Dagbanli Ajami and Arabic Manuscripts of Northern Ghana

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32937

For centuries, Ajami, the modified Arabic scripts used in writing African languages, have been deeply embedded in the history and culture of many Islamized societies of Africa. Ajami has played an important role in the spread of Islam in Africa and continues to be used by the speakers of more than ten major African languages for everything from poetry and historical writing to road signs and advertisements. Nevertheless, Ajami is little known outside the communities where it is used. Many of the oldest Ajami manuscripts are in danger, and few of those with a scholarly interest in these materials have access to them. All documents were in the possession of Baba Issahak when they were scanned. All information about these manuscripts, including their history and their contents comes from Baba Issahak. Baba had little or no information about some of the manuscripts, especially those in Arabic (Salatu, Nahaanu Junuudu, Salatu Allah Ameen) and Hausa (Afa Ajura 2).

The Dagbanli Ajami manuscripts digitized in this project are of critical significance for the Muslim population in northern and northwestern Ghana. Ajami texts in Ghana in the Hausa language are common, including dozens archived in the Arabic Library in the University of Ghana Balme Library, but manuscripts in Dagbanli are extremely rare and not well documented. More than simply texts, these manuscripts are the lyrics to songs composed by Afa Yusif Ajura, which he performed in the course of public proselytizing and public sermons. This project enables scholars and interested members of the public to have access to dozens of pages of Dagbanli Ajami texts largely unknown both within the Dagbamba community, including many of Afa Ajura's living followers, as well as within the academy.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 21

