra, 80 % of the people are literate. This stands in contrast to Tamale, where only 40 % of its inhabitants are able to read and write. In many villages of the Northern Region, the illiteracy rate is nearly 90 % (Bening and Kelly 2007: 182).

Beside the regional differences, Muslim society in Ghana is divided into four major doctrines. These are theTijaniya , the Wahhabiya, the Ahmadiya and the Shi’a (Mumuni 2002). These four groups argue seriously about the shape of modernity. Actually, their struggle for power is a conflict about the authority to interpret the Quran and the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).6 The dispute about Islamic modernity is mostly about the interpretation of religious texts. In addition, the struggle about Islamic modernity is reflected in the field of education. The various doctrines approach Islamic education differently.

The Tijaniya is a Sufi brotherhood and the largest Muslim group in Ghana. Its adherents practise syncretism and combine Islamic rituals with elements of African traditional religion. The Tijaniya sees in Islamic schools not only a place to socialise children into Muslim communities. In addition, these schools should also integrate Muslims into national society. In the 1970s the Tijaniya started to introduce secular subjects and English into the makaranta. Since the establishment of the Islamic Education Unit (IEU) under the Ministry of Education in Ghana in 1986, most of makaranta which are run by the Tijaniya have become English-Arabic schools. They are of- ficially recognized and offer beside the national curriculum with English as the medium of instruction, Islamic religious studies and Arabic. The

6 Hadith is a report of the words and deeds of Muhammad and other early Muslims. Many Muslims consider the hadith as an authoritative source of revelation, second only to the Quran.

14 INTRODUCTION

IEU is one of eleven Education Units, such as the Catholic Education Unit or the Ahmadiya Education Unit.

In contrast to this, the Wahhabiya takes a different approach to educa tion.7 In their view, Islamic schools should focus on religion and be inde- pendent of the public educational system. The Wahhabiya calls himselfAhl al-sunna wal jamma’a (adherents of the Sunna and community) or Ahlul Sunna. The Ahlul Sunna is a fast growing group and membership crosses ethnic lines. Many of its followers belong to the younger generation. Since the 1950s, students after studying in Saudi Arabia and Egypt have brought Wahhabi ideas to Ghana. In particular, they aim to ‘purify’ Islam from so- called non-Islamic practises such as corruption and moral laxity (Rahman 1966: 196–198). The schools of Wahhabiya are called Islamic Institutes or madrasa (school) and are mainly founded by Saudi Arabia. For example, the Anbariya Islamic Institute is one of the biggest schools in Tamale. It has low school fees and teaches mainly religious subject with Arabic as the medium of instruction. However, a few years ago the Anbariya Institute added a secular stream to its curriculum. Presently, representatives of the Anbariya Institute in Tamale negotiate to join the Islamic Education Unit.

The Ahmadiya Muslim Mission arrived in the territory of contemporary Ghana in the 1920s. The Ahmadiya too has an integrative approach to education. Ahmadiya schools are supervised by the Ahmadiya Education Unit which is under the Ministry of Education. The Ahmadiya Mission plays an important role in the educational field in Ghana. It runs many primary and well- known secondary schools, such as AMASS (Ahmadiya Secondary School) in Kumasi. It offers the national curriculum in addition to Islamic Religious Studies. Orthodox Muslims regard the doctrine of Ahmadiya as un-Islamic.

The fourth group is the Shi’a and it too takes an integrated approach to education. The Shi’a is a ‘late comer’ in Ghana. The Iranian government opened its first diplomatic mission in Accra in the 1980s. This group has

7 Wahhabiya, according to John Hunwick, is a school of thought or reform movement, which bases on the teachings of the 18th century reformer Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab. It emphasises shari’a (Islamic law) as the basis of way of Muslim life in public and private (1991: 49).

15 INTRODUCTION followers with different ethnic backgrounds. It has tried to catch up with other groups in the field of education. Iranian Institutions have opened a number of schools and given scholarships to Ghanaians to study in Iran. In 2001 the Iranian Ahlul Bait Foundation founded the Islamic University College of Ghana (IUCG). This private university is situated in East Legon, a suburb of Accra. It is a government-recognized institution and affiliated to the University of Ghana. It offers, among others, BA courses in Business Administration and Islamic Religious Studies.

