Monographs by Benedikt Pontzen
Islam in a Zongo: Muslim Lifeworlds in Asante, Ghana, 2021
Zongos, wards in West Africa populated by traders and migrants from the northern savannahs and th... more Zongos, wards in West Africa populated by traders and migrants from the northern savannahs and the Sahel, are a common sight in Ghana's Asante region where the people of these wards represent a dual-minority as both foreigners and Muslims in a largely Christian area, facing marginalisation as a result. Islam provides the people of the zongos with a common ground and shared values, becoming central to their identity and to their shared sense of community. This detailed account of Islamic lifeworlds highlights the irreducible diversity and complexity of 'everyday' lived religion among Muslims in a zongo community. Benedikt Pontzen traces the history of Muslim presence in the region and analyses three Islamic phenomena encountered in its zongos in detail: Islamic prayer practices, the authorisation of Islamic knowledge, and ardently contested divination and healing practices. Drawing on empirical and archival research, oral histories, and academic studies, he demonstrates how Islam is inextricably bound up with the diverse ways in which Muslims live it.
Peer Reviewed Essays by Benedikt Pontzen
Journal of Religion in Africa, 2017
In presenting and comparing three different endeavors of ʻspeaking for Islamʼ in the Muslim commu... more In presenting and comparing three different endeavors of ʻspeaking for Islamʼ in the Muslim communities of zongos in Asante, this essay analyzes what renders this act into a felicitous performance. Accordingly, I delineate and discuss the grounds on which one is accorded or denied the authority to make consequential pronouncements on Islamic matters within the discursive tradition of this religion. As I argue, this authority does not solely hinge on one’s erudite Islamic learning and one’s abilities to implement it in one’s rhetoric; it also depends on one’s personal demeanor and reputation in the community. In order to have the actual chance to make consequential pronouncements on Islamic matters, which include religious as well as moral issues, one’s authority has to be accorded by those over whom it is exercised, and can neither be claimed nor enforced as such.
Islamic Africa, 2018
“‘Caring for the People’: ZuriaFM – An Islamic Radio Station in Asante (Ghana)”, Islamic Africa 9... more “‘Caring for the People’: ZuriaFM – An Islamic Radio Station in Asante (Ghana)”, Islamic Africa 9 (2): 209–231.
Africa, 2020
Islamic charms and amulets (lāyā) are simultaneously fairly common, highly valued and ardently co... more Islamic charms and amulets (lāyā) are simultaneously fairly common, highly valued and ardently contested items among Muslims in Asante. Tracing their history and the relations in which Muslims in Asante manufacture, make sense of and debate them, this article places such amulets within relations and delineates the discourses surrounding them. For those who manufacture and request them, these amulets are part not only of the Islamic tradition but of the divine, which permeates them. For their critics, these are un-Islamic idols that contravene the religion of Islam as they ‘keep people away from God’. Such amulets and their usage – or their non-usage – are therefore central to people relating to the divine, and as amulets thus take part in various (re)makings of Islam, they matter and are part of larger processes that knit several elements together. If one considers such amulets as genuine sources, they provide a lot of information not only about how people conceive of, debate and live Islam, but of how Islamic lifeworlds come into being and of the various entities that participate in these processes.
Contributions to Edited Volumes by Benedikt Pontzen
Affective Trajectories: Religion and Emotion in African Cityscapes, 2020
“Those Who Pray Together": Religious Practice, Affect, and Dissent among Muslims in Asante (Ghana... more “Those Who Pray Together": Religious Practice, Affect, and Dissent among Muslims in Asante (Ghana)
, in Dilger, Hansjörg; Bochow, Astrid; Burchardt, Marian; Wilhelm-Solomon, Matthew (eds.). Affective Trajectories: Religion and Emotion in African Cityscapes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 185–201.
