ISSN 2756-3405
Research Article
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (4), pp. 001-007, April, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Religion as a tool in strengthening the democratic process in Ghana
Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo1, Daniel Yaw Fiaveh2* and Kofi Takyi Asante3
1Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
2Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
3Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Accepted 12 October, 2019
Abstract
Recent elections in Ghana bear witness to the extraordinary power of religion to affect social and political change. This paper illustrates a few varieties of this power through case studies which examine the role of religious leaders in promoting peaceful elections, the way inter-faith dialogue enhances civic duties and fosters peace by bolstering values of justice, forgiveness and cooperation, and the State’s active use of religion to promote domestic agendas, such as government’s ‘courting’ religious groups ostensibly for their votes, and international relations.
Key words: Religion, peaceful elections, democratic process, national development agenda, social and political change, inter-faith dialogue, domestic agendas, international relations.
Daniel Yaw Fiaveh* and Kofi Takyi Asante, Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo
Page: 1 - 7
Review
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (4), pp. 001-007, April, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Review
Witchcraft and the law in Tanzania
Simeon Mesaki
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Dares Salaam, Tanzania. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 0741 407 625.
Accepted 13 November, 2019
Abstract
Witchcraft is a topical subject and an intriguing phenomenon in Africa. Thriving on belief systems it baffles and confronts ruling elites with dilemmas on how to deal with it. Tanzania experiences grim consequences by the entrenchment of witchcraft in the country including social exclusion, expulsion and even murder of alleged witches. The legal system copes inadequately with the challenges of witchcraft because it does not accept the reality of witchcraft and the colonial inherited law is a blunt instrument in dealing with the problem. This article charts the history of the law on witchcraft in Tanzania and concludes that witchcraft beliefs are too strong to be driven out by legal methods and instead advocates for the removal of ignorance by introducing a scientific view of the world through [mass] education.
Key words: Witchcraft, bewitching, Tanzania, ordinance, law, commission.
Simeon Mesaki
Page: 1 - 7
Review
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (3), pp. 001-008, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Review
Defining witchcraft-related crime in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
Theodore Petrus
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 27 41 504 2232. Fax: 27 41 504 4276.
Accepted 26 November, 2019
Abstract
In the South African context, criminal acts that are associated with beliefs in witchcraft have illustrated the complexities that emerge in the relationship between crime and culture. Witchcraft beliefs continue to play an important role in the lives of many African communities. However, when these beliefs manifest themselves in the harming of others, either through perceived supernatural means or through violence perpetrated against alleged witches, issues of crime add another dimension to the social and cultural context of African communities. In the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, crimes associated with witchcraft beliefs have occurred relatively frequently, yet the South African Police Service (SAPS) in these areas has been ineffective in addressing these crimes. In this article it is argued that a clear definition of witchcraft-related crimes is needed to assist in dealing with these cases. Such a definition should be holistic, meaning that local perceptions of witchcraft as a crime should be taken into account, along with violence and other more obvious criminal acts. The article is based on a critical engagement with anthropological and other relevant literature, including the author’s own doctoral research study of witchcraft-related crime in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Key words: Witchcraft-related crime, Eastern Cape Province, Mpondoland, South Africa.
Theodore Petrus
Page: 1 - 8
Review
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (3), pp. 001-008, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Review
Julius Nyerere’s influence and legacy: From a proponent of familyhood to a candidate for sainthood
Simeon Mesaki1* and Mrisho Malipula2
1Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
2Institute of Development Studies, Mzumbe University, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Accepted 15 October, 2019
Abstract
By far, the greatest and startling religious news of this century from East Africa has been the unravelling of the complicated process towards canonization and possible papal declaration of Julius Nyerere, a Catholic saint. Both the political and religious worlds have joined ranks to make sure that the former president of Tanzania is beatified, an intriguing event surrounded by controversy. This paper reports in detail the core values and contribution to Tanzania’s nation building efforts of this exceptional African statesman but questions his proposed candidacy for sainthood.
Key words: Canonization, catholic, church, Nyerere, religion, socialism, saint, values.
Mrisho Malipula, Simeon Mesaki*
Page: 1 - 8
Review
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (3), pp. 001-005, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Review
Begging and almsgiving in Nigeria: The Islamic perspective
Ogunkan, David Victor
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo state, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected].
Accepted 21 October, 2019
Abstract
This study is provoked by the widespread belief held by general populace that begging in Nigeria is an Islamic phenomenon. Scholars, media, and general public believe that Islamic religious injunctions encourage, promote or at least condone begging. They attribute the thriving of begging in Nigeria to Islamic faith. Against this background, this study investigated the relationship between Islam and begging. It examined the principles, procedures, and modalities provided by Islam on how to earn a living. These are supported and authenticated by Holy Quran with proper interpretation of Hadith of the Holy Prophet. The study revealed that, although Islam made it obligatory for every Muslim to give alms (in form of Zakat and sadaqa), it does not in anyway support begging. The study also unravelled the historical- cum-cultural precedent to their prevalent in the Northern Nigeria. It concluded, however, that begging is not in any way embedded in Islamic injunctions but admitted that the practise of some Muslims in Nigeria makes begging to appear to be part of Islamic culture. The study, therefore, suggested the crackdown on some cultural elements that made begging to be perceived as Islamic phenomenon.
Key words: Begging, almsgiving, Islam, almaijiri, mabarata.
David Victor, Ogunkan
Page: 1 - 5
Review
African Journal of Philosophy and Religious Studies ISSN 1621-4587 Vol. 6 (3), pp. 001-009, March, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Review
A re-reading of the Egyptian Zaynab al-Ghazzali, the muslim brotherhood and the islamic feminist movement in contemporary society
Ibrahim Olatunde Uthman
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected].
Accepted 21 September, 2019
Abstract
This paper focuses on the activism and feminism of the Egyptian Islamist, Zaynab al-Ghazzālī al-Jubaylī (1918 to 2009) in order to examine how she has thought about Muslim women’s roles in both the political and Islamist struggles of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The existing literature while attesting to Zaynab al-Ghazzālī’s eminent position in both contemporary Islamic circles and feminist discourses, have failed to show how her feminist activities intersect with that of the Muslim brotherhood. As against the secular gender and feminist postulations of Muslim women like Fatima Mernissi, Ahmed Leila, Assia Djebar and Nawal Sadawi, this paper examines how Zaynab’s feminist activism and the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood intersect in their Da‘wah approaches and contributions to the revivalism of ‘authentic” Islamic feminism in contemporary society. This paper will ground itself upon Zaynab’s autobiographical work, Ayyām min ╓ayātī to show how Zaynab and her sisters, using the Muslim brotherhood’s struggles, were able to employ the Islamist female agency even under the unfavourable brutal regime of the then Egyptian President, Jamāl ‘Abd al-Nāsir (1375 to 1390/1956 to 1970).
Key words: Zaynab al- Ghazzālī, authentic islamic feminism, Egypt, Muslim brotherhood, female agency.
Ibrahim Olatunde Uthman
Page: 1 - 9