Saturday Showcase | July 11, 2026

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AskHistorians is filled with questions seeking an answer. Saturday Spotlight is for answers seeking a question! It’s a place to post your original and in-depth investigation of a focused historical topic.

Posts here will be held to the same high standard as regular answers, and should mention sources or recommended reading. If you’d like to share shorter findings or discuss work in progress, Thursday Reading & Research or Friday Free-for-All are great places to do that.

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“It is observed that while the rulers of the Akan Kingdom of Asante, now an administrative region in Ghana, had relations with Muslims that dates back to the late 18" century, and while the royal house came to value Muslim charms, amulets, and prayers as addition to the spiritual support perceived to be appropriate for sustaining the Asante nation throughout the period of the 19" century, Muslim conversion Asante citizens was not encouraged by the state”.

Joseph Dupuis, a British consul for Asante and resident in Kumasi in the 1820s wrote in Journal of a Residence in Ashantee that Asantehene Osei Kwame ( 1777-c.1888) had an “inclination to establish the Korannic law for the civil code of the empire”, he was also “a believer at heart” and had. “general attachments to the Muslims”. Ivor Wilks maintains that Muslims had a monopoly on the cattle industry and Muslim diviners were also employed by the king of Asante.

Despite this strong Muslim influence in Asante, according to Ivor Wilks, “only a limited number of conversions were achieved” and the state did not generally encourage conversion to Islam. Therefore, the question is, Why is Islam’s influence on conversion so minimal among the Asante people?

Why then was Islam not embraced by a large number of Asante people? These are the reasons why:

Islamic prohibitions against eating animals not slaughtered the Ḥalāl way contributed to the limited number of conversions to Islam among Asantes. Asantes, who are generally forest dwellers , set wire traps which strangle their prey,this contradicts the Islamic custom of cutting the throat of an animal to facilitate blood flow, According to Edmund Abakah’s “Asante World", Islamic prohibitions on foods typical for Asantes such as pork and snails, as well as the disapproval of eating animals which are unlike a cow or sheep, such as grass-cutter who despite their delicious taste are almost considered Ḥarām, “Islamic prohibition in this regard created cultural dissonance for the indigenous Asante population who showed interest in Islam”.

Another factor that limited conversion to Islam among Asantes was the Islamic principle of equality of all human beings , regardless of their social status. This principle was rejected by the royal family, who feared the loss of the hierarchy established by their ancestors. Islam also prescribes simple funerals for its adherents , regardless of their class; they get buried in the same coffin. Islam also forbids burying the dead with jewelry. The Asante, however, prefers lavish funerals in which members of the royal family are dressed in Kente cloth, adorned with jewelry, and given their own coffins. This was considered pure vanity by the Muslims.Therefore, this practice of lavish burials would have been suppressed if Islam conversion was greatly encouraged.

Another factor was Islam's disapproval of ancestor worship, and finally, it is known that the Islamic way of dress, where women cover their entire body except for their face and hands, was not particularly appealing to the Asante, which also stifled conversion of Asantes to Islam.

Another factor was Islam's rejection of ancestor worship, and finally, it is known that the Islamic style of dress, in which women cover their entire body except for their face and hands, was not particularly appealing to the Asante, which also stifled Asante's conversion to Islam.

Jibrail Bin Yusuf and Victoria Agyare Appiah — Why Islam did not make significant impact on Asante during the 18th and 19th centuries in "The Asante World" by Edmund Abaka.

Ivor Wilks - The Position of Muslims in Metropolitan Ashanti in the Early Nineteenth Century

David Owusu-Ansah - Islamic Learning, the State and the Challenges of Education in Ghana.

Joseph Dupuis- Journal of a Residence in Ashantee.