Discourses of Muslim Scholars in Colonial Ghana
by John Hanson and Muhammad al-Munir Gibrill
Muḥammad b. 'Uthmān (elegiac poem)
Date: 1895Format: Text/jpeg
This elegiac poem is composed by al-ḥājj 'Umar Krachi (al-ḥājj 'Umar ibn Abī Bakr) on the death of Muḥammad b. 'Uthmān. Muḥammad b. 'Uthmān was a leading Muslim scholar of the Mande-speaking Wangara diaspora. Al-ḥājj 'Umar Krachi was connected to him through a close relationship with his son, Ṣāliḥ b. Muḥammad, a leading S Show More
Malam Salaw 1 (praise poem)
Date: 1919Format: Text/pdf
This praise poem is one of several composed by al-ḥājj 'Umar Krachi (al-ḥājj 'Umar ibn Abī Bakr) in honor of Malam Ṣalaw (Ḥussain al-Kashnāwī). Malam Ṣalaw was a prominent Hausa scholar who assumed positions of influence in Kumase during the British colonial era. Malam Ṣalaw was born in Yendi (in today's northeastern Ghana); hi Show More
Tunkuyau Epidemic (historical poem)
Date: 1921Format: Text/pdf
This historical poem is composed by al-ḥājj ‘Umar Krachi (al-ḥājj ‘Umar ibn Abī Bakr) to describe and comment on an epidemic of an illness referenced as tunkuyau that afflicted the town of Krachi during the early twentieth century. The poem is available in Arabic and with an English translation. This poem is one of the most studied wo Show More
Labbo (elegiac poem)
Date: 1931Format: Text/pdf
This elegiac poem is composed by al-ḥājj 'Umar Krachi (al-ḥājj 'Umar ibn Abī Bakr) on the death of his son, Lobbo. Al-ḥājj 'Umar Krachi had numerous children, but he was particularly close to Labbo, whom he hoped would succeed him as a Muslim scholar. Labbo was one of the few family members accompanying al-ḥājj 'Umar on his pilgrim Show More