Book Reviews by Benedikt Pontzen
African Studies Quarterly, 2019
African Studies Quarterly, 2020
his law (p. 14). Benson Mulemi combines human and professional moral obligation to claim that the... more his law (p. 14). Benson Mulemi combines human and professional moral obligation to claim that the Kenyan government has a moral duty to provide healthcare to the poor. Duncan Scott also views religion as important in lessening injustice and inequality. He asserts that relational ethics like ubuntu can provide a means for pursuing justice from the bottom up.
http://allegralaboratory.net/review-ordinary-lives-and-grand-schemes-an-anthropology-of-everyday-... more http://allegralaboratory.net/review-ordinary-lives-and-grand-schemes-an-anthropology-of-everyday-religion-edited-by-samuli-schielke-liza-debevec/
The reviewed volume tackles the question of “how to account for the complex duality of religion as an everyday practice and a normative doctrine.” The editors, Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec, argue that we take the everyday practice of religion as a starting point in dealing with this question: a Muslim diviner in the Senegambia who looks at some cowrie shells, a woman who rubs family photographs on the tomb of a saint in southern Italy, Egyptian youths who listen to dance songs, and farmers on Apiao who invite each other over for dinner. All are engaged in “little practices” through which they relate to and make sense of the “grand schemes” of their religion.
Conference Presentations by Benedikt Pontzen
One of the main questions of this workshop is: How do Muslim youths in Africa understand and prac... more One of the main questions of this workshop is: How do Muslim youths in Africa understand and practice their religion?
Compiling the readings for this workshop, I was struck by one observation: While the literature o... more Compiling the readings for this workshop, I was struck by one observation: While the literature on "Women/Woman and Islam" is by now almost over-abundant, there are close to no readings on "Gender and Islam" in a broader sense. If you google for "gender and Islam" you hit upon readings on women or feminisms and Islam, Islamic sexualities, and (more recently) Islamic masculinities or queerness, but I could not find a synthetic review or essay that brings these fields of research together and points out their common questions and approaches. Why is that? I do not know, but I can tell you that this absence is much regretted not only by me, but by several scholars working in this field.
In this paper, I wish to provide some insights into an Islamic practice current among Muslims in ... more In this paper, I wish to provide some insights into an Islamic practice current among Muslims in Ghana: the manufacture of laayaa, amulets, and its surrounding discourse. I do so in order to convey an idea of the Islamically informed lifeworld of the zongos, the Muslim wards, and their internal diversity. I will first portray one religious scholar, a malam, who produces such laayaa and describe his practices. I move on to a summary of the discourse he holds on his doings and of the critiques voiced by other malams. In the conclusion, I reflect on how their divergent views can be brought together in a comprehensive approach to the heterogeneous lifeworld of the people of the zongo and to their common religion which is informing and informed by this ongoing discourse.
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Monographs by Benedikt Pontzen
Peer Reviewed Essays by Benedikt Pontzen
Contributions to Edited Volumes by Benedikt Pontzen
, in Dilger, Hansjörg; Bochow, Astrid; Burchardt, Marian; Wilhelm-Solomon, Matthew (eds.). Affective Trajectories: Religion and Emotion in African Cityscapes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 185–201.
Book Reviews by Benedikt Pontzen
The reviewed volume tackles the question of “how to account for the complex duality of religion as an everyday practice and a normative doctrine.” The editors, Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec, argue that we take the everyday practice of religion as a starting point in dealing with this question: a Muslim diviner in the Senegambia who looks at some cowrie shells, a woman who rubs family photographs on the tomb of a saint in southern Italy, Egyptian youths who listen to dance songs, and farmers on Apiao who invite each other over for dinner. All are engaged in “little practices” through which they relate to and make sense of the “grand schemes” of their religion.
Conference Presentations by Benedikt Pontzen
, in Dilger, Hansjörg; Bochow, Astrid; Burchardt, Marian; Wilhelm-Solomon, Matthew (eds.). Affective Trajectories: Religion and Emotion in African Cityscapes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 185–201.
The reviewed volume tackles the question of “how to account for the complex duality of religion as an everyday practice and a normative doctrine.” The editors, Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec, argue that we take the everyday practice of religion as a starting point in dealing with this question: a Muslim diviner in the Senegambia who looks at some cowrie shells, a woman who rubs family photographs on the tomb of a saint in southern Italy, Egyptian youths who listen to dance songs, and farmers on Apiao who invite each other over for dinner. All are engaged in “little practices” through which they relate to and make sense of the “grand schemes” of their religion.