To sum up, Muslims in Ghana hold different positions about modernity and have diverse approaches to Islamic education. This study will show how Muslims contribute to the debate on modernity in their local communities. It poses the following sub-questions: How did Muslim brokers interpret women’s rights in the context of Islamic modernity? And how do being a Muslim and being a Ghanaian, as basic forms of belonging, relate to each other? What role do English and Arabic play in modern Muslim communities?

In order to tackle these questions, this study applies a biographical and historical approach. Therefore, the life stories cover three generations of educated Muslims. The men and women interviewed live in the urban areas of Accra and Tamale. In addition, they all have been educated up to secondary school or university. The first generation of interviewees started school during the colonial times, the second generation after Ghana’s independence in 1957, and the third generation entered school after the mid 1980s.

Consequently, this dissertation is structured chronologically. Chapter one will reflect on methodological and theoretical questions of this study. Chapter two will give a historical overview on Muslims and education in West Africa. After this, three empirical chapters follow. Chapters three, four and five each deal with one generation. All empirical chapters begin with a description of the socio-historical context and then introduce the interview partners. After that, each chapter will analyse and interpret the biographical interviews and develop relevant issues for every generation. Finally, the main results and concluding remarks will be presented.

16 Chapter One: Methodological and Theoretical Reflections

This study has grown out of shifts in subject, topic and technique. Firstly, my field of study changed from African history, which I had previously studied, to anthropology. This has influenced the method: I applied oral history in both disciplines, but differently, since each discipline searches for different kinds of data. Secondly, after returning from my first field- work, the research topic received a new focus, shifting from institutions to individuals. In other words, my interest changed from Islamic schools to life stories. Consequently, and thirdly, the re-shaped topic demanded changes in the technique applied. Therefore, biographical interviews became the main tool, complemented by participant observation, archival study and informal conversations.

Change of Discipline: From History to Anthropology

Oral history ‘collects spoken memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews’ (Ritchie 1995: 1). As a rather new method in historical studies, this reflects a change about what is regarded as historically important. In the past, historical studies were more concerned with the grandes histoires such as of kings and rulers. Today, historians consider the past of those people and groups who are less endowed with power and privileges, too. David Dunaway adds (1996: 8):

Oral history is a tool for orally based biography … [It is] more than a way to capture the accounts of important people for scholars; rather, [it] describes and empowers the non-literate and historically disen- franchised.

Sidney Mintz discusses oral history at the interface of history and anthro pology (1996). In historical studies, biographical interviews are oral sources

17 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS for the reconstruction of the past. Anthropology, in contrast to history, aims at comprehending patterns of culture and society. Mintz shows how oral history works in anthropology and explains (1996: 302):

The biographer-ethnographer must have a conception of how people are at once products and makers of the social and cultural systems within which they are lodged.

Therefore, Mintz assumes that the individual is encapsulated in a culture with fixed norms while at the same time acting individually within a social context. His distinction between cultural and social dimensions empha- sizes that people are both, ‘products’ of culture and ‘makers’ of society. By doing so, Mintz refers to David Mandelbaum, who defines cultural life as a repository of ‘prescribed opportunities’ and social life as an ‘arena of ma- noeuvre’ (1973: 178).

Jan van Velsen takes a similar theoretical line to that of Mintz. Van Velsen too, defines the cultural context with ‘norms and regularities’ and social life as place where people make individual choices. Van Velsen’s interest lies in how people actually live with their – often conflicting – norms. He wants to find ‘some regularity in the irregularity’ (1967: 139).

Van Velsen’s approach is called situational analysis. It developed in his torical studies out of former concepts in the discipline of anthropology. He writes that at certain points in history different conceptions looked for different types of material and therefore used different methods. He labels these varying models ‘pre-structuralist’, ‘structuralist’ and ‘post-structural i s t .’

