Art and rites of passage amongst muslims in Asawase

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Date
June, 2015
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate arts and rites of passage amongst Muslims in Asawase. In pursuing this goal, the study focused on describing the various rites of passage of the Muslims in the Asawase community, identifying and writing about the various art forms which are associated with the rites. The study obtained data from 120 respondents from a targeted population of 200 members of Asawase community through the use of interviews and observation. The purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting respondents for the study. The results indicated that, Muslims in the Asawase community use lots of arts in their rites of passages. The study revealed some verbal arts such as Adhan, Taweez and some aspects of performing arts such as rubbing a baby’s tongue with honey, hair shaving, and Murza making; which are all important in their rites of passage. Among the challenges found in performing both the birth and marriage rites were financial burden and the issue of tribalism. To improve the situation in the birth and marriage rites, the researcher recommends that family heads and Islamic authorities must put in place measures that will deter families from going beyond certain reasonable expenditure levels and also follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet and the Qur’an. At the same time, proper education on some of these rites of passage among Muslims and how they are performed must be given to the Muslims in the communities in order to reduce the illiteracy and misconceptions about the teaching of Islamic birth and marriage rites.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in African Art and Culture.
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