RELIGION, TRADITION AND THE STATUS OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN MAMPRUGU, GHANA: GENDER, AGENCY, TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Autor(i)

  • Mohammed Umar Ibn Raees PhD Candidate, Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
  • Yunus Dumbe Professor, Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0000-0001-9590-8772
  • Margaret Makafui Tayviah Senior Lecturer, Dr., Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0009-0001-1439-8078
  • Nathan Iddrisu Samwini Senior Lecturer, Dr., Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0009-0006-3705-1321
  • Adam Konadu Lecturer, Dr., Social Science Department, Religious and Moral Education (R.M.E.) Unit, St. Ambrose College of Education, Dormaa-Akwamu, Bono Region, Ghana orcid.org/0000-0002-0335-4299
  • Baako Mahamadu Student, Department of Human Resource Management, School of Business, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v12i5.2317

Ključne riječi:

Muslim women, Mamprugu, gender, tradition, women’s empowerment

Sažetak

This article examines the status of Muslim women in Mamprugu, Ghana, through the interconnected dimensions of religion, tradition, gender, political authority, economic life, and community development. Mamprugu provides an important context because Islamic practices coexist with a resilient traditional political system centred on the Nayiri, while women navigate expectations within families, religious institutions, markets, agriculture, and traditional governance. Using a qualitative, interpretive documentary-review approach, the article synthesises Mamprugu-focused materials with scholarly literature on Muslim women, gender relations, customary authority, education, land access, economic empowerment, traditional leadership, and community development. The analysis reveals a central paradox: although Muslim women face structural disadvantages, they exercise meaningful agency through Queen Mother institutions, Magaziya and other leadership roles, religious organisations, agriculture, trading, informal enterprises, education, peacebuilding, and community mobilisation. Women’s status is therefore shaped not by Islam or tradition alone, but by their interaction with religious interpretations, customary practices, patriarchal authority, socioeconomic resources, and women’s strategies of negotiation. The article highlights challenges involving land, credit, education, marriage, widowhood, political participation, and witchcraft accusations. It concludes that culturally grounded empowerment should distinguish Islamic principles from patriarchal customs while strengthening education, productive resources, decision-making, female leadership, and Muslim women’s organisations.

Biografije autora

  • Mohammed Umar Ibn Raees, PhD Candidate, Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

    Mohammed Umar Ibn Raees holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Religious Studies from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the Islamic University College of Ghana and Cert A at Tamale Teacher Training College. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies at KNUST. His research interest is Religion and women's development. He teaches Islamic Religious Studies at Walewale Senior High/ Technical School.

    Email: umaridmohammed276@gmail.com

  • Yunus Dumbe, Professor, Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0000-0001-9590-8772

    Yunus Dumbe (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Human Development at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at MIASA pursuing a project on Salafism Revivalism in Ghana. He has spent years in previous fellowships in South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland and the United States. His research interest includes Islamic revival and reform in Africa, violent extremism and terrorism, religion and conflict and the politics of Islamic humanitarianism.

    Email: ydumbe@gmail.com; ydumbe.cass@knust.edu.gh

  • Margaret Makafui Tayviah, Senior Lecturer, Dr., Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0009-0001-1439-8078

    Margaret Makafui Tayviah (PhD) holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies with specialization in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. She also holds a Master of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Religious Studies from KNUST. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Religious and Human Development, KNUST. Her research areas include: Comparative Religions, Interfaith Relations, Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations.

    Email: makafuimtayviah@gmail.com

  • Nathan Iddrisu Samwini, Senior Lecturer, Dr., Department of Religion and Human Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana orcid.org/0009-0006-3705-1321

    Nathan Iddrisu Samwini (PhD) holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham, UK. He is a Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies and Interfaith Relations. He is a former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and a former Head of the Department of Religious and Human Development at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He is also a Minister of the Methodist Church, Ghana and a past Bishop of the Tamale Diocese and currently the Superintendent Minister of the Nkoranza Circuit. He is currently the General Adviser of the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) based in Nairobi, Kenya.

  • Adam Konadu, Lecturer, Dr., Social Science Department, Religious and Moral Education (R.M.E.) Unit, St. Ambrose College of Education, Dormaa-Akwamu, Bono Region, Ghana orcid.org/0000-0002-0335-4299

    Adam Konadu (PhD) holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies with specialization in Interfaith Relations and Religion and Society from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He also holds a Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies, KNUST. He again holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education from the Catholic University of Ghana, all in Ghana. His research interests include the Comparative Study of Religion, Interfaith Relations, Religious Education, and Religion and Society. He is a Lecturer of Religious and Moral Education at St. Ambrose College of Education at Dormaa-Akwamu in the Bono Region of Ghana.

    Email: konaduadam@sace.edu.gh

  • Baako Mahamadu, Student, Department of Human Resource Management, School of Business, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

    Baako Mahamadu is with the Department of Human Resource Management in the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. He is compassionate with research.

    Email: mahamadu.baako@stu.ucc.edu.gh

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Preuzimanja

Objavljeno

2026-09-29

Broj časopisa

Svezak 12 Br. 5 (2026)

Rubrika

Articles