The pre-structuralist conception, in van Velsen’s view, looked for material on customs and did not pay much attention to the context of time and place. The structuralist concept searched for data on systems and was more concerned with ‘the relation between social positions rather than ‘actual relations’ (1967: 131). In contrast to this, the post-structuralist or the situational frame of reference looks at processes. It analyses cases which are presented situationally within a social context and emphasises actors

18 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS rather than informants. Situational analysis seeks ‘structural data’ and ‘actual data’. The ‘structural data’ are generalised descriptions of culture. In contrast, the ‘actual data’ comprise the actual behaviour of individuals. Accordingly, for this study I gathered general information about Ghanaian culture and Muslims living in this culture. In addition, I collected particular data in the form of biographical interviews.

My first contact with Ghana occurred almost twenty years ago. In October 1992, I evaluated a village project in the Volta Region, which is situated in the eastern part of Ghana. Since that time, I have been to Ghana six times and in all stayed for more than two years. I studied at the University of Ghana in Accra from 1995 to 1996. During my studies I became friends with a Ghanaian student. Sodey Zakariah-Akoto’s family included Muslims as well as Christians – a religious mix that was new to me, though this is frequent in Ghana. At this time, too, I realised that very few students were Muslims. For instance, on my floor in the student hostel only one out of twenty students was a Muslim. I wondered why Muslims in Ghana were hardly ever found in areas of higher education. This question fostered my interest in Islam in Africa. Thus, after this study abroad I began to learn Arabic in Berlin and later in Cairo.

I gathered more information about Ghanaian culture in general and the educational field in particular during the research for my Master’s thesis. In 1999, I conducted research in Accra for three month. I interviewed ten Ghanaian women who had migrated to the UK during the 1950s in order to obtain higher education. Back in Ghana, these women, who were Christians, climbed the social ladder to achieve elite status. While conducting the interviews, I was fascinated by their life stories and grateful that these women shared their good as well as bad experiences in life with me.

Besides my personal experiences, I got a more general view on Muslim culture in Ghana during the first trip for this study from March to June 2005. At this point of time my research was concerned with Islamic education and its institutions. Therefore, I mainly visited Islamic schools and

19 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS the Islamic university. I also conducted ten preliminary interviews with Muslim students and teachers.

In Accra, I was affiliated to the Department of the Study of Religions at the University of Ghana. Alhaji Mumuni Sulemana, a senior lecturer in this department, introduced me to prominent Muslims and representatives of Islamic educational institutions, such as the regional director of the Islamic Education Unit, Sheikh Shaibu Armiyawo, and the registrar of the Islamic University, Alhaji Rahim Gbadamoshi. In many discussions Mumuni Sulemana gave me a preliminary picture of the educational situation of Muslims in Ghana. He showed me round the Islamic University College of Ghana. It is situated in a suburb of Accra and has over 400 students. I stayed on campus at the Islamic university for one week and attended lectures. In addition, I visited six Islamic schools, including the Ghana- Lebanon Islamic secondary School. In addition, I visited the Public Record and National Archive Department (PRAAD) but found few sources.

Subsequently, I went to Tamale for the second half of my research trip. I felt as if I was in a different country. Compared to the southern part, the regions of Northern Ghana are poorer and the conditions of life are harder. In Tamale, I lived together with my friend’s Muslim family. In this way I became acquainted with general aspects of the Muslim way of life including daily activities such as the five prayers, Muslim name-giving and funer- als. In addition, I got into contact with religious and political key persons in the Muslim community; such as scholars, politicians and activists. I had ongoing conversations with a prominent Muslim, Alhaj Hussein Zakariah, who explained to me Muslim life in Tamale. Then, Mumuni Mahama, Deputy Head of the Islamic Education Unit, drove me on his motorbike to schools and introduced me to the headmasters of ten Islamic Primary and Secondary schools. In addition, I went to the National Headquarters of the Islamic Education Unit and had several conversations with its National Manager, Alhajia Fati Seidu. Furthermore, I had several conversations with the manager of Ahmadiya Education Unit. I talked to students and teachers and conducted interviews with Muslim scholars, such as Sheikh

20 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS

Abdul-Munim Salifu. I also visited the Regional Archive Department that, however, contained – as in the Accra archive – only a few relevant sources.

