Dying and Marrying Muslim in Ghana: Ethics of the Body, Secrecy, and Privacy

FAIN: FEL-282679-22

Sean Hanretta
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL 60208-0001)

Research and writing leading to a book on the role of funerals and weddings among Muslims in colonial Ghana, including their implications for the study of ethics.

My project analyzes the history of ethics and bodily discipline among Muslims in colonial Ghana. I trace the ways male and female Muslim teachers used funerals and weddings as opportunities to develop and promote new techniques for managing emotions, regulating social behavior, and fashioning a pious self in the face of the moral crisis provoked by European conquest. Gender relations, sexual norms, transnational religious movements, and political economy all contextualized these teachings and in turn contributed to their disappearance. But I also emphasize the philosophical creativity and consequences of the ideas, which produced a framework for action at a time when the state could no longer be counted on to maintain the conditions for ethical behavior. Recognizing the intellectual significance of African social innovations resists the erasure of the continent from Islamic Studies and the marginalization of African contributions to global debates over issues of great public urgency.