Ti Pagiri Ti Duuma Naawuni Ti Suhimu (We should thank our Lord God and pray to Him)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
Consists of 26 lines. This piece is an exhortation to pray.
Ti Jamma Ti Duuma Naawuni Ko (We worship our God alone)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
Written in the 1960s, this song is directed towards followers of indigenous religion, advising them to abandon shrines and fetishes in order to follow Allah, the one true God.
Salatu Allah Ameen (Prayer to God)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
This is one of the three manuscripts in the collection written in Arabic. Baba Issahak had no information on the contents or context of the text.
Salatu
(1960) Ajura, Afa Yusif
As its Arabic name suggests, this song is a prayer. Baba Issahak had no other information about its contents.
Ninsal Ku Toi Nye Ti Duuma (There is no human being who can see our Lord)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
Consists of 24 lines, written in the 1960s. This piece concerns the Tijaniyya community, members of whom had been claiming to have seen God with their naked eyes. Afa Ajura claims that no one can see God with their eyes, and asks the Tijaniyya followers several rhetorical questions about what they saw, such as what does God look like? How does he live? How does he move?
Ngun Kam Ngma Ziri A Sheehu, Cheli O (Any person who tells lies for your Leader, you should leave him)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song, written sometime in the 1950s, is directed toward members of the Tijaniyya community. The author alleges that they observe a number of practices not specifically sanctioned by the Qur’an, including the practice of devotional songs in mosques after prayers. When questioned why Tijaniyya followers did these things, they would reply that it was their leader, Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, whom they called Shehu, who told them to do these things. Afa Ajura's message to them was that they should not blindly follow the words of their leader, but rather go to the Qur’an for guidance.
Nahaanu Junuudu
(1964) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This is one of the three manuscripts in the collection written in Arabic. Baba Issahak had no information on the contents or context of the text. The song text is contained on the first page, while written glosses added by Baba Issahak.
N Sabili N Sabili Ngo (I am writing my story)
(1960) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This piece is a report on Afa Ajura's visit to Nigerian Independence festivities as a member of the Ghana delegation, which had been sent by President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah in 1960. In the text, Afa Ajura lists some of the Ghanaians who went to Nigeria, important Nigerian people (big men) they met, the things they saw, the fact that all things they were given were complimentary (transportation, food); important cities and states visited, including Kano. This piece is a fact-based report, and contains no moral, spiritual, or social lessons or commentary, although it does implicate Afa Ajura in national politics at the time.
Kutiligi (Someone who refuses advice, but who will come to do the right thing out of necessity)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
Consists of 46 lines of verse. The author addresses the Tijaniyya community, suggesting that they are following the wrong path to God, and that they should rather follow the path outlined in the Qur’an.
Haifa N Zo (Be Careful, My Friend)
(1959) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song is advising listeners to be mindful of choices in life, telling them to avoid sin and to behave in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an.
Duniya Be Shiegukam Da Naara (Everything in the World Has an End)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
This is Afa Ajura's longest and most expansive piece, covering a wide range of topics, with the over-arching theme of morality as well as mortality. It references the history of the Dagbon Kingdom, African history, and world history; current events and events that were to come; proper behavior of children, women, and young men, and society more broadly. The title is taken from a common Dagbanli proverb, which notes that all things and people will pass away eventually. Afa Ajura lists off several great chiefs and warriors, asking "Where have they gone? They have passed, and so, too, will all of us." Portions of the piece predict future circumstances that Baba Issahak, Saeed Dawuni, and Fuseini Abdul-Fatawu agreed had come to pass in Dagbon, and which were decidedly negative developments: Afa Ajura speculated that there would come a time when young men would wear shorts below their anus, walk with their hands in their pockets while smoking marijuana or tobacco; and that the day would come when young women refused to marry, kept and decorated their own rooms, and will have men visit her in her room.
Doliya Ti Duuma Naawuni (Follow Our Lord God)
(1961) Ajura, Afa Yusif
Consists of 111 lines of text. This piece is aimed at followers of indigenous religious and spiritual practices, urging them to convert from the polytheistic belief system to Islam.
Doliya Ti Duuma Ka Doli Kuraani (Follow Our Lord and Follow the Qu'ran)
(1965) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song is an exhortation to Afa Ajura's two primary audiences: members of the Tijaniyya order in Tamale and to those Dagbamba still practicing indigenous spiritual practices. The text fits within those songs which tells Tijaniyya followers to look only to the Holy Qur’an to know how to worship and be a good Muslim.
Damba Do Goli (The Month of Prophet Mohammed's Birth)
(1951) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This piece was intended to educate people about the life of Prophet Muhammad. It discusses his life and parents and how the Qur’an was revealed to him.
Photographs of the Dagbanli Ajami and Arabic Manuscripts of Northern Ghana project
(2019-05) Issahak, Baba; Ajura, Afa Yusif; Haas, Karl J.; Dawuni, Saeed Alhassan; Abdul-Fatawu, Fuseini
Images of Baba Issahak, Afa Ajura and the fieldwork team: Karl J. Haas, PhD, Saeed Alhassan Dawuni, and Fuseini Abdul-Fataw in Tamale, Ghana.
Afanim Zaa Nini Binya Wudi Ningbu Ni Taribia? (Why Are All of the Muslim Leaders Singing in the Mosque?)
(1959) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song is directed toward members of the Tijaniyya community who practice devotional songs in the mosque after prayers. This practiced is rebuked by the author of the Ajami text on the grounds that it is not sanctioned by the Qur’an. According to the author, Christians are the ones who sing in their houses of worship, but Muslims are not supposed to do this. According to Baba Issahak, this song brought about a period of long and intense conflict between the Tijaniyya and Anbariya communities in Tamale, which continues to this day.
Afanim Zaa Nini Binya Wudi Ningbu Ni Taribia? (Why Are All of the Muslim Leaders Singing in the Mosque?)
(1959) Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song is directed toward members of the Tijaniyya community who practice devotional songs in the mosque after prayers. This practiced is rebuked by the author of the Ajami text on the grounds that it is not sanctioned by the Qur’an. According to the author, Christians are the ones who sing in their houses of worship, but Muslims are not supposed to do this. According to Baba Issahak, this song brought about a period of long and intense conflict between the Tijaniyya and Anbariya communities in Tamale, which continues to this day.
Afanim Tula A Yirim O (The Tijaniya Malams Have Gone on Demonstration)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
Consists of 74 lines of verse. The piece addresses the malams who have gone to follow Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse and joined the Tijaniyya community. Afa Ajura condemns the practices of the Tijaniyya followers, and specifically rebukes those members of his own Sunni community who have left him to follow Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse.
Afa Zaa Ngun Pag' Ngo Buguli (Any Malam's Wife Who Has Gone to Lesser Gods)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
During the mid 20th century, it was common practice for couples who had trouble conceiving to have the woman visit a shrine to be treated by a tendana (fetish priest). Treatments administered by the tendanas generally required the intervention of spirits and/or ancestors, and were predicated on the woman developing and nurturing a relationship with the spirit. Afa Ajura argued in this piece that such practices were against the teachings of Islam, and that malams who sent their wives to shrines were not Muslims at all. As Tijaniyya in northern Ghana is generally tolerant of indigenous religious practices, Afa Ajura would have been addressing that community directly.
Afa Bo Mbala Cheni Gindi Tinsi? (What Kind of Malam Travels From Town to Town?)
Ajura, Afa Yusif
This song challenges Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (Niasse; Inyass), a prominent Tijaniyya leader and preacher from Koalack, Senegal, who toured Ghana in 1961. During his trip, he visited Accra, Kumasi, Prang, Tamale, Walewale, and Yendi, where he preached to large crowads and reportedly converted thousands to Tijaniyya Islam, including some of Afa Ajura's Sunni followers. The text questions the practice of a malam who travels to spread his teachings, suggesting that a leader with a true message should rather stay in one place and attract followers to come to him.

Browse

Recent Submissions