As mentioned before, I stayed with a Muslim family that belongs to the Gonja ethnic group in a compound house in Tamale. I was called ‘Aunty Tina’ and shared a room with my friend’s elder sister ‘Aunty Alice’. I have known this family for more than ten years and have been ‘adopted’ as a daughter. My research has benefited from this. Being linked to this house- hold, I was easy to be placed socially as well as spatially and I could use the family’s network. This latter helped me to contact people. For example, the former Regional Minister, Alhaj Abubakr Sadiqque Boniface, is a Gonja himself. He organised a meeting with Muslim scholars in Salaga for me. Salaga, more than 100 km south of Tamale, is an old and important Islamic centre. On this and other occasions, I benefited from my language skills as well. Especially my basic knowledge of Arabic ‘broke the ice’ when I first met with Muslim scholars. In addition, the widely spoken Ghanaian language Twi helped to communicate with Muslims who were not literate in English.

Modification of Topic: From Institution to Generation

After returning from Ghana to Germany I modified my topic. Originally, I wanted to study Islamic institutions of education. However, the analysis of data showed that the current debates were not so much concerned with Islamic schools. The important issue amongst Muslims in Ghana was about secular education or the lack of it. Thus, the research focus changed to the Muslims’ biographies. Consequently, the research plan was restruc- tured with life stories as its focus. In order to group these individuals I chose the category of generation.

A generation, according to Karl Mannheim, is not a particular group but has to be conceived as a cluster or connection of individuals that he calls Generationszusammenhang (1970: 531). From a sociological point of view, Mannheim criticises the biological use of the term ‘generation’. In a biological framework, a generation is seen within family relationships and

21 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS described as the temporal distance between parent and child, mostly between 15 and 30 years. According to Mannheim, individuals of one generation are born at a similar time, grew up within the same social-historical landscape, participate in the same events, and share similar experiences or fates (1970: 536). Furthermore, Mannheim stresses that culture rather than nature causes generational change. In other words, not biological but social-historical factors determine a connection within a generation when these individuals participate in the same political events.

Based on this theoretical conception, I distinguish between three gen erations of Muslims. It has to be noted that the crucial factor was the time when they entered a secular school and not the time of their birth. Hence, some Muslims who were born as Gold Coasters belong to the second generation.

Adjustment of Method: From Participant Observation to Biographical Interview

Keeping the focus on individuals, instead of schools, I had to adjust the research method as well. Therefore, after gathering general information on Muslim culture in Ghana, I collected particular information or the ‘actual data’ through biographical interviews. Furthermore, I sought verification in other sources such as published and unpublished documents, archive material, informal conversations, photographs and the internet.

During my second field research from November 2005 to January 2006, I collected 30 life stories of educated Muslims of three generations. For the first generation I conducted ten, for the second generation seven and for the third generation thirteen interviews. In each generation the number of women and men is roughly the same; the same applies to the number of persons who live in Tamale and in Accra.

The biographical interview has the shape of a triangle, which consists of the interviewee, the interview and the interviewer (Tonkin 1992: 12). The approach involves considering the relation between the narrator, the inter

22 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS preter and the interview. How did I get into contact with the person being interviewed? How was the interview carried out? And how did I, as inter viewer, interpret the data? These questions are discussed in the following.

In Accra, I got into contact with the first interviewees through Alhaji Mumuni Sulemana and Alhajia Dr. Rabiatu Ammah, both senior lecturers at the University of Ghana. In Tamale, Mumuni Mahama, deputy manager of the Regional Educational Islamic Unit, introduced me to the first inter viewees. After the first contacts, I asked the interviewees if they were -ac quainted with other educated Muslims. Thus I got to know other educated Muslims through a kind of snowball effect.

In fact, I met interviewees of each generation at similar places. The Muslims of the first generation, many of whom were retired, I interviewed in their homes. Most interviewees of the second generation I met at their offices. And to the younger Muslims of the third generation, I spoke to them at their schools or on the university campus. Each of the interviewees I met at least twice with; first, a preliminary discussion and then conducted the interview. With some of them I got into a closer contact and we had several meetings.

All interviews began with an introduction of myself and a description of the research project. In most cases, I was alone with the interviewee. If not, a family member, a friend or a classmate was present. Then I asked for permission to tape the conversation and gave them a sketch of my prepared questions. The interviews were carried out in English and recorded on tape.

The four main questions centred on the following topics. First, I asked an open question about the family background, the education of the parents and what had induced them to enter a secular school. The second question was concerned with their personal experiences during schooling. For example, was it possible to practise the Islamic faith such as the five daily prayers or the fasting in a Christian mission school? The third question dealt with their opinion on education of Muslims in Ghana, including Islamic and secular schools. The interview ended with asking about their future plans. To create a conducive atmosphere and to carry out the inter-

23 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS view in the form of a conversation was important, as this allows one to get more personal experiences.

I also chose semi-structured interviews. This type of interview seemed to me most suitable for my research, because it gives the interviewee more space to elaborate on a topic. The form of a question already implies a structure for the answer. The more structured the question, the smaller is the frame of possible answers, thus leaving less room for new findings. The extreme case is the yes-no question. Here, existing knowledge is either verified or not. Besides asking questions, I took notes of what I want to clarify or discuss at the next meeting. After carrying out the interview, I asked whether they possessed any photographs of that time.

My roles and tasks as interviewer changed in the course of the study. For one thing, when interviewing different generations, I switched between the roles of a ‘student’ and a ‘teacher’. In addition, my gender and place of origin influenced how the interviews were carried out. And thirdly, during the analysis my task changed from interviewer to an interpreter and writer.

Being much younger than the first and some of the second generation of Muslims, I took the role of ‘student’ who wants to learn something about education of Muslims. This role allowed me to pose a wide range of questions. For the third generation the situation was different, because most of them were younger than me and the setting of the interviews was the schoolyard or the campus. Often, a teacher introduced me to them and this turned my role around into that of a ‘teacher’. My impression was that on some occasions, the young interviewee considered the interview more like a cross-examination during which they had to give ‘correct answers’. To balance this situation, I made the interview more informal. For example I explained that I was a student myself. Occasionally, I invited them to soft drinks.

Moreover, myself being a white European woman, some interviewees of the first generation were reminded of their former European teachers, who were Missionaries and therefore they talked about them. Because I was female, occasionally I wore a scarf, basically to show my respect. For ex-

24 CHAPTER ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS ample, this was the case when I visited a mosque or the Islamic university. One Muslim scholar asked me to cover my head during the interview in his house. This was an exception.

After conducting the interviews, I returned to Europe and my role changed from an interviewer to a writer. Sodey Zakariah-Akoto carried out the transcription of the spoken memories in Ghana. The transcripts were sent to Denmark, where I stayed at the Department for Development Studies at Roskilde University. During this stay, from February to July 2006, I edited the transcripts and sent them back to Ghana for approval. Ten out of 30 interviewees send their corrections and comments. Concurrently, I began to analyse the data.

In order to analyse the biographical interviews, I refer to Bernhard Haupert (1991). He bases his method on the grounded theory of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss (1967). At first the interviewer summarises biographies. Then the author explains the typical or atypical features in these biographies. As a next step, the author brings out the (hidden) patterns, struc- tures or sequences in the text and paraphrases them in order for the con- tent of these patterns to become understandable to the reader. At the same time the author gives details about regional peculiarities. Subsequently, the author elucidates the central ideas or messages of the texts. Finally, she or he organises the interviewees in typological order (Haupert 1991: 230–240).

Following Haupert, the structure of each of my empirical chapters begins with the description of the historical context. Following this, I present two biographies in more detail and sum up briefly the other life stories. In pre senting these two cases, I shall bring out some relevant patterns. In the an- alytical part of each chapter I will give a thorough interpretation of these patterns. However before presenting my empirical research on Ghana, I will outline the history of Muslims and education in West Africa in the next chapter.